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The Last Guardian Gameplay Demo (E3 2015) (PS4)

Salaadin

Member
I watched the video again. I got tears in my eyes. Anyone else moved by how emotions just flow ? How without a single line of exposition, dialogue or narration, the relation is set and just shine through the screen ? It just screams love and tenderness for 6 minutes. The beast is just so well animated and how it catches the boy and the second time when it fail to grab it with its mouth but the tail comes around and the music kicking in as it pulls up and the camera panning up on the feather in the sun moving in the wind my god it just looks amazing and there is so much emotions going on I can't help but get my eyes all teary

Its just...what Team Ico does. I cant ever really explain it. They just do so much with so little. Its unreal.


I still find myself amazed that this game still exists looking and feeling the way it does. I probably said it before but i had SO MUCH fear that Sony would eventually cancel it or it would undergo some drastic changes and that the vision would be compromised in order to just release the damn game. And then E3 happened. And its pretty much exactly what I wanted. I get a little emotional for those reasons too.
 

raviolico

Member
Its just...what Team Ico does. I cant ever really explain it. They just do so much with so little. Its unreal.


I still find myself amazed that this game still exists looking and feeling the way it does. I probably said it before but i had SO MUCH fear that Sony would eventually cancel it or it would undergo some drastic changes and that the vision would be compromised in order to just release the damn game. And then E3 happened. And its pretty much exactly what I wanted. I get a little emotional for those reasons too.


Yes, this is something that can`t be pointed out enough.
 

Game Informer said:
Through all of this, was the game ever in danger of simply not coming out, or was that never an option?

It's been a rollercoaster ride, plenty of ups and downs, and to be brutally honest there were moments where I thought, "Maybe this won't get out there." However, to my point earlier, it was the fans, it was the people who remembered, it was the people who kept reminding me they were still looking forward to playing The Last Guardian. And that's, again, been a continuous motivation factor. At this point, maybe the hardware's changed, but I'm very excited to deliver this experience, The Last Guardian, to fans.

You see? That's why naysaying will get you nowhere. If everyone constantly ragged on the game and claimed it was dead, cancelled, vaporware or whatever, then it probably wouldn't exist anymore. All the folks that never stopped believing and expressing their positive interest in The Last Guardian over the years are a big reason why we still have this game to look forward to playing in the future. Keep hope alive and you may well save a game's troubled development in the process.
 

SomTervo

Member
Apparently it's possible to accidentally hit Trico with one of the barrels and presumably anger him.



Source

I remember originally reading there was much more to it than that. Like in an interview from years ago.

That Trico is almost like a tamagochi. It may be possible to have a wholly BAD relationship with him, and you ostensibly have to cultivate the good relationship and training.
 

HORRORSHØW

Member
interesting premise, training trico. i pray it's not a frustrating experience as it often can be with real-life pets. i understand and appreciate what ueda and co. are attempting with the interplay between the boy and trico, eg., trying to create a more impactful relationship by letting the player bond with his/her AI companion. at the end of the day, though, it is a video game and frustration should be kept to a minimum.
 
Grimløck;169704002 said:
interesting premise, training trico. i pray it's not a frustrating experience as it often can be with real-life pets. i understand and appreciate what ueda and co. are attempting with the interplay between the boy and trico, eg., trying to create a more impactful relationship by letting the player bond with his/her AI companion. at the end of the day, though, it is a video game and frustration should be kept to a minimum.

The game is inevitably going to frustrate some as they've already noted that Trico's AI is unpredictable enough that they didn't want to demo it during the conference, although Ueda did do the demo behind closed doors. It's AI will also be the one to really dictate the pace of the game. It's not going to be like SotC where you can just hop on Agro and it'd go where you wanted or ICO where you could grab Yorda's hand to get her to go where you wanted. Trico will move at its own pace, although you can obviously try to coax it on by laying out treats or calling it.

