The Last Guardian (Trico, Ico 3, Shadow of the Colossus sequel, etc.) [PS4]

[Jupiter]

I've looked more at the game and have written here a longer text as usual. This is just my opinion and I do not want to start a discussion. I do not have that much time. ^^

In my point of view The last Guardien has many inconsistencies which affect me and other gamers negative on the immersion, on the credibility and atmosphere. It is often not recognized that Trico has AI errors which are not intended to be self-willed.

The last Guardien has a lot of repetitive, outdated and unpretentious gameplay elements. Many other developers which also includes many indie developers who also prefer slow pacing mostly think about how to make each sequence meaningful or valuable. How to make it interesting for the players, etc. Fumito Ueda on the other hand, completely ignores a lot and he designs almost everything like in PlayStation 2 times. People who searching for nostalgia would say it is a minimalistic game design where they finally get a game like in those days.

I guess it also makes a huge difference in a relationship with Trico if one is an animal friend or not. I however do not like animals for a lot of reasons I will not list here. I'm generally only a little emotionally attached to animals and therefore I can hardly create an emotional bond to Trico, while pet lovers love him from the start. Perhaps this is a decisive factor also in the reviews.

When it comes to people as with The Last of Us I am more emotional even if people mourn for a dog. I would be emotional but not because the dog is dead. But because the human being suffers.

 

[Nesh]

I've looked more at the game and have written here a longer text as usual. This is just my opinion and I do not want to start a discussion. I do not have that much time. ^^

In my point of view The last Guardien has many inconsistencies which affect me and other gamers negative on the immersion, on the credibility and atmosphere. It is often not recognized that Trico has AI errors which are not intended to be self-willed.

The last Guardien has a lot of repetitive, outdated and unpretentious gameplay elements. Many other developers which also includes many indie developers who also prefer slow pacing mostly think about how to make each sequence meaningful or valuable. How to make it interesting for the players, etc. Fumito Ueda on the other hand, completely ignores a lot and he designs almost everything like in PlayStation 2 times. People who searching for nostalgia would say it is a minimalistic game design where they finally get a game like in those days.

I guess the it also makes a huge difference in a relationship with Trico if one is an animal friend or not. I however do not like animals for a lot of reasons I will not list here. I'm generally only a little emotionally attached to animals and therefore I can hardly create an emotional bond to Trico, while pet lovers love him from the start. Perhaps this is a decisive factor also in the reviews.

When it comes to people as with The Last of Us I am more emotional even if people mourn for a dog. I would be emotional but not because the dog is dead. But because the human being suffers.

When you say "you have looked more at the game" do you mean you have played the game extensively or collected evidence from various places?
Also the fact that you dont like animals is a major reason why you would dislike Trico's AI behavior and you would try to compensate by trying to like other elements in the game, which are less significant in relation to Trico.
This reminds me of people who loved gore and action and hence didnt like the original Silent Hill games because of its minimalistic action and combat controls when that was intentional and worked like it was intended.

 

[Jupiter]

Both. But I'm not through the game yet.

I was interested in the controversial discussion about this game. Otherwise I would not have looked as much into it. In addition, the boy in The last Guardian has not shown a lot personality so far. This is for me also a disturbing factor when I should feel with him. But this can still change.


For example Inside is a game which is in my opinion perfect for what it is.

 

[JPT]

Most interesting part about this game, is how much emotion from people that likes and do not like it. I can not remember ever seeing a game bring up such type discussion on here before.

I started playing ICO remaste on PS3, but I did not care for it much. So I had basically decided to skip Last Guardian, but with all this commotion, I might give it a go anyway.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Both. But I'm not through the game yet.

I was interested in the controversial discussion about this game. Otherwise I would not have looked as much into it. In addition, the boy in The last Guardian has not shown a lot personality so far. This is for me also a disturbing factor when I should feel with him. But this can still change.


For example Inside is a game which is in my opinion perfect for what it is.

