• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Last Guardian |OT| In my memories, the monster always has kind eyes

ced

Member
Finished it today, I'll collect my thoughts and elaborate later but honestly I'm glad it's over and was one of the most frustrating games I've played . This is coming from a big Ico fan. I still thought there was a great game there ruined by various things.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
Over the last few days, I've seen people claim people aren't patient, dexterous or intelligent enough to understand or play this "undeniable masterpiece".
You used quotes. Can you go ahead and quote the person that wrote it in this thread?
 
Just turned off the PS4 like 10 minutes ago after beating the game... lasted me 2 game sessions. Actually didn't sleep yesterday at all xD

Came here to say this game is so amazing and all, but you're already fighting because of it :p
Also, where do I find the alternate outfits for the boy?

I can totally understand how divisive it can be: as I said I think it is so amazing, it's also so charming, the environments are so gorgeous but... the game is so flawed as well: controlling the boy can be pretty bad, the kid cannot differentiate between 10 cm and 200 m, he would act as if he's about to lose his life if he steps on a stone (I'm exaggerating here, but the animations are the same wether you are climbing a huge tower or just a small obstacle). Once you get used to it though you have to fight the horrendous camera, some puzzles can get frustrating because of the camera. The interactions with Trico, while great, have their issues as well: I've carefully placed the camera and pointed forward and at times the boy points backwards or Trico goes back to a previous area before going forward as I asked him to do. I think there are some understandable bugs in there, since the work they made with Trico AI must've been pretty complex.

Still, I loved every single minute of the game and would totally recommend it to anyone, especially to people who love puzzles.
 
I think we should be focusing our negative energies on how ridiculous the trophy requirements are.
damn.png
 

Generate

Banned
This game is very difficult to quantify because at least partly it is trying to play organically, which leads to a lot of inconsistency. To a degree it is supposed to be a bit frustrating, as Trico is not designed to obey every command like a robot. However, complaints about the boy's controls ARE founded because the animation style of his movement created a lack of precise control, which makes some portions extremely annoying to accomplish. Trico's quirks are forgiveable, the boys sluggish slippery controls are not.
 
This game is very difficult to quantify because at least partly it is trying to play organically, which leads to a lot of inconsistency. To a degree it is supposed to be a bit frustrating, as Trico is not designed to obey every command like a robot. However, complaints about the boy's controls ARE founded because the animation style of his movement created a lack of precise control, which makes some portions extremely annoying to accomplish. Trico's quirks are forgiveable, the boys sluggish slippery controls are not.

Honestly, I can't even largely relate to that. I agree that his controls are imprecise. But aside from a couple of situations (jumping off chains), the imprecision isn't really much of an issue.

The boy grabs on to things quite like liberally. It's practically impossible to fall off things given that the game doesn't let you unless you jump off. And the game doesn't have a level design that punishes you for having imprecise control over the boy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that he isn't imprecise. I just don't think the game is designed in such a way to punish you for that imprecision. I encountered a couple of minor instances where the controls detracted from what I was trying to accomplish but not much more then that.
 

SirNinja

Member
I think we should be focusing our negative energies on how ridiculous the trophy requirements are.
damn.png

Trophy progress carries over into subsequent playthroughs (many of them can be farmed through checkpointing as well), so most of them aren't that bad.

The only one I really dread is the 5-hour speedrun. Will probably have to do some serious save backup/restoring to get that one.
 

Deku Tree

Member
Trophy progress carries over into subsequent playthroughs (many of them can be farmed through checkpointing as well), so most of them aren't that bad.

The only one I really dread is the 5-hour speedrun. Will probably have to do some serious save backup/restoring to get that one.

The no deaths one seems more severe IMO considering how wonky the controls and camera can be while jumping. Suppose you can also resolve that by restoring backup saves
 

L95

Member
The no deaths one seems more severe IMO considering how wonky the controls and camera can be while jumping. Suppose you can also resolve that by restoring backup saves

I wonder if pausing quickly right after you miss a jump or right before you get dragged into a portal by an armor, then loading checkpoing would work, since you technically didn't die yet, hehe. :B
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
On a random positive technical note the load times in this game are incredibly quick. I think the longest I waited was no more than five seconds and in many cases it wasn't even that long. Not only that but the total lack of loading times during actual gameplay was amazingly well done and I didn't even notice them until late in the game.
 

