The Last Guardian
- Dec 10, 2016
- 7 min read
Just as its spiritual predecessors, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, so too is The Last Guardian an emotional and richly imaginative puzzle-platformer adventure that had me near refusing to put the controller down. In the 24 hours immediately succeeding my installation of the game, somewhere around 14 of those hours were devoted solely to the journey that took place between a young boy and a magical beast. Though I thoroughly enjoyed its story and adventure, The Last Guardian is hampered by a few issues that, for me, prevented it from being the masterpiece I know it could have been had it been delayed just a little bit longer.
The Adventure Begins
The Last Guardian’s story focuses around two characters, the nameless boy and the giant, man-eating dog-griffin hybrid creature, Trico; two unlikely cohorts, as was also the case with ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Spanning the game’s story, the two will develop trust, ways of communication and a compassionate friendship. Fumito Ueda’s skill of video game storytelling is right up there with Naughty Dog and Kojima. However, unlike Naughty Dog and Kojima, Ueda’s style of storytelling is far subtler for the most part. Though there are cutscenes that directly focus on storytelling and feature (subtitled) dialogue, it’s in the movements of Trico, the interactions, the tone in the boy’s voice, and more elusive clues that tell the majority of the story: the ever-growing bond between a boy and his beast. Ueda’s style of storytelling is very minimalist, but at the same time, brilliant. I loved The Last Guardian’s story, and found it was nowhere near my predictions for how it would go. I was surprised, I was shocked, and I loved the adventure.
It begins with the pair being introduced to each other. Awaking from a mysterious dream, the boy turns to find Trico laying nearby on the ground, restricted in place by chains and a harness, almost paralysed as a result of the spears in his back and hind legs. As a gesture of friendship, the boy removes the spears from Trico and unshackles him – even finding him barrels of food to gain his trust. Ultimately, it pays off, and the two work together as they begin to make their escape from the mysterious land in which they’ve found themselves.
Working together is essential for the journey’s progress. As two vastly different individuals, the boy and Trico each have their own strengths when it comes to solving puzzles and moving the adventure along. The boy takes care of the smaller tasks: crawling through tiny holes to access areas Trico is too large to enter, moving objects and pulling switches to open doors / gates; Trico does the more demanding stuff: emulating a set of stairs so the boy can climb him and reach new heights, providing the muscle power for heavy tasks, dangling his tail like a rope for the boy to climb down, and leaping incredible distances.
Controlling your new friend, however, can prove to be a complicated task. The amount of programming done exclusively for Trico’s artificial intelligence has created the most lifelike digital creature I’ve ever seen in a video game. The mannerisms of the cats and dogs which have so obviously inspired Trico’s design are emulated so amazingly, so perfectly that Trico really does feel like a pet. The way he plays with pots and barrels at his feet, the way he scratches his ear, sniffs at interesting objects or brings his head closer to you for stroking, it’s fantastically cute – and as a pet owner away from my dog, I really wish she was here now. His interactions with the boy and the world aren’t just for display, however. Trico looking in a certain direction or inspecting something you had not noticed is often the game’s way of providing you a clue as to where to go.
Nothing about his behaviour is scripted, and thus he can be unpredictable (it’s why the E3 2015 re-reveal trailer of The Last Guardian used pre-recorded footage). I’ve heard from other people that they found Trico’s disobedience frustrating at times but honestly, though he could be tricky to control, I never once got annoyed at him (well, except for when he did this to me). His behaviour is very much that of a pet’s, and though his appearance resembles more canine than feline, his behaviour is more of the latter. Cats have a reputation for doing things when they want to, as opposed to a dog which will more than often do anything it’s told, and that’s exactly how I would describe Trico in those first few hours. What the people complaining don’t understand, though, is that this is by design. Trico is a wild animal who, over time, becomes more like a pet and willing to listen to you. Some of the game’s themes are trust, friendship, and companionship, and working towards increasing these between the boy and Trico is part of the story.
