The Last Guardian
- Thread starter Walter
- Start date
I'll just enjoy playing Shadow of the Colossus with AA, a steady frame rate, and in 3D... well if I ever find a reason to buy a 3D TV.
nomad
"Bring the light of day"
So... There are rumors stating that The Last Guardian has been canceled. Apparently Gamestop took them off the list, and customers have received messages stating the same. In hopes that this is just one bad joke, I will post one "recorded message" of Gamestop automated system calling one of the customers. Was this game even given a pre-order option?
http://darrenhupke.tumblr.com/post/14629308032/the-last-guardian-is-cancelled-terrible-news
EDIT:
After a quick search according to Kotaku, Sony says it's not. Apparently Gamestop decided to take them off the system since they had no release date. But intend to re-do the option of pre-order once a release date is given.
http://kotaku.com/5870565/gamestop-says-the-last-guardian-is-canceled-sony-says-its-not
http://darrenhupke.tumblr.com/post/14629308032/the-last-guardian-is-cancelled-terrible-news
EDIT:
After a quick search according to Kotaku, Sony says it's not. Apparently Gamestop decided to take them off the system since they had no release date. But intend to re-do the option of pre-order once a release date is given.
http://kotaku.com/5870565/gamestop-says-the-last-guardian-is-canceled-sony-says-its-not
nomad
"Bring the light of day"
Oh I completely agree. But the original source that I read, wasn't even clear onto who exactly was making this claim. Believe me when I say, I despise Gamestop for many, many reasons. Oh well. I figured I kept my post for those who want to giggle a bit.Walter said:
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
*Last reply on December 22, 2011*
All the anticipation in this thread and nobody actually got to talk about playing the game in it... and it's great!
I'll start with the "bad," but I don't even know if that's fair because it's at least in part by design and if not effective otherwise inconsequential unless you want the complete opposite out of gaming what this one presents, and in this case that's controls that have weight and require effort. You're going to feel the movement in this game, its not going to be crisp, easy or completely fluid, but its also fair and not any more a hindrance than any movement that requires a little effort (at least for me). To me this helped add to the "realism" of the game the same way the controls in SotC did, which is probably a fair frame of reference. If you didn't have a problem with the those, you won't with these. If you feel like scaling cliff faces should be as easy as pushing a button, maybe not for you. Worse to me was the disorienting way the camera would cut to black and seemingly reset when you hit or "went inside" a wall, even getting stuck for a bit once or twice. In any case, I've seen lots of complaints on these fronts, even those claiming they were game-breaking, but I never had such troubles as they either worked for didn't really bother me and were minor in the face of the games moment to moment benefits, fun, whimsy, and ultimate emotional buildup and payoffs. Let's get to that.
First and foremost, the practical gameplay and plot-centric relationship between the boy (and the player) and Trico is unlike any I've experienced in a game. For one, Trico is a marvelous creation that looks and acts like a real animal (another source of frustration for some players that I won't even dignify with a response =). For another thing, as an AI, NPC, or whatever, he's also pretty unique, and the effort between you is truly cooperative. There's certain things only you can do. Certain things only Trcio can do, but because you never directly control Trico, you have to either wait for him to figure out his end or figure out how to effectively communicate to him what to do. Anybody that's ever had a pet can imagine the frustrations and rewards, which in my opinion go much deeper here than any "support" character I've encountered. That's probably because Trico isn't a support character, he's really the game, the room puzzles are just scenery that's an excuse to play with him in various imaginative ways. You're both escaping a place together, but the interactions with Trico are the point. As for those interactions, despite the rocky relationship to start you'll of course like him from the beginning because he's a big cool animal you get to climb around on, much like the aforementioned SotC. Trico is basically a dog or cat crossed with a dinosaur (he literally roars like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, among other things).