It's going to be something that some like and others dislike, which is really no different from ICO and SotC. Some really loved ICO while they hated SotC, and vice versa. And if Ueda wants it to act like a real animal (which is what he said is part of the goal for the game), then that's what's going to happen. He won't budge on that. He's the same guy that was asked if he would've changed anything about the design of SotC because of the framerate and said nope.
 

Issun23

Member
I remember originally reading there was much more to it than that. Like in an interview from years ago.

That Trico is almost like a tamagochi. It may be possible to have a wholly BAD relationship with him, and you ostensibly have to cultivate the good relationship and training.

In an interview with Japanese media Ueda confirmed there is no way to dissolve the relationship completely in such a way the game cannot progress. There will be certain levels of trust but not a bad relationship.
 
Okay, finally we have something out of the horse's mouth that some of us have long guessed in regards to the budget of TLG :

It's been in development for a very, very long time. It must be a considerable investment... is it one of the most expensive games you've ever developed?

No, no, not at all. The team is much smaller. Teams in Japan are much smaller in general than teams in the US and Europe... Horizon is a much bigger budget title than The Last Guardian! It's not so small, it's much bigger than Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, but it's not a US or European-style budget.

So we can all finally shut up about the game's imaginary "cost."
 
The soundtrack is one of the things i'm the most interested about and I hope we hear bits of it before release. I know Kow Otani is not gonna work on TLG it seems, so i'm really curious how it will sound compared to Shadow of the Colossus' epic melancholic orchestra

So its been confirmed he wont do it? Damn I'm sad, however is doing TLG's ost has big shoes to fill.
 
the game is very physics heavy, we saw the same (e3 2015) scene running on PS3 with the video doc included in the Ico and SOTC HD collection, the scene was running at 15 frames per second IIRC
 

IAmGross

Neo Member
Am I the only one that wasn't thrilled with the games sound design? I could only handle the cat-dog-griffin's ear-piercing shriek for so long before it became entirely un-enjoyable.
 
ibgJOARLKTMsRk.gif


finally got my computer back up and running so can make GIFs again!

does it come up as a broken link for others? Lately minus it will show the pic/gif for like 1 minute and then will show broken on my screen
 

Overside

Banned
The fact that you have to say this makes me despise this gaming generation. People complain about Yorda and how dumb and helpless but unable to see the irony that ICO is a playable metaphor of this gaming mindset that they need to have their hand held throughout the way, even for some basic simplistic tasks and for basic simplistic level design. Yorda getting to the gate and wiping all enemies is the "press X to awesome" you see in current game design. Funny how prophetic that game is.

Holy shit... That is hilariously perfect.

The worst generation is Yorda, Ico is the cpu automation/arrows, dragging the worst gen-ers around scenic landscapes, rearranging everything thats too challenging for them to do, until they get to the point where they can A for awesome, and giggle And clap their hands like a small child having keys jingled in their face.

Prophetic indeed.
 
Okay, finally we have something out of the horse's mouth that some of us have long guessed in regards to the budget of TLG :



So we can all finally shut up about the game's imaginary "cost."

And we didn't need Yoshida to clarify that. We already have deduced that based on the infrastructure of JapanStudio and it is constantly beaten down again and again on deaf ears. This is because a lot of ignorant people are always turning every hyped game as a race to the AAA gaming platform, which is a totally bullshit assessment in our industry.

It appears that if you happen to have a solid fanbase (aka Shenmue/TLG/some indie game) and it doesn't fall into the Batman, COD, The Witcher & Skyrim type (e.g. Triple-fucking A) experiences, it would immediately be isolated and compartmentalized with a diagnosis based on their typical, generalized focus-tested checklist if it deserves to be mentioned alongside with those games. If they can't find any solid evidence to support their claim, they would automatically apply Occam's Razor on "long-development + hype machine" excuse to paint an over-exaggerated scenario to fit their argument. And for what? They need to feel as if the game(s) is REQUIRED to appeal to them for some bizarre reason.

This whole contentious behavior is the most irritating movement I've seen this side of the gaming spectrum. Their rhetoric is nothing more than a bunch of anti-progressive and diversification of our medium.


