The Last Of Us Complete Edition Feels Like A Massive Oversight By Sony

With the series back in full swing following the success of its sequel and TV show adaptation, The Last of Us: Part 1 is getting much more attention in the wake of its sequels. Originally released during the boom of zombie media in the early 2000s, TLOU stood out for its gripping narrative that focused on realistic characters, delivering just as many gut-wrenching moments as action-packed setpieces. Unfortunately, The Last Of Us: Part I has started to show its age over time, mostly due to outdated game mechanics, but the original story is just as enjoyable in its remasters.

With each of TLOU's shocking moments still hitting just as hard over a decade later, it makes sense why Sony would take advantage of the franchise's renewed popularity by remastering the game that started it all. While it makes more sense for the original Last Of Us Part 1 to receive more attention due to it still having room for improvement, Sony has released several remasters for both parts in recent years. In an unexpected but not out-of-character decision, Naughty Dog decided to release yet another version of the same games we already know in a bundled complete edition.

It's Hard To Imagine The Demand For Yet Another Last Of Us Re-Release

There's Only So Many Times You Can Play The Same Game

Even with TLOU seemingly at the height of its popularity following the greater widespread appeal thanks to the success of its TV show adaptation, the sheer number of playable options already readily available makes the recent complete edition feel like a massive oversight. With how long the original game has been available and a handful of years passing since each of TLOU Part 1 and TLOU Part 2 were released, it's incredibly hard to imagine there's much of an audience left that doesn't own either game already.

While the news was disappointing, the collectors' addition of TLOU complete bundle at least offers some new goodies for fans in the form of a comic, steel book, and four art prints as listed on Naughty Dog's X account. Despite these offerings, the actual remastered games themselves are the exact same ones that have already been released, offering no incentive to purchase the complete bundle if you already own either game. While it's likely that Naughty Dog is trying to take advantage of new player interest after TLOU season 2, another re-release is a strange choice over a simple digital bundle.

There's no doubt that TLOU franchise has earned its critical acclaim over the years thanks to its iconic gameplay and memorable story design, but there's only so much replayability and things to do after beating each game. While the initial remake of TLOU in the form of TLOU:P1 offered a massively upgraded experience from the original game nearly a decade prior, these minor editions hardly feel worth revisiting. With TLOU:P2 already having received a remastered version only two years after release, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony managed to package yet another game as a TLOU:P1 Remastered edition.

Sony's Remaster Strategy Keeps Missing The Mark On What Fans Want

Plenty Of Untapped Source Material For Exciting Remasters

Although TLOU:P1 offers significant accessibility options and graphical improvements that put it on par with the gorgeous visual fidelity of its successor, it still isn't the best way to experience the original game. Compared to its remake with Part I, the first TLOU Remastered offers a much more accurate experience that expands on the original game, especially with its inclusion of the beloved factions mode that was absent in the remake. While the single-player story of TLOU has always been front and center for the series, its multiplayer was surprisingly addictive with a significant amount of depth that offered much more replayability.

As it stands, TLOU Part 1 offers less content than the original remaster due to its absence of the factions PvP mode, made even worse by Naughty Dog's cancellation of the standalone successor project. While it would have required a significant amount of effort to add multiplayer to the new remake, the massively increased price tag for purely a visual upgrade is somewhat hard to swallow. While TLOU:P1 was still fairly well-received, partially due to finally bringing the game to PC for the first time in 2023, it feels like the project had a lot of missing potential.

With how much attention TLOU has been getting over the years with several re-releases and remasters for each title seemingly coming out each year, it's hard not to imagine where these development resources could be going instead. Even without looking at Sony's catalog of games that desperately deserve a remaster, Naughty Dog itself has plenty of titles that could use a comeback in the modern era. The first one that comes to mind is the Jack and Daxter games, which were even strangely absent from Naughty Dog's anniversary posts despite being another of their most critically acclaimed franchises.

The Revitalized Interest In The Last Of Us Still Has Some Benefits

There Might Be More Content In Store For Fans Of The Series

Fatigue over the sheer amount of re-released content for TLOU has been growing with each of the franchises' iterations, but that doesn't mean there haven't been a share of great additions as a result. The most notable of these is the television show that started production shortly before the release of the second game, with its success going on to result in two more seasons to adapt the series in its entirety. While Naughty Dog's latest projects haven't gone without their share of controversy from story choices or casting decisions, it's clear the beloved franchise isn't going away anytime soon.

While nothing has been confirmed yet, the massive increase in attention for the series could also result in an entirely new sequel to keep the series going for yet another decade. While Neil Druckman himself has confirmed there is no TLOU Part 3 in development, that hasn't stopped a plethora of rumors and leaks from generating their share of excitement. While I'm not convinced just yet, it's hard to believe that Naughty Dog is done with TLOU, especially with how many times they've kept coming back to it over the years.

I'm still holding out partial hope that Naughty Dog has more than just re-releases in store for TLOU moving forward, but I'm more interested in reports about a mysterious new game being developed by the Naughty Dog director behind Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. With Naugty Dog's next game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet being the studio's primary focus for the time being on top of this mysterious title, even if we did get another sequel to The Last Of Us Part 1, it likely wouldn't be announced for quite a few years.