Naughty Dog, the studio behind the hit post-apocalyptic stealth-action game franchise, The Last of Us, has released a surprise update for 2024’s The Last of Us Part II Remastered, adding a new Chronological mode that reshuffles the game’s original non-linear narrative into a linear storyline.
Announced via a post on the PlayStation Blog, the new update, which is out today for the PS5 and PC, re-orders the title’s narrative beats into one cohesive storyline and is meant as a fresh way to experience the game for returning players. Those familiar with the game would no doubt remember that its story was told non-linearly, intertwining flashbacks and present-day events to help enhance its emotional storytelling, and now, by enabling the new option, players can witness the game’s plot unfold in chronological order.
“Through the new Chronological mode, we believe players will gain even deeper insight into Part II’s narrative.” wrote Naughty Dog Editorial Content Manager Jonathon Dornbush, “Players will be able to see how Ellie being gifted a guitar flows so neatly into her learning to play, for example, while the journey through Seattle will showcase the fascinating parallels between Ellie and Abby’s crisscrossing journeys. You’ll see just how close they come into running into each other, how their actions impact each other, and more.”
Despite realising such a substantial shake up to the game’s narrative, Naughty Dog still encourages new players to experience the game as it “was originally developed” during their first run, explaining that its “structure is very intentional and core to how our studio wanted Part II’s themes and narrative beats to impact players”.
That’s not all, as to incentivise players to engage in this new mode, beating the game with the Chronological option enabled will unlock two new skins that should be familiar to fans of Naughty Dog, a Nathan Drake outfit for Joel and a Samuel Drake outfit for Tommy, inspired by the studio’s other massively popular IP, Uncharted. Once unlocked, these two outfits will be usable in the game’s No Return roguelike survival mode.
The new update for The Last of Us Part II Remastered is now available for the PS5 (Patch 2.1.0) and PC (Patch 1.5), bringing the new Chronological mode alongside “a host of additional bug fixes and performance improvements”.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Ting Wei
