"We’ve done everything to make sure the experience is as smooth as possible, and we’ve been hunting down frame drops like nobody’s business," Gyrling says. That said, those who "abuse the engine" may be able to get the frame rate to drop — but during normal gameplay, it should stay at or near that 60 FPS mark. If the frame rate has dipped in any of the hours I’ve spent with the game thus far, I haven’t noticed. Camera movements, fistfights against hunters and soldiers, in-game cutscenes, peaceful strolls through the woods — regardless of what you’re doing, everything looks better, cleaner, smoother. "Once you've played it at 60 FPS even for half an hour, if you go back to 30 [FPS] you realize what you've been missing out on," says Gyrling.

The Last of Us is at its best when you’re exploring its fully-realized world gone to hell 20 years after the pandemic began. The higher resolution, improved lighting, and longer draw distances all increase the exacting level of detail in the game. Artifacts scavenged from around the world are even more delightful now — there’s much more detail in the maps and notes you find. Lighting is another big improvement, with scenes such as Joel and Elle’s sunrise approach to the Boston capitol building and their trip through the woods outside of Bill’s town given an extra shot of drama.

The game is at its best when you're exploring the beautiful, ruined, post-pandemic world

Transitions between pre-rendered cutscenes and the in-game engine are less jarring and noticeable than they were on the PS3, though scenes rendered in-game still aren’t at the same level of detail. It’s most noticeable in the facial expressions — while the cinematics truly escape the dreaded "uncanny valley," the faces of characters rendered in the game’s engine are still not quite as intricately lifelike. That said, it’s a definite, notable improvement.