While a third mainline installment would be the most natural expectation from fans, many were recently shocked by a recent report regarding the status of the franchise. Supposedly, rather than placing the focus on going forward, there are plans to go back and fully remake The Last of Us from the ground up for the PlayStation 5. The story is a strange one, both in terms of the game’s apparent inception as well as the fact it would be happening at all. Many have been swift to defend both sides of the debate over whether a relatively new game should even be remade at all, with decent arguments for both points of view.
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The Benefits of a Last of Us Remake
Video games being remade is not a new concept, with many classic titles receiving the treatment in recent years. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a stellar reimagining of a beloved classic, but most importantly, ironed out any kinks and issues still present in the original. The advantage that a remake has over the original is always the benefit of hindsight. The developer behind the project now has the capacity to go back and review what worked, and what didn’t, in order to make the proper adjustments for a more polished experience. (However, it should be noted that the original FF7 released in 1997, while TLOU was 2013).
While The Last of Us is not dated by any means, there are ways it can still benefit from a PS5 upgrade. The first and most obvious would be a big jump in graphical fidelity thanks to the specs inside the PlayStation 5. Demon’s Souls alone already teased the potential for next gen visuals, and that too was a remake, so it would be exciting to see the iconic moments in The Last of Us giving a fresh coat of paint. Additional improvements can be made as overall improvements and brought in line with many TLOU2 mechanics, such as its combat, exploration, and puzzle solving. Although the story was unanimously praised, there have been those to dismiss these aforementioned elements in the first game, feeling them to be too straightforward compared to other offerings on the market.
A final point would be that a remake of The Last of Us would be a much easier project for Naughty Dog to tackle next as opposed to a full blown third installment. This would help familiarize the company with the hardware inside the PS5 for future projects, as well as giving them a bit of a break after the strenuous production of The Last of Us 2. That said, it should be noted the development of it thus far has been reportedly rocky, and there’s been many hands in the honey pot in terms of goal, purpose, and faces.
The Cons of a Last of Us Remake
On the flip side of the coin, there are those arguing that a remake of The Last of Us seems a bit redundant at this point in time. As of now, the original title is barely eight years old, and with only one sequel released, it seems counter productive to revisit the first instead of focusing on a potential third game. Although graphics have definitely improved since its release, even the original PlayStation 3 version of The Last of Us doesn’t look nor play bad by any means.
Simply put, it seems like it would benefit Naughty Dog, the PlayStation 5 library, and gamers as a whole to place resources in a proper third game instead of a retread of the first which is still perfectly fine the way it is. Furthermore, the game has already received a similar treatment on the PlayStation 4 with The Last of Us: Remastered, an updated port that is fully playable on the PS5 as is. It remains to be seen what is truly going on behind the scenes, but Naughty Dog’s time and resources may be better served elsewhere.
The Last of Us is available on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
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