This week marks the one-year anniversary of Naughty Dog’s acclaimed The Last of Us: Part II, the follow-up to their equally-acclaimed 2013 game, The Last of Us. Dodging angry YouTube comments and review bombs, the game went on to receive praise upon praise and win the most Game of the Year awards ever. And one year later, we’re here to bestow yet more praise.

Across a stunning canvas of complex drama, innovative storytelling, and striking gameplay, there are enough terrifying, electrifying, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and all-of-the-above moments that prove The Last of Us: Part II to be a masterpiece. Here are my 10 favorite moments from the game, taking breaks only to wipe the tears from my face.Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II.

RELATED: 'The Last of Us: Part II' Gets 60 FPS Update for PlayStation 5

10. Ride Through Haven

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

The final stretch of Abby’s (Laura Bailey) story finds her and Lev (Ian Alexander) riding on horseback through Haven, which, thanks to a war between the Seraphites and the Washington Liberation Front (W.L.F.), looks about as close to Hell as you’re likely to see. The environmental design is apocalyptic and huge in scope. Even as a player trying simultaneously to control a horse and shoot, it’s hard not to be awestruck by the fiery chaos that puts into perspective just how torn apart their world is.

9. Abby vs. Ellie in the Theater

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

One of the final moments of Abby’s illuminating arc is also the game at some of its most daring. Putting the player in a conflicting position, Ellie (Ashley Johnson) becomes the villain while you navigate the theater as Abby, avoiding Ellie's traps and ultimately taking her down. It's a perfect representation of how the developers blended storytelling and gameplay into something bold (and controversial), bringing full circle the massive protagonist/antagonist shift designed to make you view each character in a different light by the game's end.

8. Weed Talk

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

After getting a sense of their budding romance in their earliest moments together, Ellie and Dina (Shannon Woodward) take refuge in Eugene’s weed bunker, light one up, and use the time to talk about the previous night’s kiss. An intimate, beautifully-acted exchange between the two finds Dina breaking through Ellie’s guard, culminating in a cheer-worthy kiss. The chemistry between the two is undeniable, and this is just one of the many moments in the game that prove it.

7. We’re Done

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

Ellie travels to the hospital where the first game ended and finds some damning information, with Joel finding her soon after. A huge emotional climax that explodes with Joel finally confessing his sins, this is the game at some of its most heart-breaking and masterfully acted, with Johnson tapping into Ellie’s rage and Troy Baker into Joel’s regret so perfectly. One of the best, most effective scenes in the game.

6. Finale

Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

Faced with the consequences of her final fight with Abby, Ellie returns to see Dina gone, and finds she is unable to play the guitar after losing some of her fingers. A powerful visual on its own, the true weight of the game’s finale is felt when this guitar sequence leads to one last Joel and Ellie flashback. Still angry with him over his actions, she says she wants to try and put the pieces back together, while he, done trying to validate what he did, simply listens to what she has to say before giving her advice about Dina. The game’s final heart-wrenching moment shows that while they never got the chance to fully mend, there was a sense of closure as they started down the path of reconciliation.

5. Rat King

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

If Ellie gets some of the best storytelling beats, Abby gets some of the best action sequences. When controlling Abby, players encounter the monstrous Rat King, which makes the Bloater look like a cuddly teddy bear. A total grump, the Rat King has been lying dormant in a Seattle hospital since Outbreak Day, and Abby’s boss-level confrontation is a nightmarish culmination of her journey to help Yara (Victoria Grace). An unforgettable encounter that requires top skill and resource management, this is the game at its creature-feature supremacy.

4. Guitar Lessons

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

The first of many scenes that will make you ugly cry over the course of 20-30 hours, players swipe at the controller touchpad to match Joel’s plucking of the guitar strings (making some of the best use of the controller feature of any PS4 game). He then delivers a tender-yet-grizzled take on Pearl Jam’s “Future Days,” summing up what Ellie means to him the best way he knows how. A tear-jerking moment, this scene begins an emotional thread that carries through the whole game each time Ellie picks up a guitar.

3. Take on Me

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

Speaking of Ellie and the guitar, her fiddling with “Future Days” in Seattle turns into an impromptu "concert for one" as she serenades Dina with A-ha’s “Take on Me.” It’s a warm and heartwarming respite from the doom and gloom of the game’s world. It also reaffirms how well the development team embraced the power of music and its ability to be a tonic for all troubles, an emotional through-line that can connect us all. And it’s, you know, sweet and whatever, I’m not crying you’re crying.

2. The Dance

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

The relationship between Ellie and Dina is the breakout dynamic of the game, and it’s impossible not to see why based on this one moment alone. A flashback that takes us to the night before the game starts, Dina pulls a shy Ellie away from the bar, and they share a dance, the world around them seemingly invisible. With a gentle piece of music behind them, this enrapturing scene showcases the instant chemistry and love between the two, in large part thanks to Johnson and Woodward’s stellar work.

1. Blast Off

A screenshot from The Last of Us Part II
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment

The first game’s “giraffe scene” stole the show, giving us a moment of tranquility in a game filled with infected humans, cannibals, and general maiming. In the sequel, a moment between Joel and Ellie not only offers the same kind of joy and wonder as that scene, but manages to outdo it.

On a private tour of a museum for her birthday, Joel leads Ellie to a rocket capsule, hands her a recording of an old launch mission and tells her to listen and close her eyes. Fully immersed in the moment, we’re subtly transported into Ellie’s mind as she imagines herself blasting into space. Gustavo Santaolalla’s score further uplifts the absolute best scene in the game, an ethereal sequence that propels you out of a grim world for a magically brief moment.

KEEP READING: Here Are Your Winners for the 2020 Game Awards