The Last Guardian

[MifuneFan]

Makes me wonder how much playtesting they did with it.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You hate what you don't understand

Or he just hates the terrible crap JacksFilms puts out. Understanding isn't part of the equation.

[THE_FORCE]

Just started my 2nd playthrough as I spent ages on my first one taking it all in.

I think the game is superb, but at the same time I agree about the small doses. I was playing it in 1-3 hour sessions.

Just got the Lock, Stock trophy but I think All Talked Out will be an absolute mare. Nobody's got it yet. :/

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by THE_FORCE

Just started my 2nd playthrough as I spent ages on my first one taking it all in.

I think the game is superb, but at the same time I agree about the small doses. I was playing it in 1-3 hour sessions.

Just got the Lock, Stock trophy but I think All Talked Out will be an absolute mare. Nobody's got it yet. :/

Thanks. How does Last Guardian stack up with Ico and Colossus so far?

[THE_FORCE]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Thanks. How does Last Guardian stack up with Ico and Colossus so far?

It reminds me very much of both because of the art style, and I am finding this just as enjoyable.

I think if you enjoyed them then you'll enjoy this too.

[richieb1971]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Thanks. How does Last Guardian stack up with Ico and Colossus so far?

Not as good in my opinion.

I haven't beat it yet, but I've played quite a few hours and I'd say it falls short of both. As a game I'd say its fine, but I haven't questioned the world, the storyline once. There were little bits in the older games where you asked "how does this hold together?". In the TLG there isn't anything asking you questions and you forget why your even in this world.

The camera is worse too.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by richieb1971

Not as good in my opinion.

I haven't beat it yet, but I've played quite a few hours and I'd say it falls short of both. As a game I'd say its fine, but I haven't questioned the world, the storyline once. There were little bits in the older games where you asked "how does this hold together?". In the TLG there isn't anything asking you questions and you forget why your even in this world.

The camera is worse too.

Okay, thanks Richie.

Game Informer mentions what they like, and what could use improvement, with Trico not following commands and responding as he should, being one of the concerns.

YouTube

[richieb1971]

I'll tell you the difference between TLG and its predecessors. The predecessors were mostly about "I know what I've got to do, I just got to do it".

The TLG is more of "I don't know where I am, where I'm going or why I am risking my life to do this next bit, but here goes".

Basically, most of the time your doing stuff out of sheer curiosity and trial and error.

Trico is a pain in the *ss sometimes. Just like all animals has a mind of his own.

I've just finished the game. The ending is a grand finale finish similar in style to SoTC. But to see it, your going to have to get past some frustrating bits. Believe it or not I went round and round these towers in the game and forgot which way I came. I think in the end Trico got fed up of me and led the way. or something.

[Blu-Curry]

lol Only on 2 occasions did Trico not listen to me, but other than that, the AI was great and very helpful in pointing me towards the next objective. The worst part for me was continually dying and restarting checkpoints after (accidentally) jumping to my death lol. Only once towards the end I actually fell off Trico when he jumped and I hit a wall.

The story this time leaves less to speculation compared to the previous games since there are cutscenes that will explain more of the story.

[richieb1971]

Apparently petting helps get your way.



This game has people divided.

[THE_FORCE]

I found the best place for issuing commands is standing on Trico's back, not his head. If he doesn't respond as you'd like, I found that restarting the checkpoint did the trick.

If you pet Trico on his bloodstained feathers, they'll become clean again.

I thought the ending was just superb and gave me a lump in my throat.

[Snake_XRS]

How do you get out of the

[Show spoiler]water cave place with the upside down smoke pot? I keep calling this dodo bird and it keeps scratching the floorboards without doing anything

This has been going on for 45 minutes smh.....

[Blu-Curry]

Originally Posted by Snake_XRS

How do you get out of the

[Show spoiler]water cave place with the upside down smoke pot? I keep calling this dodo bird and it keeps scratching the floorboards without doing anything

This has been going on for 45 minutes smh.....

[Show spoiler]Is this in the green smoke area and then you fall down and into water, and Trico is above you? You swim around calling him, he moves around and more boards fall. Then you have to call him in a position such that his tail hangs downward so that you can use the box to grab his tail.

If I was ever stuck, I consulted a video playthrough on YouTube (such as with this actually lol). 45 minutes is an awfully long time.

[Snake_XRS]

Originally Posted by Blu-Curry

[Show spoiler]Is this in the green smoke area and then you fall down and into water, and Trico is above you? You swim around calling him, he moves around and more boards fall. Then you have to call him in a position such that his tail hangs downward so that you can use the box to grab his tail.

If I was ever stuck, I consulted a video playthrough on YouTube (such as with this actually lol). 45 minutes is an awfully long time.

Yeah that was the spot. The problem was when Trico was dropping his tail it was getting caught in the rafters above, and it would never extend to my reach. I ended up having to restart checkpoint a few times for it to actually work the way it was designed. I'm loving this game but it really suffers most in internal, closed off areas. Trico is just too large and not only causes camera issues but is always making you stumble and fall when around him. In wide open spaces, the game really shines. I just wish they didn't focus so much on internal cave/castle type locations.

[Snake_XRS]

Originally Posted by Blu-Curry

The Last Guardian though? Kinda like ICO, there are a few areas that weren't a lot of fun for me; however, this game is yet another MASTERPIECE! The final few sections in the game were just amazing. Make sure to watch the credits all the way to the end.

For anyone who finished:

[Show spoiler]the beasts were turning boys into barrels of food?!?!

