Naughty Dog is officially continuing their trend with remastering their games that have had no shelf life as of now. At first it was The Last Of Us 1 getting not one but two remasters. One for the PlayStation 4 and The PlayStation 5. It was announced yesterday that the long-rumored Last Of Us Part 2 remastered is officially happening via Naughty Dogs Twitter page. Fan backlash to the previous remasters was already high but now it’s just getting predictable, at the very least there’s some extra content for the Last Of Us Part 2 remasters such as extra missions, a new rogue-like game mode, and cosmetics. But for long-time fans of the series and of the acclaimed studio it seems like patience is running very thin.
While many studios working today are also doing remakes and remasters, they are occasional or a complete rework of an older game. Take Resident Evil 4 for example, a fan-favorite game from the early 2000’s completely remade to fit the structures of modern-day AAA gaming. It’s even been nominated for a Game Of The Year award. Naughty Dog seems to be the only studio stuck in the past with Creator and Co-President Neil Druckmann focusing primarily on making a career in film and television with the adaptation of The Last Of Us going on at HBO.
On top of this news, there hasn’t been a single mention of the long-awaited multiplayer-only title in The Last Of Us universe. The Factions game, according to Kotaku, is completely on ice at this point following a string of layoffs at the studio, a trend that is currently sweeping the entire industry at this point. Fans have been voicing their concerns on why the focus is solely on The Last Of Us as Naughty Dog has plenty of iconic IPs that would clearly be received well if remade or remastered. An Uncharted 1-3 Remaster would be incredible if graphics and gameplay were enhanced to the studio’s standards of today. Despite all of this The Last Of Us Part 2 Remaster will be out on January 19th, 2024.