Tess isn’t around for long in Part 1 before she’s bitten and dies, buying a bit of time for Joel and Ellie to flee from FEDRA. Still, Tess is foundational in establishing much-needed worldbuilding as players experience an abrupt time jump of 20 years between The Last of Us’ prologue in Texas and opening in Boston’s QZ. While Marlene may have been Queen Firefly, Tess was portrayed as a feared and respected smuggler. Tess is the first of many NPC allies whom Joel and Ellie spend time with, and her impact on the duo lingers much longer than the impacts of many companion characters in either The Last of Us Part 1 or The Last of Us Part 2.
Interestingly, Marlene and Bill are now playable characters in The Last of Us Part 2’s No Return roguelike mode; Marlene has a foot on both sides of the fence as she can have allies from Abby’s group and even resides in the Abby characters’ hideout while having an Ellie moveset, and Bill sides with Ellie with an Abby moveset and, like Joel or Tommy, cannot dodge. Naughty Dog hopefully has even more plans to adopt Part 1 characters into its No Return mode for Part 2, and it would be a boon if the developer could finally include Tess as she’s easily one of the franchise’s most influential and profound characters.
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Tess’ Significance in The Last of Us Cannot Be Overstated
The Last of Us’ Tess doesn’t make it out of Boston and dies in a hail of gunfire while buying time for Joel and Ellie to flee FEDRA. Tess had been bitten prior, wielding this opportunity as a way to go out on her own terms, and her death marks the first loss that Joel and Ellie experience together on their journey toward where they believe the Fireflies are.
Tess begs Joel to take Ellie, which is probably the only reason he agrees to do so. Comprehending that Ellie’s bite is truly demonstrable of her immunity seems to stir a glimmer of optimism in that plight rather suddenly, and Tess knows her own bite is already far worse.
It’s obvious that Ellie carries guilt regarding Tess’ death, as it is her immunity, as well as her life’s significance bestowed on her by the Fireflies, that has thrust Ellie into Tess and Joel’s lives. Therefore, not having her in The Last of Us Part 2’s No Return yet seems like a missed opportunity to showcase one of the franchise’s best characters.
The Last of Us Part 2: What Playstyle Could Tess Have in No Return?
Tess making her way into No Return would be phenomenal as she’d be an Ellie-aligned character who could pack a wallop. Tess is never afraid to fire her gun when she needs to, and brutality comes naturally to her when her smuggling business is involved, let alone when her hardware has been stolen and sold—ironically, this leads to her killing Robert abruptly and conveniently running into Marlene to incite The Last of Us’ overarching escort plot.
It’d make sense for Tess’ starting loadout in No Return to have a semi-auto pistol, but she could be a blank canvas otherwise with whatever other weapons, traits, or items Naughty Dog could supply her with.
It’d be neat if Tess resided in Ellie’s theater hideout yet had Abby’s animation moveset, for instance, throwing white-knuckle strikes and being able to handle herself in melee combat. Plus, because Tess ran smuggling rings out of Boston, perhaps she could amass a surplus of parts and eventually possess an arsenal of fully upgraded firearms.
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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
