Quick Look: The Last Guardian

@boozak said:

Even though it's kind of unfair, I think this game gets a pass because of how long it took to produce it. Especially in context of Team Ico's long history of sub-30 framerates, haha.

Also, Fallout 4 got a lot more flak from these dudes because it was something they were excited to play (especially Jeff). Fallout 4 also wasn't just a case of low framerate, but inconsistent framerate. It felt more like the result of lack of effort put into optimisation, whereas this feels like a more earnest mistake of someone over-reaching their abilities. My GTX1070 still can't run FO4 at a stable 1440p60 at Custom/High (not Ultra) with AA disabled.

This seems to be treated like more of a passing curiosity, and it's always harder to find honest criticism in something you don't really care about. It's always important to remember that criticism is super subjective, and "feel's like" isn't ever particularly fair.

"Is it a duck or a bird?" - God Bless you Dan.

Wouldn't it be awful if they found out that the game bricks PS4s and all copies had to be recalled?

Dunno how I feel about the game. I loved SOtC on release but had a much harder time with it when the remaster came along. From what I've seen of The Last Guardian, it barely seems to control any differently.

Loved both SoTC & ICO so I'm sure I'll enjoy this but it's a little weird at this point that I actually associate bad framerates with this series, almost as if it's a feature of the game design... I had really hoped that despite the aborted development of this game that the extra horsepower of this generation of consoles might have allowed them to put one out without framerate issues, alas.

Still I bet this game is going to be a joy to behold and a lovely experience all the same, looking forward to playing it.

I love Dan's shocked, "they rendered a butthole?" As this came from the man who seemingly adores Genital Jousting. @danryckert, you're a treasure.

@lemonadepack said:

The way this animal presents its butt like that leans me in the direction of it being more cat-like than dog-like.

I'm surprised at how negatively this Quick Look is being received. I don't have a PS4, but I would totally get this game based on this QL if I did. I think it looks breathtakingly beautiful. I can understand why the whole Trico AI thing sounds frustrating, but Alex said that it actually feels like he's trying to wrest control of a wild beast that is gradually learning discipline and commands, which to me sounds like a very deliberate and difficult game design accomplishment. On top of that, that thing is animated so damn beautifully. Alex says he even caught himself talking out loud to Trico, like he would to an actual pet cat!

Maybe it's because over the past year and a half, I got my first dog, and have created such a strong bond through training him, that the idea of experiencing that in a video game sounds rewarding rather than frustrating.

i think people are being a bit too harsh on this. i'm loving the look and design of it, it seems a bit rehashed from their previous games but there's still not really anything like team ico games out there. i do wish they didn't lean into the boldface narrative so much and make things more implied/contextual, kinda takes the mystery out of things.

i like trico and the concept of him not being 100% controllable, though that might be another thing that they went too hard on (i.e. when alex was waiting for like a minute for him to finally move on in the level and stop staring at the broken glass). i think i can deal if it doesn't happen too often, and it kinda makes trico seem more alive in a weird way. might be nice if you built an affinity with him and he would respond more readily to your orders as the game progresses, maybe.

the enviromental puzzles also still seem pretty neat. i just get the feeling that despite its issues it's a unique experience that i could still get lost in.

Glad Beast is doin this QL. Don't need westcoast's cynical tones to describe this game.

Looks pretty cool. $60 dollars cool? Maybe not, but once it comes down in price I will probably check it out.

Feels kind of like a step back from shadow of the colossus though.

Looks good! I would definitely be more excited for a game that strays a bit further from Team Ico's past, though.

Man I already FUCKING LOVE the part where alex smashed the eyeballs and wanted to video game the video game by making the beast go on but the beast had its own mind and curiosity about the the broken glass, which is, you know, how the world works. Things have their own trajectory and often you can't do anything about it. Which in turn made me emotionally connect to the giant weasel. If this game portrays some consistent behavior of the beast-thing, I'm gonna be impressed.

I feel like I could personally overlook the shitty framerate and poor controls considering Shadow of The Colossus suffered from both of those and I freaking love SoTC.

