A new game mode called No Return is being added to The Last of Us 2 Remastered, and it will allow a fan-favorite character to be playable.
Summary
- The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will be released exclusively for PlayStation 5 consoles and includes graphic and performance tweaks, as well as new gameplay modes.
- One of the new game modes, called No Return, is a roguelike survival mode where players control different characters and face randomized scenarios and encounters.
- In No Return mode, players will progress through stages, collect items, and face off against enemies, and if they die, they start over from the beginning, adding a roguelike element to the game.
A fan-favorite character from The Last of Us Part 2 is back for the remastered version of the game after not being officially controllable when the game was first released back in 2020. Despite only being three years old, the critically-acclaimed survival horror by Naughty Dog is getting a revamped version, optimized for PlayStation 5 consoles. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered includes a series of graphic and performance tweaks that make the game look and run better on PS5. Aside from technical improvements, the remaster also includes “new gameplay modes,” one of which allows players to control a beloved character who was not abundantly present in the original version.
This article contains spoilers for the main plot of The Last of Us Part 2.
The remastered version of The Last of Us Part 2 will be released exclusively for PlayStation 5 consoles on January 19, 2024. The fact that it will be unavailable for previous-generation hardware speaks to the fact that its technical upgrades can only be run on current-gen consoles like the PS5 itself. Aside from a revamped experience into the bittersweet story of survival and violence told in the game, players will have another reason to revisit the title: a new game mode in TLOU 2 Remastered. Although the gameplay experience offered by it may be enough to attract players, it also allows them to control a classic fan-favorite character.
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Joel Is Playable In The Last Of Us 2 Remastered
While he was not controllable in the base version of the game, Joel will finally be playable in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered through the No Return mode. He is still not controllable in the campaign, but players can pick him in the alternative game mode. The information was confirmed by a trailer posted on the official PlayStation channel on YouTube. In the character selection stage, Joel’s name appears among many others. He is blocked, indicating that players may have to accomplish a few other deeds before being able to use him in No Return. Nevertheless, Joel is there, among Ellie, Abby, and many characters from the story.
What Is The No Return Mode In TLOU 2 Remastered
No Return is an exclusive game mode available in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. Players can access it from the start, without having to go through the campaign. No Return is described as a “roguelike survival mode,” in which players need to survive through somewhat randomly generated scenarios and encounters. Currently, there are ten controllable characters confirmed by the aforementioned trailer: Ellie, Dina, Jesse, Tommy, Joel, Abby, Lev, Yara, Mel, and Manny. Each character comes with different items, a different playstyle, and various traits. Dina, for instance, is good at crafting, while Yara can be played in a duo with her brother Lev.
In No Return, players will be thrown into various scenarios that are featured in the campaign, from the survivor settlement of Jackson to the Channel 13 News Station, as described by a post on the official PlayStation Blog. The goal is to progress as far as possible given randomized elements. While progressing, players will be able to craft and upgrade weapons. However, if they die in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s No Return, they will have to start from the beginning, losing all the progress they made, including items and weapons they obtained along the way. This is the roguelike element of the survival-based game mode.
Players will have to face various enemies from the game, from other armed survivors to various forms of infected – including the notoriously large and menacing Rat King in The Last of Us 2. Among the opponents are also animals, such as the guard dogs kept by some human survivors. If players make it through the end of a run, they will be met by a boss fight, such as the aforementioned Rat King. In No Return, there are four different types of challenges. Assault will have the player face waves of enemies, while Capture sees the player breaking into a safe full of supplies that is heavily guarded.
In Holdout, players will be assisted by an AI (artificial intelligence) character to fight Infected. Lastly, in Hunted, players will be required to survive through continuous waves of enemies while they wait for the timer to run out. One of the most notable aspects of the No Return mode is that it has randomly generated mods that are applied to runs. These mods can be beneficial or detrimental to the player’s progress through stages.
In one mod demonstrated by the trailer of The Last of Us 2 Remastered’s new game mode, Jesse is seen giving a fire-infused punch against a survivor. In another mod, an invisible Infected is attacking Lev.
Raining molotov cocktails are also seen in the trailer when it cites mods. The post on PlayStation Blog also mentions enemies dropping pipe bombs after they are killed and fog being added to the maps as a few extra mods in the game mode. The idea of having randomly generated encounters across various map options with four different types of challenges and numerous mods serves to add value to the replayability factor of No Return. Each run of this mode in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered should feel different from the previous one, as gear, abilities, enemies, locations, and modifiers will change with every stage.
Aside from surviving and completing the goal determined for each challenge, No Return also has side objectives. These optional missions can help players unlock new characters and even skins for them in the game mode. Ellie, for instance, is seen in a white suit with red accents. Even though randomization is key to the experience in No Return, the game mode will offer players the opportunity to build custom runs, which can then allow them to toggle some elements on or off.
There will also be a competitive aspect with randomized Daily Runs that register the player’s progress that day on a worldwide leaderboard. Players will run the same randomly generated stages with the same gear and modifiers.
PlayStation has not announced all the mods and locations that players will be able to explore, so there is likely a lot more to do in No Return once it becomes available. Although the campaign will remain the same in terms of story, the new game mode will allow players to do something new, that they could not do the first time: officially play with Joel in The Last of Us Part 2.
