The Last Guardian. A game that carries a lot of weight on its shoulders. From creative pressures, to console shifts and a reintroduction at E3 2015 to a rapturous, if skeptical reception.
The truth is, the troubled development of The Last Guardian will likely remain apocryphal, in a similar vein to the mysterious ‘third act’ of Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, albeit for different reasons. While TPP was (arguably) a gap that was reluctantly filled (Kojima repeatedly said that he was done with the franchise), Team ICOs fragmentation and technical transition (it was after all, scheduled for the PlayStation 3) caused corporate and artistic conflict, and it is impossible to go into playing this game without some acknowledgement of its history.
Team ICOs previous two games – ICO and Shadow of the Colossus – are ultimately precursors, regardless of their critical acclaim or gamers’ individual opinions. It is their AI inconsistencies that, advocates would say, enhance the organic nature of the experience. The struggle to control Agro in Shadow, for example, is frustration and triumph in equal measure, sweetening the victory and reflecting on failure.
With one half of the protagonists in The Last Guardian being a giant, feral and mythical beast, it’s easy to see the path that ICO and Shadow built from a gameplay perspective, even if it’s production was far from straightforward. If reliance was the theme of ICO and sacrifice for Shadow, then the notion of trust is The Last Guardian’s philosophy. The game puts the human character in similarly isolated and contemplative scenarios to Shadow, but previously, where the beasts (and their merciless and methodical demise) were puzzles within themselves and the ends justifying the means, The Last Guardian requires a different style and degree of patience. The puzzles, reminiscent of ICO, are environmental and require not only teamwork, but the ability of an unpredictable and apprehensive animal.
Good games satisfy. Great games resonate. You can’t help the sense of balance between being enamored and fearful of Trico. It starts off as a wounded and aggravated animal, itself afraid of humans. Like ICO and Shadow, the objective is deceptively straightforward. The architecture is as Arcadian as it is crumbled, harking back to a previous conflict or simply worn and dilapidated from age. In order to establish and maintain a cadence, you have to pay attention to Trico’s reactions and mannerisms. Like a real animal, Trico is as unpredictable as (he, she or it) is necessary. The relationship, then, is built on trust and patience.
Even from the beginning of ICO, there was the sense of isolation and scale regarding its architecture. The whispering and howling of the wind gives an echoing feeling of verticality and scope. Footsteps are heard through rooms of stone and on bridges of wood. High camera angles further emphasize the potential risk. All of this adds up to Udea’s ‘subtraction’ philosophy. Stripping away a HUD, signage and even the save points being stone couches the ICO and Yorda sit on, you are left contemplating on what’s to come.
As much of a technical achievement in terms of landscape and architecture as Shadow is on PS2, and especially considering the juxtaposing minimalism of its narrative with its themes of sacrifice and the greater good, The Last Guardian’s crux is the building of a relationship and everything that entails. Familiarity, mutual respect and above all, love.Over the course of defeating sixteen colossi, the sense of melancholy was replaced by a pure gaming experience of solving a puzzle and defeating a boss…to a point.
Without spoiling anything, the resonance of developing a relationship is much more intrinsic to both the story and gameplay of The Last Guardian. As natural as it is for a child to explore their surroundings, a companion such as Trico can’t help but bring back fond memories of mythical beasts that were befriended by children in movies like The Never Ending Story or Where the Wild Things Are. Trico’s sense of size and weight shakes the screen, crumbles pillars and unbalances structures.
So, for all the reputation that precedes it, and the legacy its predecessors have, can The Last Guardian not only be judged on its own merits, but could it possibly fulfill expectations?
As pretentious as it sounds, Udea is an artist, first and foremost, from studying abstract art at Osaka University to the fitting symmetry of ICO and The Last Guardian being too ambitious for their initial respective consoles. With accolades from acclaimed musicians and directors to contemporaries like Kojima and Inafune, Udea and his games are special, respected, thought provoking and exquisite.