Lady Gaia

Member
How about, instead of a cheap-ass "seconded" remark, how else would you succinctly phrase the experience of a "it's not the game, it's you" concept?

The notion of victim blaming is generally used in circumstances where someone is the victim of criminal actions typically involving violence or the threat of violence. To water it down to cover struggling with a game undermines and makes light of the whole phenomenon. Looking out for the needs of legitimate victims isn't a "cheap-ass" comment, it's putting the world in perspective.

You're frustrated. That's understandable in a situation where other people are having fun and you aren't. You could certainly complain about people piling on, which is all too common here, but being overly dramatic about it tends to lead to more people piling on, not fewer.

Uuuggghhh... Sure I can? Look at this very same page of posts and you'll see other GAFfers saying things to effect of "loved it, in spite of its warts."

In other words: it's not fundamentally flawed. It has some issues, which can be said of most games. Whether those issues detract significantly from your experience is generally a very personal thing.
 

The Lamp

Member
Seriously, what's your deal? Just because you had a flawless experience (which I highly doubt), then anything less results in an insult?
Because The Lamp felt the need to insult me on what I was experiencing, yet s/he never actually took these actions while playing.

I am sorry for the abrasiveness. I was expressing sheer disbelief at people who constantly die or frequently take 15 minutes trying to get Trico to do something. You spending 15 minutes trying to get the head off a soldier was not something I can relate to because I never tried to do that. My comment about people spending 15 minutes trying to get Trico to do something wasn't a direct response to your grievances.

Yeah, you've got to be trolling. Even when not standing on rubble, the boy will always stumble when jumping forward.

I honestly have no idea what you mean or if that is even a problem I could relate to. It seems like you're complaining about the realistic animation of a clumsy boy stumbling when he takes a big leap while traversing ruins. If you actually hate that, then fine, whatever. I think it adds to the experience and it never became a significant problem in my platforming.


Your attitude is shit and condescending. Take a step back and realize that. Unless you already do, to which case you're not a very good representative of this community.

I cares, because it's a frustrating part of the game. And I've seen him miss repeatedly, then whine and give up. Every single post of mine in the past hour or so has been solely to point out parts of this game that are making me consistently more frustrated than any other game I've played.

Have you tried leaving a barrel close to him and then commanding R1+circle to eat it? Have you tried holding the barrel up to his nose so he can eat it out of your hands? He doesn't always catch barrels that you throw at him, that is true. But then again, neither do pets always do that.


I disagree on you stating it only happens under those specific circumstances. I feel like I am constantly fighting the camera. If I let it auto-follow me, then I'm screwed.

Try turning up camera sensitivity. I don't remember violently fighting the camera unless it squished me in a tight spot. L1 helps a lot as well because it centers you on Trico.

I will admit, now that I think about it, there was ONE puzzle spot that absolutely confused me because of bad misunderstanding or my own profound incompetence in how to control Trico, or AI problems, or both, about mid-game:
when Trico had to paw the gear to pull up the gate and reveal the catapult. I tried R1+every combination possible and Trico would only ever put his paw on the gate and weakly move it. I couldn't figure out what to do. Then one time he randomly decided to paw the gate all the way down and I didn't know why he decided to do it correctly suddenly. I spent 10 minutes confused on what to do at this part.

I completely forgot about it because it was 10-15 minutes out of a dozen hours of gameplay for me.
 
Pretty sure I'm near the end need some help.

Trico just got done fighting off a bunch of guards and I'm trying to ascend up an elevator with him but there's a roof blocking our ascend
 
I'll be honest, I'm not too keen on the boy's controls either. I laugh at his ineptedness as he flubs basic movements. From sloppily landing a small jump to deciding there's no need for self preservation when letting go of Trico with either your back or head towards the ground. Just *plop*.

