The Last of Us 2 has been out for a good few months now, but players are still learning new things about it.
When you first control Ellie during the start of the game, you'll be wandering around a pretty built-up survivor haven in Jackson. It has all the necessities you might expect and, owing in large to the attention to detail Naughty Dog put into The Last of Us 2, the whole situation feels wonderfully realistic.
Perfectly illustrating this point, one player has shared a little hint on Reddit: you can grab some precious – and, more importantly, free – Parts as soon as you start the game. User Ok_Strawberry7683 shared the post, titled "On My Third Playthrough I noticed you can pick up some parts at the blacksmith at Jackson". They shared an image of a stall that even says "Free parts", which you can go ahead and claim for yourself.
On My Third Playthrough I noticed you can pick up some parts at the blacksmith at Jackson from r/thelastofus
As you walk through the frozen streets of Jackson, Jesse will be guiding you along the path to where you need to go. You can just follow him through and progress the narrative, but you should absolutely take a look around; at first for the free Parts, and then again to see all the excruciatingly detailed notes to the environments, stalls, and people. It makes perfect sense that the local blacksmith would be providing spare scrap parts to people.
While this isn't something we missed during our playthrough, others on Reddit are lamenting that they didn't notice the free Parts on their first playthroughs.
It's good to get a head start with Parts if you're starting your first playthrough as you'll be using them throughout the entire adventure to upgrade Ellie's weapons. They're also a limited resource, with only so many being available in one game cycle, so you can imagine how much of a boon it is to get them early.
Want some more Last of Us? Check out this page listing all The Last of Us 2 Easter eggs.
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I'm a freelance reporter for Gamesradar - games and films are my jam, so you'll mostly find me gushing about my undying love of Xenoblade Chronicles, Lord of the Rings, and how Persona 4 Golden changed my life.