So yea, even on a 3rd play through, and after a year's break, this game is still peerless. Stands the test of a year effortlessly, and I have a feeling it'll remain a classic even years to come.
My biggest fear is actually ND not being able to top this with Last of Us 2. I feel like ND may have hit franchise peaks with both UC2 and LoU, as I'm not entirely sure how much you can really improve these games overall, at least LoU anyway. It's just brilliant. They can improve things like AI, melee etc, but I'm not sure they can top the overall pacing, acting, narrative and scenario designs.
More on audio.
On a side note, playing with my T1 headphones, plugged in to a little FiiO D03k Digital to Analogue Convertor (Optical to RCA or 3.5mm jack, has its own power supply), and the audio is just on another level. Powers my headphones surprisingly well. I actually have the volume turned down about 40% in the game options, so power is ample.
The Hotel Lobby area basically shat me up all over again, and so many other sound effects are so visceral you either feel immense satisfaction shooting certain weapons etc off, or dread hearing them get fired at you. That Humvee with the 50 cal, holy crap the bass and thunderous roar is just immense. Feels so threatening. Also, the subtlety and nuance in the multitude of ambient sounds constantly surrounding you is so well done.
If anyone wants to try the DAC to use with the PS4 for use with speakers, or direct headphone input (much better audio quality than via the control pad), here's the one I'm using. It's inexpensive and offers excellent audio quality for the money.
http://www.fiio.com.cn/products/index.aspx?ID=100000027553125&MenuID=105026003
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009346RSS/?tag=neogaf0e-20