To make a long story short, he is by design and through his help and your cooperative relationship like a loyal pet and naturally very endearing. This sets up a simple but very effective emotional arc for you and Trico as he continually helps and rescues you vice versa and you learn more about him, where you are, and how you came to be together there. The growing affection between the two main characters tinges every success, near-miss and rescue with emotional resonance (the music punctuates every moment effectively as well). I knew this would be the case with Trico, but his reciprocation and caring when the boy was in trouble was no less poignant. I had my fears about how easily this could be ultimately be exploited for cheap effect, and while the game definitely effectively pulls the heartstrings, it does so in creative situations that explore the depth of the characters devotion for each other in ways that are both emotional and yet respectful to the characters and audience. Let's just say it continued being very dusty in the game room throughout the end, and I think my wife was chopping onions and something got in my eye (I was literally mashing the buttons, as you're actually trained to do in certain portions of the game, during a climatic moment to try and change the outcome).
Of course, your mileage may vary, in the last year I lost a beloved family pet and experienced the birth of my first born, so maybe I'm an easy mark these days (and I'm more likely to get choked up at the movies than say, my wedding or the aforementioned birth =). If you don't think you'd be receptive to this sort of thing, or even find it silly, well, then maybe the game wouldn't do its job for you, and you'd be left with a clever though not terribly difficult action puzzle game with iffy controls. I say give it a chance though, because if it grabs you it's a potentially transcendent gaming experience unlike any of the thousands of uninspired choices out there with familiar and perfectly adequate gameplay and controls.
All the anticipation in this thread and nobody actually got to talk about playing the game in it... and it's great!
I'll start with the "bad," but I don't even know if that's fair because it's at least in part by design and if not effective otherwise inconsequential unless you want the complete opposite out of gaming what this one presents, and in this case that's controls that have weight and require effort. You're going to feel the movement in this game, its not going to be crisp, easy or completely fluid, but its also fair and not any more a hindrance than any movement that requires a little effort (at least for me). To me this helped add to the "realism" of the game the same way the controls in SotC did, which is probably a fair frame of reference. If you didn't have a problem with the those, you won't with these. If you feel like scaling cliff faces should be as easy as pushing a button, maybe not for you. Worse to me was the disorienting way the camera would cut to black and seemingly reset when you hit or "went inside" a wall, even getting stuck for a bit once or twice. In any case, I've seen lots of complaints on these fronts, even those claiming they were game-breaking, but I never had such troubles as they either worked for didn't really bother me and were minor in the face of the games moment to moment benefits, fun, whimsy, and ultimate emotional buildup and payoffs. Let's get to that.
First and foremost, the practical gameplay and plot-centric relationship between the boy (and the player) and Trico is unlike any I've experienced in a game. For one, Trico is a marvelous creation that looks and acts like a real animal (another source of frustration for some players that I won't even dignify with a response =). For another thing, as an AI, NPC, or whatever, he's also pretty unique, and the effort between you is truly cooperative. There's certain things only you can do. Certain things only Trcio can do, but because you never directly control Trico, you have to either wait for him to figure out his end or figure out how to effectively communicate to him what to do. Anybody that's ever had a pet can imagine the frustrations and rewards, which in my opinion go much deeper here than any "support" character I've encountered. That's probably because Trico isn't a support character, he's really the game, the room puzzles are just scenery that's an excuse to play with him in various imaginative ways. You're both escaping a place together, but the interactions with Trico are the point. As for those interactions, despite the rocky relationship to start you'll of course like him from the beginning because he's a big cool animal you get to climb around on, much like the aforementioned SotC. Trico is basically a dog or cat crossed with a dinosaur (he literally roars like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, among other things).
To make a long story short, he is by design and through his help and your cooperative relationship like a loyal pet and naturally very endearing. This sets up a simple but very effective emotional arc for you and Trico as he continually helps and rescues you vice versa and you learn more about him, where you are, and how you came to be together there. The growing affection between the two main characters tinges every success, near-miss and rescue with emotional resonance (the music punctuates every moment effectively as well). I knew this would be the case with Trico, but his reciprocation and caring when the boy was in trouble was no less poignant. I had my fears about how easily this could be ultimately be exploited for cheap effect, and while the game definitely effectively pulls the heartstrings, it does so in creative situations that explore the depth of the characters devotion for each other in ways that are both emotional and yet respectful to the characters and audience. Let's just say it continued being very dusty in the game room throughout the end, and I think my wife was chopping onions and something got in my eye (I was literally mashing the buttons, as you're actually trained to do in certain portions of the game, during a climatic moment to try and change the outcome).
