Initial Release Date: January 19, 2024
Developer: Naughty Dog
Genres: Adventure game, Shooter game
Platform: PlayStation 5
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Series: The Last of Us
Introduction
I’m not the biggest fan of Rogue-like video games. Rogue-like video games center around a great premise (imo) in gameplay design where you complete (usually) an auto-generated level then return to a HUB | hideout of some sort where you can upgrade your character. Rise and repeat.
Like any video game rogue-likes are predicated around it’s core gameplay which brings me to The Last of Us Part 2. TLoU 2 has methodical, heavy, visceral third person combat gameplay which I love.
Yes, we all know The Last of Us is a mega popular AAA franchise. Most Rogue-likes I’ve played were more Indie in origin. Just saying 👍. The truth is, many Indie rogue-likes asides Hades I wasn’t a fan of.
Keep in mind No Return can either be a full priced PS5 game at $49.94 via amazon or a $10.00 upgrade via PSN. Go with the latter if you can. Anyways, let’s get into why The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered No Return is one of my favorite Rogue-likes available.
Presentation
No Return has a nicely crafted introduction showing you right off the bat tutorial messages needed for survival. I did get a pop up message warning me to play through the story before starting No Return 🤣
I already beaten the game so all good on my end. Naughty Dog are masters at presentation. If you played any The Last of Us or Uncharted you’d know. From visuals to sound design to core gameplay mechanics to story telling they are one of the best developers around.
No Return is a third person combat Rogue style video game however that doesn’t mean ND skimped on important shit. They didn’t. No Return is solid. You have a great HUB in between runs and addicting, varied visceral gameplay at sixty frames.
You have all types of modifiers and upgrade unlocks. I’ll stop here. So yes, I loved the presentation of No Return except I wanted more story elements like cutscenes etc. I didn’t see any story elements in No Return at all.
Gameplay
I love the gameplay in The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered No Return. It makes sense since I love The Last of Us’s gameplay which No Return is solely predicated on. In my time I was able to complete a few Abby and Lev challenges. I did quite a few runs so I “get” the gameplay loop and I must say I am impressed.
Maps are varied from the snow packed Jackson map to the sunlit greenery of Gas Station’s map. I really enjoyed all of the maps I played on as they reminded me of the story in TLoU 2’s campaign. Other maps I liked were the TV station and Houses maps.
Between runs you can relax at the Hideout which is No Return’s main hub. The Hideout features a Trading Post where I spent currency buying weapons and items like long gun holsters and pipe bombs. You can also reroll the Trading Post if you don’t like what’s on offer between runs.
Most of my runs were with Abby and Lev. Both have different starting loadouts (Abby pistol, Lev bow). As you complete runs with characters you can unlock different abilities which can help you change up your play style.
You pick the type of Encounter you want on the Hideout’s main board where you have choices of going stealth or loud, modifiers (fun) and enemy types you’ll be facing. Modifiers In my Encounters included meleeing an enemy which ignites them into flames. Another modifier I experienced was when you defeat an enemy they drop bombs on death blowing up all around them.
Encounters themselves during runs are varied, interesting and fun which created an addiction in me as I continued to play | progress. Enemy variety was decent but could’ve been better featuring the various factions of infected, WLF and Seraphites. More difficult enemies appear as you progress into runs. Yes I fought Bloaters etc.
Encounter types ranged from Hunted, Survive and Mystery. The latter is a complete random encounter with zero information before you start. My Mystery Encounter took place on the Office 1F map | Survive infected onslaught (really fun). No Return on moderate difficulty was challenging
I really enjoyed the gameplay overall in No Return and it goes without saying if you like the core gameplay in the Last of Us 2 you will like the gameplay in No Return. If you love rogue-like video games it’s a no brainer really. You’ll love this.
Visuals | Graphics
I was most impressed with the sixty frames per second more so than the visuals. The Last of Us Part 2: Premastered is a last gen game up-rezzed. Good looking current gen games look better from a visual standpoint.
Sound | Music
Banjos, banjos banjos galore. The sound design and music is very subtle and melodramatic in No Return. A lot of the music to me sounds like the same stuff you heard in the Last of Us Part 2.
Final Thoughts | Score
No Return is a really good rogue-like expansion for The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered. I say for the $10.00 upgrade it’s completely worth it. I would not buy the full game unless you never played the story campaign of The Last of Us Part 2. Just go with the upgrade route if you can.
My enjoyment and yours will be predicated on whether or not you prefer the gameplay mechanics of The Last of Us 2. If you aren’t a fan of the Last of Us’s gameplay you won’t like No Return. It pretty much boils down to that. Thanks for reading – Jason
The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered No Return: A solid PVE rogue-like mode that was fun in spades – Jason