The boy in Inside has no personality either (not a criticism, by the way), the puzzles are basic (even compared to Limbo), and the "actiony" bits are, for the most part, decidedly old-school in their reliance on trial-and-error. I don't think you're supposed to feel much for the boy in TLG anyways. He's the player avatar. You're supposed to feel what he feels for the creature and the world. Now that part the devs have nailed exceptionally well I think. Not to mention they mostly did it without resorting to movies and dialogue. For example, I always felt exceptionally bad for encouraging the beast to squeeze itself through the many increasingly tight spots you encounter throughout the game.

 

[MrFox]

About to finish my second game, which went very quickly (I don't think I'll make the 5 hour mark though). I'm posting all my tricks to make Trico act nicer and quicker than on my first game.

This isn't any story spoilers, nor any level-specific spoilers, but it's definitely game-mechanics spoilers if you want to figure out the general game mechanics by yourself, it was part of the fun for me. Looking at this might make the game too easy and break immersion of getting to know Trico.

If you're frustrated with the game you might want to follow these instead of giving up... I don't know if all of them work, but doing all of this makes my Trico almost solve the puzzles by himself.

Spoiler

Physical injuries make Trico tired and demoralized.

Remove spears whenever you see them.

Wherever there's blood, or twisted feathers, or broken feathers, pet him in that area until it's smooth and clean of any blood. Do this quickly after he's injured.

Feed him all the barrels you find, regardless if it's a progression hook or not.

Pet Trico whenever he's whining. It's like a dog wanting attention.

Pet Trico when he wants you to pet him (lowers his head in front of you, his attitude is kind of obvious)

Always get Trico's attention before throwing a command. Even when you're on his back, he'll turn his head a bit towards you when pressing R1.

Don't hammer many commands in a row. If you try random commands out of frustration, Trico gets tired of your shit and ignores you (and starts whining, gets an attitude). He'll also ignore the correct command, which is a recipe for running around in circles.

I suspect the less "wrong" commands you give, the better he listens. Obviously that makes the second game much smoother (or if you follow a walkthrough). I'm not sure about this one it could be just a coincidence.

The R1+Circle command (claps his hands in the air, then points in a direction) is by far the most useful. Point in the direction which is the expected progression, Trico will do what he needs to to get there.

Successful commands are related to the level's puzzle. There is an area where it will work, and a direction you have to point to. Usually you simply have to get Trico close to the hole, or platform, or gate, or whatever you want to get him to go, and make sure you correctly point towards it when giving the command.

If Trico doesn't do something you want, always consider it might be because that's not a way to solve the level.

Many levels have misdirection elements, and many have multiple ways to solve them, specially in the first half. There's sometimes a very difficult (but possible) path, and another very easy one!

If you see Trico looks like he's correctly figuring things out, better leave him do it and not give commands. Just hold on and let him take the lead. (then pet him, just because.)

 

[RenegadeRocks]

On that note, I had a perfect run in my whole game. Except for one instance where he wouldnt budge and I went over and petted him and then he readily moved, there have been no moments where he woudln't do what I asked him to do. in fact I asked him to jump for giggles so amny times, for no reason, and he always obliged !

Simple stuff, i figured out:

Spoiler: Controls for Trico, no spoilers

Give a command and wait for 3 seconds, do not hammer buttons. Within 3 seconds he would give a reaction of either approval, dissent or being clueless. If he is clueless, then nothing is possible in that direction. If he says yes, he is about to do it, wait.

His animations for doing things are long, once he gives a "yes" grunt, which means he understood ur command, : Wait ! Sometimes he does 10 seconds long animations to do an action. Very natural but do not give more commands in that time unless u want him to stop.

WHen giving a command, the direction has to be right. Make sure u r standing on something flat(his back or head also works, but make sure u r not holding on to him but standing on him) point the camera in correct direction and then give the command. it will work 100%. If u r hanging on to him or something esle, see where th eboy points his hand when u give the command, that is where Trico will look. So make sure that direction is correct. Stand on flat place, thats the only way to be sure.

Direction+R1+Triangle for jump or going upwards.
Direction+R1+X for sitting down or going down
Direction+R1+O if u want stuff grabbed
Direction+R1 if u want him to just go somehere.
Direction+R1+square if u want him to hit/bash or attack something.

