The Last Guardian Reviews
The Last Guardian is a must-play for fans, but it struggles under the weight of years worth of anticipation, due in large part to troublesome AI and a finicky camera.
Does the successor to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus live up to its lineage? It does so much more.
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.
A moving adventure starring an extraordinary companion. Framerate issues intrude, but don't let them stop you from finishing this wonderful game.
The Last Guardian forges a connection between the player and Trico unlike anything else in gaming. You need to experience it, despite its problems in other areas
The Last Guardian bounces between highs and lows without ever fully living up to its legacy
The Last Guardian's peerless animation and character development bring a fascinating relationship between boy and beast to life.
Eschewing the spare storytelling of previous Team Ico games, The Last Guardian's plot unfolds in a series of easily digestible cutscenes. It's a dark fairy tale that probably isn't quite what anyone expected, but ultimately serves to make the friendship at the core of the game even more remarkable. The Last Guardian is about two lost souls becoming one, and the strength and joy found in that conjunction.
Buy it if you're ready to be an exceptionally patient pet owner. Watch some videos online otherwise.
The Last Guardian is Team ICO's magnum opus.
The Last Guardian is a game about friendship that will test your patience with a wonky camera and controls.
I'm glad that Sony saw this one through. The publisher could've canceled it even in the face of fan hype, but it stuck with Team Ico and gave The Last Guardian a chance to wow fans. The final product doesn't feel like a 2016 game. Instead, it's this strange adventure that invites you to get lost in its world. I love that, and I think anyone who loved Team Ico's previous games will appreciate what they find here.
The world is stunning, the bond between the boy and Trico is a beautiful example of love and friendship, and the story is gripping, it's just a shame there are so many technical issues holding it back.
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.
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. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go pet my cat, because I already miss my Trico.
Overall, The Last Guardian for all its faults is a good game and one that I have enjoyed. Yes, there are many frustrating elements, amplified by the fact they feel unnecessary and out of character for the series, but the journey this game takes you on is a worthwhile one.
"The Last Guardian" is all about a collection of small and large gestures that expand, enrich, and end a relationship. Although I experienced some camera-angle issues during my playthrough — it was easily lost in Trico's plumage — I'd like nothing more than to experience the game again. I'm left wondering, as I often do after encountering a great work of art, how it all came together.
The Last Guardian is a frustrating experience, and I'm not talking about its difficulty. While the game is hard, that is more than welcome in a puzzle platformer, a genre no stranger to the easy, cinematic throwaway set pieces.
'The Last Guardian' is rooted in the past, with design problems the game's beautiful aesthetic can't disguise.