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LTTP: The Last Guardian

Zing

Zing

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,771
This was the first game to really show me that works of art can still be found in modern video games. That's what this is: a masterpiece. I actually have ideas of trying to meet Fumito Ueda and thanking him personally for bringing this to the world. Maybe that sounds corny, but this game was a fantastic emotional ride that starts low, with a beast who hesitantly follows you and is deathly frightened of its previous masters, then gradually crescendos into a heart-swelling climax with a beast who charges into your enemies and risks everything for you.

At the end when the camera is flying around, I was literally in tears. Twice, because I foolishly watched my daughter play to the end. I still tear up every time I think about it.
 
Aeron

Aeron

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,156
Never thought I'd love a bunch of polygons as much as I do Trico, Toriku is like one of my own.

It really captures bonding with an animal close to perfectly, not even talking as a story, but in the moment to moment play, I think people underestimate just how difficult it is to nail that. It requires a lot of small minute details that few accomplish but this game nails consistently.
 
Courage

Courage

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,978
NYC
Pointless to argue which is better among Team ICO's games.

All 3 are masterpieces in my eyes.
 
Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,790
I absolutely loved it. I fell 100% for the mechanic of Trico behaving like a real pet.

That damn ending man. I haven't re played it yet. May do so after SotC Remake
 
CyrilFiggis

CyrilFiggis

Member
Nov 3, 2017
939
Pennsylvania
I very much enjoyed the atmosphere and the bond between the boy and Trico. I am happy that I experienced it but there were enough issues gameplay-wise to keep me from another playthrough anytime soon.

I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone who gets frustrated easily or has little patience.
 

Deleted member 679

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,741
tiebreaker said:
Mmm.... They aren't called man eating beasts for nothing.
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They're probably called that out of ignorance, though.

I do think that the barrels are a byproduct of whatever process the children go through, but the villagers don't have the knowledge the player does, at least not before the events of the game. So the title of "Great Man-Eating Eagle" was most likely given to them due to the events we witness in the flashback cutscene. A Trico lands on a village, searches for a child, envelops it with their mouth and takes them back to the Nest. The kids never come back, and so, in the villagers' eyes, they were simply eaten by these creatures, who feed on humans when they're hungry.
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,257
Lake Titicaca
I could be mistaken, but I think this is the very first thread about The Last Guardian on this site, so congrats OP.

I've said this so many times before, but that was on the old site so I'll say it again - my game of the generation, and my favourite game in about ten years. I loved every minute of it, and as a big animal lover and a fan of Ueda's work, it struck an emotional chord with me that no other game has managed. Yeah the technical performance and the camera and the controls are less than ideal, but everything surrounding those elements is done with such care, conviction and attention to detail that it seldom bothered me. The central bond shared between the two leads is developed in such a beautiful way, the atmosphere is positively tangible and the set-pieces... oh man the set-pieces. The section with the crumbling bridge where Trico appears into frame from nowhere to save the boy from falling to death brought out such an immense reaction from me. Same with the part where you first reach the white tower, when Trico shatters video gaming convention and gives a middle finger to the mechanics introduced early on by smashing through those dreamcatcher thingies and wrecking all those guards. Hell, I can't even think back on the ending without getting the urge to choke up.

10/10

TLG > ICO > SotC
 
Okinau

Okinau

Member
Oct 27, 2017
532
I just finished replaying it but this time on the Pro. The framerate is definitely much better on 1080 displays with the Pro. I bought the soundtrack and have been listening to it all over again. I have yet to play it on a 4k display but hope to soon. I find myself most frustrated with the game pre falling bridge. I feel the bond and level design opens up more post falling bridge.
 
Curufinwe

Curufinwe

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,924
DE
I didn't realize there were
a family of tricos in the ending till I read the companion guide book.
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,028
Like all Fumito Ueda/Team ICO games, the experience is greater than the sum of its parts. I struggled with all three titles to certain degrees (it took me three retries for SOTC to finally click), and yet at the end of each one, I was left feeling like I had just played one of that generation's great games. This thread makes me want to replay TLG before year's end.
 
