The Last Guardian

An absolutely stunning achievement in using the interactive medium. A few bugs and control issues aside, this is a must play for those who can handle the slow pace.

Yet, if The Last Guardian and its charming duo of characters click with you (or more properly, if you click with them), this is an unforgettable experience that you will probably carry in your heart for your whole life, just like many did with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, and possibly even more.

Love is patient.

The Last Guardian is a marvelous achievement in a number of ways. Its story is subtle, but beautiful. Its world is fascinating and mysterious. And Trico will go down as one of the best characters ever made for a video game. Players are in for a wonderful treat, but that quality comes at a cost. The game struggles to run well at times, and the controls can be a chore. You will also need to be patient, as Trico truly acts as a living animal, not something you can just control like any other video game character. If you can get past these things though, you will find an experience like none other...

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.

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.

The Last Guardian is a love letter to anyone who loved Team Ico’s previous games. It’s a shame that this game won’t receive the mainstream attention it deserves. Kudos to Sony for sticking with Fumito Ueda for so long and getting the game out on the shelves. Truly, The Last Guardian marks the end of an era.

The waiting game is a curious beast. It messes with your head and the longer you wait for something the higher your expectations rise. What sort of expectations do you think arise from a waiting game of nearly ten years? Well, if we’re being honest they’re probably high enough to become borderline unreachable. In the case of Team ICO’s (JAPAN Studio), The Last Guardian an odd sort of level headed approach tempered the hype as it led up to release. People were excited, yes but there weren’t expectations alongside the hype that seemed so big they were unachievable. Does The Last Guardian live up...

The Last Guardian is not a game for everyone. As someone who almost unanimously prefers gameplay to story, I can easily see the camera issues coupled with the slower controls being a real source of contention and turn off some people. Admittedly, I came close once or twice myself. However, when the gameplay works as intended, it works really well – and the beauty of the story together with the bond and affection I came to feel for Trico overtook any frustration I had. When “The End” appeared on my screen I wiped the mist from eyes, stood up and said to myself, “I loved that”. Unlike anything I...

Not quite up to the same standards of its predecessors, but this is still an emotionally draining and beautifully realised story of friendship against the odds.

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.

Somewhere underneath the broken gameplay and terrible camera controls lies a lot of potential for a great game.