I can handle Vinny and his 10,000 questions. I can handle Dan and his 10,000 questions. I can't do Vinny and Dan's 20,000 questions. Alex you have more patience than I.

I think the whole point is that it's incontrollible. And that's the thing that intruiges me about this game. Because resistance of the world towards your will is a major part of life and sorely unexplored in videogames. If you look at this through the lens of any traditional "what i expect from a video game" definitions, this will probably be a hot mess.

I think the game looks neat, but it looks to run at around 25-20fps on average barely ever reaching 30. That's kind've appalling.

Sale game for sure.

Wow alex is super crazy positive about this game and I've been hearing almost nothing but negatives and disappointment so far otherwise with its janky camera, annoyingly unresponsive ai and often vague and confusing puzzles or physics straight up breaking etc.

Guess alex has been super lucky and super forgiving of its more dated aspects. The game certainly seems quite dated to me. I don't think I'll bother with it myself, I hate escort missions and waiting for ai's to do things, drives me nuts. The bird dog is cute as fuck but after a few hours I could easily see him driving me up the wall with his slowness and imprecise behavior.

@bonechompski:

True. What is a bit frustrating is that the nature of their questions are consistent game to game and the fact they always try to find the downsides on any game they want to bash later on. If they liked a certain game before, the questions are all about highlighting the qualities. If they didn't like a game at one point, the questions are all about the shortcomings.

I think if your a animal owner of some kind you'll be able to handle the giant cat dog wing beast. Also this isn't fast action game it is meant to be taken at a slow pace.

This actually looks pretty good except for the roughest framerate dips. Hopefully they'll be at least somewhat eased with some patching, but then again this game has been in development for quite a while so it might a case of spaghetti code. I might want to look into getting this... I enjoyed SotC a lot and this seems to hit some similar notes, although less action-y.

This is not for me, I think. I sort of liked Ico and this seems like more of that, but I just find the bird-cat-dog rather unnerving. Definitely not cute. If I was the kid, I would've probably released the thing, but I wouldn't have kept hanging around it for any longer than necessary.

I think it's hard to find honest criticism in gaming period. So much seems more about gut reactions instead of thoughtful criticism these days.

Disappointingly short quick look for a game 10 years in the making :(

...Ducks are unique and delightful birds, though they can be easily overlooked by both novice and experienced birders. By understanding what makes a duck a duck, birders can better enjoy these distinguished waterfowl.

I like the animation of man bear pig but, I don't know if I can put up with AI that keeps stopping every five minutes until you find the perfect spot to stand.

Um, this doesn't look like a good game. I wanted to see it in action before I gave a more definite opinion on it and now that I have, I find it to be not good. I don't think I'd call it a bad game but there seem to be way too many problems to call it a good game.

Damn son, it has arrived.

Seeing this makes me want to tell stories about my dog. I get the feeling that this game is a must buy for Dog/Cat/Bird lovers.

I know what you mean but that framerate is terrible. I'm not going to buy a Pro just for a couple of frames per second increase.

I expected people to respond more positively to this quick look. The leap in AI is something that people clamoured for wthen new consoles were announced, and here we definitively know that this game could not exist on the last gen!

@quantical: If you feel like the purchase is unjustifyable for whatever personal reason on why this game feels lackluster then its very sensible that you don't buy it/wait for it until these things are/may be (?) fixed. I was only writing out from my own experiences with animals and this game looks like a must have for me because of that. But if you see factors that makes you feel that this game isn't worth it then of course don't buy it. Only buy stuff that you're sure you want so you become disappointed, thats being a good and careful consumer :)!

EDIT: Meh, I felt that I was unclear.

Did they really have to name the bird-dog thing the same name as a pokemon? and a starter pokemon at that!

Everytime they say Treecko I can't help but picture this little guy

There's no way this actually will live up to the hype of a decades long dev cycle, right?

This looks really good.

Alex is my favorite reviewer. Among a sea of near constant negativity, he usually seems to tackle games in a more thoughtful and patient manner than most.

