More detailed high-resolution character models will be the standard throughout The Last of Us Remastered, with developers using renders previously used only in cutscenes for the game's PlayStation 3 version, creative director Neil Druckmann told Edge.

In the magazine's latest issue, as reported by CVG, cutscene-quality character models won't be restricted to cutscenes; the graphical power of the PlayStation 4 is allowing Naughty Dog to use them freely throughout the game without worrying about the game's visual fidelity. For the PS3 original, these detailed renders were used only in cutscenes, then swapped out for lower-resolution versions when transitioning back into gameplay — a trick designed to make the game's more cinematic, dramatic moments look better.

"We don't build it with high assets in mind to then port it, but it did give us a leg up," Druckmann said, explaining the PS4 is allowing developer Naughty Dog to use these higher-quality assets by default. "If we hadn't done that, we might not have made the call to bring it over to PS4."

The PS4 version will also include improved lighting, and some enemies that looked "a little blurry up close" will be fixed, according to Druckmann. However, bringing the game to the PS4's more PC-like architecture is still a challenge for Naughty Dog, and Druckmann expressed worries over being able to fit the game — as well as a handful of its DLC including the Ellie-focused narrative Left Behind — on a single Blu-ray Disc.

"Our cinematics are now running at 1080p and 60 fps, and that involved rendering them all from scratch," he said. "It's interesting that now [instead of a technical bottleneck], the bottleneck is 'can we fit all this on the disc?'"

The Last of Us Remastered, announced in early April and set to launch this summer, is a straight port of Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic adventure from PS3 to PS4. However, Druckmann said he is thinking about implementing some PS4-specific features, such as working with the DualShock 4 controller's touchpad and improved triggers. Ultimately though, the studio's goal with Remastered is to "get a more solid version of the same experience" on Sony's newest console.