The Last Guardian

[Jill's Boob]

Well, there used to a thread called "Project Trico" but it is no longer here. So I would like to begin this thread, to discuss with others the forthcoming third title from Team Ico, "The Last Guardian."

This game is easily my most anticipated upcoming release. (And I still have yet to play "Ico.") SOTC was amazing, and I have such high hopes from this acclaimed dev team.

Here is the latest media:

http://ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/14230...trico_inv.html

Another amazing trailer was released back in June:

http://ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/14230...ler_60209.html

Other anticipating fans, please share your thoughts!

[Jill's Boob]

D'oh! I am a dummy. Here is the original:

http://www.the-horror.com/forums/sho...ighlight=trico

Not much to it (the previous thread) though...hopefully that is not indicative of the excitement level for the upcoming title. Otherwise it'll just be me in here, talking to myself. *sigh*

[jagger916]

Loving Ico and SOTC, can't wait for this.

[Dash141]

I love Team ICO and their games. Looking forward to playing this game.

[aris13]

Last Guardian game 'named for US, Europe' - Kobayashi

"There are so many issues we have to solve, and the biggest challenge is that the market in Japan is shrinking - they key is gaining success in the US and Europe," he said.
"At the time of the original PlayStation the Japanese market was one third of the global market, and production costs weren't that high - so we were able to generate profit from that market alone.
"But now we're in the era of the PlayStation 3, and the Japanese market is only one fifth of the global market - when it comes to production costs, those are swelling, so it means that unless we gain success in the overseas market our studio will go bankrupt. It's a crisis we recognise," he added.

[Darkmoon]

...does mean they're gonna start importing all the good stuff like Fatal Frame 4? Or the super duper ultra versions of Final Fantasy? Instead of screaming, 'No, bad Gaijin, superior games are for superior peoples!'

[The Dude]

'No, bad Gaijin, superior games are for superior peoples!'

Quoted for truth.

And as for Last Guardian.
Looks like more pretentious artsy mediocrity from Team Ico to me.
The other games I felt were decidedly average and overhyped to omega levels by Sony fans.

[Carnivol]

Quoted for truth.

And as for Last Guardian.
Looks like more pretentious artsy mediocrity from Team Ico to me.
The other games I felt were decidedly average and overhyped to omega levels by Sony fans.

ICO felt like a launch game (You know, one of those games that kinda gives you a vague idea of what to expect from new hardware)

Shadow of the Colossus really annoyed me. I liked the basic idea, but there was so much that annoyed me... First of all; the linearity. What's the point of an OPEN WORLD if the entire game is even more linear than SMB's Level 1-1? Second; The fact that the colossi only really had one way of approaching them was also a bit of a killer as far as replay value went. You could only really perfect on your methods by not making mistakes. Not by finding more efficient ways of approaching things. Third; The framerate (I'm seriously not one to moan too much about a shoddy framerate, but if all I get is fur shaders, bloom and a foggy horizon... )


I'm saving the The Last Guardian trailer for whenever I've got that Neverending Story song out of my head. Falcor keeps laughing inside my head.

[Rock it.]

Looks like more pretentious artsy mediocrity from Team Ico to me.

That. Removing the HUD and enemies from your games do not make them art, fact.

[Jill's Boob]

Looks like more pretentious artsy mediocrity from Team Ico to me. The other games I felt were decidedly average and overhyped to omega levels by Sony fans.

Is this comment even necessary? "Sony fans." That statement alone indicates that you are some sort of console-specific fanboy that likes to take jabs at other user-bases even when such things are unwarranted. Are you looking at the merit of these games from Team Ico, or just hating on them because you prefer the "artistic vision" of such groundbreaking titles as Halo and Gears of War?

*I am basing this on the fact that I clicked on your gamercard or whatever it is called in your signature section. It appears that you primarily play Xbox specific games, therefore your biased comment is even more uncalled for. Why do people argue and bitch about alternate consoles? Do people really have such animosity between game systems? Why? Separate consoles allow increased competition between companies, which usually translate to better products in trying to win over consumers. But why hate the products of another user-base or the members of the user-base? What does is achieve? It is quite petty in my opinion.

Perhaps we can ignore console semantics and instead focus on the fact that Ico and SOTC tried to instead present a different approach to the usual video game mechanic. These games are all about their unique aesthetics.

As for being "overhyped by Sony fans," I guess you must believe that all of the game critics who praised Ico and SOTC, awarding both titles numerous awards, were all biased toward Sony media? Brilliant.

