Say what you will about the controversy surrounding The Last of Us Part 2’s story, which feels as fresh today as it did in 2020, there’s no denying that it remains an absolute stunner of a video game. The extent to which Naughty Dog utilized the PlayStation 4 hardware to deliver such impressive fidelity, be it in the character models and effects or the animations and environmental details, remains as baffling as it does miraculous.
Though it received a free update for the PS5 that included 30 FPS and 60 FPS options, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a proper paid upgrade over the PS5 version. While it’s not a massive graphical overhaul, it does offer new modes, including the rogue-like No Return and Lost Levels, three levels cut from the game alongside extensive developer commentary. You can also engage in Guitar Free Play or try to complete the story as quickly as possible in Speedrun Mode.
Over a year later, the remaster finally comes to PC on April 3rd, as Naughty Dog teams up with Nixxes and Iron Galaxy. Is it a massive improvement over the PS5 version? Is it the definitive way to play the classic? Of course, after The Last of Us Part 1’s disastrous launch on PC and the mixed bag that some first-party PS5 ports (like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2) have been, some skepticism is understandable. Let’s dive in and find out.
What’s New With the PC Version?
Considering that The Last of Us Part 2, both the original and remastered, doesn’t offer ray tracing, it’s no surprise that it isn’t on the table with this PC port. What it offers is Ultrawide monitor support, whether you’re rocking a 21:9, 32:9 or 48:9 resolution display, not to mention triple-monitor set-ups. Upscalers like Nvidia DLSS 3 Super Resolution, AMD FSR 3.1, Intel XeSS and AMD FSR 4, alongside Frame Generation and DirectStorage, are also supported. You can also enable Vsync and output much higher frame rates than the PS5. But how heavy will all this be on your system?
PC Requirements and Test Rig Configuration
Regarding PC requirements, Naughty Dog, Nixxes and Iron Galaxy offer a decent range of scalability. While you only need an Intel Core i3-8100 or an AMD Ryzen 3 1300X on the Minimum end, a GeForce GTX 1650 or Radeon RX 5500XT is required along with 16 GB of RAM, which is enough for 720p/30 FPS at Low settings. On the recommended side for 1080p/60 FPS on Medium settings, you’ll need a Core i5-8600 or Ryzen 5 3600, an RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 5700, and 16 GB RAM.
Playing at 1440p/60 FPS on High settings requires a Core i7-9700K or a Ryzen 7 3700X, an RTX 3070 or a Radeon RX 6800, and 16 GB of RAM. If you’re aiming for the highest quality standard, namely 4K/60 FPS at Very High settings, you’ll need a Core i7-11700 or a Ryzen 7 5700X CPU, an RTX 4080 or RX 7900XT and 32 GB RAM. And while it’s roughly 79 GB on PS5, a whopping 150 GB of installation space is required for the PC port (SSD mandatory). Our rig has an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and 32 GB of RAM.
Graphical Options and Our Settings
On top of upscalers, DirectStorage support, and whatnot, the big appeal of the PC port is adjustable graphics options. You can adjust the Level of Detail, Reflection Quality, Texture Quality and Filtering, Shadow Quality, Depth of Field Quality, Refraction Quality, Particle Density, and much more.
For our settings, we went with DLSS set to Quality at 3840×2160 resolution, 60 Hz as the refresh rate and frame rate capped at 360. DLAA and Vsync are enabled while pretty much every option is set to Very High, though no changes were made to the Field of View, and dynamic resolution scaling is off.
PC Performance
If the performance of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC made you skeptical of future first-party ports, rest assured. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s frame rate runs at a solid 60 frames per second throughout with very minimal drops. It’s impressive given the sheer amount of detail and effects at 4K, whether you’re admiring the lights in town or venturing through snow-covered fields, escaping from a horde of infected. Facial and character animations also look as nuanced and natural as ever, with stunning image clarity bringing all the little details – like freckles, snowflakes, and whatnot – to the forefront.
However, there are some drawbacks. In an early scene with Abby and Owen, the latter’s hair glitches out in places. It happens again later on and though it’s not super-prevalent, the times it does occur are impossible to miss. There are also ghosting issues, which are subtle in the mansion scene, again with Owen’s hair, but they’re much more noticeable when Ellie sprints through the snow on horseback. At first, it seemed restricted to cutscenes, but you may even notice it during gameplay while moving at a measured pace. There aren’t any major glitches or performance troubles otherwise.
PC vs PS5 (Fidelity and Performance)
On the PS5, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered offers Performance and Fidelity modes. The former runs at 1440p/60 frames per second, while the latter offers native 4K and 30 frames per second. Those with a 120 Hz output can mess around with the PS5’s VRR settings to achieve higher unlocked frame rates, but we stuck to the default.
Both modes offer stable frame rates on the console, but Fidelity mode packs better image clarity, especially in distant details and aspects like foliage. The trade-off is the frame rate, of course. With the PC version, you get the best of both worlds. Sections like riding through the fields as Joel and gazing upon Jackson from a distance while the sun shines really highlight how well the visuals have held up through the years, even if some ghosting is visible at times.
Conclusion
When you look back at the series’ debut on PC with The Last of Us Part 1, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is on a completely different level. Yes, the ghosting can get distracting, and there is the odd visual glitch with Owen’s hair, but it’s backed by excellent performance, gorgeous visuals all around and no major bugs (at least none we observed in our hands-on time).
As always, your mileage can vary depending on the hardware and settings, but seeing this level of fidelity with most settings on Very High and at 4K with a mostly locked 60 FPS on an RTX 3080 Ti is pretty impressive. If you’re a PC player waiting to continue the story since Part 1 dropped, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered comes highly recommended.