The Last of Us Part 2’s roguelike mode, No Return, is a fantastic internalization of the encounters and gameplay from the base game’s story campaign. Now that Bill and Marlene have been added to No Return alongside an Ellie skin inspired by Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, it doesn’t seem like it has any plans of ceasing content for this roguelike mode, and nor should it need to as there is a lot more viable content from both The Last of Us Part 1 and The Last of Us Part 2 that should make the cut while seeds and encounters are still being randomly generated.
There are currently 12 playable characters in The Last of Us Part 2’s No Return:
- Ellie
- Dina
- Jesse
- Tommy
- Joel
- Abby
- Lev
- Yara
- Mel
- Manny
- Marlene
- Bill
Marlene and Bill are the most intriguing No Return characters due to how their playstyles revolve fairly heavily around gimmicks: Marlene must complete gambits, while it’s advantageous for Bill to complete Dead Drops (assuming they actually spawn). This helps capitalize on two No Return features that are easily dismissible otherwise, and whatever new characters are added in the future will have a tough goal of being equally unique. If there’s one Last of Us character who may never make sense as an addition to No Return, however, it is Part 1’s David.
Joel and Ellie’s Story Can Go on Forever Thanks to The Last of Us Part 2’s No Return
Joel's fate is now sealed in both The Last of Us Part 2 and its HBO adaptation, but the former's No Return mode allows him and Ellie to reconnect.
How David’s Gameplay Could Look in The Last of Us Part 2’s No Return
To be fair, The Last of Us’ David being added to No Return wouldn’t be far-fetched from a gameplay standpoint. David’s group had penicillin and who knows what other medicine or supplies, so perhaps his playstyle could involve a greater accumulation of supplements earned after each encounter on the board. Moreover, David is seen wielding a revolver (which he initially hides from Ellie), hunting rifle (which he relinquishes to Ellie by force), and machete (which he brandishes sinisterly at Todd’s, and is the same machete Ellie kills him with).
These would all make for a fairly decent starting loadout playstyle, assuming it would all be base kit and not need to be purchased with currency or retrieved via a Dead Drop deposit. David could also be adept at stealth since he’s harrowingly sneaky and quick during his cat and mouse boss fight in The Last of Us Part 1, perhaps with the Vigilance and Unstoppable upgrade branches for Momentum and Listen Mode skills.
Of course, it’s unlikely that David’s appetite for human flesh in The Last of Us would be adapted in any kind of way.
Ellie and Abby’s Groups in No Return Would Be No Place for a Sinister Cannibal
Then there’s the question of where he’d be aligned. So far, No Return has done a good job of dividing its playable characters between Ellie and Abby in terms of their animation moveset and their narrative allegiances.
For example, the recently released Marlene aligns with Abby as she’s the ‘Queen Firefly,’ but boasts Ellie’s moveset (even if she’d seemingly be better suited toward Abby’s moveset) and can have NPC allies during a run who align with Ellie. Yara and Lev also understandably align with Abby, while Dina and Joel obviously align themselves with Ellie.
David, on the other hand, wouldn’t belong in either alliance, thus rendering his chances of appearing as a playable character extremely slim unless Naughty Dog suddenly decided to abandon that ethos for his sake. Especially if there’s supposedly room left for characters such as Tess, Henry, Sam, Maria, or Owen, David is probably quite low on Naughty Dog’s list of possible playable characters for No Return.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 90%
- Released
- January 19, 2024
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Naughty Dog
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Franchise
- The Last of Us
- PC Release Date
- April 3, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- January 19, 2024
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
