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In the farmhouse near the end of the game, when Joel and Tommy are combing the place for Ellie, there's a baseball poster tucked away in one of the rooms featuring a face fans might not recognise straight away - Daniel Kinnard. He was a Naughty Dog developer who sadly passed away while the remake was being made, and the studio quietly wrote him into the world as a lasting nod to his work.
Scattered copies of a fictional newspaper called The Daily Metro pop up across the game, and if you stop to actually read the headlines, one of them is a proper gem: 'Uncharted 13: A Lush Movie — Justin Bieber as Drake.' Naughty Dog poking a bit of fun at their own flagship franchise.
Once you've finished the game and unlocked some of the cosmetic outfits, one option for Ellie is a bright yellow tracksuit that's unmistakably lifted from Uma Thurman's Bride in Kill Bill. Given how far Ellie's come by the credits, it's a fitting look for her.
There's a rundown pub you pass through called O'Sullivan's, and the layout is a deliberate callback to the bar brawl that kicks off Uncharted 3. The name itself is a nod to Victor 'Sully' Sullivan, Nathan Drake's long-time partner in crime.
During the grim final stretch through the Firefly hospital, keep an eye on the eye test charts hanging on the walls. One of them isn't random letters at all - it spells out 'RUN YOU R NEARLY THERE DON'T QUIT!!', a bit of dark encouragement for players white-knuckling their way to the ending.
While exploring with Bill, you'll pass a house that looks strikingly familiar if you've played Telltale's The Walking Dead - it's built to resemble Clementine's home from the very start of that game, just left to rot a little longer. A nice bit of respect between two of the era's best story-driven survival games.
In Serenity Apartments, right after you meet Henry and Sam, take a look around the bedroom - there's a Jak & Daxter plush on the dresser and a Nathan Drake plushie on the bed. The remake even throws in a second Drake plush for good measure.
Since the original game launched on PlayStation 3, Naughty Dog snuck actual PS3 consoles into the environment as a little in-joke. You can spot one under Joel and Sarah's TV right at the start, and another later inside Larry's TV & Stereo store, complete with a couple of DualShock controllers on a nearby shelf.
Naughty Dog isn't shy about referencing itself - in Pittsburgh you'll come across a poster for the official Last of Us website and a mousepad bearing the studio's logo. There's also a pet store called Faithful Dog, a pun that's hard to miss once you notice it.
Not long after the remake launched, fans started sharing screenshots of a pinboard covered in fantasy-style concept art, including what looks like a unicorn-esque creature. Similar imagery had already turned up in The Last of Us Part II, and plenty of players are convinced it's a breadcrumb pointing toward Naughty Dog's next original IP.