Absolutely in love with the game, don't get me wrong, but it takes away from the elegance of movement when I'm trying to record a simple video.
 

The Lamp

Member
I'll be honest, I'm not too keen on the boy's controls either. I laugh at his ineptedness as he flubs basic movements. From sloppily landing a small jump to deciding there's no need for self preservation when letting go of Trico with either your back or head towards the ground. Just *plop*.

Absolutely in love with the game, don't get me wrong, but it takes away from the elegance of movement when I'm trying to record a simple video.

Oh yes you're right, the animation he has where he just falls off Trico and lands on his spine is ridiculous. I don't know why that's a thing.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Oh yes you're right, the animation he has where he just falls off Trico and lands on his spine is ridiculous. I don't know why that's a thing.

The game has a very similar physics based movement system to games like the modern GTA iterations. Think about about some of the silly and ridiculous animations and results that occur when you fall off a building in those games. TLG is better suited for this type of control and movement as you aren't expected to be popping off head shots and doing other super specific actions very quickly.
 

SirNinja

Member
The no deaths one seems more severe IMO considering how wonky the controls and camera can be while jumping. Suppose you can also resolve that by restoring backup saves

For that one, you can pause and reload the checkpoint if you begin to fall. You have to be fairly quick though!
 

DieH@rd

Banned
I am just about to start it on a Pro, can't wait!

1080p or 4k mode? Are the framerate drops in 4K-ish enough to make one sacrifice higher resolution by switching to the more stable 1080p mode?

Decisions....

I played on 1080p, maybe once in entire game I experienced a short slowdown that dissapeared in a few seconds. It was probably some HDD I/O hang.
 

Datwheezy

Unconfirmed Member
I'm currently at (spoiler for somewhere past half way in game):
the part with the rolling cage you are stuck in after battling evil trico that you need to roll down to the blue magical circle to open

How much game do I have left?
 

DieH@rd

Banned
Don't really know how far I am, I guess I am a few puzzle sets past
Trico first seeing the other Trico?
it's fun so far but gives me anxiety because it doesn't handhold like modern gen games and I have really no idea how far along I am

You have A LOT of game in front of you. Just enjoy it.


I'm currently at (spoiler for somewhere past half way in game):
the part with the rolling cage you are stuck in after battling evil trico that you need to roll down to the blue magical circle to open

How much game do I have left?

Few more great hours.
 

Humdinger

Member
Just started. Don't want to read the thread for fear of spoilers. I've gotten choked up twice already, which is good. As someone who likes animals more than most people, this seems right up my alley. The camera and movement are a little wonky at times, but that's par for the course for these games. I don't mind so far.

I like the tone it is setting. Mysterious, mythical, fantastical ... but quiet. A game for introverts. I like that, too.
 
Just started this today. I've only been playing for an hour or so, but man, my first impression is bad. They really dialed up the klutz controls to 11. I loved ICO and SOTC, but their somewhat wonky, high inertia controls were fine. These are fucking awful. The camera is maybe even worse. Every movement of the player or the camera feels like a total struggle. I've failed just trying to turn the camera so I can see Trico half the time.

And what kind of incompetent developers in 2016 have a invert camera option that doesn't invert the aiming on the mirror aiming? That's not a deal breaker; the slow pace doesn't seem likely to make aiming a big deal, but it's annoying.

I'll stick with it; I've been waiting too long and love the premise too much to give up. But it's a shame.
 
Just started this today. I've only been playing for an hour or so, but man, my first impression is bad. They really dialed up the klutz controls to 11. I loved ICO and SOTC, but their somewhat wonky, high inertia controls were fine. These are fucking awful. The camera is maybe even worse. Every movement of the player or the camera feels like a total struggle. I've failed just trying to turn the camera so I can see Trico half the time.

And what kind of incompetent developers in 2016 have a invert camera option that doesn't invert the aiming on the mirror aiming? That's not a deal breaker; the slow pace doesn't seem likely to make aiming a big deal, but it's annoying.

I'll stick with it; I've been waiting too long and love the premise too much to give up. But it's a shame.

Use L1 when you want to look at trico.
 
I am just about to start it on a Pro, can't wait!

