Imp the Dimp
Member
Enjoying the game but it's basically a walking simulator about 5-6h in. No challenge whatsoever. It looks good though.
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The Last Guardian |OT| In my memories, the monster always has kind eyes
- Thread starter Agram
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Prithee Be Careful
Industry Professional
Yup, the big failure for me is that some of the puzzles far oustretch the mechanics and I honestly found myself shouting at the screen. I'm only about halfway through I think and I feel so conflicted.
Love the design, the direction and the overall feel, but I'm wrestling my way through so much of it. Big shame really - these flaws have been evident since the first hands-on impressions and they really get in the way of what genuinely seems like masterpiece-tier game making.
DieNgamers
Member
I think puzzles are one of the things most people praise, though. Would you agree that they mostly feel organic and never too abstruse? I often had situations like this:
"I wonder how...no, that wouldn't be the solution. Wait, it actually worked!? Niiiice!".
What puzzles had you frustrated so far? Just interested.
Yeah, I didn't even play it that long ago (finished on christmas), but I still feel like I've been reflecting a lot on the experience, and liking it more and more. I'm now eagerly looking forward to a second playthrough, and it's a game I find myself often surprised at just how much I'm in love with.
I have no doubts it'll be in whatever top 10 favorite games I end up making in the future. Took me by surprise, too, I was convinced I wouldn't find it nearly as good as Shadow of the Colossus, even though I knew it would be a great game.
I also had a similar experience with disappointments this year, so I feel like just saying it's my personal GOTY doesn't give it enough praise. Like, it didn't need to be as good as it is to take this position, unfortunately.
He specifically said that the fact that the PS3 wasn't doing so well when the project started was one of the main reasons they decided to just make a game they wanted, since it wouldn't sell anyway, haha.
Turns out it came out in Sony's most successful platform, so thank God they allowed him to keep his vision even with the move. I guess they saw it as the kind of game that makes their library that much richer, even if it won't sell that much.
Perhaps its just luck...or a really low tolerance for messy controls/not being able to adapt.
The controls bothered me for about 2 minutes before I was distracted by how awesome everything else was. I really need to play it again to if any of these infamous 'rage inducing' moments will happen to me on succesive playthroughs.
The controls never bothered me, but I found the acceleration when you rotate the camera a bit weird. After ~5 minutes I fully adapted to it though.
I think I'm really lucky because my whole playthrough was so flawless. I only got stuck 3 times and never longer than half an hour before finding a solution. I also rarely missed my target when jumping. It was my fault when I did, so I always succeeded on my second attempt.
I think that the community on GAF in general is just really picky when it comes to technical stuff. Controls, framerate, graphics and stuff like that. I often have to scratch my head whenever I go through threads and people call games that I had absolutely no issues with "unplayable". Not saying that they're necessarily wrong or anything, but I find it surprising that people are so sensitive. And I'm a fighting game player, so it's not like I don't notice stuff like input lag and bad framerate, but it seems like I can ignore it in most games (which is fine by me).
Yeah, similar experience and same background. Fighting games and character action, and on top of that most of the first person games I play are full of tearing because unfortunately I can't deal with the added input lag from vsync, especially in CryEngine games, so they look like shit. And I had no issues with the controls here at all, adapted from the go.
SumptuousLemur
Banned
Any detailed patch notes out there?
What did the mode patches do? I wish PS4 devs would actually list patch notes than just one general sentence. The update history option is really handy but most of the time it has no details.
What did the mode patches do? I wish PS4 devs would actually list patch notes than just one general sentence. The update history option is really handy but most of the time it has no details.
They made the camera more responsive (decreased acceleration) and improved the framerate, as far as I know. Didn't play it before the patches.
Darth Smurf X
Member
Last year, I called this game out as my Most Anticipated of 2016. Here's proof.
https://youtu.be/sYxeaVeeWvc?t=2m50s
Oh man. The story was absolutely amazing! For the record, my wife did not walk in on me sobbing. I was home alone when I reached the end.
The controls are a tad on the bad side, why is X not jump, the worst swimming mechanics in any game ever... but, despite all that, this may have dethroned Uncharted 4 as my game of the year.
In fact, this game moved me more than any other story has in recent memory, in any medium, not just video games. I didn't even want to play anything else for the rest of the week because I knew nothing could live up to that story, the emotions, that ending. It is my Game of the Yearpossibly one of my favorites of all time.
https://youtu.be/sYxeaVeeWvc?t=2m50s
Oh man. The story was absolutely amazing! For the record, my wife did not walk in on me sobbing. I was home alone when I reached the end.
