Not long now until we finally get an idea of how it turned out
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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.
In the moments I was cursing Trico’s stubbornness or rolling my eyes at another closed gate, I was disappointed in The Last Guardian. Maybe these problems are related to the game’s long development, but even if that’s true, I can’t say that the extended wait was altogether bad. All that time resulted in a polished emotional core that redeems the experience, because ultimately The Last Guardian isn’t about pulling switches or leaping over gaps. It’s about your smile when you see Trico doing something silly, your compassion when you watch it struggle, and your relief when the creature shows up at just the right time. That’s what you get here that you can’t find anywhere else, and it is enough to make The Last Guardian worth playing.
For some The Last Guardian's iffy controls, awkward camera, and glitches might be hard to overcome. Others won't care as they experience one of the most incredible relationships in video game history.
It isn't clear whether or not The Last Guardian means to be frustrating at times--if it's a concerted effort to test your patience for a lovable-yet-stubborn creature. Your affection for Trico and sympathy for both characters blossom nonetheless, culminating in an enrapturing series of revelations that cements your attachment to their personalities. Trico is the undeniable star of the show, exhibiting believable physicality and emotional range, but the boy is a valuable lesson in how to be patient and resilient when faced with unforeseen challenges.
When the book closes on their story, it's hard not to open it up again and begin anew. The trials you overcome endear you to both characters, but the emotions Trico elicits make you want to give it another chance--to be the patient, effective partner it truly deserves.
I wish I could say I love the game, that its plagued by only minor setbacks, but I cannot honestly do that. I can’t look back at how much time was spent not enjoying myself, at how much time was spent actively wrestling with the game to wring anything worthwhile from it, and say I played the masterpiece many are going to say it is.
Maybe, a long time ago, that’s something I’d have been able to say. Not today though. Not today.
How I wish that more of The Last Guardian could have lived up to its own spectacle. The easy shorthand that many have used is that it feels like a PlayStation 2 game — I even said so myself a few months ago — but the reality is more complicated than that. In its best moments, The Last Guardian pulls off feats that could only be done on modern hardware; at its weakest, it's not just "like a PlayStation 2 game," but like a particularly rough, unpolished PlayStation 2 game, one that recalls the legacy of its forebears, but can't quite recreate it.
Does The Last Guardian live up to its lineage? Does it do its forebears proud? It does so much more. It is bold enough to step away from their hints and their mysteries and explore its own kind of wonder.
Playing The Last Guardian reminds me a lot of playing Half-Life games: The actual moment-to-moment of working my way through the game involves an enormous amount of frustration and annoyance... but when I look back at it, all I see are the happy memories of the experience. That's due in large part to the incredible design of Trico, and also to the spectacular emotive ending. Make no mistake, though, you will want to tear your hair out throughout your journey with Trico... but patient players will find the payoff justifies the suffering.
Like Team Ico's past work, talking about The Last Guardian too much inherently drifts into spoiler territory, but we have years to unpack this. For now, I'm confident in saying that although it isn't their best work, there really aren't too many directors out there like Fumito Ueda, and I hope for our sake, he continues making games.