1080p or 4k mode? Are the framerate drops in 4K-ish enough to make one sacrifice higher resolution by switching to the more stable 1080p mode?

Decisions....

4K. People are over blowing the performance issues in this mode. I had it drop like 5 times or so, and never did it affect any of the experience where it was game breaking. Take advantage of that 4K tv man!

Also, people having a hard time with this game. Kind of surprised, I though it was easier than ICO, and SOTC.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Just started this today. I've only been playing for an hour or so, but man, my first impression is bad. They really dialed up the klutz controls to 11. I loved ICO and SOTC, but their somewhat wonky, high inertia controls were fine. These are fucking awful. The camera is maybe even worse. Every movement of the player or the camera feels like a total struggle. I've failed just trying to turn the camera so I can see Trico half the time.

And what kind of incompetent developers in 2016 have a invert camera option that doesn't invert the aiming on the mirror aiming? That's not a deal breaker; the slow pace doesn't seem likely to make aiming a big deal, but it's annoying.

I'll stick with it; I've been waiting too long and love the premise too much to give up. But it's a shame.

Turn the sensitivity up to like 90 percent and use L1 to focus the camera on Trico. When adjusting the camera it can pick up momentum and keep going after you left off the stick so instead of constant harder pushes of the stick I just use baby touches, light and slow and it often works far better with the increased sensitivity. I don't even touch the camera all that much and when I do I find the smaller adjustments work a lot better than trying to swing into place with one go.
 
Turn the sensitivity up to like 90 percent and use L1 to focus the camera on Trico. When adjusting the camera it can pick up momentum and keep going after you left off the stick so instead of constant harder pushes of the stick I just use baby touches, light and slow and it often works far better with the increased sensitivity. I don't even touch the camera all that much and when I do I find the smaller adjustments work a lot better than trying to swing into place with one go.

Thanks, will give that a try.
 
I had assumed prior to starting the game (along with impressions from some of the reviews) that my experiences with TLG would be much more irritating: putting up with the frustrating A.I. that doesn't do what I want it to, compounded with a tedious game of trying to get his attention, and slowly waiting until everything falls into place. I'm so relieved that it isn't the case, and I'm extremely goddamn surprised how much it isn't the case. Trico is just so immediately responsive, and even if I have to do a command twice at the worst, it's apparent from his vocalizations/movements that he's listening. It's such a relief that he seems to have a laser like focus on you, and comes immediately if called. Interacting with Trico could have been a trainwreck and a half. I'm honestly not a terribly patient person, so I really don't think I'm compensating for his A.I. with patience - he's just so reactive? I feel like a jerk when you go somewhere he can't follow, and he has a little grumble/cry. I wish there was a comforting 'talk to Trico from a distance' button. There's something powerful about having this gentle giant focusing on you at all times, and it seems like he worries about the boy as much as the boy (and I) worry about him.

An embarrassing moment from prior to getting a better
'understanding'/better control
of him, was earlier in the game was when I wanted him to jump up to a ledge. He put up with my antics for a bit, before grumbling and taking me around to where I was supposed to climb up myself instead of him. I did laugh out loud, as I felt pretty silly. For as much patience as Trico requires from the player, I'm pretty sure poor Trico requires a hell of a lot more patience dealing with me. I've found TLG in general to be a surprising and endearing experience where Trico leads me as much as I lead him. It genuinely feels like a partnership. I also had a pleasant surprise when he caught me from a fall. I'd done a silly jump from a high beam, and I was hoping that - at best - I'd land on him. It was in a pre-E3 demo area, and that wasn't something I had thought he'd do until later. Even though I'm still not sure if petting him genuinely builds the relationship between the boy and the kid, Trico still got lots of pats after that expert catch. The mid-air barrel catching never gets old, either.

