Summary
The No Return game mode inThe Last of Us Part 2 Remasteredmay not have story-relevant content likeGod of War Ragnarok’s roguelike epilogue, but it is arguably more replayable for the fact that it doesn’t necessarily have a hard ending like Valhalla does.No Return has different difficulties with different score multipliers, incentivizing players to try out harder runs and reap more rewards, and it’s also fun that many characters have been made playable that previously weren’t.
Characters like Mel or Manny don’t have new animations and rightfully so, but having them voiced still and seeing what unique advantages or disadvantages they have makes No Return even more entertaining as players progress—Joel and Tommy are popular playable character choices, for instance, yet they are both unable to dodge. That said, whileNo Return is a proper celebration ofThe Last of Us Part 2, there’s still ample room for an expansion with more characters and locations.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s No Return Needs Part 1 Characters
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s No Return is Already a Complete Package
Roguelikes are inherently unending as long as there is content to strive toward or personal goals to achieve, and in that regard No Return has quite a bit of longevity to it. There may come a point when allskins and available content are unlocked inThe Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s No Return, but that affords enough time for players to thoroughly experience all of its different roguelike permutations and complete many runs.
As it stands, No Return is also fairly accommodating, but without accessibility functions each encounter is commonly a hectic bout with dreadful mods, appropriately giving players the choice between two unpleasant progression paths. It’s interesting to see how everything is unlocked, though, with characters only becoming available once prerequisites have been met.
This gives each run a challenge or two to either actively or passively work toward, but like all great roguelikes it’s natural that players will complete challenges by the end of a run without necessarily trying to. No Return is therefore a comprehensiveLast of Us Part 2package between Ellie and Abby’s separate groups of characters and the settings players visit in the base game, but an unlikely expansion could tack on twice as much content if Naughty Dog wanted to extend the roguelike’s shelf life further.
A No Return Expansion Could See Locations, Characters, and Skins from The Last of Us Part 1
BecauseThe Last of Us Part 1puts the original game’s graphical fidelity on par withPart 2’s photorealism, there’s no reason why aPart 1expansion couldn’t be added to No Return in the future. It would be fascinating to see Tess, Bill, Marlene, Henry, David, and others added to No Return as playable characters with distinct default abilities, for example, and see characters like Abby or Lev engage in encounters taking place inPart 1locations such as the Capitol Building or the Boston QZ.
However, it’s unlikely that such an expansion will come to No Return due to its general premise being largely self-sufficient. Everything being procedural and random allows the mode to feel refreshing each time players boot it up and it would make more sense for Naughty Dog to concentrate on its upcoming games rather than treat No Return like a live-service product, which it is not. Still, aPart 1expansion would not go amiss, especially because it will probably be a long whileuntil Naughty Dog’s next game is revealedand No Return is likely the piece ofTheLast of Usthat will endure until then.
