Critical response The Last of Us Part II received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator
Metacritic.
OpenCritic's consensus called it "another masterpiece from Naughty Dog" and "a brutal, poignant, beautiful, and thrilling experience", with 95% of critics recommending the game.
IGNs Jonathon Dornbush called it "a masterpiece worthy of its predecessor", noting, atop its improved gameplay, it "still makes time for a stunning, nuanced exploration of the strength and fragility of the human spirit".
Game Informers Andy McNamara called it "the best narrative game I have played" and "a sequel unlike any other, taking video game storytelling to new heights". Kaity Kline of
NPR wrote that it "made me very aware of the little things in my life that I take for granted, the kinds of things you don't appreciate until they're ripped away forever".
GameSpots Kallie Plagge called it "beautiful and devastating", and wrote "the more I reflect on it, the more I appreciate the story and characters at its core".
Game Informers McNamara felt that the writers conveyed the themes of emotions "with careful nuance and unflinching emotion".
Destructoids Chris Carter and
VG247s Kirk McKeand applauded the use of minor dialogue to echo the themes. Sammy Barker of
Push Square particularly praised the use of flashback and overlapping stories;
The Guardians Keza MacDonald concurred, describing the narrative as "emotionally effective". Conversely,
GameRevolutions Michael Leri thought that the flashbacks were evidence of pacing problems. Alex Avard of
GamesRadar+ felt that the narrative lost its momentum during its need to finalize every story thread.
USgamers Kat Bailey found the latter half slow, and that the game was five hours "too long". Bailey also criticized the
dissonance between the statement against violence and its necessity during gameplay.
Polygons Maddy Myers and
Kotakus Riley MacLeod wrote that the game repeatedly delivered its themes without allowing the player any agency in their decisions. Rob Zacny of
Vice wrote that, despite the amount of narrative moments, "it doesn't have much to say". Also writing for
Vice, Emanuel Maiberg drew parallels between the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the WLF and Seraphites, and argued this was poorly considered for its allegorical representation of two equal sides. McKeand of
VG247 described every character as "complex and human".
Destructoids Carter felt empathetic to the main characters, a sentiment echoed by
IGNs Dornbush, who found Ellie's development particularly "riveting". Andrew Webster of
The Verge praised the relationship between Ellie and Dina, though noted some dissonance in Ellie's behavior between gameplay and cutscenes.
GameSpots Plagge wrote that Abby's characterization led to a deeper connection to her than to Ellie, but found her character development incongruous with her "onslaught of combat against human enemies".
Kotakus MacLeod and
VentureBeats
Dean Takahashi appreciated the diversity of characters; Oli Welsh of
Eurogamer praised the representation of female and LGBT characters, calling it "a game about women", and
The Spinoffs Sam Brooks called it "a masterclass in how gaming can do inclusivity".
NPRs Kline lauded the game's ability to "connect with every character, not just the main characters".
Push Squares Barker wrote that the supporting characters "establish themselves extremely swiftly", and
Game Informers McNamara found their occasional absence alarming, having grown close to them. Conversely, some critics felt that the new supporting characters lacked the higher quality of the main characters and of Naughty Dog's previous work; Yannick Le Fur of
Jeuxvideo.com wrote that characters such as Jesse and Manny were simply used to advance the narrative.
Polygons Myers and
Vices Zacny criticized the characters' inability to learn from their mistakes. {{Multiple image |align=left |direction=horizontal |total_width=375 Critics praised the cast's performances, particularly those of Ashley Johnson, Troy Baker, and Laura Bailey. Welsh of
Eurogamer found Johnson's performance as Ellie to be "standout" due to her depiction of "rawness, vulnerability, and rage".
GamesRadar+s Avard considered Johnson's portrayal of suffering "nothing short of awards worthy", and found that Baker "steals some of
Part 2s best scenes as Joel" by adding complexities that enrich the character and relationships. Dornbush of
IGN wrote that Johnson added nuance to every element of Ellie, and commended Woodward's performance as Dina, especially during quieter moments.
VG247s McKeand found that the performances made the narrative more powerful.
