The Last of Us Part II is one of the greatest PlayStation games of all time, and thanks to Naughty Dog and Nixxes Software teaming up, the masterpiece is now ready to play on PC.
Now available through Steam and the Epic Games Store, The Last of Us Part II Remastered has landed for PC gamers to explore what happens after the events of The Last of Us Part 1. And let me tell you, you're in for ride.
Not only will PC players finally get to experience the thrilling yet devasting journey, but they can also expect Nvidia DLSS 3 and AMD FSR 4.0 upscaling and frame generation, full Dualsense adaptive triggers and haptic feedback support, and even PC specific features like shadows, reflections and adjustable texture quality.
There are even aspect ratios including 21:9 ultra-wide, 32:9 super ultra-wide and a whopping 48:9 (I wish I had the setup).
Sure, I may have already made my way through TLOU II Remastered multiple times on PS5 (getting those PS trophies), but being able to play and tinker with settings on PC? You bet I'll go through it all once more. But here's the question I couldn't ignore: does it run on Steam Deck?
Well, after speaking with Naughty Dog and Nixxes, two things became clear. First, The Last of Us Part II Remasted is Steam Deck verified. Second, they really want me to get a Steam Deck to experience that game on the go (and yes, I agree). Not just to experience the main campaign, though; more specifically, No Return mode.
Let's dive into how Naughty Dog and Nixxes prepared The Last of Us Part II Remastered for PC, and why I think its roguelike survival No Return mode is primed for Steam Deck players.
No Return is "perfect" for Steam Deck
"No Return is really, really perfect for Steam Deck." That's the line that flipped a switch for me. Playing The Last of Us Part II Remastered, a game that ran beautifully on my PS5, on a portable PC handheld? I'm down.
Playing through the main story again would be fun (and satisfyingly intense), but it's the No Return mode, which made its way first on the Remastered version, that caught my attention. And Matthew Gallant, Game Director at Naughty Dog, think its primed for gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck.
"One of the nice things about No Return is if you only have a little bit of time and you want a bite-sized experience of The Last of Us [Part II], you're quickly into the gameplay and there's tons of variety," said Gallant.
He continues: "It's a nice hook for players rather than, you know, start playing Last of Us Part II's main story that you're really invested in. You're probably in for a long haul playing a whole chapter, going along with that journey. But No Return has that nice element to it."
For those not in the know, No Return has plenty of replayability, allowing players to master their skills in a rouguelike mode that see's them play as multiple characters from the game, whether it be Ellie, Joel, Abby, Jesse, Tommy and more. The goal is to complete randomized encounters involving clickers or hunters, scavenging for resources and beating enemies to reach the end of a run, where a boss will be lying in wait.
Each run lasts around 30 minutes (or more), making it an ideal game mode for PC gaming on the go. Specifically on Steam Deck, it reminds me of other amazing rouguelikes including Hades (and Hades 2), which are exemplary for the system.
"We wanted to make sure that it is really scalable so that even if you don't have a PS5 or have a 3 or 4-year-old PC, you're actually still able to play that game," said Coen Frauenfelder, PC Product Director at Nixxes.
"One of the things we focused on was the Steam Deck, that we're actually able to play the game on Steam Deck and other handhelds, which is, of course, amazing."
That was one of my burning questions quickly answered, but what solidified it all was when Travis McIntosh, Programming Director at Naughty Dog, confirmed it.
"I know I'm allowed to say it. We are Steam Deck verified. We're very happy with the experience on Steam Deck, and Valve agrees."
Gallant was interested to see if No Return mode "resonates with PC players differently than it did at the original release," and seeing as it's easy to pick up and put down on Steam Deck, I'm confident it will.
Plus, to keep PC players on their toes, there's new No Return content with the PC release, including two new playable characters — Bill and Marlene from TLOU Part I — offering different playstyles, along with four new maps, including Overlook, Nest, Streets and School.
Nailing the PC port
Look, it takes a lot to port a console game onto PC. The amount of configurations compared to just one, unified PS5 system is immense, as McIntosh explains:
"It's never easy. We did a lot of different things, to try and make sure that this was the best possible product. One of the biggest ones is our partners here at Nixxes. They have so much experience porting many, many PC games — experience Naughty Dog doesn't necessarily have."
The Last of Us Part II Remastered is the latest PlayStation game to get ported over to PC thanks to Nixxes, the Dutch company that spcializes in porting. They've brought Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and more, and these are brillinat PC ports.
"It's always hard to convert a PlayStation game to a PC game. PC is 500,000 configurations instead of two. So, it's challenging: different controls, different player experiences, and all that. Again, Nixxes know what PC players want, way better than I feel like we do, and so they brought a lot of expertise in that area."
