Though The Last of Us 2 released nearly 2 years ago, fans are still discovering new aspects of the game - including this strange glitch that affects Ellie's rifle.

The Last of Us Part II is rich with detail from its vivid character design, realistic environments, and thoughtfully designed mechanics. Fans and critics alike have fallen in love with the story and world of this game, creating one of the most dedicated game communities out there.

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It's no surprise, then, that fans are still digging up discoveries years after its initial release. One The Last of Us 2 player came across an intriguing glitch - one that both exposes the developer's design strategies and creates a hilarious effect.

In a post originally uploaded to the r/TheLastofUs subreddit, player u/TheUFCVeteran3 found a funny effect with Ellie's hunting rifle. Their weapon, which is one of the most effective weapons in the game, was upgraded to have a scope feature. However, when u/TheUFCVeteran3 looked through its scope, they discovered a strange glitch.

THE LAST OF US 2 RIFLE GLITCH

When the player points the rifle at a mirror in-game, u/TheUFCVeteran3 saw the rifle seemingly jump out of Ellie's arms. Somehow, Ellie "uses telekinesis," wielding a floating rifle at her reflection. The player also cycles through some of Ellie's other weapons, but it seems the effect is isolated to the rifle's scope. Check out the full clip here:

Of course, Ellie isn't actually using "telekinesis" here. The scope - and therefore, the rifle - is repositioning itself in the third-person camera view, rather than staying in Ellie's hands. It seems like a strange way to implement a scope, especially one that players would use fairly often. However, this glitch is actually an interesting look behind the curtain of mechanics surrounding a scoped weapon.

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In this case, the developers likely implemented this to avoid model overlap. If the rifle and the Ellie model constantly collided, it could potentially cause clipping issues. And, for a weapon that relies heavily on precision sight, clipping provides a massive problem. Given the apocalyptic nature of the game's world, it's unlikely that the player would come across too many mirrors; thus, the floating rifle. By just repositioning the rifle, Naughty Dog developers can create an easily fix - albeit a funny one.

It's glitches like these that give players some fun insight into the problem-solving process of game development. Not everything is an easy fix, and sometimes, the most necessary solutions can be a bit silly and scrappy. I doubt that developers ever really expected players to aim down their sights at themselves, but I'm glad u/TheUFCVeteran3 did.

The Last of Us Part I and II are available to play on PS4.