The Last of Us Part II is a 22 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after The Last of Us (213), the player controls two characters in a post-apocalyptic United States whose lives intertwine: Ellie, who sets out for revenge after suffering a tragedy, and Abby, a soldier who becomes involved in a conflict with a cult. The game is played from the third-person perspective. Players can use firearms, improvised weapons, and stealth to fight human enemies and cannibalistic creatures.

Development of The Last of Us Part II began in 214, soon after the release of The Last of Us Remastered. Neil Druckmann returned as creative director, co-writing the story with Halley Gross. The game's themes of revenge and retribution were inspired by Druckmann's experiences growing up in Israel. Ashley Johnson reprises her role as Ellie, while Laura Bailey was cast as Abby. Their performances included the simultaneous recording of motion and voice. The developers pushed the technical capabilities of the PlayStation 4 during development. Gustavo Santaolalla returned to compose and perform the score. Development reportedly included a crunch schedule of 12-hour workdays.

Following some delays, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Last of Us Part II was released on June 19, 22. It was praised for its performances, characters, visual fidelity, and gameplay, though the narrative and the representation of a transgender character polarized critics and players. It was the subject of review bombing on Metacritic. Part II is one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games and the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive, selling over four million units in its release weekend.
Last of us two

Gameplay

The player character is lying on her stomach. Some human enemies, including a dog, lurk in the distance

In a change from its predecessor, The Last of Us Part II allows the player to crawl in a prone position to evade enemies

The Last of Us Part II is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. The player traverses post-apocalyptic environments such as buildings and forests to advance the story. The player can use firearms, improvised weapons, and stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus Control intermittently switches between Ellie and Abby;2 the player also briefly controls Joel in the opening sequence.3 The nimble nature of the player character introduces platforming elements to the game, allowing the player to jump and climb to traverse environments and gain advantages during combat.4 The player can break glass objects such as windows to access certain areas or obtain supplies.5 Some areas in the game are navigated by horse or boat6

In combat, the player can use long-range weapons such as rifles and bows,17 and short-range weapons such as pistols and revolvers.4 The player is able to scavenge limited-use melee weapons such as machetes and hammers,8 and throw bricks and bottles to distract or attack enemies.9 Collected items can be used to upgrade weapons at workbenches1 or craft equipment such as health kits, Molotov cocktails, and makeshift silencers The player can collect supplements to upgrade skills in a skill tree; training manuals found throughout the environment unlock additional skill tree branches, allowing upgrades to attributes such as the health meter, crafting speed, and ammunition types1

Though the player can attack enemies directly, they can also use stealth to attack undetected or sneak past them "Listen Mode" allows the player to locate enemies through a heightened sense of hearing and spatial awareness, indicated as outlines visible through walls and objects.9 In the cover system, the player can crouch behind obstacles to gain advantages in combat, and can also crawl in a prone position to evade enemies2 Hostile enemies use artificial intelligence; they may take cover or call for assistance, and can take advantage when the player is distracted, out of ammunition, or in a fight3 The player may be impaled by an arrow, which will progressively decrease their health meter and disables Listen Mode until removed when in cover4 Player companions, such as Dina, assist in combat by killing enemies or announcing their location5 The game also introduces guard dogs that track the player's scent, which can be visualized in Listen Mode

Plot

See also: List of The Last of Us Part II characters

After the events of the first game, Joel Miller (Troy Baker) confesses his guilt to his brother Tommy (Jeffrey Pierce) for preventing the Fireflies from finding a cure for the Cordyceps fungus to save Ellie (Ashley Johnson). Four years later, Joel and Ellie have built a life in Jackson, Wyoming, though their relationship has become strained. While on patrol, Joel and Tommy rescue a stranger, Abby Anderson (Laura Bailey), from an Infected horde. They return to an outpost run by Abby's group, former Fireflies who are now part of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), a militia group based in Seattle, Washington. They attack Joel and Tommy; Abby seeks revenge against Joel for murdering her father, a Firefly surgeon (Derek Phillips). Meanwhile, Ellie and her girlfriend Dina (Shannon Woodward) leave Jackson in search of the brothers. Ellie enters the WLF camp to witness Abby beat Joel to death, and swears revenge.

Tommy sets out for Seattle to hunt Abby, and Ellie and Dina follow him. After escaping a WLF ambush, Ellie reveals her immunity to Dina, who in turn reveals she is pregnant. The next day, Ellie pursues Tommy alone and encounters Jesse (Stephen Chang), Dina's ex-boyfriend, who followed them to Seattle. While searching for Abby's friend, Nora Harris (Chelsea Tavares), Ellie encounters the Seraphites, a cult locked in a battle with the WLF over control of Seattle. Ellie tracks down Nora and tortures her for information on Abby's location, which traumatizes Ellie. The following day, she kills two more members of Abby's group, the pregnant Mel (Ashly Burch) and her boyfriend Owen Moore (Patrick Fugit). A flashback reveals that, years earlier, Ellie traveled to the Firefly hospital in Salt Lake City and learned the truth. Devastated, she cut ties with Joel. In the present, Ellie's group is ambushed by Abby, who kills Jesse and holds Tommy hostage.

