To give you some context about who this advice is coming from: I consider myself a fairly average gamer. Souls-like games often knock me out—both literally and figuratively. I watch in awe as brave (and possibly crazy) gamers take on level 1 runs in FromSoftware games, while I struggle to get past certain boss fights even with the best gear and high levels. I like to tell myself I could eventually make it through, but my patience often runs thin before I get the chance to prove it.
For most of my gaming life, I stuck with the default “normal mode.” Developers usually describe it as the perfect balance of story and gameplay. But in recent years, I’ve started opting for “hard mode,” and a playthrough of The Last of Us Part II on Grounded difficulty is largely the reason for that shift.
Why You Should Experience the Last of Us on Grounded Mode
Don’t get me wrong—I’m definitely not recommending Grounded mode with permadeath. That would be a nightmare I don’t even want to imagine. I’m always amazed and full of admiration when better players than me manage to pull that off. No, I’m talking about the regular Grounded mode, where you can safely retry an encounter from the last checkpoint. And trust me, if you’re anything like me, you’ll need it.
My experience with both The Last of Us Part I and Part II was completely transformed by playing on this higher difficulty. It made me feel even more like a desperate survivor, forced to face overwhelming odds alone (or sometimes with a companion). What hit the hardest wasn’t just the vastly improved and realistic enemy AI, but the extreme scarcity of resources.
In my earlier playthroughs on ‘normal,’ I could get through almost any scenario by simply pulling out my weapons. I didn’t have to move much through the levels or adopt a particularly tactical approach. It was usually just a matter of finding good cover, waiting for the right moment, and pulling the trigger. Eventually, I’d always find more ammo or materials to use in the next encounter, allowing me to stick with the same strategy throughout. I rarely had to stop and think about how to approach a situation.
The opposite is true when you choose Grounded mode. Instead of being the hunter when enemies appear, I became the prey. And that’s exactly how it should feel in the grim, hopeless world of Naughty Dog’s masterpiece.
Joel’s poor, aching knees take an even bigger beating now, because in Grounded mode, I sneak around a lot more than I used to. And slowly too, because if you ‘sneak too fast,’ those damn Clickers will still hear you. With ammo and crafting materials so hard to come by, you’re forced to rely on stealth takedowns as much as possible, or settle things with your fists. Both approaches feel satisfying and are things I barely used on normal mode.
And with the improved enemy AI, that’s not always so easy. Chaos breaks out regularly, and that’s when the experience truly shines on Grounded. In previous playthroughs, I rarely had to run. Now, I find myself running for my life more often than I care to admit. Sometimes it’s just to create some distance between me and my pursuers so I can rethink my strategy. Maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll find some ammo on the other side of the encounter—or a plank to smash a Clicker’s skull. Or perhaps just a chance to escape my enemies. Retreating suddenly becomes a real option. As long as Joel and Ellie make it out alive, by any means necessary.
“I’m grateful for every item I find because every single one can mean the difference between life and death.”
On ‘normal mode,’ I used to adopt a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ approach. It took me about three playthroughs before I recently discovered that enemies can actually beg for their lives. Believe it or not, I had no idea because I always shot them on sight. But now that I prefer to take them down more strategically and save my bullets (or simply because I don’t have any), I’ve suddenly noticed them pleading for mercy when I’ve knocked them to the ground. I never thought The Last of Us still had secrets left for me, but Grounded mode brings them to light.
And it feels amazing when things finally go my way, now that I no longer take anything for granted. Before, I’d open a drawer and always find something to help me along—ammo or materials to craft a molotov cocktail or a health kit. But now, I search every nook and cranny and often come up empty-handed. So when I do finally get lucky and find some bullets, even if it’s just two, it feels like a blessing. I’m grateful for every item I find because every single one can mean the difference between life and death.
Every encounter, whether against runners, clickers, or human enemies, becomes an intense battle that you have to approach tactically. What can you expect from their movement patterns? Who’s armed and poses the biggest threat? Who can I silently and unseen take out to shift the odds in my favor? And sometimes, even more importantly: where’s the exit?
An extra bonus is that the HUD is removed in Grounded. You can no longer see how many bullets you have left in the chamber, or what’s the status of your health. This can make you feel a bit paranoid, but it allows you to fully enjoy the stunning graphics without the HUD disrupting your immersion. As an additional challenge, the listening mode has also been disabled. This adds to the difficulty but at the same time enhances the realism.
Speaking of realism, the enemy AI can now also spot your allies. This can be somewhat frustrating, as allies like Dina and Jesse don’t always act tactically, but it does add to the realism. The fact that they later apologize for being spotted adds a nice touch, even though their mistakes can hardly be forgiven.
If, like me, you’re a huge fan of The Last of Us and are looking for a new, even more immersive experience, Grounded mode is the way to go. You won’t regret it. Or, actually, you probably will—that’s what makes it so thrilling.
