If ever a game required a palette cleanser to recover mentally and physically from the experience of playing, The Last of Us is that game. One of the most renowned pieces of Playstation software, The Last of Us debuted on the Playstation 3 and received a remastered entry on the Playstation 4. Because I have no self-control and purchase games before I am actually able to play them, I own both versions and did not get around to finishing the game until a month before its sequel released and in the same year a new console generation spawned. I scold myself that I waited so long to play what ended up being a transcendent video game experience. While I have played other Naughty Dog games and found them to be masterful in their own ways (life is better with Uncharted in it), The Last of Us struck a different chord. The game is gorgeous, gritty, tense, and too relatable to the chaos in the world in 2020.

For a game about the fall of society at the hands of a highly contagious, deadly virus (ahem), it is still full of life.

There is still a skeleton society with ramshackle settlements surviving in quarantined areas controlled by the military. These settlements remain susceptible to the same trappings of mainstream civilization such as poverty, crime, and manipulation. Joel, the main protagonist, has been through the wringer from the first days of the outbreak to the dirty work he has done to survive in the new world order. He is the archetypal stoic antihero battling his ghosts while uncovering long-buried sentimentality throughout the game’s journey.

Joel is reluctantly paired with Ellie as her escort across what was the United States. Ellie also has demons that make her seem old for her age, yet she is still a child. She has strength but still needs guidance and protection against the worst the world can devise. As her journey progresses and she is faced with continuous hardships, Ellie grows stronger and more confident. There are plenty of moments where, without Ellie, Joel would likely meet his end. Her and Joel’s relationship is one of mutual benefit in a world that has stopped caring.

So the characters are intense, but what else makes this game linger? Basically, The Last of Us punches you in the gut and keeps doing that just as you are about to regain your breath. On top of the continued pummeling, you always feel isolated. The world becomes a very big, very lonely place without people surrounding you or caring about you, and while there are not many people around, Joel and Ellie are regularly reminded of how full and vibrant the world used to be.

It is those reminders that make the game beautiful. The chaos and destruction of the world can be lush and then darkly beautiful in the way the world’s detritus fell when its inhabitants vanished. Crumbling buildings merge with the landscape as the environment endeavors to reclaim dominion. There is a constant struggle for those still in the world as they fight to keep their end at bay and carve out some semblance of civilized existence. It is a grim challenge rife with adversity where happy outcomes are temporary.

The Last of Us does not allow you, as a player, to have extended periods of happiness, and that is probably why I loved playing this game but had two previous false starts and could not stick with it. You have to be in the right headspace and open to giving yourself an experience where you do not walk away uplifted. Emotionally, you will be gutted and left feeling uneasy with the story’s resolution. In that end, The Last of Us achieves its mission. We do not often remember the deluge of happy endings that hit us across television, film, and gaming. When something leaves you unbalanced and uncomfortable, however, well, that type of experience carves a special memory in our gray matter; it lingers. I enjoyed playing and experiencing The Last of Us. Given the darkness within 2020, however, I have not been able to get a good start with The Last of Us Part II; I need more light-hearted happiness. The Last of Us is a monolith rising above the noise in combining storytelling, engagement, and action. It is a ‘must experience’; you will just need to go give someone a hug afterward to cleanse your palette.