Title: Video Game Review: The Last Guardian - Charming enough to stand the test of time
Author: Stunt
Recovered Author: Stunt
Published Date: 2016-12-13
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2016/12/video-game-review-the-last-guardian-charming-enough-to-stand-the-test-of-time
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170706012942id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za/2016/12/video-game-review-the-last-guardian-charming-enough-to-stand-the-test-of-time/
Recovery Confidence: high
Categories: Video Game Review
Tags: exclusive, featured, Fumito Ueda, PS4, the last guardian, The Last Guardian - Charming enough to stand the test of time, trico, video game review

- Developer genDESIGN | SIE Japan Studio
- Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Distributor Ster-Kinekor Entertainment
- Where we got our copy Ster-Kinekor Entertainment
- Genre Puzzle
- Game modes Single Player
- Players 1
- Reviewed on Playstation 4

- Stunt

- 7 months ago

- 0 0

While watching the SONY conference coverage at E3 of 2015, I realised that I belonged to an exclusive, unique group of people who had no bloody clue what an ICO was, who Fumito Ueda was or what the fuss about The Last Guardian was either. That trailer drew in a mass of reaction videos and coverage for what quickly became apparent was one of the most anticipated SONY exclusive titles since last gen.

Being an outsider to these games initially had me not expecting much from The Last Guardian, but with it following in the formidable footsteps of Fumito Ueda’s past creations and their reception from the masses, I did start to expect something. An enlightenment from my ignorance I suppose, much like I experienced when I finally allowed Dark Souls to engulf me entirely.

My history with Ueda’s work has to be made clear, I know nothing of the aforementioned ICO or popular Shadow of the Colossus games. The little I know of Shadow of the Colossus was seeing it feature as an emotional pillar for Adam Sandler’s character, Charlie Fineman, in the 2007 drama Reign over me. Which is little to go on for an overall experience, but was enough to insinuate that Ueda’s games have more depth to them than is initially evident. Luckily, I had the opportunity to find out for myself and just to clarify, I’ll keep this spoiler free.

The Last Guardian starts off with a man’s telling of his experience as a boy, when he found himself awakening covered head to toe in a full body tattoo of sorts in what seems to be a holding area, only he was not alone. Restrained heavily and injured alongside him was a man-eating beast, a pup of what seems to be a griffon and dog mix, which I will refer to as a Dogfin or better yet, “Trico” which is what the boy calls him.

Both awake, uncertain and afraid, it’s through careful interaction that the boy and Trico, learn to trust each other, be it slowly. This process plays off as a tutorial to the game and does so rather cleverly and seamlessly. Soon it becomes clear that only through careful cooperation can both the boy and Trico progress through this world and onto safety away from the foreign ancient city they find themselves in.

It’s beautiful playing a game where very little story is necessary to create an immersive one – With only the odd narration being memories of the moment you’re currently in, everything else relies on the culmination of magnificent environments, characters and a precise flow of events to create the story as you progress through it.

If this is specifically the strength in Ueda’s methods, colour me impressed!

The Last Guardian prides itself as an adventure puzzle game, with its greatest strength being its relationship between its two protagonists. The boy you play is as innocent as can be expected of a kid who finds himself in unfamiliar territory for uncertain reasons. Though he carries with him a sense of great will and independence for a boy his age. Navigating with the boy is easy enough, made tougher by exaggerated ragdoll physics and poor camera control which seems to haunt the game more than I was comfortable with. Given the standard of modern game mechanics, such things can be frustrating and even repulsing for some players.

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Trico is more complex in character, as capricious and disobediently inquisitive as can be expected from a puppy, Trico is as colourful as he is infuriating at times.

What started as a critique of bad coding for me when noticing how Trico didn’t do what I wanted at first, slowly transformed into acceptance of his character and appreciation of this lesser detail. I could be absolutely wrong in my latter standing and the game could likely just be in need of a patch, but I prefer to think that it was intended in this way. This is a very brave mechanic to exercise in a game of this nature, for as I mentioned the modern standard upon which games are judged don’t favour such risky mechanics and rather shuns them as flaws. Fortunately through diligent progress, Trico does become a whole lot more responsive and obedient as your relationship with him grows and the story unfolds.

The cooperation is key in this game, as Trico is massive and able to cross larger areas easier than the boy, he’s height, weight and primal tendencies have purpose and dynamic. Dynamic which compliments that of the boy who is smaller and quieter allowing him to reach more precise locations and even interact with objects Trico would not know what to do with. The challenge comes in accurately discovery the best route and method used to progress through the world. Without clear indication through the usual visual clues given by games, progress can often feel slow and painful. A lot of time is spent wasted in effort to attempt reaching places better suited for Trico’s approach or backtracking and unknowingly avoiding paths that seem irrelevant to the given circumstance. It’s only through heedful observation and perseverance that you learn to use the characters to their strengths. Admittedly I never mastered this and was forever feeling lost, along the wrong path or frustrated to no end – Tea breaks helped.

