Beating the main story of The Last of Us Part 2 may not be the end of your journey, as the game provides more content even after you beat the game. No matter how you feel about this game's controversial story, the gameplay alone might draw you back in. The unique atmosphere of the world Ellie and Abby find themselves in has much more to offer beyond a single playthrough.
Those who have played The Last of Us will be familiar with a lot of the systems present in its sequel. This game's journey follows Ellie, one of the previous main characters, and Abby, a new character trying to accomplish goals that directly oppose Ellie. The connections between the lives of both characters define the story, with many shocking moments in TLOU Part 2 creating an unexpected narrative.
10 Replay The Game In Grounded Mode
Test Your Skills On the Hardest Difficulty
The Grounded Mode for TLOU Part 2 was released well after the game's launch, but now you always have a chance to try and beat the game again on its hardest difficulty. If you played it safe on your first experience, this mode may be the challenge you need to create a new experience. For some, this is the definitive way to enjoy the story once you have become familiar with all its twists and turns.
Enemies have increased damage and health during Grounded Mode, but your resources are incredibly scarce within this difficulty as well. You'll have to carefully look for more ammo, upgrades, and crafting materials in each level if you want a chance at survival in TLOU Part 2. Memorizing certain stages of the story and where each item could be is almost necessary to make it through the harder sections of the game.
9 Try Out No Return Mode
Tackle Rogue-Like Mission Structure
The Remastered edition of TLOU Part 2 released in 2024 introduces a new mode called No Return, which acts as a rogue-like that you can embark upon beyond the main story. Instead of replaying campaign Chapters, you can take on the role of a hero character and attempt missions of different types with limited gear. As you complete more objectives, you slowly build your gear to take on more difficult tasks.
Unlocking new characters in No Return will give you heroes with various skills that approach the game far differently than Ellie or Abby in the story. The changes brought about by these characters give the gameplay of TLOU Part 2 some much-needed variety as you tackle different missions. While you can't play as heroes from No Return in the story, the random nature of missions makes this mode far more diverse.
8 Attempt To Beat The Game With Permadeath On
You Only Live Once
While you may have thought Grounded Mode was the hardest way to beat the game, doing so with Permadeath turned on takes a difficult challenge and makes it nearly impossible. This setting was added with Grounded Mode and causes the entire game to start over if Ellie or Abby dies at any point. The severity of this change makes every enemy encounter twice as dangerous with the threat of death restarting your playthrough.
The frustration that can come with failing a Permadeath run is not for the faint of heart. Only the most experienced players will have a shot at completing a playthrough with Permadeath turned on, so don't try this until you are confident in your abilities. Check out the above video by YouTube creator Gweilo Ren for general tips about surviving Grounded Mode to learn some tricks that may help you win a Permadeath run.
You can always change the settings for Permadeath to respawn Ellie or Abby back to the beginning of the Chapter you died in instead of the beginning of the whole story.
7 Replay Every Chapter On New Game+
Bring Your Best Items From Previous Playthroughs
For those looking to be more powerful rather than helpless in Grounded Mode or Permadeath, you can always replay the story on New Game+. This mode restarts the campaign from its first Chapter, but you keep all the weapons, upgrades, and gear you accumulated in the previous playthrough. For example, some of your best weapon upgrades in TLOU Part 2 will automatically be unlocked as you start the story again.
New Game+ can also help you find content you may have missed before, such as additional upgrades or strong weapons. This extra opportunity to explore the story may also let you find certain collectibles or materials that help you beat a previously difficult level. Take your time as you travel through New Game+ to discover skipped content since the enemies will be much easier to defeat with your returning gear.
6 Experiment With New Graphics Settings
Make A Beautiful Game Look Even Better
The patch in 2020 gave TLOU Part 2 a graphics overhaul, introducing a variety of changes that let you see the hauntingly beautiful landscapes of this game in better detail. Features like 8-bit graphics, a 1960 filter, a moonlight filter, and many more options are available for you to play around with. Experiment with different visual settings to see how this title has only improved over time with its visual fidelity.
If you are playing TLOU Part 2 Remastered, you will notice even more visual changes made to the game in its 2024 update. 4K performance has been added, as well as improvements to the game's framerate, texture resolution, shadows, and more. Check out the above video by YouTube creator Nick930 to see how both versions of the game compare to one another with their various visual upgrades over the years.
5 Turn On Various Cheats
Change the Settings to Your Benefit
Cheats are allowed in TLOU Part 2, as alternate settings you can turn on or off to affect the gameplay in almost every mode. The cheats offered range from infinite ammo, every bullet taking down an enemy in one shot, to even infinite crafting materials. Anyone trying to speedrun the game may want to use these game-breaking tactics to get through the story fast, but cheats can be fun in a variety of circumstances.
4 Unlock Different Skins In Remastered Edition
Give Characters a Different Appearance
Skins are a part of TLOU Part 2 Remastered that you can earn to change the visual appearances of many characters. Beyond Abby and Ellie, you can earn skins for characters in No Return mode as well, giving them a new look before you start another rogue-like run. Weapons also have various skins you can get, marking them with paints and other patterns that sometimes refer to other well-known games.
There are specific challenges in No Return mode that offer skins as a reward for their completion. While certain events in the story may earn you a few skins you can equip, some objectives are quite easy to miss in your first playthrough. Many skins are fun ways of customizing the characters from TLOU Part 2 by giving them new cosmetic looks that can be used in any mode once they're unlocked.
3 Learn To Play The Guitar
Master an Intricate Mini-Game
One of the best mini-games is the one where you can play a guitar by using inputs corresponding to specific notes. While some games might make this a simple game, TLOU Part 2 has a complex system in place to mimic the complexity it takes to play the instrument in real life. While you may have only tried to pluck a few strings your first playthrough, you may take a longer time in subsequent journeys to learn how to play.
2 Discover The Lost Levels
See Areas That Weren't In the Base Game
Developer Naughty Dog has included three lost levels originally planned to be part of TLOU Part 2 now included in the Remastered version of the game. These segments are areas that did not make the final edition of the game when it launched but now act as sandboxes for you to explore. You can choose to go through these rough and unpolished sections whenever you like as an Easter Egg of what could've been.
The three lost levels available are Jackson Party, Seattle Sewer, and The Hunt. The first features Ellie during the Jackson dance, where you can explore and chat with members of the community during a peaceful time. The second is an environmental puzzle area where you fight back against rushing water, while the final level is a brief mission where Ellie has to track and hunt down a boar.
Don't expect the same level of refinement in these lost levels as you may expect in the levels tied to No Return or the main story. As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator Banden, there are missing elements to these areas you'll quickly notice. Missing audio and patchworked visuals betray the unfinished state of each level, but it's fun to think about what they might have looked like if completed.
1 Try Out Other Games Like Last Of Us Part 2
Find Another Dystopian Experience
Third-person, narrative-driven titles with survival mechanics are a common genre in gaming, meaning you'll have many other experiences waiting for you when you finish TLOU Part 2. The reboot series of the Tomb Raider and Uncharted games have strong action, albeit with a light-hearted tone compared to Ellie and Abby's journey.
For those looking for another dystopian series, Death Stranding's environmental atmosphere has similarities with this game's tone, with heavy story elements as well. One of the best things to do after completing The Last of Us Part 2 could be to broaden your horizons from such a memorable experience and find other titles that share this game's themes and ideas.
