Team Ico’s much-anticipated third game is filled with the highest highs, and the lowest lows.
The Last Guardian has the highest highs and lowest lows of nearly any game I’ve ever reviewed. When it works, the bond I forged with my furry and feathered friend Trico is unlike any other. Part playful companion, part protector, navigating Team Ico’s gorgeous, melancholy world alongside this birddog is something I will never forget. But between those moments, The Last Guardian is a mess of wonky controls, a poor camera, and some annoyingly finicky puzzles.
Director Fumito Ueda’s spiritual successor to Ico (review) and Shadow of the Colossus (review) touches on many of the same themes -- isolation, companionship, and sacrifice. Like in its predecessors, The Last Guardian throws you into a mysterious world with a story open to interpretation and built mostly on symbolism. I was constantly driven to continue pushing forward throughout the 12-hour journey, and I’m happy to say that the payoff of the final 90 minutes made the whole thing worth it. But the heart of The Last Guardian is the bond between the nameless boy and the unusual giant hybrid animal Trico, who has more life and personality than nearly any other A.I. companion I’ve ever seen in a game.
A Boy and His Birddog
Watching Trico grow from a scared, savage beast to an immensely loyal protector provides a wonderful character arc. Like an actual pet, Trico has a mind of his own, but he’s usually predictable. Subtle touches, like way he shakes off after he’s wet or stretches his legs after you make it to a more open area, give him a life of his own. I found myself occasionally just standing in place and watching Trico paw at a group of butterflies or reach up on his hind legs to sniff at low-hanging tree branches. When he’ behaved as he should, I found myself legitimately on my way to forgetting that Trico wasn’t a living, breathing creature.
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Watching Trico grow from a scared, savage beast to an immensely loyal protector provides a wonderful character arc.
You don’t have direct control of Trico, but can prompt him with a series of commands and gestures that nudge the beast to jump, swipe, or head in a general direction. A lot of these are done while you’re climbing on top of him, which mirrors that main, memorable mechanic of Shadow of the Colossus. Grabbing onto a tuft of feathers as Trico leaps from ledge to ledge can be oftentimes thrilling, but at the same time, the simple act of dismounting him is cumbersome. Many times I found my attempts to get back to solid land were thwarted by getting caught in my cute companion’s weird underbelly.
I use the word “vague” before, because even as the credits rolled, I still didn’t feel like I had a firm grasp of how to get him to do what I wanted or needed. Herein lies one of The Last Guardian’s most conflicting features: I love the concept of not possessing or physically maneuvering Trico, in that it preserves the feeling that he’s an independent and intelligent creature. Entering an environment and figuring out what he can climb, destroy, or interact with requires a healthy dose of careful observation.
The problem here is that there were countless times where I’d mentally solved a puzzle and knew exactly what to do, only to find that Trico stubbornly refused to go to the spot I needed him to get to. Whether he was facing the wrong direction and refused to turn around or was just a few steps to either side of where he needed to be to initiate a jump, I became exhausted by his refusal to heed my commands. A little bit of this obstinance added to Trico’s charm, but it happened far too often, so most of the time it just bombarded me with frustration and made me lose any feeling that I existed in this world. If I try a solution to a puzzle for 10 minutes only to find that I was trying the wrong thing, that’s my fault; if I try a solution for 10 minutes only to find that it suddenly arbitrarily works because of a slight readjustment to Trico that was beyond my control, that’s just plain annoying.
Aside from some light platforming, a bulk of the obstacles in The Last Guardian come in the form of puzzles like scouring an area in search of food for Trico or destroying the stained-glass eyes that terrify the beast. There are also enemies in the world that you’re mostly defenseless against on your own, so you’ll have to figure out how to lure them to Trico, or vice versa. It reminded me of the way you had to protect Yorda in Ico, but this time around you’re Yorda and have to rely on Trico’s A.I. to keep you from being taken away. It’s an interesting twist on the formula, and one that does a great job of bringing Ueda’s trilogy full circle.
Destroyed Beauty
If you’ve seen any footage of The Last Guardian, you’ve seen for yourself that the vast outdoor environments are nothing short of stunning. The colors, lighting, and architecture are unlike anything I’ve seen outside of Team Ico’s games, and they especially shine during the thrilling chase sequences. Watching bridges collapse as you narrowly escape danger, all under the beauty of a wonderful lighting system that adds incredible depth to the world, is fantastic. This, coupled with a moving and memorable score, made for a whole mess of unforgettable moments in the 12 hours it took me to complete it.
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Be prepared for the camera to be completely blocked by screens full of feathers, walls, and foliage.
But then you go indoors, and many of the cramped interiors feel drab. Worse, they highlight The Last Guardian’s glaring camera issues. Given that you’re generally right next to a giant creature, be prepared for the camera to be completely blocked by screens full of feathers, walls, and foliage on a regular basis. It’s rare to even have to think about the camera in a third-person game in 2016, but I found myself constantly being pulled out of the experience trying to wrestle with my point of view. When you’re trying to deal with that and the floaty controls at the same time, it blows a lot of the good will that’d been built up by the outdoor areas. I can’t count the number of times I got stuck while trying to scurry up Trico’s back, or even trying to dismount the critter. It feels noticeably inelegant, especially when compared to the beauty and awe of many of the other scenes.
The Verdict
The divide between the highs and lows of The Last Guardian is staggering. For every wonderful moment of absolute beauty and emotional attachment to its lifelike companion, there’s an equal and opposite baffling moment that ruins the mood with frustrating controls and camera angles. But I found myself willing to put up with all of these hiccups if it meant experiencing any of its multitude of incredibly-beautiful moments.
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