The Last of Us Part II

Characters come from all walks of life, with different beliefs, backgrounds, races, genders, and sexualities. Ellie begins the game in a healthy same-sex relationship with her bisexual girlfriend. Meanwhile, the character Lev shows the difficulties of being true to one's identity, the feelings of isolation and exile that can be felt by trans people dealing with gender dysphoria.

Graphic acts of violence depict people viciously stabbed, choked, shot, with close-ups showing anger and fear on characters' faces. Blood gushes from wounds, slowly pools on floors. Bodies in various states of dismemberment and decay are found throughout the environment, some clearly tortured or hanged. Death sequences show flesh and sinew being torn from bodies, the disemboweling of a prisoner, eyes rolling up in their sockets. Hand-to-hand combat includes bloody cuts, broken bones, snapped necks, screams of pain.

Characters have sex on-screen, moaning with pleasure. Genitals aren't visible, but women are shown topless. Humanoid enemy creatures are sometimes naked, showing breasts and genitals.

Frequent profanity appears in text and spoken dialogue, including "f--k" and "s--t."

Characters are depicted drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, and show visible signs of moderate impairment.

Parents need to know that The Last of Us Part II is a third-person action game exclusively for the PlayStation 4 that's set in a world that has largely succumbed to a global pandemic spread by fungal spores that quickly transform people into mindless monsters. It focuses on two young women who are tragically obsessed with avenging the people they love, but characters come from all walks of life, with different beliefs, backgrounds, races, genders, and sexualities. Fighting is brutal and graphic. Characters' faces are strained with anger and fear in close-quarters combat that involves choke holds, shivs and knives, and snapped necks. Bodies in varying states of decay litter the environment, including hanged and tortured victims. Gunshots and stab wounds result in sprays and pools of blood. While the fighting is intense and visceral, the primary message is that violence begets violence. Outside of combat, players watch the protagonists engage in loving relationships, protect those they care for, and make unlikely friends by overcoming preconceived notions of who they are. Subplots promote diversity in sexuality and gender identity and explore the complex relationships between daughters and father figures as well as the sort of thinking that leads to the creation of military and religious sects in times of crisis. Parents should be aware, too, that characters engage in on-screen sexual activity, with women shown topless, and that two protagonists get high smoking marijuana. Characters are also shown drinking and drunk. Dialogue contains frequent strong language, including the "F" word.