Three days earlier, Abby learns that Owen, her ex-boyfriend, has gone missing while investigating Seraphite activity. Abby searches for Owen and is captured by the Seraphites. She is rescued by Yara (Victoria Grace) and Lev (Ian Alexander), Seraphite siblings who have been branded apostates after Lev defied Seraphite traditions. Though Yara is gravely injured, Abby leaves them to find Owen who, disillusioned with the war, plans to sail to Santa Barbara, California, where the Fireflies may be regrouping. Abby rescues Yara and Lev, and travels across Seattle with Lev to retrieve medical supplies from the WLF hospital so Mel can amputate Yara's arm. After the surgery, Lev runs away to convince his devout mother to leave the Seraphite cult, forcing Abby and Yara to pursue him. They find him in the Seraphite settlement, where Lev has accidentally killed his mother in self-defense. The trio flee as the WLF begins an assault on the Seraphites. Abby betrays the WLF to save Lev, and Yara sacrifices herself to allow Abby and Lev to escape. The pair return to find Owen and Mel dead and a map left by Ellie leading to her hideout. Abby shoots Tommy, impairing him, and brawls with Ellie and Dina, overpowering them. At Lev's insistence, Abby spares them both and tells them to leave Seattle.

A year later, Ellie and Dina are living on a farm, raising Dina and Jesse's son, though Ellie suffers from post-traumatic stress. When Tommy arrives with information on Abby's whereabouts, Ellie leaves to find her, despite Dina's pleas to stay. Abby and Lev arrive in Santa Barbara searching for the Fireflies, who they find are regrouping at Catalina Island, California, but are captured, tortured, and left to die by the slave-keeping Rattlers. Ellie arrives at Santa Barbara and rescues the pair. Threatening to kill Lev, Ellie forces Abby to fight her, during which Abby bites off two of Ellie's fingers. Ellie overpowers her but has a change of heart and lets her live. Abby and Lev sail to the Fireflies. Ellie returns to the farmhouse and finds it empty. She tries to play Joel's guitar with her damaged hand, recalls her last conversation with Joel in which she expressed her willingness to try and forgive him, and leaves.

Development
Early story concepts for The Last of Us Part II were conceived during the development of The Last of Us in 2013 Naughty Dog began development in 2014, soon after the release of The Last of Us Remastered8 By August 2017, with the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the entire 35-person team at Naughty Dog had shifted to develop Part II Neil Druckmann led development as creative director and writer, reprising his role from The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (216)122 Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau were selected to be co-game directors for Part II, overseeing gameplay elements such as level design and mechanics4 For the final months of development, the team was forced to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Druckmann wrote the story with Halley Gross The team experimented with different plot structures and considered scrapping the game entirely until they settled on an idea that mirrored the first game; Druckmann said that The Last of Us is about the extreme measures one would take for love, whereas Part II is more about how far one would go to bring justice for those they love The themes of revenge and retribution were inspired by Druckmann's experiences growing up in Israel, where violence was a frequent topic He recalled watching footage of the Ramallah lynching, and how, after hearing the cheering crowds, his mind turned to violent thoughts about bringing the perpetrators to justice He wanted the player to feel a "thirst for revenge" before making them realize the reality of their actions Druckmann said other themes include tribalism, trauma, and the pursuit of justice6 Artists at Naughty Dog traveled to Seattle to analyze the architecture, vegetation, materials, topography, lighting, and capture photorealistic textures
A bright white stage with actors in black suits and camera operators.

The game was recorded at a motion capture studio in Playa Vista, Los Angeles.

Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker reprise their roles as Ellie and Joel, respectively, while Laura Bailey was cast as Abby. The actors' performance were recorded at a studio in Playa Vista, Los Angeles using performance capture, recording motion and voice simultaneously. Gross noted that a goal of the writers was to "create the most multifaceted characters you've seen in games"9 She particularly wanted to explore the multifaceted behavior of Ellie, showing her power as well as her insecurities. The change of player character from Ellie to Abby was inspired by the change from Joel to Ellie in the first game, though emphasized in Part II due to its focus on empathy. Druckmann wanted the player to hate Abby early in the game, but later empathize with her.

The developers pushed the technical capabilities of the PlayStation 4 when creating Part II, adding more enemies and larger environments than in previous games7 Druckmann noted that any drops in detail would ruin the sense of authenticity, which required consistent optimization of the technology5 Improved artificial intelligence (AI) allowed for deeper connections with characters and the creation of bonds through gameplay. The Last of Us Part II was originally planned as an open world game with hub worlds, but later game transferred to a more linear style as it better served the narrative. Naughty Dog wanted to increase the accessibility options introduced in Uncharted 4 to ensure that all players could complete the story, and the developers attended conferences and worked with advocates

Gustavo Santaolalla returned to compose and perform the score, as he had done with the first game,39 while Mac Quayle contributed to combat music \The developers received permission to use the songs "Future Days" by Pearl Jam and "Take On Me" by A-ha To achieve the sound of the Shamblers, the team hired voice actors Raul Ceballos and Steve Blum, and used items such as grapefruits to create the explosion sounds. The dialogue team referenced whistled languages such as Sfryria and Silbo Gomero for the Seraphites' whistling, and hired actors Stevie Mack and Lisa Marie to provide the whistles in three styles

The development, according to a report by Kotaku's Jason Schreier, included a crunch schedule of 12-hour work days owing to the studio culture; after the game's delay, developers continued under this schedule for the additional months. Schreier suggested that development was affected and slowed due to the enormous turnover of employees following the development of Uncharted 4, with few veterans left on the team. Some of the developers working on the game allegedly hoped that the game would fail to prove that the working conditions they are under are not viable. Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment granted the developer an additional two weeks of development for bug fixes