Should I Play 'The Last of Us: Part II' After Watching Season 1?

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers from Episode 9 of The Last of Us.Now that Season 1 of The Last of Us is done, fans of the HBO adaptation are surely starting to ponder if they should play the sequel game, The Last of Us Part II. The way the season ends is almost a cliffhanger, leaving everybody with that lingering taste of needing more of it right away, and Part II might be the ideal way of dealing with that, right? Especially after series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann revealed that the events of Part II will span multiple seasons.

Of course, there are viewers who haven't played even the original game so as not to spoil the series, so it's hard to imagine those people choosing to play anything right now. But whether one should play Part II before future seasons of The Last of Us arrive goes way beyond merely knowing facts and details of the story. Even those who haven't played the original could notice from the series that the game is an experience in itself, with a completely different feel and conveying completely different emotions than those of the TV show. So, if you want a straight answer, it's yes, you definitely should play it. Let's see why, shall we?

How Long Until the Future Seasons Arrive?

Bella Ramsey as Ellie in the last of us episode 9 — Image via HBO

Oh, sweet summer child, what do you know about waiting? Fans of The Last of Us have been waiting for almost 10 years to see an adaptation make its way to screens. There were false alarms along the way, like when Screen Gems announced a movie produced by none other than Sam Raimi, for example, but that didn't work out. It wasn't until March 2020 that Craig Mazin was hired to turn the game's story into a TV series at HBO. By then, videogame adaptations had a somewhat "cursed" reputation, none of them considered nearly as good as their original material.

We finally got our fix of The Last of Us again precisely when Part II arrived, with a new story focusing on Ellie (Ashley Johnson in the games, Bella Ramsey on TV) and turning Joel (Troy Baker in the games, Pedro Pascal on TV) as more of a supporting, background character. But, just as there are people who like to binge-watch TV shows, for some of us playing the game was something that could have been done over a weekend. So we got our fix but we were already craving more a few months later. News of the HBO adaptation were comforting, and the series definitely delivered on that end, but, now, here we are again. Waiting.

And it seems we might be waiting for a long, long time, as the now iconic Linda Ronstadt song says. There are no news about when Season 2 might be coming along, but it's safe to say it will take at least a year until Ellie and Joel are back on TV. With Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal getting ever busier, it's unlikely we'll see it before mid-2024. In fact, important characters from Part II don't even have casting rumors at this point, so 2025 may be a safer bet. So, if you're wondering if you have time to play Part II, then yes, you'll have plenty.

The Last of Us Part II Is as Emotional as the First Game

Ellie and Dina dancing in The Last of Us Part II — Image via Naughty Dog

If Season 1 of The Last of Us left you in tears, that's because of the quality of the source material, and that's no different with Part II. While the first game focused mostly on Joel and how he deals with his trauma over the course of the story and connects with Ellie, the second one sees the girl take center stage in a completely different journey. Her surrogate father is still an essential part of it, of course, but it's now all about her.

Some of that story was already teased in "Look For The Light", the Season 1 finale, which will likely connect directly with the plot that is the main driver for Part II. It takes Ellie away from the safety of the Jackson commune and to some new and interesting places, especially Seattle, which is faithfully represented in the game with tons of references to real places, and not-so-sunny California.

It also introduces a whole new set of great characters, like Ellie's girlfriend Dina (Shannon Woodward), Elllie's antagonist Abby (Laura Bailey), her boyfriend Owen (Patrick Fugit), and runaway Lev (Ian Alexander). Season 1 of the HBO show continued the game's trait of having supporting characters inform and lead the journey the main ones undertake, and that's still true for Part II, as well, all of them being deeply developed and aligning either with Ellie, or against her, and all for good reason. So if you're ready to get hurt again, you should definitely use some of that time we have until Season 2 to get to know their stories and have your heart broken.

Playing the Game Changes How You Watch the Series

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

Nothing is previously required of anyone to watch The Last of Us, of course. Many people boarded the hype train as marketing for the series started and then followed it weekly as it aired on HBO — and were often left in tears side-by-side with people who have played the game, too. But there's no denying that the show Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann cooked up was designed primarily for fans of the game. We had a lot of fun looking for Easter eggs after each episode, laughing when seeing gags from the game, and marveled at how accurate they managed to portray some scenes, like in the first episode.

Still, even for those who had played the game before, there were a lot of surprises, too. Adapting anything to a different media is a challenge, so there are bound to be divergences between the original and adaptation, too. If you're afraid of having your experience with the series spoiled by knowing where the story eventually will go, don't be, because there will be plenty of new things, too. Season 1 surprised us with Bill and Frank's (Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett) episode, the whole Kansas City arc was completely new to us, and David (Scott Shepherd), the most terrifying villain of the game, became terrifying all over again, but for completely different reasons.

For us, fans of the games, the experience of watching The Last of Us every week was one that we'll never forget. The game impacted us so much, we gladly went through that ride again. What the show brought us, besides the many surprises, was the possibility o having much more people to share this passion (and trauma, too, because come on) with. It doesn't matter if it's people who came from watching the series or not, who preferred one or the other. The Last of Us is The Last of Us, and the experience of watching the show is unique from the experience of playing the game.