The Last Guardian: Companionship With A Beast
The Last Guardian is a third-person action-adventure game released in 2016 developed by Japan Studio and directed by the legendary Fumito Ueda, who worked on it under his previous game studio that he headed called Team Ico since 2007.
The game revolves around a boy who wakes up in a castle ruins before coming across a winged cat-like creature named Trico, which the player can command to do certain actions to assist the player throughout the journey of the game. Ueda wanted to develop a game where the main concept is the relationship developed between humans and creatures. A key part to making this experience heartfelt is the team’s dedication creating the creature: Trico behaves like a real animal with its own quirks.
Aside from this, the game was also known for its near decade long process of development. Initial development for the game was considered slow and in addition to that, the team found the [at the time] current-gen PS3 hardware not enough to fulfill Ueda’s vision for the game. The game was of course eventually released in late 2016 to positive reviews.
As mentioned above, one of the most fascinating things about this game is Trico itself. Because of its natural animal-like behaviour instead of an artificial cutesy behaviour often found in other media, it is much easier for the player to develop a connection with Trico. Like other games directed by Fumito Ueda, the somewhat lonely but yet warm atmosphere in The Last Guardian is an incredible setting and helps to boost the relationship between the player and Trico.
Much like other Team Ico/Fumito Ueda projects, the music for The Last Guardian is also often considered quite special. The soundtrack for the game was composed by Takeshi Furukawa and was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, Trinity Boys Choir, and London Voices. Furthermore, Ueda also wanted a distinctly ‘muted aesthetic’ for the game’s music and urged Furukawa to gather inspiration from impressionist art and French cinema.
All in all, The Last Guardian truly encapsulates the unique experience we humans have with animals.