I thought it was a great overall adventure and may be doing incredible things hardware wise but saying it's a masterpiece is pushing it IMO.

The story is absolute jibberish that makes no sense whatsoever. Controls (like all Team ICO games) is super loose, the protagonist is very clumsy, stumbling everywhere, and awkward overall. The camera is barely functional indoors, and framerate overall is not that great. The difficulty in getting Trico to do what you want may be realistic and sounds great in a boardroom, but makes for bad gameplay.

Ico pretty much started the whole concept of basically explain nothing and let the players figure it out. SOTC continued the minimalist story concept, and the Souls series really popularized it. I think though by now many people (myself included) are tired of completely incoherent stories where nothing at all is explained in order to add an aura of mystery to it. To me that's lazy storytelling. TLG though takes it a step further and doesn't answer anything at all.

Here were just some of the questions running through my head:

[Show spoiler]Who was in the tomb with the shield in the beginning?
Why are Trico's eating and spitting kids out into the idol at the top of the blue tower?
What is the army of Trico's fighting or defending?
Who or what chained Trico in the pit ( I assume he spat the boy out later) and why?
What is the purpose of the Master orb thing and where did it come from or what does it want?
Where were those dozens of Tricos during the course of the game?
What did killing the Master accomplish?
Why are Trico's afraid of stain glass windows?
Why did the boy get all the tattoos and what does that signify?
Why did the boys eyes glow red in his village?

For the longest time I forgot what the plot of the game even was, until I remembered he's trying to get back to his village of 9 people.

The game overall was a great adventure, and i'm really glad that it was released but has so many issues going on that can't be ignored.
Even trying to admire the environment became silly as world geometry and architecture made absolutely no sense whatsoever other than to be a one time stepping stone before crumbling apart. Massive pillars, scaffolds, and towers that were erected by who or what all over the completely empty world lol.

[jimidini]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Game Informer mentions what they like, and what could use improvement, with Trico not following commands and responding as he should, being one of the concerns.

Dunkey made a really funny movie:

SPOILERS, duh

The Last Guardian - YouTube

However it seems the AI acts that way, when you press buttons too quickly. Which I personally still consider broken. But that seems to be the main reason. The AI of Yorda (Ico) was also effectively bad, but it didn't matter ... except for those silly speedrun trophies (thanks Sony), which made me hate Yorda very badly.

[Snake_XRS]

Originally Posted by jimidini

Dunkey made a really funny movie:

Lmao thanks for that, I had so many of those exact moments he had, especially barrel tossing

Also, according to UK game charts, TLG dropped 13 places to #20. It's really a niche game for a small minority. All the gameplay issues it has won't help bring in new players either. My brother watched me via shareplay and said hell no I won't bother with this.

[Blu-Curry]

Well, I think saying that "many people" are tired of minimal storytelling is an overstatement. Personally, I haven't come across these complaints online or with friends, and I like the sense of mystery about Team ICO's 3 game worlds. TLG certainly put more into telling their story, but still left certain things to our imagination. I'll try to answer your questions in the quotes, but again, we have to imagine for ourselves.

Originally Posted by Snake_XRS

[Show spoiler]
Who was in the tomb with the shield in the beginning?
There was someone in the tomb or you're asking who put the shield in the tomb? Either way, we don't know and I didn't think it was important. Who leaves around items and upgrades in other video games?

Why are Trico's eating and spitting kids out into the idol at the top of the blue tower?
Either 2 boys get turned into 1 barrel of food/blue energy, or the master orb provides it after getting (and absorbing?) two boys in order to survive. It's a symbiotic relationship.

What is the army of Trico's fighting or defending?
They're defending the master orb because they're under its mind-control.

Who or what chained Trico in the pit ( I assume he spat the boy out later) and why?
Maybe an armored guard since Trico's horn was broken and thus could not be fully mind-controlled.

What is the purpose of the Master orb thing and where did it come from or what does it want?
Like in the previous 2 games there are powers/beings beyond our protagonist's own abilities. This master orb mind-controls Tricos to seek out young boys to maybe absorb them in order to keep surviving. Also has an army of armored guards to help protect its base.

Where were those dozens of Tricos during the course of the game?
Probably seeking out boys (as a bunch returned at the end), and we came across that one that was just on different parts of the base.

What did killing the Master accomplish?
The Tricos are now free from mind-control and village boys are now safe from getting taken. The armored guards might all be deactivated now too.

Why are Trico's afraid of stain glass windows?
Classical conditioning elicited fear in response to seeing those glass panes.

Why did the boy get all the tattoos and what does that signify?
He was not deposited into the idol, so this likely has a connection to being prepared to be absorbed by the master orb, or being turned into a barrel of blue energy.

Why did the boys eyes glow red in his village?
Tricos seem to have a power to paralyze their victims, and they know it works when their eyes turn red.

You don't have to agree, but I feel that a few of those answers should stick. Again, this is just what I interpreted/imagined from playing the game. As well, I didn't seem to have as much trouble with Trico compared to others, and the camera largely didn't annoy me too much.

[Talal86]

Just finished the game. while I thought some parts were very great, some were very frustrating. it's an epic adventure, but it's not a game I'd recommend to everyone

I'm going to start a second playthrough tomorrow and see how it goes now that I know where to go and what to do

[Zivouhr]

That video was comical, showing Trico finally jumping over the gap after 17 minutes or so he said, and then when he gets there, he jumps back shortly after to the wrong side.

Now that I'm winding down with WD2, Mafia 3, FFXV, I'll have time to play Last Guardian. I'll usually play a single game till it's completed before starting a new one.