GamesRadar+s Avard praised the care and authenticity with which gameplay mechanics were introduced, on par with Naughty Dog's reputation.
GameRevolutions Leri lauded the cohesiveness of gameplay and narrative, and their ability to create empathy.
GameSpots Plagge appreciated the combat's intensity and the fluidity of Ellie's movements, and
VentureBeats Takahashi found the combat more diverse than the first game's.
IGNs Dornbush felt combat gameplay and puzzles had been improved, praising the enemies' intelligence and variation.
GamesRadar+s Avard described the enemy AI as "some of the most advanced" of any game.
VG247s McKeand considered the level design better than other Naughty Dog games, and
Game Informers McNamara felt it improved combat scenarios.
The Verges Webster admired the action but noted some "awkward moments when [it] attempts to cover its video game-ness".
Polygons Myers found the combat an unsubtle messenger for the game's statement on violence;
Kotakus MacLeod thought its pacing "sometimes felt like punishment". Critics praised the game's "unprecedented" accessibility options;
Polygons Stephen Wilds called them "an amazing gift", even for players who do not require them, and
The Spinoffs Brooks felt they set a new bar for the medium. Many critics felt the graphics were among the best of any PlayStation 4 game.
Kotakus MacLeod wrote that the nature in Seattle is "gorgeous and awe-inspiring", and
Push Squares Barker declared the art department "among the best in the industry".
The Guardians MacDonald described the graphics as "meticulous and astounding". Dornbush of
IGN appreciated the world's ability to tell additional stories.
GameRevolutions Leri considered the environments more realistic than the first game's, and praised the technical elements, such as
frame rate, lack of load times, and realistic lighting. Carter of
Destructoid felt that the seamless animation of minor facial expressions humanized the characters to a new level. McNamara of
Game Informer similarly lauded the realistic-looking characters.
VentureBeats Takahashi commended the improvements to Naughty Dog's already impressive
engine. Zacny of
Vice found Seattle too similar to Boston and Pittsburgh from the first game, and Christopher Byrd of
The Washington Post wondered if the detail was worth the "human cost" of Naughty Dog's crunch culture. Barker of
Push Square described the sound design as "stunning", identifying the
3D audio as a technical feat he would not have expected until PlayStation 5.
Vices Zacny found that the audio design made settings feel more lifelike in a way that the visuals occasionally failed to do.
IGNs Dornbush similarly felt that the sounds added realism, and praised Santaolalla's "moving" score. McNamara of
Game Informer found that the music added tension. Kevin Dunsmore of
Hardcore Gamer wrote that the "haunting and subtle melodies blend into the world seamlessly".
Eurogamers Welsh praised the score for its combination of banjo and
electronics.
Remastered The Last of Us Part II Remastered received "universal acclaim" according to Metacritic, and 90% of critics recommended the game according to OpenCritic.
Video Games Chronicles Jordan Middler called it "the best way to play one of the best games ever made", and
Siliconeras Cory Dinkel wrote "it elevates an already near-perfect experience".
Push Squares Aaron Bayne found it perfectly partnered the first game's remake,
Part I.
Digital Trendss Giovanni Colantonio compared it to a
Criterion Collection re-release and
The Guardians Keith Stuart compared replaying the game to "rereading a favourite novel". Critics gave the Windows version "generally favorable" reviews, praising the optimization though noting occasional performance issues.
Destructoids Smangaliso Simelane wrote that few console games look as "beautifully detailed and borderline photorealistic" as
Remastered;
Siliconeras Dinkel compared the cinematography to the work of
Roger Deakins and felt the improved character animations enhanced the story, and
Varietys Katcy Stephan praised the visual and performance improvements for strengthening the narrative immersion. Some reviewers found the visual changes negligible but unnecessary due to the original's quality. The use of the DualSense's
haptic technology was considered by
Video Games Chronicles Middler the best since ''
Astro's Playroom (2020) and by Siliconera
s Dinkel the best of any game to date, while Inverse''s Kazuma Hashimoto found it strenuous after extended use.