Shadow of the Colossus really annoyed me. I liked the basic idea, but there was so much that annoyed me... First of all; the linearity. What's the point of an OPEN WORLD if the entire game is even more linear than SMB's Level 1-1? Second

Yes, a comparison between Super Mario Brothers (and just one level, to boot) sure emphasizes your logic. The game may have been linear, in going from one colossus to the next, but the open world allowed exploration, and satisfied an urge to discover new things, to climb, to just ride Agro. A semi-sandbox world sure does compare to SMB.

The world needed to be explored in order to find the fruit trees and white-tailed lizards, both of which were needed to increase grip stamina and maximum health.

The fact that the colossi only really had one way of approaching them was also a bit of a killer as far as replay value went. You could only really perfect on your methods by not making mistakes. Not by finding more efficient ways of approaching things.

Except that making fewer mistakes does increase your efficiency.

Also, the 16 boss battles in SOTC were more memorable than final boss battles from many video games. Not to mention that the total play time from defeating all of the colossi contributed to a longer gameplay experience than many ENTIRE video games from this current generation.

Third; The framerate (I'm seriously not one to moan too much about a shoddy framerate, but if all I get is fur shaders, bloom and a foggy horizon... )

SOTC did not have a foggy environment. It's distance drawing capabilities were very impressive for when it was released.

On that accord, I guess you hated Ocarina of Time too, even though it is believed by many in the industry to be the pinnacle of video games for the past twenty-odd years?

I'm saving the The Last Guardian trailer for whenever I've got that Neverending Story song out of my head. Falcor keeps laughing inside my head.

Solid support argument. I guess on that note, if you play Secret of Mana, whenever you see Flammie you just start laughing because you remember a really stupid flying dragon from a shitty childhood film.

That. Removing the HUD and enemies from your games do not make them art, fact.

Okay? Your opinion is "fact?" Huh. I instead look at the recognition from people in the game industry as more factual than the opinion of some person on a message board. How many games have you created, by the way?

From Wiki:

Ico received several gaming acclamations from the video gaming press, and was considered to be one of the Games of the Year by many publications, although it was in competition with other best-selling 2001 releases, such as Halo, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Grand Theft Auto 3.[32] The game received three Game Developers Choice Awards in 2002, including "Excellence in Level Design", "Excellence in Visual Arts", and "Game Innovation Spotlight".[39] The game won several Interactive Achievement Awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2002 including "Art Direction" and "Character or Story Development", and was nominated for awards of "Game of the Year", "Game Design", "Level Design" and "Sound Design".

Shadow of the Colossus has received several awards, including recognition for "Best Character Design", "Best Game Design", "Best Visual Arts" and "Game of the Year", as well as one of three "Innovation Awards" at the 2006 Game Developers Choice Awards.[69][70] At the 2006 DICE Summit, the game won the award for "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction" at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences,[71] while it received one of two "Special Rookie Awards" at the Famitsu Awards 2005.[72][73][74] It was nominated for "Best Original Music", "Best Artistic Graphics" and "Best PS2 Game", yet also "Most Aggravating Frame Rate" in GameSpot's awards for 2005,[75][76][77][78] while it won "Best Adventure Game" and "Best Artistic Design" in IGN's Best of 2005 awards,[79][80][81] who cited Agro as the best sidekick in the history of video games.[82] Two years after its release IGN listed Shadow as the fourth greatest PlayStation 2 game of all time.[83] Games Radar awarded it Best Game Of The Year 2006 (being released in the UK in early 2006, later than the US),[84] while the game's ending was selected as the fourth greatest moment in gaming by the editors of GamePro in July 2006.[85]. In its "Top Ten PlayStation 2 Games" list, VGChartz put the game in first place.

[Jill's Boob]

Anyway, for those who are actually interested in The Last Guardian beyond bashing Team Ico, here is news of the possibility that Ico & SOTC will receive an HD upgrade ala God of War I & II:

http://www.destructoid.com/tgs-09-ue...3-150001.phtml

[Carnivol]

Yes, a comparison between Super Mario Brothers (and just one level, to boot) sure emphasizes your logic. The game may have been linear, in going from one colossus to the next, but the open world allowed exploration, and satisfied an urge to discover new things, to climb, to just ride Agro. A semi-sandbox world sure does compare to SMB.

It's an empty sandbox world. There's some nice scenery, but for the most part, it's all just empty wasteland.

The world needed to be explored in order to find the fruit trees and white-tailed lizards, both of which were needed to increase grip stamina and maximum health.

These weren't even close to being a necessity to finishing the game or increasing its lifespan... (as the reward for bothering wasn't really necessary and didn't provide anything, though, collect-o-tons are okay every now and then, I suppose.)

Except that making fewer mistakes does increase your efficiency.