This is all very natural and according to what those buttonsdo for the boy. Not difficult to figure out while playing.
Also, if u cant figure it out, just do what u want him to do, he will copy u and do it.


I never had a single moment of error. Just treat him like an animal and not an AI, dont hammer commands, listen to his yes and no grunts, which are very natural to figure out, and then wait for him to do it. I have never had a pet and I could figure them out so . If he doesnt listen, love him ! It always works. Also if u cant figure it out, just let him. Wait and he will do it for you.

 

[Clukos]

I'm currently playing through the game and i'm thinking they should have dropped the resolution to 900p on the base Ps4. The framerate is shockingly bad (feels like it drops to middle to low teens waaay too frequently) and combined with the poor controls of both the boy and the camera the game is proving to be one of the most unsatisfying gameplay experiences I've had so far on Ps4. On the positive side, Trico is absolutely amazing, he's unresponsive enough to be believable as an untrained animal and he understands enough that he's not bringing the experience down. The animation is exceptional, and it's impressive how many little details they've put into, both animation and sound wise.

 

[goonergaz]

I'm not reading this thread until completed the game, I'm half-way through and loving it! Trico feels alive and whilst some moments have me a little confused I soon figure out how to progress. The game is not perfect by any means but it's not let me down at all after all the waiting...this really is a magical experience, I'm so pleased it finally came out (and I got a pro to fully appreciate it!).

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I am very moved by it, very doesn't suffice. A fantastic experience that will be real memory for life. A story I will passing on in my family. The most beautiful, powerful and human experience since The Last of Us. In fact, it compares to no other because of the manner in which it involves you. I have never been this moved.....not even in real life ! I ....... am at loss for words for what it did to me, it reached where fiction does not, i reacted in a way I have never reacted even in real life.....

Thanks for the heads-up.
I was going for this game as soon as I'm done wrapping things up with FFXV, but after reading this I'm not willing to hop into yet another sentimental adventure so soon. I'll play Ratchet&Clank before going into this.
Maybe it'll also give Team ICO some time to release a patch for the enhanced Pro version.

 

[Clukos]

I finished it last night, i liked the ending a lot. Overall, I think the game is worth playing just for Trico alone. The boy, the camera and the controls can fuck off a cliff though. I hate that ragdoll climbing system with a passion. In terms of visuals and audio the game is much better than i expected (i guess that sort of explains the horrible framedrops somewhat), those glass eye things look incredible.

 

[goonergaz]

Well I just completed it and I have to say it was well worth the wait, I'm sure one day we will get the full story of what happened from inception to release and it will be a really interesting read. I was really moved by the game, it's such a refreshing change for the repetitive release rubbish we get these days...the 3 games are games all my kids will play and all gamers should play. Overall it was much better than I had expected/feared and I hope Ueda will continue making such wonderful and magically emotional games.

The graphics were stunning at times and the music was amazing - in particular I loved the score when Trico would attack, it was very rousing and reminded me of the music at the end of Jurassic Park (where the T-rex saves the day). I loved the whole thing, warts and all - the camera was a bit of a pain at times but who cares when so much is right - the attachment to Trico was amazing, I didn't realise you could run the wounds until halfway through and then would be doing so constantly! The AI was amazingly 'real' - as were the animations, so lifelike and believable - I played this game with a big smile most of the time!

Also, I was genuinely worried after the initial battle with the other Trico where I genuinely thought we'd loose Trico. also with the quite graphic battle at the end...that was quite hard to 'watch' so I'm very happy with the ending, again, the music as the camera made it's way to Trico's nest - wow...I'm welling up here just thinking about it.

Anyway, enough from me - I never got to play through Ico & SotC (again) before playing this but will revisit them now and come back to this for another play when I get a HDR TV!

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Well I just completed it and I have to say it was well worth the wait, I'm sure one day we will get the full story of what happened from inception to release and it will be a really interesting read. I was really moved by the game, it's such a refreshing change for the repetitive release rubbish we get these days...the 3 games are games all my kids will play and all gamers should play. Overall it was much better than I had expected/feared and I hope Ueda will continue making such wonderful and magically emotional games.

