The Last of Us Part II takes about 24 hours to beat if you stick to the story, around 29 to 30 hours if you explore as you go, and roughly 44 to 45 hours for a completionist run, according to player-submitted times on HowLongToBeat as of September 2026. Below we break those figures down by version, explain what No Return adds on top, and cover the settings and habits that push your own time up or down.
The Numbers, by Version
The Last of Us Part II now exists in three forms: the original PS4 release from 2020, the PS5 Remastered edition from January 2024, and the PC version of Remastered from April 2025. HowLongToBeat tracks the original and the Remastered edition separately, and the averages are close.
| Playstyle | Original (PS4) | Remastered (PS5 and PC) |
|---|---|---|
| Main story | about 24 hours | about 23 hours |
| Main story plus extras | about 29.5 hours | about 28.5 hours |
| Completionist | about 44 hours | about 45 hours |
The original entry is built on nearly 6,000 submitted completions and the Remastered one on well over a thousand, so both are solid samples. The hour of difference is not a content difference. Naughty Dog did not add anything to the campaign for Remastered, so the story is the same length on every platform. The small gap is most likely returning players who already know the route.
You will still see 25 to 30 hours quoted for the story. That is a fair upper range for a cautious first run, but the current community average for the story alone sits a little lower, and anyone who reads every note and searches every building will land in the main-plus-extras column instead.
What No Return Adds
Remastered’s biggest addition is No Return, a single-player roguelike survival mode. Per Naughty Dog’s launch post, it has a roster of 10 characters, including some never playable before, gameplay modifiers, custom runs, Daily Runs with leaderboards and its own set of trophies.
No Return has no fixed length. It is built around repeat runs through randomized encounters, so it adds as much time as you want to give it. If you are chasing the Remastered trophy list, budget extra hours on top of the completionist figure above for the No Return trophies. The Lost Levels (Boar Hunt, Jackson Party and Sewers) and Guitar Free Play are short extras by comparison, and the developer commentary runs alongside cinematics you have already seen.
What Changes Your Own Time
Difficulty. Part II offers a wide range of presets, from Very Light up to Survivor. Naughty Dog’s Grounded update in August 2020 added Grounded as a base difficulty and a Permadeath mode, which makes you restart the whole game on death unless you pick the per-act or per-chapter version. Both come with their own trophies. Higher settings mean fewer resources and more retries.
Exploration. Part II rewards searching. Supplies, workbenches, training manuals, safes and collectibles such as coins and trading cards sit off the main path, and Seattle’s open downtown section alone can add a lot of time if you clear it. This is the biggest single reason players land in the 29 to 30 hour column rather than the 24 hour one.
Completion goals. The completionist figure covers collectibles and trophies. Upgrading every weapon and learning every skill takes more resources than a single run tends to give you, which is why many players finish the job in New Game Plus, where your upgrades carry over. Plan for at least a partial second run if you want everything.
Platform. The PS5 and PC versions load faster than the PS4 original, which trims time spent on deaths and retries, but it does not change the content. On PC, performance depends on your hardware, so it is worth settling your graphics settings before you start rather than mid-campaign.
Is It Worth the Time
Part II is long for a linear story game, and it is structured in a way that makes the length noticeable: the campaign is split between two perspectives, so a large chunk of the runtime comes after what feels like a natural ending point. Knowing that in advance helps with pacing.
If you want the background before you start, our guide to how old Ellie and Joel are in The Last of Us 2 covers the timeline between the two games. For newer releases worth the same time investment, see our list of the best PS5 games of 2026 so far, and the first game earns its place in our best PS3 games of all time ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is The Last of Us Part II’s main story? About 24 hours on average for the original release and about 23 hours for Remastered, based on player-submitted times on HowLongToBeat.
How long does it take to 100 percent The Last of Us Part II? Roughly 44 to 45 hours for a completionist run of the campaign. No Return trophies in the Remastered edition add more time on top.
Is Remastered longer than the original? The campaign is the same length. Remastered adds No Return, three Lost Levels, Guitar Free Play and developer commentary, which only add time if you choose to play them.
Does The Last of Us Part II have New Game Plus? Yes. Upgrades carry over into New Game Plus, which is the usual way to finish upgrading every weapon and skill.
Is there multiplayer? No. Part II is single-player only. No Return is a solo mode, and the separate multiplayer project Naughty Dog once planned is not part of this game.