Osiris397

Osiris397

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,455
I guess this is the point where someone, like me, may interject that if Bluepoint's Shadow of the Colossus plays as well as it looks all of Team ICO's games maybe even including The Last Guardian may be remade by Bluepoint. If this happens I know I'm buying all the remakes, but I know a lot of people are going to feel some kind of way about it.
 

bluemax

Member
Oct 25, 2017
140
I started playing this recently. If the controls, physics and collision were a lot better the game might be more enjoyable.
 
Thatguy

Thatguy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,207
Seattle WA
Masterpiece game. It will really benefit from remakes down the road too regarding framerate drops. Not for everyone though, and I do wish you got to fight something big while riding trico. I hope the studio keeps going.
 
doof_warrior

doof_warrior

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,441
NJ
loved it. one of the most emotional game experience ive ever had, by far

my only real complaint is i wish they would have used SOTC system for hanging onto trico. i MUUUUCH would have preferred having to hold a shoulder button instead of having it auto-grab when i got close. it felt like they wanted to simplify things but all it did was make it more frustrating to me
 
Phabh

Phabh

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,718
vereor said:
This is still one the best analysis of this game and video games medium in general
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What an interesting analysis. This channel is fast becoming one of my favorites.
As a fun/gameplay first person, and a big fan of Ico/SOTW, The Last Guardian has too many gameplay/fun shortcomings in favor of the game concept first, the biggest one being the creature unresponsiveness, I get what they tried to do but ultimately a creature responding "like clockwork" (except for several surprising sequences) would have worked better.
For instance, in BOTW, your horse is more or less always responding mechanically but it doesn't stop you from being attached to your best horse. The simple fact of naming him/her is almost enough.
 
WGMBY

WGMBY

Member
Oct 27, 2017
515
Boston, MA
It was everything I wanted, by which I mean it was able to stand beside the other two games in the series proudly. It didn't do anything that blew my mind, but like ICO and SoTC, I'll always cherish the time I spent with Trico.
 
Minky

Minky

Verified
Oct 27, 2017
481
UK
A real masterpiece and a beautiful experience, one of the strongest examples of games as an artform I've yet seen. This was my GOTY for 2016 by a huge margin, and will stand as one of my all-time favourites. After such a long wait I can't believe it still managed to exceed my expectations.
Totally understand the gripes about the controls, though. They definitely could use some fine-tuning and as a result it's not a game for everyone. A real shame that they got in the way of an otherwise stellar achievement.
 
gfxtwin

gfxtwin

Use of alt account
Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,159
Osiris397 said:
I guess this is the point where someone, like me, may interject that if Bluepoint's Shadow of the Colossus plays as well as it looks all of Team ICO's games maybe even including The Last Guardian may be remade by Bluepoint. If this happens I know I'm buying all the remakes, but I know a lot of people are going to feel some kind of way about it.
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I hope they only do an HD remaster and maybe tweak the camera at most. They've already steamrolled SOTC's art style by making it look more like generic concept art and re-doing the animation of the main character to look less expressive. I'd rather play Ueda games that look like Ueda games /2 cents.
 
Creamium

Creamium

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,738
Belgium
Acquiescence said:
I could be mistaken, but I think this is the very first thread about The Last Guardian on this site, so congrats OP.

I've said this so many times before, but that was on the old site so I'll say it again - my game of the generation, and my favourite game in about ten years. I loved every minute of it, and as a big animal lover and a fan of Ueda's work, it struck an emotional chord with me that no other game has managed. Yeah the technical performance and the camera and the controls are less than ideal, but everything surrounding those elements is done with such care, conviction and attention to detail that it seldom bothered me. The central bond shared between the two leads is developed in such a beautiful way, the atmosphere is positively tangible and the set-pieces... oh man the set-pieces. The section with the crumbling bridge where Trico appears into frame from nowhere to save the boy from falling to death brought out such an immense reaction from me. Same with the part where you first reach the white tower, when Trico shatters video gaming convention and gives a middle finger to the mechanics introduced early on by smashing through those dreamcatcher thingies and wrecking all those guards. Hell, I can't even think back on the ending without getting the urge to choke up.