Holy shit... That is hilariously perfect.

The worst generation is Yorda, Ico is the cpu automation/arrows, dragging the worst gen-ers around scenic landscapes, rearranging everything thats too challenging for them to do, until they get to the point where they can A for awesome, and giggle And clap their hands like a small child having keys jingled in their face.

Prophetic indeed.

It's a pity there is an overwhelming amount of consumers that have been entranced by the AAA-marketing doctrine. So very little are willing to question or look beyond the hype veil just to see how and where our medium can improve.
 
It would be cool to get one of Trico's siblings or babies and have to carry/protect a little dragon while solving puzzles.

Man, I hope this game delivers, still not a whole lot of stuff on consoles remotely similar.
 
for people who didn't like what they showed, what exactly were you expecting?


and the graphics look amazing. this type of game does not lend itself to particle effects and explosions. obviously the setting is quite static (as all team ico games) so really, jow would it have looked any better than what they've shown?

i am really excited how it looks to be a combination of ico and sotc.
 
I picked up the ICO/Shadow collection for PS3 today to find out what these games are all about after finding his trailer really captivating. I'm two hours into ICO and am so happy I saw this to get me into these games. It's exactly what I've been looking for, absolutely love the platforming feel and quiet atmosphere. Can't wait to play more tomorrow.

Having recently read the Miyazaki story, I can see how much this influenced Souls in certain ways. Cool to see being a huge Souls fan.

PS: Will try Shadow... once I beat ICO.
 
I picked up the ICO/Shadow collection for PS3 today to find out what these games are all about after finding his trailer really captivating. I'm two hours into ICO and am so happy I saw this to get me into these games. It's exactly what I've been looking for, absolutely love the platforming feel and quiet atmosphere. Can't wait to play more tomorrow.

Having recently read the Miyazaki story, I can see how much this influenced Souls in certain ways. Cool to see being a huge Souls fan.

PS: Will try Shadow... once I beat ICO.
Good man they are masterpieces
 
I picked up the ICO/Shadow collection for PS3 today to find out what these games are all about after finding his trailer really captivating. I'm two hours into ICO and am so happy I saw this to get me into these games. It's exactly what I've been looking for, absolutely love the platforming feel and quiet atmosphere. Can't wait to play more tomorrow.

Having recently read the Miyazaki story, I can see how much this influenced Souls in certain ways. Cool to see being a huge Souls fan.

PS: Will try Shadow... once I beat ICO.
I actually just played ICO for the first time two days ago and completed my first playthrough yesterday. It was such a great experience, though it did have a couple of very minor annoyances--the camera, and fending off the shadow people. Amazing game otherwise. I don't know why I put off playing it for so long.

Now as for SotC goes, it's my favorite game of all time. I've got both the PS2 and PS3 versions, and I've completed the game a ridiculous number of times across both platforms. It's such a relaxing/calming experience for me and it's one of the only games I can play over and over without getting bored. Hell, I'll probably be playing it again today!

The game started last gen 60 FPS is a more than reasonable expectation
I'm not seeing how that's a reasonable expectation. It was never gonna be 60, and it starting out on the PS3 doesn't mean anything. Considering the complexities of this game (physics, animation, AI), I'd say 30fps is what the majority of people expected, even on PS4.
 

hey_it's_that_dog

benevolent sexism
The game started last gen 60 FPS is a more than reasonable expectation

It might be a reasonable expectation if the game ever ran at a decent framerate on PS3 hardware, which we now know it didn't.

Plus, if anyone doesn't believe in the importance of 60fps, it's Team Ico. They've probably got enough on their plate in the way of tech and design challenges without going for 60fps on top of it.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
The game started last gen 60 FPS is a more than reasonable expectation
No it's not, they're pushing a ton of physics and very complex AI, at a higher IQ at that. This game couldn't run on ps3. Like, at all. Its not a reasonable expectation.
 

iratA

Member
the animation is insane. There are different aspects to games tech to analyze, and it's not always about raw geometry or high res texture work. That is seriously insane talent to get the creature animating that well. I cannot think of a game with an animal that animates half as well, and given that it is a dominate play mechanic, that's a huge feat since it'll constantly be on the screen

Well put and couldn't agree more. If the entire game can keep up with quality animation like the stage demo it will be something special for certain.
 