Also, the 16 boss battles in SOTC were more memorable than final boss battles from many video games. Not to mention that the total play time from defeating all of the colossi contributed to a longer gameplay experience than many ENTIRE video games from this current generation.

Depends on how much time you spent on them, really. But in overall, there only really was just one way of approaching each one of them, and that really killed it for me. There was never anything that influenced or created variables in the way you had to approach each one of the colossi. If you took one down, you'd taken it down. You'd never have to worry about "how to take it down", ever again. And you couldn't try to use a different approach (or, well, you COULD, but you wouldn't succeed, 'cause the colossi were all linear)

SOTC did not have a foggy environment. It's distance drawing capabilities were very impressive for when it was released.

On that accord, I guess you hated Ocarina of Time too, even though it is believed by many in the industry to be the pinnacle of video games for the past twenty-odd years?

Actually, mentioning its distance drawing ability reminds me of another thingy that annoyed me about it, how it's often not really drawing any distances at all and the world is made up of disconnected segments you stream between through the use of portals (most easy-to-notice take on this is whenever you have an overview over something; such as when you go to one of the first guys, the one with the huge club on top of the ruins in the lake... Another good sample of this is if you keep track of the scenery and your movement as you go to fight the giant flying snake thingy too.) The draw distance is often just an optic illusion. (Though, the scenery IS nice.)

(Also, Ocarina of Time may have had shitty draw distance, but it's nearly a decade older than SotC, has smaller and more closed off areas and the only really "open" area is filled with various content)

Solid support argument. I guess on that note, if you play Secret of Mana, whenever you see Flammie you just start laughing because you remember a really stupid flying dragon from a shitty childhood film.

There's more to The Last Guardian trailer that makes me think of The Neverending Story than there is in all of Secret of Mana ;)

Okay? Your opinion is "fact?"

I think games without HUDs are pretty cool. SotC did have a hud, though.

[Harry Mason]

...does mean they're gonna start importing all the good stuff like Fatal Frame 4? Or the super duper ultra versions of Final Fantasy? Instead of screaming, 'No, bad Gaijin, superior games are for superior peoples!'

More like RE 1.5 translated and included with the next Capcom release

Oh *cough* on topic The Last Guardian looks cool and I'm wondering when it might take place, before SOTC or after Ico :/

[Jill's Boob]

It's an empty sandbox world. There's some nice scenery, but for the most part, it's all just empty wasteland.

Okay, but you were the one that initially compared SOTC to a single level of Super Mario Bros. I'm still trying to figure that one out...

These weren't even close to being a necessity to finishing the game or increasing its lifespan... (as the reward for bothering wasn't really necessary and didn't provide anything, though, collect-o-tons are okay every now and then, I suppose.)

Well, maybe you are just better at games than me (which you proved when you offered me advice on Bionic Commando Rearmed, which is ridiculously goddamn hard to me), but I personally needed to go around and collect many of the items to increase Wander's stamina and health. The Colossus battles increased in difficulty for me to a pretty good extent, and thus I needed (as I imagine most people also did) the additional items scattered through the land. So I'm pretty sure that these things were "necessary" to an extent as opposed to "[not] even close to being a necessity."

I think games without HUDs are pretty cool. SotC did have a hud, though.

I never said it didn't. That was the other guy who said that.

As for the rest of your comments:
- you are right about the method of slaying a Colossus to be fairly linear. But most boss battles are pretty linear. You have to find the most effective method to beat them; it's becoming adept at it which is the hard part. It was quite exciting to me to discover the various ways to approach the battle with the respective Colossi. You are looking at it purely from the "I've done that already and know exactly what to do" aspect, which is fair, but do you not recall the excitement of the first time you encountered each one? Also, if I am not mistaken, if you change the difficulty after beating the game once, the weak spots on each one is moved around. Of course, that doesn't change the approach to mounting the beast.
- You know much more about video game graphics/programming than I do, so I will not even try to debate on that avenue. I'll take your word for it.

Oh *cough* on topic The Last Guardian looks cool and I'm wondering when it might take place, before SOTC or after Ico :/

I'm curious about this as well. I know that SOTC takes place before Ico, so perhaps TLG will continue the trend and take place before both? I'm also curious about the tattooed markings on the boy in TLG.

I really wish I could get my hands on a copy of Ico and not pay a ridiculous price for it...thus I really, really hope that Sony releases the 2 games on a single Blu-Ray disc.

[Jill's Boob]

New screenshots, courtesy of IGN:







Pretty dark shots, but you can make out the amazing detail of the environment. Looks to be more like Ico concerning the puzzle/maze style of the rooms.