If I do have any control-related issues, they actually fall with the boy. In preparation for The Last Guardian, I went back and played the remasters of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus on my PlayStation 3 some months ago. I remembered thinking at the time how dated the movement controls were, and how much tighter and fluid modern systems are. When I booted up The Last Guardian, I had those exact same thoughts. I got used to the controls after an hour or so of gameplay, but for a game releasing on the PlayStation 4 in 2016, the controls did feel very akin to those of its PlayStation 2 predecessors. I’m not sure if this was also by design, that perhaps Fumito Ueda was trying to draw out some nostalgia from those that had played his earlier games, but for me, the control scheme is something I wish was more in line with modern games.
The World of the Guardians
The world of The Last Guardian is incredible. Not just from a beautiful art style, but from the sense of wonder the architecture and interesting, often bizarre objects and items can evoke from you. Surrounded by structures that look man-made, you can’t help but ponder on the thought of who, or what, built this place. In this regard, The Last Guardian closely resembles ICO, with both titles having eerie but beautiful locations in which their stories are based.
And it’s not just the environments that are fascinating, but also the inhabitants. Regularly, the boy and Trico will encounter enemies, literally animated suits of armour. Having a giant beast on your side certainly helps even the odds when a large number of foes appear. Though Trico will do most of the fighting, consisting of smashing the enemies into walls and shaking them violently in his mouth, the boy does possess a way of fighting back, also. An interesting possession of the boy's, a glowing, emerald, shield-like object reveals a very surprising power of Trico’s. Aiming the shield will beam a light, and where that beam lands is where Trico will fire bolts of lightning from his tail. It’s an interesting and surprising mechanic used in both combat and puzzle-solving.
Puzzles are a major part of The Last Guardian’s adventure, with you coming across a new one incredibly frequently. A lot of them, if not all of them, are well thought-out, myself having been stopped dead in my tracks whilst trying to figure out some. Most them consist of platforming, climbing, moving objects, and pulling switches, though there are a few that change things up a bit.
I feel I need to mention that whilst doing the puzzles there was a constant annoyance. As with most games you’re told the controls at the beginning, or at the time a new mechanic is introduced. Press triangle to jump, tap R1 to call Trico, press circle and pull down to remove spears etc. are some of the messages you’ll frequently see. But that’s the problem. These messages never go away, and they keep reminding you that you’re simply playing a video game. I love to get completely engrossed, utterly lost in video games that have a brilliant story, just as I do with a good movie. But the constant on-screen button prompts prevented me from doing that. Seriously, after 4 hours of playing the game, I think I’ve got the mechanics down. What’s even more annoying is that there’s no way of turning these prompts off, so you’re going to be stuck with the on-screen messages every time you go near something you can interact with.
What hinders the experience the most, however, is something that appears to be exclusive to those playing The Last Guardian on a regular PlayStation 4 (as I was): frame-rate issues. Though it’s targeting 30fps, on both the base PS4 and the PS4 Pro, The Last Guardian rarely manages to hit that target for a decent amount of time. Considering The Last Guardian has frame-rate dips that can go as low as 15fps, I can’t imagine how frustrating The Last Guardian’s development would have been on PlayStation 3. The frame-rate issues appear during some of the game’s most exciting moments, incredible moments that are hampered by a slow-motion mode. Reports indicate that these problems are far, far less common on the PS4 Pro, so if you’re intending to play The Last Guardian on the higher-end PlayStation 4, you should be fine.
My Verdict
Still, even with the irritating on-screen prompts, frame-rate issues, and initial control problems, I can’t deny that The Last Guardian is simply one of the best games available this year, this generation, with a story that I'm going to love for a long, long time. For some, paying full price for a game that features no multiplayer and very little instant replayability may seem like a bad idea. If that’s you, the type of person who wants to be able to play a game over and over and over after spending full price on it, perhaps The Last Guardian is something you should wait for. But I’ll tell you this: just like ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian is a gaming classic. No debate. We’re going to be talking about this game for years to come. During the Summer and Christmas seasons, when I tend to replay some of my old favourites, The Last Guardian will be revisited. Time and time again. I’m so, so happy they never gave up.
9/10
The Last Guardian is available exclusively on PlayStation 4.
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