The last big hurrah of the PlayStation 3 era, The Last of Us launched on June 14th, 2013 - five months before the arrival of PS4.

A technological masterpiece for the era and a crowning achievement for Sony first party development, there's a strong argument that developer Naughty Dog pushed the ageing hardware to its very limits - a fitting send-off for the console by one of its most accomplished developers.

While we've played the game, what we can explicitly comment on is highly limited and the only assets we can share from this slice of the game have already been shown on last week's State of Play.

However, just as The Last of Us saw the Naughty Dog engine evolve over the Nation Drake titles on PS3, so we see a very different aesthetic in The Last of Us Part 2, with the emphasis on indirect lighting again coming to the fore.

But perhaps what intrigues us most about The Last of Us Part 2 is something that Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann talks about in last week's State of Play - the sense that Ellie is embarking on a journey into a wider world.

The State of Play hints at something quite different, perhaps an echo of the idea of a more open environment we saw introduced in Uncharted 4: The Lost Legacy.

Expanding the scope of play is a signature evolution of TLOU2 across the board - but again, it's the State of Play that highlights this best.

The State of Play's clips reveal more aware, proactive partner characters and it comes across like a significant upgrade.

Is TLOU2 a last first-party hurrah for PlayStation 4?

Once again, we have a Naughty Dog epic releasing five months before a likely next-gen launch - and again, when looking at the quality of this title, it's no exaggeration to describe this as the state of the art for the current generation, and perhaps a fitting farewell to PlayStation 4, just as its predecessor was a glorious 'sunset moment' for the PS3.

Then there's the intriguing idea that while developed primarily for PS4, The Last of Us Part 2 could possibly play a key role in the fortunes of the upcoming PlayStation 5 - perhaps even at launch.

Of course, the original TLOU was remastered for PlayStation 4 but that was something different - a necessary project in adapting the Naughty Dog engine for a new architecture, arriving over eight months after PS4 launched.

Such a fundamental revamp likely won't be needed in bringing TLOU2 to PlayStation 5, where the developmental transition should be a lot more seamless.

Conceivably, titles like TLOU2 and Ghost of Tsushima could allow Sony to make a dramatic statement on its own rendition of Microsoft's 'smart delivery' - buy the game now and enjoy it on PS4, then transition across to PlayStation 5 where the developer could deploy the system's horsepower to deliver a raft of advancements.

Perhaps The Last of Us Remastered hints at some of the possibilities there - 60 frames per second and/or higher resolution, for example.

The first episode of The Last of Us was a stunning game that arrived in the twilight months of the PlayStation 3's life cycle - and at this point, there's little doubt that the sequel will deliver the same kind of experience for PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro.

Digital FoundryThe Last of Us Part 2: hands-on with Naughty Dog's stunning farewell to PS4.

And the possibilities for PlayStation 5 are mouthwatering.

Digital FoundryThe Last of Us Part 2: hands-on with Naughty Dog's stunning farewell to PS4

And the possibilities for PlayStation 5 are mouthwatering