It started at 60 FPS? I wasn't aware of that. That would definitely change my expectations, then. Source?

It can't even run properly on the PS3! This is why they had to speed up the video to make up for jarring frames. The ambition is beyond the tech; it's clearly meant to be a PS4 game, plain and simple.

Note: I think he missed a semicolon after "last-gen"
 
If anything, Sony speeding up the frames to make it look decent last generation is absolutely shameful. Especially when the game didn't even make it onto the PS3.

I hate business practices like that. If it's not ready, don't show it.

Best wishes.
 

maxcriden

Member
It can't even run properly on the PS3! This is why they had to speed up the video to make up for jarring frames. The ambition is beyond the tech; it's clearly meant to be a PS4 game, plain and simple.

Note: I think he missed a semicolon after "last-gen"

Appreciate the clarification. Thank you!
 

Circinus

Member
It looked a bit underwhelming to me in terms of gameplay (it could be due to the high expectations as a legendary game from Fumito Ueda though). But it's obviously still on my radar. I like the premise of the game and I would very much want to support games like these that are original new IP and that don't involve gritty violence as a primary game mechanic.
 
It looked a bit underwhelming to me in terms of gameplay (it could be due to the high expectations as a legendary game from Fumito Ueda though). But it's obviously still on my radar. I like the premise of the game and I would very much want to support games like these that are original new IP and that don't involve gritty violence as a primary game mechanic.

Gameplay has always been very minimalistic across his games. It's goes by a "design by subtraction" philosophy Ueda works by. You can't expect something along the lines of Halo or The Witcher in terms of mechanics - those games are opposing design systems that is at forefront of the player's play experience. Games like ICO/SoTC has a core element and theme that goes along with the interactivity and TLG clearly showcased that in spades.
 
If anything, Sony speeding up the frames to make it look decent last generation is absolutely shameful. Especially when the game didn't even make it onto the PS3.

I hate business practices like that. If it's not ready, don't show it.

Best wishes.
I was under the impression that this was regular practice, as optimisations happen near the end of a project, so a common way of showing your work in progress is to run it on a high-end PC, or to render it slowly.
 
are we getting Giorgio de Chirico art style for TLG?

Code:
[IMG]http://www.ideafixa.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ico_giorgio.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/474x/cb/7b/4f/cb7b4f173a472b30100923d25fd4d8cc.jpg[/IMG]
 

adixon

Member
If anything, Sony speeding up the frames to make it look decent last generation is absolutely shameful. Especially when the game didn't even make it onto the PS3.

I hate business practices like that. If it's not ready, don't show it.

Best wishes.

1.) It's a pretty common practice when games are far from release.

2.) It's significantly more shady to actually release a game after you've recently released a sped up/pre-rendered movie. If you actually release a game with misleading marketing, that's much worse than teasing a project which you're never able to bring up to your quality target, and not releasing the game until you've hit that target you set for yourself. Surely this is common sense.
 

Reveirg

Member
The soundtrack is one of the things i'm the most interested about and I hope we hear bits of it before release. I know Kow Otani is not gonna work on TLG it seems, so i'm really curious how it will sound compared to Shadow of the Colossus' epic melancholic orchestra

Wait what? I thought he was doing it?
 

zeopower6

Member
If anything, Sony speeding up the frames to make it look decent last generation is absolutely shameful. Especially when the game didn't even make it onto the PS3.

I hate business practices like that. If it's not ready, don't show it.

Best wishes.

You do remember that the game leaked at some point back then, right?
 
are we getting Giorgio de Chirico art style for TLG?