The graphics were stunning at times and the music was amazing - in particular I loved the score when Trico would attack, it was very rousing and reminded me of the music at the end of Jurassic Park (where the T-rex saves the day). I loved the whole thing, warts and all - the camera was a bit of a pain at times but who cares when so much is right - the attachment to Trico was amazing, I didn't realise you could run the wounds until halfway through and then would be doing so constantly! The AI was amazingly 'real' - as were the animations, so lifelike and believable - I played this game with a big smile most of the time!

Also, I was genuinely worried after the initial battle with the other Trico where I genuinely thought we'd loose Trico. also with the quite graphic battle at the end...that was quite hard to 'watch' so I'm very happy with the ending, again, the music as the camera made it's way to Trico's nest - wow...I'm welling up here just thinking about it.

Anyway, enough from me - I never got to play through Ico & SotC (again) before playing this but will revisit them now and come back to this for another play when I get a HDR TV!

Exactly, this story will pass on in my family, just like SOTC before it. This is something I want every human to experience, without knowing anything about it. I still have my ps3 in hopes that it will survive till my daughter is old enough to grasp these games and I shall be able to tell her a LOT about life by not sweet talking but letting her go through these and many other experiences that have provided me memories for this lifetime.

 

[Tkumpathenurpahl]

Proof that games can be art.

 

[ProspectorPete]

I got this game, and I am so happy that I am in the PS-camp now. Otherwise I would have missed this game. It is excellent and amazing. It reminds me of the past, but in a good way.

For me the best way to enjoy the game is without using the right analog stick too much, only the trico-lockon and the 'center camera'-button. I understand some of the negativity though, but still this game is in my top 20 of all time easily

 

[RenegadeRocks]

I got this game, and I am so happy that I am in the PS-camp now. Otherwise I would have missed this game. It is excellent and amazing. It reminds me of the past, but in a good way.

For me the best way to enjoy the game is without using the right analog stick too much, only the trico-lockon and the 'center camera'-button. I understand some of the negativity though, but still this game is in my top 20 of all time easily

GOTY 2016 for me.

 

[London Geezer]

So I fired this up.

Beautiful. The dog/bird thing is gorgeous. The whole game is gorgeous, especially in HDR on a good TV.

BUT.

BUUUUUUT.

I Cannot believe how bad the controls and the camera are. Just painful. Couldn't they have called any of the Sony guys to teach them how to make a game that doesn't infuriate people like this? Ridiculous. Took them 50 years for this and they couldn't find a way to fix controls and camera. BAH!

 

[DieH@rd]

I did not have much issues. Move the control sensitivy to the max and try not to fight camera too much. Pet Trico as often as you manage, and manage his movement by calling him to come to you to the area you have identified as most viable [if he is not already interested about something].

I REALLY enjoyed the game.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

I did not have much issues. Move the control sensitivy to the max and try not to fight camera too much. Pet Trico as often as you manage, and manage his movement by calling him to come to you to the area you have identified as most viable [if he is not already interested about something].

I REALLY enjoyed the game.

Yup, no issues at all in my playthrough too. You have to give a command and wait, he/she always responds if you love him/her. I love you Turikko ! GOTY 2016 for me

 

[Prophecy2k]

I finished this game in about three sittings...

It's an absolute masterpiece!!! Not a perfect game by any means, but the emotional response and connection to Trico it evokes through such a clever use of imagery, music and sound design, Trico AI (who moved, reacted and behaved just like a real creature) is nothing short of masterful...

...and that ENDING

Few developers these days seem to know how to or even care about delivering a satisfying and rewarding payoff to end their games. Ueda ALWAYS delivers in this regard and this game is no different.

Ueda you've done it again, you beautiful sunofabeetch!

My memories of this game will stick with me for a very long time. It's something I can't really say for the vast majority of games I have and will play this gen.

Please, Ueda/Sony... more of this!