Like my tendency in the paragraphs above, it's hard not to personify Trico's behavior, as so much love, detail, and personality has gone into him. He genuinely feels like he's reacting to the world around him, and to the player. I've also had two times when I've calmed him down after a fight, and he's immediately ducked his head down after I've climbed off him, and wanted a pat. tricccccccoooooooooooooooooooooo I spend a lot of time petting him, okay. He does a jump for me - he gets a pat. He stands - he gets a pat. He looks cute - which is 100% of the time - he gets a pat. I love TLG's attention to detail, too. It's the little things, like if the boy gets injured, his calls for Trico sound very quiet and pained.

I was concerned upon starting the game that TLG was going to be really exhausting to play, as I found the first two hours or so quite draining. As I've come to understand Trico and how the pacing of the game works, I find it a lot less exhausting. I'm not sure how intentional it is from Ueda or not, but I love that the game does have a natural flow like an actual relationship (be it human or animal). The more I understand Trico, the more relaxing and enjoyable it is to be around him, just like interaction in real life. TLG continues to have great pacing and flow, in both level design, and in my interactions with Trico.

I will say that if it wasn't for GAF, I don't think I would have gotten my head around the more direct Trico controls as quickly. I know the controls are really straight forward, but it was still a little bit of a wait, what moment? I know the narrator does explain it to you (and you get prompts), but having it spelled out on GAF made it immediately a lot easier. I know the devs did go to a lot of trouble with control prompts for the player, but I think a bit more simplified hand-holding in relaying the information to the player wouldn't go astray.

Little SotC musings, not a plot spoiler, just a colossi mention -
when you're on Trico's back, it's hard to not have flashbacks to clambering around and directing Pelagia. Trico's and Pelagia's horns don't help the similarities, either!
I always felt guilty about killing the colossi, but after playing the time attack modes, a lot of that guilt turned in to apathy. Spending a lot of time with Trico does make the thought of replaying SotC a lot more uncomfortable in a lot of ways, even though I've been craving a replay.
 

Drewfonse

Member
I played through in 4k mode and it was fine 90% of the time. Hangs near 30 for the most part except for maybe 3-4 really bad areas, 2 of which are near the end.

Start with that IMO and switch down if it bothers you. The game is gorgeous.

I played on 1080p, maybe once in entire game I experienced a short slowdown that dissapeared in a few seconds. It was probably some HDD I/O hang.

4K. People are over blowing the performance issues in this mode. I had it drop like 5 times or so, and never did it affect any of the experience where it was game breaking. Take advantage of that 4K tv man!

Also, people having a hard time with this game. Kind of surprised, I though it was easier than ICO, and SOTC.


Good feedback, thanks. I'll try it in 4k. The DF video made the difference look fairly minor in terms of frame rate issues, so it'll take the increased res.

Thanks!
 

ScOULaris

Member
To those of you playing on a standard PS4, would you mind trying something for me?

I've noticed variable performance in the game depending on certain external factors. The game possibly degrades in performance gradually if I play on and off for a day or two while putting the PS4 into Rest Mode in between each play session. If I fully restart my PS4 and then launch the game back to where I was previously getting horrendous performance, it will often perform better in the same scene after a full reboot.

If anyone else could test to see if they experience differences in performance after a PS4 reboot on the standard console I'd appreciate it. I feel like the game's poor performance is fixable since I get higher framerates sometimes after a reboot in scenes that were otherwise extremely choppy. Maybe if we're on to something the developers could patch in a fix.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
To those of you playing on a standard PS4, would you mind trying something for me?

I've noticed variable performance in the game depending on certain external factors. The game possibly degrades in performance gradually if I play on and off for a day or two while putting the PS4 into Rest Mode in between each play session. If I fully restart my PS4 and then launch the game back to where I was previously getting horrendous performance, it will often perform better in the same scene after a full reboot.

If anyone else could test to see if they experience differences in performance after a PS4 reboot on the standard console I'd appreciate it. I feel like the game's poor performance is fixable since I get higher framerates sometimes after a reboot in scenes that were otherwise extremely choppy. Maybe if we're on to something the developers could patch in a fix.

I have been turning my PS4 off as of late instead of putting it into rest mode, mostly to try and and be a little greener if nothing else. There are still frame drops and such but its never been anywhere as bad as SotC was on the PS2 for example. That game would go into slow motion with how bad it got.
 
Top Bottom