The Last of Us Part 2's making-of documentary arrives next week

eurogamer.net:

As The Last of Us Part 2 strides back in the spotlight thanks to its recently released PlayStation 5 remaster, developer Naughty Dog has announced an arrival date for its previously revealed making-of documentary, which will be available to watch on YouTube and in-game via an impending Remastered patch from Friday, 2nd February.

Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2 is (as its name very much implies) the sequel to Naughty Dog's original Grounded documentary, which released in 2015 and charted the «dogged development and unique philosophy» of the first The Last of Us game.

This follow-up documentary almost didn't happen; filming was forced to wrap up prematurely when the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, but the footage (which goes back to The Last of Us Part 2's early days in 2016) has now been revisited and assembled into an 85-minutes behind-the-scenes feature exploring the sequel's development.

Grounded 2's arrival next Friday (there's a trailer here, but it's extremely game-spoilery so proceed with caution) will be accompanied by an update for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered that, as well as making it possible to watch the documentary in-game, will include additional skins for Ellie and Abby, presumably for use in the campaign and roguelike survival mode No Return.

No Return is, of course, one of several new features included in The Last of US 2 Remastered, arriving alongside the likes of a Guitar Free Play mode, a behind-the-scenes campaign commentary track, enhanced visuals, and more. Digital Foundry called the recent PlayStation 5 release a «successful, though not boundary-pushing» remaster, while Eurogamer contributor Vikki Blake also had good things to say about the package.

«Even with a tale as bleak as this one,» she wrote, «I need no excuse to justify spending a little quality