GamingBolts Shubhankar Parijat considered No Return
Remastereds standout feature. Several reviewers found the mode addictive and felt it added value and replayability, demonstrating the quality of the game's combat elements;
Push Squares Bayne lauded its pacing and length. Some found the mode incongruous with the narrative's themes discouraging violence and felt it lacked the thematic and narrative justification of
God of War Ragnaröks roguelike mode, while others found its gameplay repetitive and upgrades inconsequential. No Return's gameplay elements drew comparisons to the canceled
multiplayer game
The Last of Us Online. The scrapped levels and audio commentary were praised for providing insight into the development process, named by some as
Remastereds standout feature;
Push Squares Bayne hoped other developers would imitate it. Several reviewers lauded the price point for existing owners.
Audience response The Last of Us Part II was the subject of
review bombing on Metacritic, resulting in a user review score of 3.4/10 at its nadir. Reporters noticed the review bombing occurred shortly after the game launched—too early for users to feasibly have finished it; some suggested that the reviews were based on the incomplete plot leaks. Many negative reviews criticized the characterization and plot; some complained of "
social justice warrior" politics, with vitriolic responses to LGBT characters.
CNETs Daniel Van Boom wrote that the review bombers did not represent the majority of players, while
Kotakus MacLeod identified thousands of positive reviews and felt Metacritic's system, which emphasizes scores over critique, comprised only "a bunch of meaningless numbers and a lot of rage". The incident led Metacritic to implement a 36-hour waiting period after release before allowing user reviews. Some players criticized Joel's death in the opening hours, perceiving a discrepancy between his cautious nature in the first game and his more trustful and protective attitude in
Part II.
Den of Geeks Matthew Byrd wrote that Joel had protected young women in the past, so his trusting of Abby in
Part II was not "entirely unreasonable". Sam Clench of
News.com.au also argued that Joel's time in Jackson had realistically made him less cynical over the years. A number of players considered Joel's brutal and undignified death "disrespectful"; Clench rebutted that it was realistic, as most real deaths occur at unfortunate times, and described the scene as "extremely strong, purposeful writing". Josh Hawkins of
Shacknews wrote that Joel's death was a fitting retribution for his brutal actions and murders in the previous game. Some players felt the marketing, which had altered and replaced characters in trailers to conceal Joel's death and Abby's role, constituted
false advertising; Druckmann responded that Naughty Dog had intended to preserve the game experience, "not to bamboozle anyone or get their $60". A subset of players criticized Abby and disapproved of her playable chapters as they had expected to control Ellie for the majority of the game.
Colliders Dave Trumbore felt Abby's killing of Joel led to her being unfairly maligned by audiences who had failed to understand the story's message. Some players criticized Abby's muscular physique, and theories spread online that she was transgender;
The Independents Amy Coles and
Polygons Patricia Hernandez argued that this perception was a result of the lack of body diversity in games, and that the story showed Abby had the resources to achieve her physique. Coles observed that these arguments were propagated by "a loud and determinedly misogynistic subset" of players. Laura Bailey, who played Abby, became the target of online
death threats in response to the character; Naughty Dog released a statement condemning the threats, and Bailey was supported by
James Gunn, Ashley Johnson, and
Craig Mazin, among others. Some members of the transgender community objected to the representation of Lev, a transgender supporting character. Criticism focused on villains using Lev's
deadname, that the character was created by
cisgender writers, and the use of trans stories as tragedies. Stacey Henley of
VG247 responded that Lev's deadname is used sparingly and that Ian Alexander, a transgender actor, provides the character's voice and motion capture. Writing for
Paste, Waverly praised the choice to have Lev played by a transgender actor, but felt there was too much emphasis on his gender identity and the suffering he experienced for it. Waverly felt that "Lev's story isn't made for trans people, but to give cisgender players a space to connect with their guilt and pity for trans people". Henley wrote that, while Lev's story is imperfect, it is "a major step for trans characters in gaming, [and] focuses on a highly charismatic and central character who is far more than this transness".
