Accessibility Options

Access The Last of Us Part I's accessibility options. Adjust settings for motor skills, vision, and hearing to personalize your experience.

Naughty Dog has implemented a robust and comprehensive suite of accessibility options in The Last of Us Part I, building upon their acclaimed work in The Last of Us Part II. These features are designed to make the game enjoyable and playable for a wider audience, addressing various needs related to motor skills, vision, hearing, and cognitive processing. This section will guide you through locating and customizing these settings to best suit your individual playstyle and requirements.

Accessing Accessibility Settings

To begin customizing your experience, follow these simple steps:

1. From the Main Menu, select "Options."
2. Within the Options menu, navigate to the "Accessibility" tab. This tab is typically located near the bottom of the list, often after "Display" and "Audio" settings.
3. Once in the Accessibility menu, you'll find several sub-categories, each dedicated to different types of adjustments.

Motor Accessibility

These options are designed to assist players with motor skill challenges, reducing the need for rapid or complex button inputs.

• Traversal and Combat Assists:
  • Auto Pick-Up: Automatically collects resources and ammo when walking over them. Highly recommended for reducing repetitive button presses.
  • Ledge Guard: Prevents accidental falls from ledges during traversal.
  • Camera Assistance: Automatically snaps the camera to the direction of movement or points of interest.
  • Enhanced Listen Mode: Increases the range and duration of Listen Mode, making it easier to track enemies.
  • Navigation Assistance: Provides visual cues and directional prompts to guide you towards objectives.
• Input Simplification:
  • Hold to Mash: Converts rapid button mashing sequences into a single hold action. Essential for quick-time events and struggling free from grabs.
  • Repeated Button Presses: Allows you to adjust the speed required for repeated button presses, or even disable them entirely.
  • Melee Auto-Target: Automatically targets the nearest enemy during melee combat, reducing the need for precise aiming.

Vision Accessibility

These settings cater to players with visual impairments, offering various visual aids and modifications.

• UI and HUD Customization:
  • HUD Size: Adjust the overall size of the on-screen display elements.
  • HUD Background: Add a solid background to HUD elements for increased contrast.
  • Colorblind Mode: Offers various colorblind filters (Protanopia, Deuteranopia, Tritanopia) to adjust the game's color palette.
  • High Contrast Display: Enhances the contrast of important game elements against the background, making them stand out more clearly.
• Visual Cues and Indicators:
  • Combat Visual Cues: Displays visual indicators for incoming attacks, enemy awareness, and other crucial combat information.
  • Collectibles Tracking: Highlights nearby collectibles with a distinct visual glow, making them easier to spot.
  • Scan Mode: A dedicated mode that highlights interactive objects and enemies in the environment.
• Text and Readability:
  • Text Size: Adjust the size of all in-game text, including subtitles and menu descriptions.
  • Speaker Names: Display the name of the current speaker during dialogue.
  • Directional Indicators: Provides visual arrows to indicate the direction of off-screen speakers.

Hearing Accessibility

These options provide alternatives to audio cues, ensuring players with hearing impairments don't miss critical information.

• Subtitles:
  • Enable Subtitles: Turns on subtitles for all dialogue.
  • Subtitle Size: Adjust the size of the subtitle text.
  • Subtitle Background: Add a background to subtitles for better readability against varied environments.
  • Speaker Names in Subtitles: Displays the name of the character speaking alongside their dialogue.
• Visual Cues for Audio Events:
  • Combat Audio Cues (Visual): Provides visual indicators for sounds like enemy footsteps, gunshots, and explosions. These often appear as directional arrows or icons on the HUD.
  • Exploration Audio Cues (Visual): Visual feedback for sounds like breaking glass, opening doors, or environmental hazards.

Cognitive Accessibility

These settings aim to reduce cognitive load and provide additional support for players who may benefit from it.

• Puzzles:
  • Skip Puzzle: Allows players to completely bypass certain environmental puzzles if they are struggling. This is a game-changer for those who prefer to focus on the narrative and combat.
  • Puzzle Hints: Provides more frequent and explicit hints during puzzle sequences.
• Combat Difficulty:
  • Custom Difficulty: Beyond the standard difficulty settings, this allows granular control over various aspects of combat, such as enemy health, damage output, and AI aggression. This means you can tailor the combat experience to be as challenging or as forgiving as you desire.
  • Stealth Difficulty: Adjusts enemy awareness and detection speed independently of combat difficulty.
• Time-Based Mechanics:
  • Slow Motion: Can be activated during combat or specific sequences to give players more time to react.
  • Adjust QTE Timers: Lengthens the window for successful completion of Quick Time Events.

Experiment with these settings to find the perfect configuration for your playthrough. The Last of Us Part I is designed to be experienced by everyone, and these robust accessibility options are a testament to that commitment.