Hey now everybody, hope you're having a great day, and welcome to my review of The Last Guardian! In honor of the Shadow of the Colossus remake coming out in a couple weeks I wanted to talk about this game. I actually played this one when it first came out over a year ago, before I even started using Steemit. It kind of got overlooked and I never reviewed it, so I figured what better time to talk about The Last Guardian. Hopefully this might get a few people interested in both of these games, because they are such unique titles that are almost pieces of art, and I feel as though they might have flown under a lot of people's radar. This is not your typical game by any means, and it might not be for everyone, but these types of experiences should be supported and enjoyed by as many people as possible, and hopefully we can continue to get more of them in the future. So let's get started.
This game had a tough job to pull off, and it had a lot going against it before it was even released. First of all it's following the much beloved cult classic, Shadow of the Colossus, that took people by surprise and won them over with it's simplistic empty world only inhabited with towering giants. After that people are expecting great things from this development team, and they had a lot to live up to. It also suffered from the amount of time it took to make. It was first announced in 2009 at E3, and was expected to come out in 2011. People were very hyped up for it, but it was delayed several times, and when that happens people can lose interest or become overhyped making it hard to win them over either way. And more times then not, when a game is lost in development for many years it often ends up being a mess.
After a long nine year development cycle, and rumors of the games cancellation, The Last Guardian finally got released on December 6th, 2016. I was excited to get started with it, but also cautiously optimistic fearing it might not live up to my expectations. To be honest I didn't really know what to expect out this game, but I did know that Team Ico, the developers, made some wonderfully unique and beautiful titles in the past so this one would probably not disappoint. Reviews for The Last Guardian are all over the place, with some people giving it awards and high praise, while others call it unplayable and subpar. I can understand why people have such strong reactions to it, as it's certainly not your typical game.
The Last Guardian's story is told as a flashback narrated by an old man, telling the story of what happened to him as a young boy, the boy you control in the game. As it begins the boy wakes up to find himself in a vast ruined castle far away from his home. He immediately notices a giant half bird, half cat creature chained up and injured in the room with him. He names the animal Trico and at first it's not very friendly, but once you help it out of it's chains and pull the spears from his back Trico begins to trust you. There's no obvious way out of the area you begin in, and you have to use Trico and it's massive size to find a way to escape. That's basically the premise of the entire game, you get presented with a puzzle, and have to use Trico and the boy's abilities to figure out the situation.
At first the huge animal doesn't listen to your commands very well, it takes a few tries to get to do what you want, and sometimes I wasn't sure what to do anyway. But as the game goes on and the two of you share experiences together, your bond grows stronger and Trico becomes much more responsive. As you progress you start to get used to working in tandem with the creature and it's a lot of fun climbing up his back to leap across a huge gap or up a tall building. The size difference is a little like Shadow of the Colossus, but not quite so big, and the boy, as well as the gameplay, are similar to Ico so it feels like a combination of both games.
Eventually you find a magic shield that makes Trico's tail shoot out a beam of lightning. You can use this to destroy things in your way or to help you solve puzzles, and it adds another mechanic to use. There are enemies that will try and grab you and carry you off, if this happens or if you fall off a ledge or something, you just return back to the last checkpoint which isn't ever far away. Trico can usually be used to protect you from most enemies, but sometimes he is unable to and you have to go it alone. Being separated from him made me miss having him there, the same way you miss your pet when you're not with it. The game did a fantastic job of making me feel a connection to Trico, because he's incredibly lifelike.
I've never seen any game portray an animal in such a believable and realistic way. Even though Trico is a fictional creature, it's behaviors and subtle mannerisms are so familiar that it felt like I was dealing with a real animal most of the time. At the beginning of the game he is easily distracted and doesn't really trust you, but by the end he would do anything to protect you, much like a loyal dog would. As someone who's has always had pets and still does, I absolutely love animals and can easily get attached to them. Whenever something bad would happen to Trico it really hit me in way that doesn't normally happen with videogames.
Going on this adventure with him was a genuinely emotional experience, and by the end I was so choked up it was almost hard to get through. The developers did an amazing job creating a beautiful world to explore, with such an incredible lifelike animal companion, that they really do deserve high praise for pulling something off that most teams wouldn't even attempt. If you're someone who has pets, or just loves animals in general, then I think you will at least enjoy interacting with Trico and building up your bond with him. But if you don't have any experience having to be patient and understanding with an animal, then the game's flaws might be more frustrating for you and you might have a hard time becoming immersed in the story.
Since development on The Last Guardian began back in the PlayStation 2 era it's controls and mechanics were designed for a much weaker console. When it got delayed for so long the team had to try and upgrade it for the PS4, but the controls feel just like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Controlling the boy can be strange at first, and precise actions can be tough at times. Also when you try and give a command to Trico and he doesn't listen it can be frustrating and make you second guess if you're doing the right thing. One of people's biggest complaints about the game is it's camera. Sometimes it just completely blocks your view, or moves in weird ways that take you out of the moment. These are valid issues that you have to deal with, so if you don't have a lot of patience than this might not be your kind of game.
Although there are some slight flaws with the gameplay I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It did take me out of the moment sometimes, but it certainly didn't stop me from enjoying the game. The story is interesting, and kept me engaged the whole time, and the relationship with Trico was something completely unique that you wont see anywhere else. Going on that journey with him through that beautiful, mysterious world, was an awesome experience that you rarely get to have. If you like puzzle adventure games, and can get used to the minor flaws that this has, you're going to have an emotional good time here with your new giant cat bird. The games Team Ico makes are like pieces of art and I hope they continue to make more in the future, hopefully a little faster next time though. I give The Last Guardian a grade of....................................
B+
Thank you for reading my review of The Last Guardian, I hope you enjoyed it!