Of course, your mileage may vary, in the last year I lost a beloved family pet and experienced the birth of my first born, so maybe I'm an easy mark these days (and I'm more likely to get choked up at the movies than say, my wedding or the aforementioned birth =). If you don't think you'd be receptive to this sort of thing, or even find it silly, well, then maybe the game wouldn't do its job for you, and you'd be left with a clever though not terribly difficult action puzzle game with iffy controls. I say give it a chance though, because if it grabs you it's a potentially transcendent gaming experience unlike any of the thousands of uninspired choices out there with familiar and perfectly adequate gameplay and controls.
nomad
"Bring the light of day"
Yeah... Same boat here. I purchased Last Guardian when it came out, but actually played it a few months back. My daughter became completely obsessed with Trico to the point of naming her new dog... Well... Trico. The game is beautiful in all it's glory, but I'm still intrigued as into what changed from it's original draft. Now my problem is that every time I turn my PS4 now I'll listen my daughter running through the stairs screaming "Trico!" I don't think I'll be playing other video games for the next few months 
.
.
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Nomad said:
Nomad said:Now my problem is that every time I turn my PS4 now I'll listen my daughter running through the stairs screaming "Trico!" I don't think I'll be playing other video games for the next few months
Well, I wouldn't mind my daughter getting so into my games, but if she takes at all after her mother she'll just scoff and tell me how lame it is.
Nomad said:
Reputedly very little according to those that got to play the original PS3 versions, it was just that they couldn't get the damn thing to work well enough on PS3 and still barely got it optimized for PS4, even with the Sony PS4 team taking over the technical aspects! It's kind of crazy that Ueda left Sony and formed a new company only to have it be contracted to finish the game, like if Kojima got to finish MGS5 with Konami but with his new studio.
Anyway, if I may rant, I've since read some reviews comparing The Last Guardian unfavorably to the modern gaming environment basically, that it's emotional impact was lessened due to it's delayed release (because other games that convey emotions already came out? =), the controls aren't to today's standards, etc and I think most of it is pathetic. Some of these reviews clearly hadn't even completed or probably played most of the game (you'd know, they'd mention some things), and if you found the controls or puzzles that difficult you just suck at games. I didn't have much trouble and this sort of game isn't even my bag. Negatively comparing it to a bunch of modern mediocre-good derivative AAA junk food because of controls or delayed, and sadly diminished it seems, impact is stupid as hell since this game does stuff NONE of those games or any others even try or can approach. Those reviews should be shouting with joy from the mountaintops about that stuff, not making some largely irrelevant cookie cutter complaint. It's like complaining about the canvas quality of an original Rembrandt, "Eww, it looks so old and cracked!" GTFO. What's the point of even making or playing new shit if everything has to be bog standard? It's like the graphics debate all over again; it doesn't all have to be cutting edge modern to be perfect for a specific game. Especially since the controls in this game were clearly thought out specifically for it. It'd be like complaining that in SotC you trip over things and lose balance and fall off ledges, but that's the point! The controls in this game similarly have weight and purpose beyond easy results, most games' controls don't; that arguably makes these superior. I don't mean to hype them up though either since even I acknowledged they were a challenge in my impressions, but the fruit is so well worth the relatively minor effort (that's part of the point of a game too), and I want to emphasize how minuscule that is in the big picture. This game is so unique and on another level beyond comparing the play elements to every other generic action game as you would a bunch of nearly identical, disposable products to suss out which one basically did the same thing a little better. It's a highly unique, deeply satisfying and potentially moving experience and story told largely through gameplay (for all the traditional story elements, the heavy lifting of the bond between the boy/you and Trico is cleverly developed and supported in game in ways that put most relationship arcs in any media to shame), that will actually impact, resonant and stay with you after you've turned it off. That's what makes a good... anything, and not a lot of games, entertainment, or art can say that.