The controls are a tad on the bad side, why is X not jump, the worst swimming mechanics in any game ever... but, despite all that, this may have dethroned Uncharted 4 as my game of the year.
In fact, this game moved me more than any other story has in recent memory, in any medium, not just video games. I didn't even want to play anything else for the rest of the week because I knew nothing could live up to that story, the emotions, that ending. It is my Game of the Yearpossibly one of my favorites of all time.
TimeEffect
Member
Oh good, are we talking Uncharted?
The slow talking crap in UC4 was GOD AWFUL. Seriously, it tried so hard to be like Last of Us and it just wasn't.
I cant care about a privileged douchebag like Nathan Drake who gets away with everything. I just want to shoot crap with him. I dont want some sap story that suddenly finds its way into the game after 3 games. I dont mind slow sections, but Uncharted was so often heavy handed and it dragged the game down considerably. It came off as so pretentious after Last of Us, especially because these characters are just superheroes who have no sense of care for their well being. They are just thrill seekers, not survivors or some boy and some beast like in TLG.
The scene in UC4 where
was so corny and awful that I cant believe it wasnt some joke.
The drama with Elena felt forced, and what's worse is that by the end of it, she's with him destroying a damn army together. These guys are all invincible and it feels so ridiculous. I just didn't care at all.
It worked excellently in Last of Us, and it works excellently in Last Guardian, bearing in mind the differences, but that connection to the characters is so special in those games, and it feels so hollow in UC.
The slow talking crap in UC4 was GOD AWFUL. Seriously, it tried so hard to be like Last of Us and it just wasn't.
I cant care about a privileged douchebag like Nathan Drake who gets away with everything. I just want to shoot crap with him. I dont want some sap story that suddenly finds its way into the game after 3 games. I dont mind slow sections, but Uncharted was so often heavy handed and it dragged the game down considerably. It came off as so pretentious after Last of Us, especially because these characters are just superheroes who have no sense of care for their well being. They are just thrill seekers, not survivors or some boy and some beast like in TLG.
The scene in UC4 where
Young Drake and Young Sam trespass and meet the old lady, WHO JUST DIES
The drama with Elena felt forced, and what's worse is that by the end of it, she's with him destroying a damn army together. These guys are all invincible and it feels so ridiculous. I just didn't care at all.
It worked excellently in Last of Us, and it works excellently in Last Guardian, bearing in mind the differences, but that connection to the characters is so special in those games, and it feels so hollow in UC.
Donniewahlberg
Banned
Just started this afternoon. So pretty :O I mean, I expected it to be nice looking, but jeez, absolutely jaw dropping doesn't really cover it. I am an absolute sucker for dogs and I love all the mannerisms and behaviours Trico displays, really great. I keep feeding him every barrel I find so far, even when he seems like he's happy to come along. I'll probably find out there's human heads in them later or something.
That's kinda the problem I've got at the minute. I finished TLG a few weeks ago and the ending hit me very hard. I held off on playing another game for a day or so as I felt quite drained (in a good way) by the whole experience.
I'm now dying to start another play through to finish up my trophies and collectables but I just cant bring myself to do so, as I know how emotional it made me and I just know I'll be a wreck again by the end.
I think my play time was significantly inflated by the five minute petting sessions I would hold after every puzzle.
Nice write up, but as always, I continue to disagree with the "frustrating" comments. Especially the ones being used in a positive way. I've also read a few "felt like throwing my controller at the wall" comments. Holy shit, people, you need some anger management, urgently.
Trico can take a few seconds to act, is that seriously enough to make it "a frustrating experience"? Even when there's a positive spin, just how?
Unless I've been understanding it wrong, and it's more in the sense of "I didn't figure out the commands soon enough, and that made me frustrated with my incapacity of sending a message to Trico". That I can see, but still, reading the manual or trying the buttons should be an idea that crosses people's minds before frustration. The game even gives you a hint with "Trico started to mimick my actions".
When high profile games start to be described in such homogeneous ways, it makes me question if people actually came to that conclusion, or if they're just taking some things they read about it and applying to their experience.
I'm not gonna say someone's wrong if they hate the controls, for example, I believe their experience. But I'm also not interested in pretending to accept it as a flaw to my own experience. I had no issues with the controls, I actively enjoyed them, even, so why would I?
Feels like "frustrating at times" is now one of the mandatory terms to describe anyone's experience with TLG, even if it's not actually true for them. Frustration is directly related to expectation, if someone is in awe by the AI's actions, and loving how real it feels, how can it once again act real be frustrating? It would, most likely, be another impressive moment of AI acting like a real animal.
