The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima get summer release dates

By Tyler Treese Updated April 27, 2020

Both The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima have new release dates due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II will now launch on June 19, less than one month after its prior May 29 release date. Ghost of Tsushima was expected to release a week later on June 26 but is moved back to July 17. This gives the PlayStation 4 a summer highlighted by two high-profile exclusives before the PlayStation 5 launches this holiday season.

The new release date also means that PS4 owners will have to avoid The Last of Us Part II spoilers for two months. Hours of gameplay footage showing key story elements leaked on April 26 before they were taken down on YouTube. Still, summaries and clips remain online.

“I want to personally congratulate and thank both the teams at Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch Productions on their achievements,” Sony Interactive Entertainment Head of Worldwide Studios Hermen Hulst said in a PlayStation Blog post. “We know it’s not an easy feat to reach the finish line under these circumstances. Both teams have worked hard to deliver world-class experiences, and we can’t wait to see what you think of them when they release in just a few short months.”

Sony announced The Last of Us Part II at its PlayStation Experience event in December 2016 with a short trailer showing that both Joel and Ellie would return from the 2013 release. The third-person action game again has players controlling Ellie as she attempts to survive in a post-apocalyptic world filled with dangerous humans and a fungus that takes over bodies.

Ghost of Tsushima is the latest title and a change of pace from Infamous developer Sucker Punch Productions. Rather than controlling a superhero in a modern city, the open-world game features an outnumbered samurai trying to fend off the Mongol invasion of Japan in the 1270s. It was most recently seen at The Game Awards 2019, where a new trailer was premiered alongside a performance by a live orchestra.

This just leaves Iron Man VR, which is indefinitely delayed due to the coronavirus, and Michel Ancel’s open-world survival game Wild as the only Sony-published PS4 games still without launch dates.

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When not playing or writing about games, Tyler Treese serves as the Senior Editor at Wrestlezone. An experienced writer that…

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The Last of Us Part I makes Part II’s flaws much more apparent

Ellie aiming a rifle.

The Last of Us Part I may not be meaningfully different from the original game or its 2014 remaster, but the context around the franchise has notably changed. That’s because of The Last of Us Part II, a sequel that’s spurred as much critical praise as it has heated debate. The 2020 release built on the first game’s strong foundation by delivering a more complex story that further muddied the “good guys vs. bad guys” trope we see in so much media. It's a story about cyclical violence where Joel’s actions at the end of the first game directly impact Ellie on her own misguided thirst for blood.

It's a bold game, one that’s significantly longer and larger to fit in all of its ideas. I respected Naughty Dog’s ambition when I played the sequel two years ago, but walked away feeling like it was as swollen as one of the series’ Bloaters. After revisiting both The Last of Us and its excellent Left Behind DLC in the new PS5 remake, I feel more sure of my original critique. The Last of Us works because it's a lean and focused game. Part II, on the other hand, makes it clear that excess is Naughty Dog’s Achilles' heel.
From lean to bloated
What I immediately noticed in my replay of The Last of Us is that there’s barely a wasted moment. From its tense opening sequence to its gripping final hour, most scenes play a crucial role in the story. For instance, the winter-set chapter where Ellie takes charge serves as an important way to show how Joel’s ruthlessness has begun to infect her. My mind wandered once or twice during my 12-hour playthrough.

Gaming

The Last of Us Part 1: best weapon upgrades

Ellie aiming a rifle.

Everything is scarce in The Last of Us Part 1. You will constantly be running low on supplies, ammo, health, and maybe even hope. This game functions a lot like survival horror games, in which managing your inventory is just as important as being able to land that critical headshot. Your arsenal, in terms of firearms, is not terribly large, but you do have the ability to upgrade each weapon in a number of ways to help you make the most of every precious bullet you find.

Weapon upgrades, just like skill upgrades, are not free -- they both cost a limited resource. However, weapon upgrades also have an extra layer of restriction in that you can't simply stop and upgrade a weapon whenever you feel like it. When you are able to upgrade, you also have to consider which gun you want to invest in, how you want to invest in it, or if you want to save up for a future weapon or a more expensive upgrade later. It's a delicate balance, but we've picked the best weapon upgrades to help you survive your journey in The Last of Us Part 1.
How to upgrade weapons

Gaming

The Last of Us Part 1: All Training Manual locations

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Joel has managed to survive for over 25 years in the Clicker invested world, but even he can learn a few new tricks. He's already adept with any gun you can get your hands on and can slap together basic materials to make some useful tools, but just about everything you have access to can be made better with the right training. Unfortunately, it's a little late for Joel and Ellie to enroll in a survival course, so reading up is the next best option.

The Last of Us Part 1 has 12 hidden Training Manuals you can collect that all improve one of your tools in a meaningful way. Some of these are so powerful that you'll wonder how you managed without them, and yet some are so well hidden that you can go through the game multiple times without finding them all. If you want to become an expert Boy Scout, turn on your Listen Mode and pay close attention to our guide on finding all the Training Manuals in The Last of Us Part 1.
Training Manual 1 -- Shiv: Sharpening
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