The Last Of Us 2 Best Difficulty - Which To Choose

Updated:

20 Jul 2021

While it used to be a staple of action games, difficulty settings aren't always made available nowadays. No need to fear though, Naughty Dog games has set up plenty of options for the player in The Last Of Us Part II.

7. Very Light

When you Google, “Story Heavy Video Games” The Last of Us is one of the first results to pop up. The original installment drew widespread attention for its likeable characters and story; so much so that even people who weren’t typically interested in video games were trying it out. The ‘Very Light’ setting is a perfect fit for anyone getting into the game just to see this story continue.

How It Works

Combat encounters are minimalized
Enemy AI is low
Enemies deal less damage
The player deals more damage
Resources are abundant and easy to come by

Choose This Difficulty If…

You just want to experience the story of The Last of Us 2
You don’t typically play combat or stealth oriented games

6. Light

While I’ve personally always been more on the Sony side of the console wars, Microsoft certainly has a loud and devoted group of admirers. Even so, Playstation has plenty of noteworthy exclusive titles, and if you want to experience the full gamut of gameplay each season, you’ll need to jump between platforms. Whether you’re simply learning a different controller, or starting fresh where you’d normally use a mouse and keyboard, if you’re not familiar with the PS4 and all its quirks I’d recommend going easy on yourself with the ‘Light’ mode. This difficulty level also mostly eliminates the need to ration supplies and ammo, a divisive mechanic in any game.

How It Works

Supplies are plentiful
Enemies are weak
Stealth portions are very forgiving

Choose This Difficulty If...

You aren’t familiar with the PS4 controller
You don’t typically play this type of game
You want to experience the story with mild combat experiences

5. Moderate

Look, I went to school for game design (and I’ll continue to bring it up until my student loans are paid off), and if it wasn’t obvious already, let me tell you this: developers start from the moderate and work outward. This means that for most linear games, the ‘normal’ or ‘moderate’ setting is the closest experience to what the developers intended for the player. So, if you aren’t sure what to go with, just pick this one. You’ll get the story and challenge in the most polished way possible.

How It Works

Resources and enemies are about as you’d expect
Nothing presents a seemingly insurmountable challenge
You experience the game in a way the developers expected whilst designing it

Choose This Difficulty If…

You want to experience the baseline experience set by the developers
You are an experienced gamer, but unfamiliar with the first game
You aren’t looking for an intense challenge

4. Hard

Maybe these games are your bread and butter; you already know what to expect and how to handle it. Maybe you like planning out how to use your supplies and ammo with the fear of running out looming overhead. Go with hard mode, you’ll enjoy the challenge.

How It Works

Enemies are smarter and more aggressive
Weapons are harder to come by
Supplies are limited

Choose This Difficulty If…

You don’t mind dying from time to time
You enjoy resource management
You’re experienced in stealth and combat based games

3. Survivor

This is a Zombie Apocalypse with survivor in-fighting, not your nephew’s birthday party. You’re scrounging for materials, sneaking past enemies who really might detect you, and carefully picking your battles because your enemies are tough, and your ammo is limited. This will be difficult, the experience is rewarding.

How It Works

Game hints are removed
Enemies are twice as strong
Listen Mode (The ability to sense nearby enemies within a certain range, even through walls) is disabled
Supplies and weapons are also limited

Choose This Difficulty If…

You’re truly dedicated to the roleplaying aspect of story-driven games
You want to feel that your every decision matters
You’re very experienced in this type of game, on this platform, and want an action driven challenge

2. Grounded

Released in an upgrade two months after The Last of Us 2 came out, Grounded mode is a return to form from the first game. An absolute must if you’re a streamer intent on showing off your skills to viewers. A challenge meant to shake up even the most desensitized veterans of the genre. You (the player, not Ellie) should stay hydrated, well fed, and rested if you want the energy and focus to take this on.

How It Works

Enemies hit three times as hard
Resources are incredibly scarce
Listen Mode is disabled
The Heads-Up Display (which points out interactables and items that can be collected) is turned off

Choose This Difficulty If…

You hate yourself
You aren’t prone to rage quits
You have an emotional attachment to the black screen after a death occurs
You’re just really good at video games and want to flex (mad respect, honestly)

1. Custom

A very commendable addition to the standard difficulty choices of action games -- this mode lets you adjust how challenging you want different aspects of the game to be. If you like difficult enemies, but hate running out of ammo, you can adjust that. If you aren’t good in stealth sections but want to keep the rest of the game challenging, you can set that up. This mode guarantees that you can get through the game with the levels of challenge that you want.

How It Works

Players have the option to individually adjust 5 different aspects of the game
Those aspects are: Player, Enemies, Allies, Stealth, and Resources
Each slider can be adjusted from Very Light to Grounded
These sliders affect your damage output, enemy strength, ally abilities, enemy AI, and resource availability

Choose This Difficulty If…

You want to tweak the mechanics to create a unique experience
There are certain challenges you enjoy, and others you do not

Bonus: Permadeath

While not a difficulty setting in and of itself, Permadeath is a mode that can be added on to any of the aforementioned difficulty modes. It is exactly what it sounds like: if the player has this on for a run of the game, all deaths are permanent. It can be adjusted to make critical failures less severe (putting you back at the start of a chapter, rather than the start of the game, for example) but this mode makes it so that all deaths within the game guarantee a noteworthy loss of progress.

How It Works

An additional mode that can be turned on for any difficulty in the game, as long as it is on for the whole game
The player can choose how much progress will be lost whenever a death occurs; the options are to send the player back to the start of the chapter, the start of the act, or the start of the whole game.