That said, I don't even come from that perspective, I had no issues getting Trico to do what I needed. I've seen people defending the game before I played it with "it's just like a real animal, it doesn't obey you that easily", and I was mentally prepared for that experience, but it's not what happened at all. The boy is a dog whisperer, he's unbelievably good at training animals.
There is a lot of hyperbole in the comments but I would argue that controls/Trico can hinder the overall experience. The second half of the game did not resonate with me the way it should have, or as it has for many of you, because I was still frustrated with the whole diving pool sequence. I spent an hour or two trying to get Trico to dive and he would not. I suspect it was a bug as I ended up restarting the game and he dove the first time I retried but there were other similar sequences that just took away from the experience. I felt like I spent the majority of the game dragging Trico along rather than having a true companion/pet. The end just did not resonate with me the way I expected or wanted it to.
That said, there is a great emotional game in there somewhere but for the magic to work on you, you need to develop that emotional attachment over time, interacting with the world, with Trico, seeing their relationship develop and avoiding or ignoring the various issues with controls or Trico.
I think there's some level of inherent frustration in trying to communicate what you want to Trico as there is in any communication without a common language. I often found myself struggling to convey my ideas in the game with such a limited vocabulary. The mistake with a lot of the current criticism is in placing blame on Trico (or "AI") when it's neither Trico's fault nor the player's fault but a deliberately implemented feature of the game. Communication is the central mechanic and theme of Last Guardian and communication will break down. Arguing whether this decision was "good" or "bad" is the least interesting avenue for discussion and I think the fact that it has dominated the conversation surrounding this game so far shows that video games are still predominantly seen as products. The game, on the other hand, is not vying for a broad audience despite its marketing and pedigree.
I just started this today, and am mostly enjoying it so far, however the framerate on a regular PS4 is in my opinion unacceptable. Indoors it's fine, but outdoors it is definitely somewhere between 10-15fps and it's giving me a bit of a headache. I haven't kept up with news at all, but are there any talks of a patch in the future that could address this? I am considering upgrading to a PS4 Pro as well, but I would like some impressions from people before buying. Does the Pro help this game achieve a stable framerate? I'd be happy with 25-30fps consistently. Thanks!
HueyFreeman
Banned
Pro is basically a locked framerate at 1080p :| I love this game to bits, but I am pretty disappointed that Sony has released a two-tier product. That's specifically what we were assured would not happen with the Pro. I think it's contributing significantly to base PS4 users experiences with control and camera complaints.
Having said that, if anyone's on the fence about a pro, this is a reason to upgrade.
Yes it does. The PRO definitely improves the experience at 1080p. Essentially a locked 30 fps.
mickagau33
Member
A little anecdote : I live in a Buddhist center and we took 2 days break for the new year...We all gathered in one of the place here and the others asked me to bring my ps4 (I am that guy huhu). We played Uncharted 4 and the Last Guardian. Trico made a big impact on everybody, now everybody talks about him ! ;-)
Thanks. I am disappointed it does not feel optimized on the original PS4. Hopefully a patch can address this but I've been considering a Pro anyway.
Is this like a Buddhist monastery? I ask because there are tons in rural parts of New York and I try to visit them when I get the chance. I like meditation in groups, helps me focus.
I am pretty sure I am almost to the end but I dont want it to end. This is just an amazing game so far, not sure if it is better than SotC for me yet but we'll see how it ends.
My son, who is 20 months, is starting to figure out how to talk and he has been watching me play a little seems to be copying some of the characters words from the game. It is pretty hilarious, he talks a lot of gibberish right now and a lot of it sounds like it is from the game at times.
Just returned to the Blue Tower/Bright Tower with writing all over it again last night, saving the end for tonight I believe.
My son, who is 20 months, is starting to figure out how to talk and he has been watching me play a little seems to be copying some of the characters words from the game. It is pretty hilarious, he talks a lot of gibberish right now and a lot of it sounds like it is from the game at times.
I keep seeing people posting about how hard it was to get Trico to dive. Are you guys not actively teaching him things? He dived straight away for me and this was my process.
I got him into the water with me and called him over and made sure he was paying attention (ears up, staring at me). I dived into the water and came back up and then pointed down into the water and gave him the "go there" command with R1+X. He then dived down, and when he came back up I praised him with R1+O, as he saw me cheering meaning it was the right thing to do.
Then, when I actually needed him to dive, he did it on command. I did the same thing with jumping where I had him jump in place before trying to get him to jump over gaps. He's easier to train than a real dog
I always felt kinda bad to scold him when he did something wrong but it made his learning faster.
I got him into the water with me and called him over and made sure he was paying attention (ears up, staring at me). I dived into the water and came back up and then pointed down into the water and gave him the "go there" command with R1+X. He then dived down, and when he came back up I praised him with R1+O, as he saw me cheering meaning it was the right thing to do.