This got me thinking about other platforms The Last Of Us could make it's way to. Gaming on Mac is getting real good, and with games like Death Stranding, Assassin's Creed Shadows and even Cyberpunk 2077 making their way on there, I wondered if it was time for more PS games to expand even further.
Again, though, porting games isn't easy, and Naughty Dog and Nixxes are ahppy sticking with the accomplishment of getting TLOU Part II Remastered on PC.
"I'll say the engine that Nixxes has ported works on the fact that it can work on Steam Deck all the way up to super high-end PCs," McIntosh said. "To me, it's pretty cool to see that happen, because when we built this game, it was for PlayStation console only, and that's easy.
"When you can have one piece of hardware, you can just work to that. And then when we threw it over the wallto Nixxes, they had to figure out how to make it work on 300,000 different machines all at once. It's a big challenge."
So, how does The Last of Us Part II Remastered play on Steam Deck? Well, desptie Naughty Dog telling to go and get one, that will take some time. So leave it to our own Jason England to get the proper testing sorted.
How does The Last of Us Part II Remastered run on Steam Deck?
So Naughty Dog and Nixxes claim that The Last of Us Part II is “really, really perfect for Steam Deck.” That’s where I come in to test that out, because I’ve been burnt before. If the teams learned anything from the original’s port, three critical things need to have been done:
- Optimize, optimize, optimize: Shader compilation needs to be sped up, more needs to be done with resolution scaling and frame generation has got to be improved.
- Key art, not key potato: This was cleaned up in future updates after Part I launched, so hopefully the developers have taken this to hear for Part II.
- Take care of the video memory: Part I was such a VRAM hog, which led to all the stuttering you see. Efficiencies need to be made wherever possible to bring that demand down.
Plus, let’s not forget that the handheld gaming market has expanded, too. So to see how things are going across the board, I’m testing this on both my Steam Deck (OG model) and the MSI Claw 8 AI+.
And the results? I’ve got to be real with you, they’re a lot better than I feared.
Focusing on the Steam Deck first, I can happily report that this is significantly less potato than the original at launch. Don’t get me wrong, you can tell the drop in detail on the recommended settings — especially in the cutscenes. But textures and character art has transitioned here nicely.
And during the heights of No Return gameplay, you’ll be consistently hitting between 35-40 FPS. That resolution scaling has been tuned nicely here.
And while in some of the more up close scenes with characters, you can detect the softness of the picture being tuned down to 540p, it doesn’t get in the way of that feeling you’re playing this massive game on a tiny system like the Steam Deck.
However, one thing that doesn’t do so well here is FSR frame generation. Technically, you can hit 60 FPS with it, but the amount of ghosting and artifacting makes the whole game look like a mess.
Now for the power-up, the Claw 8 AI+ absolutely ate here. If you use exactly the same low settings as Steam Deck, this clears 60 FPS with the greatest of ease with no frame gen. However, given the additional graphical boost that comes from Intel’s new Core Ultra 7 chip, you can get it running at a mixture of medium and high textures at a rock solid 30 FPS.
How does The Last of Us Part II Remastered run on PC?
To put this to the test, I’ve thrown two configurations at completely opposite ends of the power scale into the mix: the HP Victus 15 with RTX 4050, and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 with RTX 5090.
Obviously, when compared like-for-like on the same 1080p high settings, the 5090 obliterates here. But what actually is just how much we can get out of the 4050 system, and how far we can stretch that 5090.
And the optimizations for lower end GPUs are clear here. High detail at 1080p with all the DLSS 4 features got me clear of 60 FPS — a more-than playable experience that looks rather good with little-to-no ghosting around characters and fast-moving objects.
Moving over to the monster, you can turn everything up to “very high” with DLSS and get a rock solid 165 FPS minimum. It’s truly a feast for the eyes when you turn off motion blur and just witness the carnage.
Bottom line
Sitting down to chat with Naughty Dog and Nixxes opened my eyes to the possibilities of bringing The Last of Us Part II Remastered onto PC.
Yes, PC players that never got the chance to play the acclaimed PS5 title can now play through the heart-wrenching adventure with plenty of tweaks in settings to get the best experience, but really, it's yet another demanding title making its way to handheld PC gaming.
The results show that Nixxes clearly cooked here. While it plays well on Steam Deck, you'll find that other modern PC gaming handhelds can soar higher. And that's understandable, seeing as more recent portable gaming PCs like the MSI Claw 8 AI+ come with beefier specs.
Oh, and as you can also tell, it works great on PCs, including with 60 FPS on gaming laptops with an RTX 4050.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered is out now on PC, and if you haven't given it a go before, I urge you to try it. In the meantime, I'm going to find a way to get myself a Steam Deck (as told by Naughty Dog and Nixxes).
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