The Last of Us Part II Guide#

The Last of Us Part II was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, sitting squarely in the action-adventure and survival-horror space. The game alternates between two protagonists, Ellie and Abby, and sends players through a post-apocalyptic Seattle across two interlocking revenge stories.

On the release side, the game launched on PS4 on June 19, 2020 (US storefront timing; the Hong Kong store listing shows June 18, 2020), received a PS5 Remastered release on January 19, 2024, and arrived on PC on April 3, 2025 (Steam and Epic, with the port handled by Nixxes Software and Iron Galaxy Studios alongside Naughty Dog). The PS4 original holds a Metacritic average of 93 (121 critics, with a user score of 5.9), sold through 4 million copies in its opening weekend — the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 first-party exclusive at the time — and the official store page states the game has won more than 300 Game of the Year awards.

Quick Reference#

Version and Update Timeline#

The game has moved through three stages — the PS4 original, the PS5 Remastered, and the PC version. These are the verifiable official milestones:

Two points worth expanding on:

• Chronological Experience: reorders the originally interleaved narrative into true chronological sequence. Completing this mode unlocks Uncharted-themed outfits for Joel and Tommy, which can be used in No Return.
• No Return: a roguelike survival mode added in the Remastered release. It shipped with 10 playable characters — 5 per faction — and later patches expanded the roster to 12.

FAQ#

Core Gameplay#

The core of The Last of Us Part II is woven from four strands: stealth, combat, exploration, and crafting. There is no traditional leveling system — progression comes from weapon upgrades, skill unlocks, and resource management, which makes every encounter, at bottom, an act of resource reallocation. That design turns “do I fight, and how” into a judgment the player makes moment to moment.

Stealth and Use of Space#

Stealth is the foundation of the combat system. Tall grass and the prone position form two layers of visual cover: crouching into tall grass makes you nearly invisible unless an enemy is right on top of you, and going prone in the open also cuts detection noticeably. Crawling additionally lets you slip through narrow gaps into areas enemies cannot reach, widening both your exploration and your escape options.

Listen Mode is the eye of stealth. Hold the button to sense enemy silhouettes, facing, and alert state through walls, and read patrol routes from footsteps. The sensible recon order is: listen first to confirm where every enemy stands, then plan an approach route, then take them down one at a time. On Grounded, Listen Mode is restricted, and you rely far more on ambient sound, footsteps, and direct observation.

Bricks and bottles are the universal tools of stealth. Throwables create noise that pulls enemies off their posts, and a brick to the head stuns an enemy briefly, opening a window for a melee finish. Keeping a brick or a bottle on you at all times makes almost any stealth section more manageable.

Action Combat#

Once stealth breaks down, fighting turns into open confrontation fast. Dodging is one of the central moves: a perfect dodge triggers slow motion and opens a counter window, and chaining it into a melee strike or point-blank shot can flip a fight instantly. The rhythm of combat comes from switching — moving dynamically between firearms, melee, and throwables rather than committing to one weapon.

Crafting System#

Every consumable is crafted on the spot from materials scavenged in the environment. Ammunition, health kits, Molotovs, and smoke bombs each have a distinct tactical role, and you have to pick what to craft based on the situation in front of you. Health kits and Molotovs are the two categories you should almost never let run out — one keeps you alive, the other clears a room.

Supplies do not respawn, and that is the single most important rule of resource management here. A drawer you have already looted will not produce materials again, so you have to trade off thorough exploration against forward momentum.

Dual-Protagonist Narrative#

The game runs on an alternating dual-protagonist structure, with Ellie’s and Abby’s campaigns mirroring each other. The same tragedy is shown from two angles, and playing through both steadily revises the player’s sense of justice and revenge. The intent behind the structure is to make the player live through the exchange of the “perpetrator” and “victim” roles.

Ellie’s Campaign#

Ellie’s campaign is driven by revenge, starting in Jackson and moving through three days in Seattle and the hunt in Santa Barbara. Ellie is not physically dominant, which pushes stealth and resource management even further to the foreground.

Abby’s Campaign#

Abby’s campaign unfolds on the other side of the same window of time, covering the stadium, the aquarium, and the Seraphite island. Abby is stronger and far more capable in a straight fight, which gives the two protagonists distinctly different pacing and fills in the full picture of the WLF–Seraphite conflict.

