With The Last of Us Part 2, developer Naughty Dog is continuing a storyline that started way back on the PlayStation 3, and which has built an expectation that’s seemingly impossible to live up to. The good news is that regardless of how fans feel about the game, Last of Us Part 2 is easily the most ambitious project that ND has ever undertaken.
While an average Naughty Dog game typically takes about 10-15 hours to complete, The Last of Us Part 2 takes between 25-30 hours to beat. Players that choose to explore every nook and cranny are in for a real treat with the game, as the developers have made sure to offer plenty to discover around every corner.
The Long Playthrough
The disparity in The Last of Us Part 2 completion times mainly comes down to two different playstyles. If players are focused on collectibles and journal entries, then they will spend a lot more time in the game. The Last of Us Part 2 is a relatively easy game to unlock the Platinum Trophy on, so many might attempt to find all of the artifacts, coins, journals, and collector cards during their first playthrough.
If players should miss any collectibles on their first playthrough, The Last of Us Part 2 has a very smart replayability system that allows them to jump into the game at any of the main chapters. There are even encounter replays available, but those typically don’t have all of the collectibles.
In other words, if The Last of Us Part 2 players spend a lot of time digging around for everything that Naughty Dog has left to find, then they will likely finish the game in about 30 hours. Those who choose to focus on the critical path and do minimal exploring will be done in around 25.
The Challenging Playthrough
The other key factor in how long The Last of Us Part 2 takes to beat is the difficulty. Like the first game, the sequel offers a robust selection of difficulty options as well as modifiers to further tweak individual elements. There is the usual Survival and Grounded for the ultra challenge, but even on Easy or Medium, players can go into the menu and dial up (or dial down) attributes like AI awareness or companion aggression.
Players that keep things leaning towards the easy side will find they can get through The Last of Us Part 2 quicker than most and likely near the 25-hour mark. But those who up the challenge and have to be methodical about each encounter will end up stretching more runtime out of the game.
In our The Last of Us Part 2 review playthrough the final time counter said it took us about 27 hours to complete the story from start to finish. We did some exploring and were on the default difficulty, and there were some encounters that took longer than they might on easy. Either way, this game is easily Naughty Dog’s biggest game and offers a substantial experience for players.
The Last of Us Part 2 releases June 19, 2020 for PS4.
