Good things come to those who waitFirst thing’s first – I had been waiting on this game for forever. 9 years, in fact. Dear god, did this game go through one hell of a development period. The Last Guardian was supposed to be an early title for the Playstation 3 as a follow up to Shadow Of The Colossus. However, due to several important people leaving Team Ico, the game’s development team, the game was postponed again and again until many people feared it would never see the light of day.
And man, am I happy to see SIE Japan Studio power through to deliver what I believe is one of the greatest masterpieces I ever had the pleasure of playing.
You play as this nameless little boy who one day wakes up in a cave, next to a massive mythical beast. The creature is wounded and famished, and obviously scared. After you feed him the nearby rations you find and take care of its injuries, the creature stops seeing you as a threat and accompanies you as you travel through the caves and towers, throughout your adventure steadily turning into what is perhaps the best escort character I’ve ever seen. The characters carry the story, which isn’t a bad thing. In fact, this is one of my favourite examples of storytelling I’ve seen in a game. The premise is very simple; you tame and befriend this massive savage animal, who needs to go back to his home. You, not knowing where you are in the first place, decide to help the beast get there on your way back to your home. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, and honestly I don’t think it would’ve been so special if the creature’s character arc wasn’t handled so well. But that’s why these writers are geniuses.
The way Trico’s (the beast’s name) AI is programmed is incredible. Its design looks to be a cross between a dog and a bird, and the behaviour of a cat, although you would almost say that the beast is actually real, ready to jump through the screen and into your living room (which I assume won’t be pretty). Any pet owner will testify how scarily lifelike Trico is in its mannerisms. It’s a little slow on the uptake, which I read annoyed a lot of players. During gameplay, you need to command Trico to do certain things, which can sometimes take a couple of repeated tries before the creature actually decides to do something. From a strict gameplay point of view, I can definitely understand that that can become irritating before long. But think – how often do you tell an untrained dog to sit, before it’ll actually do as you say? As the game progresses, the beast becomes more and more accustomed to your company and start listening to you better, and you can give it more advanced commands such as to jump, to hold still, etc.
The little details added to Trico’s antics such as fiddling around with dangling chains, sniffing out new environments, scratching his ears with his hind leg, rolling around in shallow water in order to clean itself… And then it wants to follow you through a doorway that only you can go through, and its head gets stuck in the opening… Really, it has to be seen to be believed. Everyone needs a Trico in their life.
That’s not to say that they made the entire game revolve around Trico. There are more than one way in order to take obstacles. One involves have the massive beast simply jump over them. But it can’t take you anywhere you need to go. Sometimes, you need to progress on foot. In fact, the environment is filled with ivy that can be climbed as well as spots for Trico to jump on. This means that many obstacles that can be jumped over with Trico can alse be traversed for the boy. And doing so is a very viable option, as it allows you to pay extra attention to the game’s epic and gorgeous environments.
Like Shadow of the Colossus before it, this game does a thing with scope like no other game does. It really makes you feel how small you are compared to the environment, and choosing to not travel on the beast’s back all the time makes you appreciate that even more. I can’t remember a time where I had been so enthralled by a game’s setting alone. Take the gorgeous (slightly dated but works very well in the game’s favour) voice and combine them with the subtle use of music ranging from quiet melody to epic orchestras and the authentic sound design and you’re in a world so vast and unbelievable it simply can’t be explained well enough if you haven’t played it for yourself.
It’s a good thing The Last Guardian took until the Playstation 4 to come out, because I don’t think it would’ve become as special as it would have been in the last generation. And without exaggerating, The Last Guardian is just as good as its predecessor, Shadow of the Colossus. Everything it offers reels you in, and never lets you go. Buy The Last Guardian. Really, you won’t regret it.
Graphics
9 Sound
10 Addictive
9 Depth
9 Story
10 Difficulty
5
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