This stream opens right in the middle of the prologue, and The Last of Us Remastered does not ease you into anything. Sarah asks Joel where he got the money for her gift, and he deadpans, "Drugs. I sell hardcore drugs," before she says she started helping out with the mortgage. Then the whole world falls apart in one night. Joel is telling her "It's okay, baby. We're safe" while everything burns down around them. There's a family on the road screaming "Hey, we need help. Stop! Please. It's my daughter. I think her leg's broken," and they drive right past. Sarah asks, "What about Uncle Tommy?" and Joel promises, "We're gonna get you to safety and go back for him, okay?"
Then comes the part that wrecks everybody. The soldier radios in, "We've got a couple of civilians on the outer perimeter. Please advise." He says, "Sir, there's a little girl. But... Yes, sir." Joel is pleading, "We've just been through hell. Okay, we just need to..." and then it happens. "Oh, no. Sarah, move your hands, baby. I know, baby. I know. Listen to me. I know this hurts. You're gonna be okay, baby. Stay with me. I'm gonna pick you up. I know, baby. I know it hurts. Come on, baby. Please. Sarah, don't do this to me, baby. Come on." My head was actually in the way of part of it on the screen, and even then — they're not messing around in this game.
The Outbreak and the World That's Left
The news montage that follows lays out how it all collapsed. The number of confirmed deaths passed 200. The governor called a state of emergency. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies lining the streets. Panic spread worldwide after a leaked report from the World Health Organization showed that the latest vaccination tests had failed. With the bureaucrats out of power, somebody says, we can finally take the necessary steps. Los Angeles becomes the latest city placed under martial law, with all residents required to report to their designated court. Riots continue for a third consecutive day, and winter rations hit an all-time low.
Then you hear about a group calling themselves the Fireflies claiming responsibility for attacks. Their public charter calls for the return of all branches of government. Demonstrations break out following the execution of six more alleged Fireflies. And their message: "Remember, when you're lost in the darkness, look for the light. Believe in the Fireflies. We're here for you." Damn. It is pretty intense.
"We Just Want to See Jerry Kill Somebody Cold Blooded"
Capo said in the chat, "We just want to see Jerry kill somebody cold blooded." Oh, shit. Well, the game had other plans, because the first real fight fucked me up. Damn, they're fucking me up right now. I missed all my shit. Tess was covering for me while I was missing everything, and my health was shot. Damn, I'm glad she can fight, because I missed all my shots and got beat the fuck up.
Later on we got to the Robert scene, and that one delivered. Tess tells him, "Leave now," and when he says, "I'm not going anywhere without Robert," it turns into "bash your skull unless you turn around and get your dumb ass out of here." Then it's "Fuck this. Take cover!" and the bullets start flying. Oh, hell yeah. I like how she operates. I was yelling "I'm gonna fucking kill you" and trying to get the angle on them, and later in the sneaking sections it was more Roberts' guys everywhere — "Jesus. We shouldn't have taken this job." I messed up my stealth completely at one point. Yep, no stealth right here. Oh, damn, that's brutal — he grabbed his ass right there. Gotcha, bitch. Die, motherfucker. Then I fucked up real bad, ducked down with no med kit and no way to patch up, which is not good. At least I took a couple out, and Tess bailed me out again. Good help, though. Good help. I like that. And yes, I put this on a pretty easy difficulty.
How to Get More Engagement and Views on Your Streams
Brad said, "I want tips on getting more engagement and views." The number one thing that's working for me to get engagement and views is to make my live streams watchable when I'm offline. That's the number one thing most streamers don't do, and there are a few different ways you can do it. That way, you're maximizing the followers you already have, and you're maximizing your opportunities to deepen your connection with them.
The first step is to think about: how can I make my live stream in a way that if I'm not live, it's worth watching to somebody who's following me? Now, it doesn't have to be worth watching to everybody — just worth watching enough that people are more likely to click on it and watch it. Honestly, a lot of it is just thinking about it at all, just considering, okay, I want to make something that's worth watching even if somebody didn't happen to catch me live. Once you think about it that way, then you can go forward.
One way to make your live stream more watchable to somebody who's not there live is to play different games. If somebody's seeing a new game they haven't seen played before, they may be more likely to watch even when you're not live, just to see what game you're playing. For example, take this game — if you've never seen it before, you might be interested just to see a little bit of it, even though I'm not live. You also might be interested if you love the game and want to see me play some of it. So playing different games is a great way to increase your engagement. And I know, Brad, you're already doing that.
