Reception for has been, in the most spoiler-free language possible, mixed. While in some cases the game is receiving vitriol for reasons related solely to creative decisions from its writing staff, other reviewers have cataloged high highs and low lows in their experience of the game. Controversy and disparity in its critical and fan reception aside, one element of The Last of Us Part II unmarred by any criticism and, in factꦉ, a feature generally agreed upon as great, is its difficulty system.
Adjusting the difficulty in The Last of Us Part II is more in-depth than simply selecting "Easy" or "Hard" and preceding to play with that level's parameters set in stone. 🌳Whil🉐e five difficulty levels—very light, light, moderate, hard and survivor—do inform its degree of challenge, these are guidelines for five different sliders rather than all-encompassing difficulty options as they would be in most similar games.
Those five sliders are for categories called Player, Enemies, Allies, Stealth, and Resources (though a slider listed as "Challenge" can change the difficulty in a traditional, all-encompassing manner if the player so desires). Reddit user in the "true gaming" subreddit has broken down these sliders dynamic🔯ally affect the game's difficulty in a thread praising this feature.
- The "Player" setting affects Ellie's base health and the amount of times the game will mark a checkpoint in the middle of combat.
- The "Enemies" setting determines both the level of enemies' aggression and their efficacy in combat. Conditionally, it also alters plot-specific moments in certain mandatory battles.
- The "Allies" setting determines the battle efficacy of any available companion characters.
- The "Stealth" setting alters how effectively the player character can sneak through combat areas without being detected.
- The "Resources" setting determines the overall size of scrounged resources, durability of melee weapons, and the number of items created, like bombs and arrows, from one set of materials.
By offering each of these options, difficulty can becomes a fun🦩ction of play style. For example, a hypothetical player who enjoys standard difficulty but finds stealth too easy can turn just the stealth slider up for a more tailored experience. Likewise, a player who enjoys combat at the highest difficulty but doesn't enjoy finding resources can turn 🌄that slider all the way down.
This isn't unprecedented—WarGroove, for example, lets players adjust damage, currency accumulation, and ultimate ability charge rate individually. The Last of Us Part II, however, is arguably bigger than WarGroove or any other game to 𓃲implement a similar ꦗsystem, and can hopefully be a standard-bearer for adaptive difficulty settings in AAA releases moving forward.