The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered director doesn't "understand some of the consternation" around its release

eurogamer.net:

Naughty Dog's Matthew Gallant has said he doesn't «understand some of the consternation» surrounding The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered's release.

The director was asked by VGC his thoughts on the backlash remakes and remasters — such as Naughty Dog's upcoming native PS5 version of The Last of Us Part 2 — are often met with. After all, the original game came out less than four years ago.

«I don't understand some of the consternation about what The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered offers,» Gallant replied, adding he believes this release is «the best way to play The Last of Us Part 2, if you're a new PlayStation owner and new to the franchise».

The developer said the PS5 hardware will give users the «best» gameplay experience. «My sense is there's an audience for this for whom the idea of a PS5 version is thrilling,» he continued. «I'm also speaking for myself, I'm excited we can bring this to the fans, and if it's not for everyone, that's fine.»

Earlier in the conversation, Gallant touched on the various features that are included in the remastered version, and which he feels makes this a worthwhile upgrade. As well as improved visuals and rendering (something Digital Foundry discussed in their The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered tech analysis), the director also highlighted the DualSense's haptic feedback and accessibility improvements. Some of these, Gallant said, have been bought over from the studio's Part 1 remake, which was released in 2022.

«The biggest one was cinematic descriptions. So we now have those audio-described cinematics that we didn't have in the original game. So now players who are blind or players with low vision can have more story context of what's going on in the cinematic with those audio descriptions,» he explained.