HBO's The Last Of Us: 10 Things We Need To See

3. The return of the guitar

"If I ever were to lose you, I'd surely lose myself."

There are multiple occasions within The Last of Us' story that brought this writer to the verge of tears, but none more so than the climactic sequence of the second game.

Ellie returns to her home to find Dina and Jesse nowhere to be found, having left in despair at Ellie's insatiable quest for revenge. This is swiftly followed by the heartrending revelation that she can no longer play the guitar Joel gave her, having lost two of her fingers in her brutal fight with Abby. In the interest of total transparency, "verge of tears" may be a slight understatement for somebody sobbing their eyes out.

That is without even getting started on the scenes in which Joel attempts to mend bridges with Ellie through his playing, a scene that reduces even the most hardened of viewers to an emotional wreck. Ultimately, the guitar is an integral symbol of Joel and Ellie's relationship in addition to the franchise itself, an indispensable component for the new show. HBO simply have to feature it in some capacity in order to bring some of the games' most moving sequences to life.

A verse from Joel's devastatingly beautiful rendition of Future Days sums up the sense of optimism surrounding HBO's offering perfectly.

"And I believe 'cause I can see,

Our future days, days of you and me".