I want one!

I would buy this game right now, but I can only play one long ass development myth like title right now, and it's FF15. But it really seems like if you like Ico and Shadows, you'll probably like this. (I love the two former)

Was totally onboard until the last part where Alex jumped and bird-dog just watched him die after catching him in that earlier sequence, very off-putting. Still, nice-looking game and something pretty different from most of what's out there. I'll give it a shot at some point.

Good lord this game is beautiful, Team ICO has a talent for making environments that look real and physically constructed that's simply unmatched in the industry. I think that both with this and Shadow of the Colossus, though, that's where the performance problem comes from, like they were so focused on building the world and the creatures inhabiting it that they didn't ever stop to wonder if there was more "stuff" than there needed to be. It's beautiful and immersive, but I'm sure they could have gotten the same beauty and immersion with better performance if they were a bit more careful about where they spent the resources. Fewer physics objects dangling off the environment, less geometry in the distance, I dunno... fewer feathers on Trico's butthole? It's 100% playable and I'm loving it so far, but I get uncooperative animals to cooperate for a living so Trico's personality is a pleasant vacation for me. I just wish I could get an inside video of this game's development or something to find out what it was that made them say the framerate was "good enough," the team should be proud of what they released no doubt, but there's no way they wouldn't have tried to get it to run more smoothly, and it's not as if they didn't have time. I'm glad it's out and good, though, at long last.

That part was easily below 10 fps.

Like it'll probably get patched no biggie, but that's some of the framiest frames I've seen in a while.

The power of the PS4 made it possible! PS3 butt holes were too taxing on the system. Glad they took the time and effort to make it pixel-perfect.

until i play the video, i still don't believe this is real

Eh I'm a bird fly'n around.

"Is a Dodo a duck or a bird?"

"Well a duck is still a bird"

"Oh, well is it more duck-like or bird-like?"

I think you can guess who is talking here.

Does this birddog have soft mouth so it doesn't damage the kill?

Also why has this horse dog cow got tiny wings? You have a lot of explaining to do evolution.

edit: what I meant was, you have a lot of explaining to do Japanese video game evolution.... no wait.....

I'm just going to continue to write it was "Treacle".

I think I'm going to pass on this game.

I cant help but think about something Jim Sterling said in his review when Alex was saying that he sometimes enjoyed the fact that Trico wouldnt listen to him. "Intentional bad game design is still bad game design." It isnt fun when a button in a fighting game just randomly doesnt work. It isnt fun when your gun just wont fire no matter how many times you hit the trigger. While I could go on, all I am saying is when you hit a button or do something in a game it needs to be responsive. Unresponsiveness in a video game is pretty much always a negative, no matter how you try and spin it.

I guess the game has been so delayed because they had to spend like two years just working on Trico, the design and animation on him looks great.

I also really like how there's something about this game that feels like playing a game from the PS2 era, but in a good way. There's something a bit nostalgic about it. Maybe it's the lack of modern gaming trends, maybe it's something else. I don't know, but it feels good.

I completely agree. It's interesting how everyone says he's the most negative person on the team and he's the one with the darkest humor but then he gives everything a shot. That's why I really enjoy Quick Looks with him and Vinny for some games. Vinny is genuinely curious and asks good questions and Alex gives very good descriptions.

I'm happy this turned out as well as it did. I had written it off, but after hearing about the nature of interacting with Trico and seeing the ql, I think I'll pick it up. It looks beautiful and as the owner of two cats, I definitely have a soft spot for animals that don't listen to me.

People talking about Trico being bad AI rather than something specifically designed to mimic a wild-but trainable-animal has me thinking of that Stomp article about "no such thing as a cinematic game".

It's kind of hard to argue with people when they react to something like Trico with indifference or frustration, but it's also one of those things where there's a cinematic reason for it and if you aren't willing to view it that way, then... Well, the whole thing breaks. Not sure if that makes it good or bad, but it does kind of make it a prime example for the premise of that article, I think.