The Last Guardian is a game that I feel it is extremely easy to simply just forget about, the news on this game is very few and far between and we have been waiting a while for the game to release, but 2016 really could be the year that The Last Guardian shoots back into the limelight. The Last Guardian Game Director, Fumito Ueda, has re-confirmed that The Last Guardian is still slated to launch in 2016.
EDGE Magazine got to get some playtime with the game and during this got to ask some questions from Fumito Ueda, the big question of course was if the game would be arriving in 2016. To which he did confirm that Playstation 4 owners will be playing the game this year, stating:
“Since this is the year we will see the game’s release, I do have some worries, but I’m also very excited.”
Edge was also shown a brief gameplay demo showing off a new gameplay mechanic. In the demo, our young hero wielded a mirrored shield that illuminates when holding circle. The illumination creates a crosshair that when aimed at a surface causes Trico (the cat-like creature) to unleash red lightning from its tail at the target. The demo mainly focused on environmental puzzles, but I think it is safe to presume will tie into combat as well.
One of the biggest dynamics of the game is the connection Trico and our hero and surely this will be a core focus of the game as a whole, Edge got to follow up on this asking Ueda about Trico as a whole. The team has worked hard to make him as authentic and unpredictable as possible. To do this, Ueda and his team needed to write a lot of code, but believe they have created something truly special that has not been done before.
“This creature isn’t like the cute pets that exist in other games, or an ally that’s really useful. The role of the creature is ambiguous; that’s something we wanted to express in the game, and it doesn’t always do what you ask it to do. That’s one of the themes of The Last Guardian. It’s something that’s difficult, and completely different. I want to create the next thing – an experience that people have never had before.
“The amount of code is very large compared to AI in conventional games. We’ve given this creature its own desires, so depending on what action it wants to take, that affects everything, including its animation. It’s not like a normal humanoid character.”
The Last Guardian was announced back in 2009 and soon vanished until 2015 when it made a much needed comeback. With this re-confirmed to be coming to the Playstation 4 this year it is definitely looking like a great year for the system.