Story Walkthrough Overview#

The main story runs along two parallel tracks, Ellie’s and Abby’s, across three primary settings: Jackson, Seattle, and Santa Barbara. The full run is roughly 25-30 hours (per the Gamersky platinum guide).

Jackson#

The prologue takes place in the Jackson community, where you play through daily patrol and community life. The chapter serves as both tutorial and emotional setup: it teaches the basic controls and plants the groundwork for the tragedy that follows.

Seattle (Ellie)#

Ellie’s Seattle is split across three days, from the outskirts through downtown and into WLF territory and Seraphite land, ending in the head-on collision between the two storylines. The route packs in a great many explorable areas, safes, and training manuals, and is the main grind for completionists.

Seattle (Abby)#

Abby’s Seattle also runs three days, but sits earlier on the timeline and covers the stadium, the aquarium, and the island. Her campaign leans harder toward direct combat, and it lets the player understand each faction’s position and what it costs them.

Santa Barbara#

The finale plays out along the Santa Barbara coast, where the two storylines settle their account on the beach. It is a short chapter, but extremely dense emotionally, and it closes the loop on the whole cycle of revenge.

Collectibles and Completion Route#

There are 288 collectibles across nine categories: 127 artifacts, 20 journal entries, 48 trading cards, 32 coins, 14 safes, 25 workbenches, 7 weapons, 8 training manuals, and 7 special items. See the Collectibles page for how each category breaks down and how to obtain them, and the Safe Codes page for safe-related clues and locations.

The efficient way to finish collecting is to revisit chapters via Chapter Select after the credits and check them off against a list. On a first playthrough, focus on the story and leave systematic collecting to a dedicated post-campaign run.

Difficulty Notes#

The game offers several difficulty tiers, and resource volume, enemy strength, and on-screen prompts all shift with them. Two details can be confirmed directly:

• Grounded is the highest difficulty: Listen Mode is restricted, resources are scarce, and enemy awareness and damage are both maxed out — the closest thing to hardcore survival rules.
• Permadeath supports different save granularities, and the related achievement only requires finishing the game under “any settings.” See the Achievements page for specifics.

NTGame found no reliable source for the official names of the individual difficulty tiers, so none are listed here; defer to the in-game text.

Gameplay Tips#

Version Comparison#

PS4 Original#

Released in June 2020 with the complete main story, this is the original vessel for the narrative. It sold over 4 million copies in its opening weekend and holds a Metacritic average of 93.

PS5 Remastered#

Released in January 2024 at USD 49.99, with a USD 10 upgrade path for PS4 owners. It offers a Fidelity mode (4K/30fps) and a Performance mode (60fps, 1440p render upscaled to 4K) with VRR support, and adds the No Return mode plus 3 Lost Levels, making it the most complete console version available; Metacritic average 90.

PC Version#

Released on April 3, 2025, ported with support from Nixxes Software and Iron Galaxy Studios, sitting at 91% positive on Steam (“Very Positive”). Specific graphics features and system requirements are whatever the official store page publishes; this site does not list unverified parameters.

Guide Index#

Verdict#

The Last of Us Part II represents Naughty Dog at its peak on both the technical and narrative fronts: the dual-protagonist structure, level design, and accessibility suite are all industry-leading, and the Metacritic average of 93 (PS4 original) plus more than 300 Game of the Year awards are the external corroboration.

For guide readers, the game’s value lies in a deeply self-consistent set of survival rules: limited resources, alert enemies, and mistakes that cost something. Hardcore players chasing stealth perfection and players who only care about the story can each find the corresponding breakdown in this section’s dedicated pages. Every figure and fact this site has verified is stated above; details still unverified will be flagged as such on the relevant pages rather than padded out with guesswork.

Related Games#

• The Last of Us Part I — the remake of the 2013 original that sets up this story
• Resident Evil 4 — a survival-horror benchmark built on scarce resources and tense encounters
• Resident Evil Village — a first-person survival-horror campaign with the same resource-driven pacing
• Silent Hill 2 Remake — a narrative-driven survival-horror remake with a heavy story focus
• God of War Ragnarök — a story-first action blockbuster in the same premium single-player space

Related Rankings#

Best Shooters · Hardest Bosses

Full Guides#

In-depth sub-guides — beginner basics, main story walkthrough, combat system, weapons, skill upgrades, collectibles, the enemy guide, stealth, Seattle days 1-3, the Abby and Ellie campaigns, safe codes, items and secrets, locations, characters, and achievements — are available in Chinese on NTGame’s The Last of Us Part II section.