The environment is populated with what can only be described as guardians of the city. Always out to grab the boy and take him off to some nether, it’s a scary sensation when facing off against them. Luckily Trico will very quickly jump to the defence of the boy against these guardians, fighting them off in a fit of fury which overwhelms him to the point where he can only be calmed by the boy petting him. This interaction, amongst others, is the emotional bond that grows between the two characters and carries on throughout to become the core of the experience.

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The Last Guardian pulls out all the stops in building on this core, bringing the focus on how Trico not only interacts with the boy, but looks at him. Through clever triggers and often painful camera angles as it spares no chance to keep Trico in the picture at all times. This bond becomes a necessity as the world inevitably spirals into a monotonous series of lever pulling, shimmying and crawling across a world that seems all too familiar to the adventure titles of the last decade. Not giving much new in sense of environment coupled with the odd framerate drops and immersion breaks when Trico is unable to do what is required until the umpteenth request easily and unnecessarily breaks immersion.

Plagued by some technical flaws and poorly executed ideas, The Last Guardian will be frustrating to most. For others it might just be the perfect balance of frustration and reward. For me, it was a little of both. I found my efforts, no matter how infuriating at times, were rewarded by charming and emotional milestones in progress. The Last Guardian may be a game from an era long passed, but it’s unique and courageous enough to be worth every moment I spent in it.

While watching the SONY conference coverage at E3 of 2015, I realised that I belonged to an exclusive, unique group of people who had no bloody clue what an ICO was, who Fumito Ueda was or what the fuss about The Last Guardian was either. That trailer drew in a mass of reaction videos and coverage for what quickly became apparent was one of the most anticipated SONY exclusive titles since last gen. Being an outsider to these games initially had me not expecting much from The Last Guardian, but with it following in the formidable footsteps of Fumito Ueda's past creations and their reception from the masses, I did start to expect something. An enlightenment from my ignorance I suppose, much like I experienced when I finally allowed Dark Souls to engulf me entirely. My history with Ueda’s work has to be made clear, I know nothing of the aforementioned ICO or popular Shadow of the Colossus games. The little I know of Shadow of the Colossus was seeing it feature as an emotional pillar for Adam Sandler's character, Charlie Fineman, in the 2007 drama Reign over me. Which is little to go on for an overall experience, but was enough to insinuate that Ueda’s games have more depth to them than is initially evident. Luckily, I had the opportunity to find out for myself and just to clarify, I’ll keep this spoiler free. The Last Guardian starts off with a man’s telling of his experience as a boy, when he found himself awakening covered head to toe in a full body tattoo of sorts in what seems to be a holding area, only he was not alone. Restrained heavily and injured alongside him was a man-eating beast, a pup of what seems to be a griffon and dog mix, which I will refer to as a Dogfin or better yet, “Trico” which is what the boy calls him. Both awake, uncertain and afraid, it’s through careful interaction that the boy and Trico, learn to trust each other, be it slowly. This process plays off as a tutorial to the game and does so rather cleverly and seamlessly. Soon it becomes clear that only through careful cooperation can both the boy and Trico progress through this world and onto safety away from the foreign ancient city they find themselves in. It’s beautiful playing a game where very little story is necessary to create an immersive one – With only the odd narration being memories of the moment you’re currently in, everything else relies on the culmination of magnificent environments, characters and a precise flow of events to create the story as you progress through it. If this is specifically the strength in Ueda’s methods, colour me impressed! The Last Guardian prides itself as an adventure puzzle game, with its greatest strength being its relationship between its two protagonists. The boy you play is as innocent as can be expected of a kid who finds himself in unfamiliar territory for…

Video Game Review: The Last Guardian – Charming enough to stand the test of time

Video Game Review: The Last Guardian – Charming enough to stand the test of time

2016-12-13

Stunt

Charming Frustration

Overall - 7.5

75
7.5

A charming and emotional adventure puzzler with great characters and growth. Underdone by poor camera angles, flaky performance and at times unresponsive AI, The Last Guardian still ends up delivery a unique experience not commonly available.

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Stunt

Gaming Editor / Tech Author at Geek Node

Some say that he sees the world at 144 frames per second and his thumbs are actual analog sticks. All we know is he's called Stunt.

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