Then, when I actually needed him to dive, he did it on command. I did the same thing with jumping where I had him jump in place before trying to get him to jump over gaps. He's easier to train than a real dog
I always felt kinda bad to scold him when he did something wrong but it made his learning faster.
Just finished it, I'm not ashamed to say I cried throughout the ending. Somehow it was sadder than
. I just loved the whole experience, yes the controls were clumsy but that is not going to be my lasting memory of this game. The relationship with Trico is what I will remember. I'm going to throw out the word masterpiece, that's just how I feel right now and I haven't stopped crying yet.
one of them dying
Donniewahlberg
Banned
I KNOWWW. He's so nice, I just want to sit on him and pet him forever. The part where
he rolls around in the water is so cute. Of course then there was the other one leering down at our fun, but what can you do
Started today too! I definitely noticed the framerate dip outdoors once or twice, but honestly it didn't bother me much. I understand this game is a bit of a trigger to people who are quite sensitive to frame dropping but I've honestly been in such awe at every thing, I can't say it's been on my mind at all. Totally get the point that the controls are clumsy but it kind of makes me feel like I'm this fragile boy who kind of stumbles and skips around on these crumbling ruins. It almost helps keep me in the world. Of course, I'm sur eI'll change my tune first frustrating part I hit hah.
JudgmentJay
Member
I keep seeing people posting about how hard it was to get Trico to dive. Are you guys not actively teaching him things? He dived straight away for me and this was my process.
I got him into the water with me and called him over and made sure he was paying attention (ears up, staring at me). I dived into the water and came back up and then pointed down into the water and gave him the "go there" command with R1+X. He then dived down, and when he came back up I praised him with R1+O, as he saw me cheering meaning it was the right thing to do.
Then, when I actually needed him to dive, he did it on command. I did the same thing with jumping where I had him jump in place before trying to get him to jump over gaps. He's easier to train than a real dog
I always felt kinda bad to scold him when he did something wrong but it made his learning faster.
I didn't even have to command him. I dove underwater just to see what was up and suddenly he was there with me. Every time I would go underwater, so would he, no command needed. He left me behind a few times before I realized I needed to grab onto him. That continued throughout the game as well. I'd say ~50% of the time Trico would do what he was supposed to without me needing to command him at all. I feel like I played a different version of the game when I see all these people complaining about Trico being unresponsive and stubborn.
Darth Smurf X
Member
Yup. I was prepping myself for months
for a death, but seeing Trico being ripped apart and then realizing he was going to live... and then the after credits scene.
FrankWza
Member
This happened to me too. Trico would dive and come back up. Restart from last checkpoint helped. Also, the part
after i fed him the 4th barrel from my hand, the game just stood there and i ran around for a while trying to figure out what to do. Hes supposed to nap. I had to restart from checkpoint on that too and the second time it just went straight into the nap after the fourth barrel.
Bronetta
Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
When every other post complains about the controls but I had no issue with them, I keep asking myself what the hell is going on. Do I just have higher tolerance or are people missing something?
The controls arent instant, theyre physics based and it takes time for your button presses to translate to actions on screen, especially where Trico is involved. Is that whats bothering people, their button presses not translating into actions instantly on screen?
The framerate I can understand since I played on Pro but regular PS4 is supposed to have dips. The camera I can understand since the deadzone was pretty bad before the most recent patch which improved the camera considerably. The control issues, I just dont get it.
The controls arent instant, theyre physics based and it takes time for your button presses to translate to actions on screen, especially where Trico is involved. Is that whats bothering people, their button presses not translating into actions instantly on screen?
The framerate I can understand since I played on Pro but regular PS4 is supposed to have dips. The camera I can understand since the deadzone was pretty bad before the most recent patch which improved the camera considerably. The control issues, I just dont get it.
Hahaha so true for me as well.
Later in the game when he starts sticking your face at you I couldn't stop petting him.
About the diving part: I just stood on his back and told him the direction and he immediately dived. Sometimes he dived without me telling him.
By the way, I love how bad a swimmer the boy is. Whenever he jumps into the water you get the feeling that he'll drown any moment just by the way he breathes.
FrankWza
Member
I had times where trico was supposed to jump from post to post and sometimes would go back for some reason. Also, he didnt like stand at a window for me sometimes. Like i said in other post, i can see the frustration for some. But i will say, the pro handled this game like a CHAMP.
Even the fight between tricos in the ascent part
Same.