Kotakus MacLeod saw Lev's character as simply a way of acknowledging that trans people exist in the game's universe and wrote that it was up to the player to create their own meaning from the character. Alexander acknowledged the writers "might have missed the mark a little bit" regarding the use of Lev's deadname but felt Abby's response reflected the importance of allowing trans individuals the agency to discuss their gender on their own terms. A year after the game's release,
Colliders Trumbore identified a subset of players that continued to criticize the game and its legacy, comparing it to
some audience complaints about
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), though recognized it was "quieter" than at launch. In
Games and Culture, Robert Letizi and Callan Norman described a community of users on the
subreddit r/TheLastOfUs2 who continued posting hateful and discriminatory content denouncing the game several years after release as "alt-fans". Letizi and Norman linked the reception to the game to
alt-right politics and various hate movements and conspiracy theories; they argued the response to
Part II was not an outlier but an exemplar of common politically motivated responses to inclusivity in games. In July 2021, a user of the subreddit claimed they received death threats from fans of YouTube channel Girlfriend Reviews, who had posted positive videos about the game; following targeted harassment from the subreddit, Girlfriend Reviews discovered the threats were fabricated by the user.
Developer response Polygons Hernandez observed that the discourse surrounding
The Last of Us Part II had become adversarial, with "bigots" attacking the game for its diverse cast and Naughty Dog becoming defensive.
Vices Zacny claimed that, in response to his critical review, Sony contacted him on behalf of Naughty Dog to discuss his criticisms, which they disagreed with; Zacny said the discussion, while cordial, was unusual from a large publisher. On
Twitter, Druckmann expressed disapproval after journalist Jason Schreier mocked a reviewer's comparison of
Part II to ''
Schindler's List'' (1993); Schreier felt his reporting on Naughty Dog's crunch conditions prompted Druckmann's disapproval. A different tweet from Schreier stated that "video games are too long", which he later clarified was criticizing longer games being made for marketing purposes; Baker responded to the original tweet with a quote from US president
Theodore Roosevelt about
critics being less valuable than creators, which Schreier felt was an overreaction. Hernandez concluded that critics fearing backlash from publishers and fans was "not an environment that is conducive to encouraging honest reviews or critical discussion, which is ultimately a disservice to the game itself".
USgamers Bailey wrote that the strict
review embargo prevented meaningful discussion of the narrative. Druckmann acknowledged the leaks prompted the embargo as he had felt reviews discussing plot details would have become more harmful and widespread than the leaks.
Accolades The Last of Us Part II won 326
Game of the Year awards, according to tracking websites, which several outlets reported broke the record set by
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015); it was later surpassed by
Elden Ring (2022). The game was awarded from outlets and shows such as
Den of Geek,
Digital Trends,
Electronic Gaming Monthly,
Empire,
Entertainment Weekly,
Game Informer,
PlayStation Blog,
Push Square, and the
Titanium Awards. It was named runner-up by several other publications. At the 38th
Golden Joystick Awards in November 2020, it won all six awards for which it was nominated:
Ultimate Game of the Year, Best Audio, Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, PlayStation Game of the Year, and Studio of the Year for Naughty Dog. It led the nominees for
the Game Awards 2020 with eleven nominations, of which it won seven, the most in the show's history to date:
Game of the Year, Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Audio Design, Innovation in Accessibility, Best Action/Adventure, and Best Performance (for Bailey).
The Last of Us Part II was nominated for twenty-four awards at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, the most in the show's history; it won eight, including Outstanding Direction in a Game Cinema, Franchise Adventure Game, Lead Performance in a Drama (for Johnson and Bailey), and Supporting Performance in a Drama (for Baker). It was nominated for thirteen awards at the
17th British Academy Games Awards, the most in the show's history, winning for Animation, the publicly voted
EE Game of the Year, and
Performer in a Leading Role (for Bailey). It led the nominees at the
24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards with eleven nominations, of which it won two:
Outstanding Achievement in Animation and
Outstanding Achievement in Story. It also led the 19th Annual
Game Audio Network Guild Awards with fifteen nominations and eight wins, and the
21st Game Developers Choice Awards with six nominations, of which it won one. It received the most nominations at the inaugural Global Industry Game Awards with thirteen, of which it won three: 3D Animation, Cinematography, and Story. == Sales ==