Code:
[IMG]http://www.ideafixa.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ico_giorgio.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/474x/cb/7b/4f/cb7b4f173a472b30100923d25fd4d8cc.jpg[/IMG]
I guess I never paid much attention to this art before, but it reminds me so much of some of Salvador Dali's work.

And yeah, I hope we do get more of this art for TLG.
 
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ian-we-have-to-deliver-we-have-extra-pressure

When GamesIndustry.biz sat down with Shuhei Yoshida, the president of Sony's Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment, it was the day after he'd delivered to fans the one thing they'd been asking for since 2009, a promise that The Last Guardian was finally going to be released.

It turned out that rumours of the project's death had been greatly exaggerated, even as the games media obsessed over expired patents and the employment status of the game's designer Fumito Ueda Sony was quietly working away on the adventure title. We asked Yoshida to go into a little more detail about the delays to the project, and how he felt now he'd set the release for 2016.

Q: Was it a relief to finally be able to announce The Last Guardian?

Shuhei Yoshida: Last night was, but now the reality settles in. We have to deliver, we have extra pressure, and the team has too, but it's a good pressure. The team is super happy.

Q: What are some of the challenges that delayed development? Was there ever a point where you were close to cancelling it?

Shuhei Yoshida: The game was originally made for PS3 and we announced it in 2009 at E3. The trailer we showed was running on the engine but not at the performance, the game had a much lower framerate so we sped it up to look like it was running at 30 frames per second for the video. But the team has really really struggled to get the game running at the performance it needed and some features went missing so there are lots of technical challenges that they were going through. They spent lots of time porting the code to SPUs to make it faster but not quite at the pace that was required.

That was 2011, that was all about PS3 development going very, very slow. Come 2012 and we know the PS4 is coming. With the dev system available it became apparent for us that we just cannot continue like this in terms of the pace of development - we knew that we had to compromise on the design or the scope or the number of characters if we stayed on PS3. So in order to realise the vision we said let's do PS4.

But after that it took a long time for the engineering team to finish. They spent a lot of time optimising to PS3 but that's a really unique architecture, so everything had to be kind of redone for PS4. So that took until last year, when there was huge progress. The fundamentals of the game architecture were done so the actual game was playable and being implemented on PS4. That's how we felt confident enough to show it and say next year.

"The rumours had it that Mark Cerny and the Knack team were finishing the game, that's totally wrong"

So the game is running and playable at the same speed as the video we showed but we decided to show it in video format because it's an adventure game and the bird Trico moves as AI, so she may not do what you want to do [laughs]. We didn't want to risk making the conference presentation longer so we just made it a video.

Q: It was reported Mark Cerny was working on it, was that true?

Shuhei Yoshida: The way the rumour was written is not true. Mark has been helping many of our teams, the same way he's giving advice to The Last Guardian team, especially on the technical side - he has deep, deep knowledge of the PlayStation 4.
 
Once again, courtesy to Dualshockers. I was watching the stream as well, but I couldn't catch it very well, so I didn't want to misreport without secondary verification, since no one else here apparently watched the niconico Sony Japan stream. =/

The Last Guardian‘s PS4 re-announcement during PlayStation’s E3 conference this year surprised many, but there was one element that could have spilled the beans just minutes before, dampening the impact of that trailer at the very beginning of the show.

At the end of the trailer, Director Fumito Ueda stood from his seat among the audience to receive the long overdue applause, but of course having him sit there would have most probably caused one or more of the many journalists around him to drop the information on social media. After all, the presence of Ueda-san at the conference would have been very telling.

During a livestream hosted on Nico Nico, SCE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida explained what happened. Ueda-san wasn’t there as the conference began. In order to keep his presence, and with it the re-reveal of the game, a secret until the very last moment, the Game Director stealthily went to sit among the audience covered by the darkness as the trailer was already rolling.
 

Blader

Member
I thought Ueda's appearance was an even bigger surprise than TLG's re-reveal, they did a great job pulling that off.
 
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