The Last of Us Remake, is it worth the price?

The dawn of the new current generation of consoles is upon us, and with this, the increased price of current generation games continues to go up.

Should this price increase carry over to remakes of previous generation consoles?

The Last of Us, initially released on PlayStation 3, is rapidly approaching its ten-year anniversary, so should this price increase translate to a remake of the game on the current generation of consoles? Is the same game and story being told for the third time worth the $70 price tag?

The Last of us, created and released by developers Naughty Dog, was one of the most influential titles of its time. Releasing at the end of the PlayStation 3’s life span on June 14th, 2013, it was widely received and significantly appraised for its iconic characters and story, along with the breakthrough in certain game designs such as fluid character motions and actions and contextual animations.

Slightly over a year later, The Last of Us got a remaster for the newest console of that time, the Playstation 4. On September 2nd, 2022, it was Remade for the most current generation of consoles, the PlayStation 5.

The remake adds an onslaught of new features, game modes, and designs bringing all new life to a timeless story that not everyone has had the privilege to experience. This game (unlike the remaster) was built from the ground up using the game engine that built The Last of Us Part II. Every texture, character design, and model was built without any pre-existing textures existing.

New features that were not part of the original games were also added for a more comfortable and fluid game experience for the player. Accessibility is essential, and these include Subtitle options, screen reading, vision, hearing, and motor accessibility functions on top of standard visual and audio settings.

From the options menu in-game, you can access many settings typically not found on consoles or in many games in general. Including but not limited to adjustable controls, dual sense vibration, color of the hud, subtitles, and display audio language. These options are so plentiful that you can even color-code the subtitles of the character speaking.

The design of huds is also designed to be sleeker as well as making the menus easier to navigate and more user-friendly. New gameplay features that can be accessed through the menus were also added, such as the auto pick-up feature, which allows the protagonist to pick up any item you walk over. Another feature allows the player to counter an attack before sustaining damage.

The Last of Us is a timeless piece that will continue to bring joy and encapsulate players in the story and bring entertainment for many more years to come. The way the characters grow as you progress through the story all whilst you gain connections and start to like and become attached to the characters, is something that only a great story can do. The newer additions and accessibility are also perfect additions that I believe fits perfectly within this game.

The enhanced graphics is also just gorgeous; the new ray-tracing adds a whole new dimension of immersion to a game that, after ten years, has lost its graphical touch. The lighting fixtures shining a light on an overgrown and decimated city of ruin while you run, hide and fight for your life in a zombie-infested post-apocalypse is something that will have every player stopping in their tracks just to appreciate it.

I would say absolutely yes; this will allow new players that maybe have never played the game to experience and enjoy a magnificent story that has also been optimized to fit the current age of graphics and gameplay that we find standard.