Why Are You Streaming in the First Place?
All of this comes back to why you are streaming in the first place. What's the purpose, what's the point of your live stream? That's the key thing. Instead of doing something else — instead of hanging out with your family, instead of working, instead of doing some kind of self-care practice — why are you doing your live streaming? What is the point? The why of your live streaming will often drive the conversations you're having.
Like, I do my live stream to teach. To teach people how to take care of your mental and physical health. To share my stories about recovering from alcoholism and sex addiction, and how I lost and kept off 80 pounds. To share how I've been able to be a full-time game streamer after years of trying and struggling and failing and quitting and being stressed out.
Work on Your Unique Gift, Not Just Your Talking
And you don't actually have to talk the whole time — you can even do silent streams. Brad made a great point about that when he said, "I need to work on my talking." You might not need to work on your talking. The secret is that you need to work on your unique gift. I think if you want to reach your full potential, what you really need to be able to do is put all of your gifts together. If you can put all of your gifts together on your live stream, then you've got a chance to create something people will watch even when you're not live. That's absolutely magical.
For example, for me: one of my gifts is video gaming. Another of my gifts is speaking and teaching. Another is empathizing and understanding with viewers. Another of my gifts is bringing just a really loving presence to where I'm at. Another is a willingness to be uncomfortable — to look stupid or be awkward or not know what I'm doing. That's an asset. Then put that together with my entire history of all the games I've played — I can play some of these retro games — my willingness to try new things, my alcoholism, my struggles with weight loss, and then the outside of my life on my stream: my marriage, my children. When you put all of these things together, it makes a unique show and a unique experience that's relatable, that is uniquely me.
There's not a magic formula. I've done thousands of live streams now, and it's taken me a lot of practice and a lot of getting to know myself to figure it out. So the key thing to do is know thyself. Find your strengths. Find your weaknesses. Figure out what you can do really well. And ultimately, on your live stream, you're playing video games — you ought to be having fun even if nobody's watching. You literally should be enjoying what you're doing even if you're getting absolutely nothing out of it.
Streaming Sober
Liam said, "I couldn't stream without Dutch courage." You'd be surprised what you can do. You'd be surprised what's possible. I used to think I needed these things outside me to be at my best, like alcohol — and in my experience, I don't. I can be really entertaining. I can have a lot of fun totally sober. You'd be surprised what you can do.
The Fourteen-Year-Old We're Smuggling
Meanwhile, the story kept getting better. Joel sizes up Ellie: "Your friend, huh? What are you, like, twelve?" And she fires back, "She knew my mom. And she's been looking after me. And I'm fourteen. Not that that has anything to do with anything." He asks where her parents are, and she says, "Where are anyone's parents? They've been gone a long, long time." So instead of just staying in school, she decided to run off and join the Fireflies — and she's not supposed to tell him why they're smuggling her. His answer is that the best thing about his job is he doesn't gotta know why; he doesn't give two shits what she's up to.
Then the soldiers catch them. "Turn around. On your knees. You scan them, I'll call it in. Put your hands on your head. This is Ramirez at sector 12 requesting pickup for three stragglers." They try "Look the other way, we can make this worth your while," and get told to shut up. ETA a couple minutes. "I thought we were just gonna hold him up or something." And then the reveal: Marlene set us up — why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl? "I'm not infected. No, I'm just lying. I can explain." The bite is three weeks old, when everyone turns within two days. "It's three weeks, I swear." And she's like — why would she lie? She's got the cure. Brad said it in chat: this is starting to get good, man. Which was right about the time for me to cut it off, too.
Why I'm Keeping This Game
Brad, I was thinking about trading this in today — now I'm not sure. One thing I also do with my streams is test all the new games, and then if there's a game that does really well, either one that I really like or that the viewers really like, then I look at playing that one again. So I might consider keeping this one. I mean, I'm only going to get probably like three bucks trading it in, so I think I'll keep it. The session ended the way half my firefights did — soldiers everywhere, "stay down, don't let him see you," and damn, I'm dead. All right, I guess this is a good place for me to stop then. If you want to see whether I keep playing through Joel and Ellie's story, along with all the other games I test out, check out my Games playlist.