10/10

TLG > ICO > SotC
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Yeah looking back I'd also call this the best Team ICO game. A companion like Trico has never been done in games, or at least never this believable and convincing. There's such a weight to his actions, I loved just watching the beast as it reacted to my inputs. The bond you share culminates in the indredible finale that pretty much destroyed me. Unforgettable game and goty '16 runner up.

I can only judge from my experience but the controls weren't even a real issue for me,Trico listened most of the time. The biggest issue was the camera in tight spots like corridors.
 
Father Kratos

Father Kratos

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,589
Finished the game today and would say that there definitely is nothing like it in the market. Also, don't think that a game like this will come again as they don't make games like these anymore :( The scale of this game, the music, the mystery....unmatched!! Camera angles were horrible at times and Trico was like a double edged sword. It was a treat to watch him, but at times it was frustrating as he doesn't listen to the commands. Got stuck in few puzzles because Trico was not listening so I thought this is not the correct way to go, to finally coming back & eventually Trico following my commands. Was feeling a bit burnt down by the game's progression style, putting one puzzle after another, puzzles had nice variety though. So was playing the game in short bursts. Was resisting to the urge to check walkthroughs but for one of the puzzle towards the end had no idea where to go. Overall its among the top 10 games I've ever played and after finishing the game, the collector's edition statue had become much more dear to me.
 
Toriko

Toriko

Member
Dec 29, 2017
7,736
Phabh said:
What an interesting analysis. This channel is fast becoming one of my favorites.
As a fun/gameplay first person, and a big fan of Ico/SOTW, The Last Guardian has too many gameplay/fun shortcomings in favor of the game concept first, the biggest one being the creature unresponsiveness, I get what they tried to do but ultimately a creature responding "like clockwork" (except for several surprising sequences) would have worked better.
For instance, in BOTW, your horse is more or less always responding mechanically but it doesn't stop you from being attached to your best horse. The simple fact of naming him/her is almost enough.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Completely disagree. Nothing in BOTW or any Zelda really comes close to Ueda's games in terms of building relationships. Trico felt far more like a creature that has agency of its own yet is only willing to listen to you and even then on its own terms. You can feel that trust and bond with the creature increasing and not feel like you are directing a blatantly programmed AI creature. It is a very well constructed illusion. The horses in BOTW were like every other horse found in other games but with a faux bonding meter

OP I totally agree. I generally am not the kind of guy who gets emotional in movies much less games but I was bawling in the end playing TLG. It is a superbly paced game. In fact I would put it in the same league of RE4, UC2 in terms of pacing. It flows like liquid from one scenario to the next.

Ueda's games are just pure magic and yes I agree with some of the earlier rankings - TLG > SOTC > ICO

I do suspect a lot of these kind of rankings will be influenced by how much of an animal lover you are.
 
Stuggatz

Stuggatz

Member
Jun 6, 2018
358
Finished this game yesterday. As many others have said, the story and atmosphere are top notch. I also think the level design and puzzles are brilliant. I usually don't like puzzle games but they just worked so damn well here. However....those controls. Ouch. And I'm not just referring to Trico's general ditziness. There were so many times that I knew exactly what I needed to do but the controls simply would not let me do them. Even the controls in the recent SotC remaster were tighter than this. If the controls would have been reliable and intuitive as the SotC remaster (and if Trico was half as ditzy) this game would be an easy 5/5. But given the amount of frustration I endured, it's a 3/5 and even then I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.
 
TriggerShy

TriggerShy

Member
Mar 26, 2018
1,602
Being away from Trico were some of the worst moments for me, because I knew that those statues were just around the corner.
 
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