Also, the sequence when Trico is suppose to come around the roof ledge and climb up (Trico would not jump, restart fixed it right up) or the instance when he is suppose to run across the bridge and jump on the white tower (he would not start his run animation, restart fixed that as well).
Needless to say, I appreciate Ueda's vision and understand what he was trying to accomplish. I am overall pleased with the game. My only gripe is that the game did not resonate with me the same way it has with many others and that's okay. If I had to rank them it would be SotC >>> TLG=ICO
Could be you're more sensitive than me, but I managed to play through on a standard PS4. The framerate drops suck, but it's never to the point where I died because of it. Usually it's just in passing too, so I'm guessing as things load in/out.
FrankWza
Member
Same for me. But at that point he was really starting to do a lot on his own and it was kind of obvious he
needed more room to run.
I had to google the
nap part too.
Darth Smurf X
Member
Yeah. I played on a regular old PS4 and I only noticed the framerate drop in two different areas, neither of which required dodging enemies or precise jumping, so it was totally fine.
Muffdraul
Member
I tried to start TLG right after I "finished" FFXV like three weeks ago, i.e. finished the main story and saw the ending. But after a few hours I couldn't resist the pull of FFXV's post game content... so I didn't get back to TLG until yesterday. Finished it up in one long session.
IMO it was basically Ico 2, with higher highs and lower lows. For the most part I loved it, but there were several incidents involving me yelling at the TV, both when Trico wouldn't do what I wanted him to do and when the boy would fumble around too much, not getting up fast enough, not throwing barrels exactly where I wanted them to go. There were a few times when I thought the "puzzle" solutions were annoyingly obtuse... like when
That really irritated me, it seemed to be breaking its own established "rules," so un-intuitive. But for every moment like that there was one where I wasn't sure what to do next and Trico lead the way. As emotional as I got over Ico and SotC's final acts, TLG was definitely more intense emotionally. I came pretty damn close to crying a couple of times.
EDIT: I thought I spoilered that bit. I definitely meant to.
IMO it was basically Ico 2, with higher highs and lower lows. For the most part I loved it, but there were several incidents involving me yelling at the TV, both when Trico wouldn't do what I wanted him to do and when the boy would fumble around too much, not getting up fast enough, not throwing barrels exactly where I wanted them to go. There were a few times when I thought the "puzzle" solutions were annoyingly obtuse... like when
Trico goes red-eyed and growly, refuses to proceed in the first room with glowy blue cage-like structure overhead. I thought the game had made it pretty fucking clear by that point that Trico will remain in that state until whatever is freaking him out has been dispensed with... but it turns out that all you need to do is call him and he'll go ahead.
EDIT: I thought I spoilered that bit. I definitely meant to.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
I keep seeing people posting about how hard it was to get Trico to dive. Are you guys not actively teaching him things? He dived straight away for me and this was my process.
I got him into the water with me and called him over and made sure he was paying attention (ears up, staring at me). I dived into the water and came back up and then pointed down into the water and gave him the "go there" command with R1+X. He then dived down, and when he came back up I praised him with R1+O, as he saw me cheering meaning it was the right thing to do.
Then, when I actually needed him to dive, he did it on command. I did the same thing with jumping where I had him jump in place before trying to get him to jump over gaps. He's easier to train than a real dog
I always felt kinda bad to scold him when he did something wrong but it made his learning faster.
I didn't know that R1+X actual cancels Trico's current action. I assumed it was "go ly down" or "dive" as well.
Next time I do a playthrough, i'm going to try with a little more patience. I feel like I was probably overloading Trico with commands which caused caused some frustration.
Bronetta
Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
For people having issues with giving commands to Trico, how often do you pet him?
I pet him frequently: after feeding him, after meeting back up with him, anytime he cleared an area, and always cleaned any blood off him right away. Maybe thats why he was more responsive?
Im wondering if hes less responsive to the player if they dont pet him.
I pet him frequently: after feeding him, after meeting back up with him, anytime he cleared an area, and always cleaned any blood off him right away. Maybe thats why he was more responsive?
Im wondering if hes less responsive to the player if they dont pet him.
FrankWza
Member
I X'd him a few times and he'd listen but then id have to always pet him after. But i think you are 100% right. May need a 25 hour playthrough though.
Edit: thats got me thinking. I had the 30 hour and 15 hour trophy come up. It goes 4 hour gold, 15 silver and 30? Bronze. Would ve cool if this theory is true and they made say, a 30 hour tropy be gold since you are spending more time building your relationship.
Edit again. Duh you could still get 30 hour from being slow so...
If you
pet Trico's wing stubs for 3 hours each he flies to the top of the tower no matter where you are in the game
FrankWza
Member
Its from one of the trailers.