The Last of Us’ No Return Roguelike Has a Fork in the Road to Consider

It may not be a Factions 2 or the canceled Last of Us online game, but No Return deserves praise as a niche roguelike mode in The Last of Part 2. There’s rarely a run where players are greeted with favorable RNG, to be sure, and yet it’s a fairly ingenious way to extend The Last of Us Part 2’s shelf life as it gives players an outlet to pour their skill of combat and stealth with unique perks and characters that weren’t playable in the story. Plus, with Marlene and Bill now added to The Last of Us Part 2’s No Return, the door seems open wide to more Last of Us Part 1 characters joining in the future.

Indeed, there’s a lot more Part 1-related content that No Return could add if Naughty Dog is hoping to keep the roguelike mode healthy for the foreseeable future. That said, the ambiguous nature of the franchise following The Last of Us Part 2 means that No Return as a game mode could be on a shaky precipice. Naughty Dog seemingly must choose between two options, assuming that a Part 3 is even on the table: either Part 3 receives a No Return mode and effectively makes Part 2’s redundant, or a No Return mode is skipped in Part 3 with Naughty Dog continuing to update Part 2’s with brand-new Part 3 content.

No Return in a Last of Us Part 3 Could Make The Last of Us Part 2’s Obsolete

Option one could undoubtedly be great for anyone who adores No Return and would like to see it reprised in a future Last of Us entry, and a great reason to reprise No Return instead of burying it in The Last of Us Part 2 is because a Part 3 may have a ton of new mechanics and ensure that gameplay is completely different. Gameplay from Part 1 to Part 2 couldn’t be more different, for instance, and monumental changes would now be expected of a Part 3. Plus, anyone who is disappointed by No Return and was hoping for a multiplayer mode a la Factions would be doubly burned by a second No Return mode.

No microtransactions are involved in No Return, but having to begin again from scratch may be a tough pill to swallow for players who’ve farmed runs believing that this roguelike mode might be the last piece of Last of Us content they ever receive from Naughty Dog. A No Return in Part 3 would then have to decide if it wants to absorb all of the sequel’s Part 1 and Part 2 content as well as adding brand-new Part 3 content, and in doing so it could be more ideal to have all available content on the most recent and modern title.

The Last of Us Part 3 Sans No Return Could Bury the Roguelike Mode in The Last of Us Part 2

Option two is probably more favorable as it might ensure that the sequel doesn’t lose what little shelf life it’s still clinging to, but it would mean No Return is entombed in Part 2 without any of the new gameplay enhancements and features that a Part 3 might introduce to the series. Rather, The Last of Us ditching No Return in Part 3 could give Part 2’s roguelike mode significance, similar to how Factions is now unique to the original Last of Us and its PS4 remaster before the Part 1 remake on PS5. Competitive dailies in Part 2’s No Return are a phenomenal way of maintaining a playerbase and many players still do compete, but fewer players may be as likely to stick around if a Part 3 had its own No Return.