PS4 Review: The Last Guardian

After years of delays, it’s finally here…but was it worth the wait?

The Last Guardian began life on the PS3 and was named as the third game from Ico and Shadow of the Colossus creator Fumito Ueda. But years of no-shows at E3 and issues with hardware meant it had to be moved to PS4, but even then most thought it’d never see the light of day. But finally, after so much time…it has finally arrived. But was it worth waiting for?

The story follows a boy who wakes up to find himself in front of a locked up creature known as Trico, the gigantic dog/griffin or whatever else you can think of to describe him, who is apparently the last of his species. The boy pulls out spears from Trico, which clearly takes inspration from the old story of a boy plucking a thorn from a lion’s paw. Eventually, the boy is able to free Trico of his chains and mask before setting out together.

It’s not long before the boy finds a shield that can reflect light, but it also makes Trico fire lightning at it’s target, which was unexpected but brilliant. The game is full of clever puzzles that makes use of both characters, but it’s Trico who is the real star and he looks incredible. My only gripe is with the way the game handles, the camera is your true foe and will be a hindrance, while the controls can be a little clunky at times.

But if you can get past that, then you have what is without a doubt the most charming game of 2016. The game also supports 4K and HDR on PS4 Pro, which is another big plus that I was able to take full advantage of…all I can say is it’s superb to look at and it runs smoothly as well. The voice-acting is in Japanese with English subtitles, which isn’t always to everyone’s tastes…but I’d rather that than some terrible actor instead.

The Verdict

The Last Guardian is a game that I never thought would be released, but this is a case of being so grateful for being wrong. It’s frustrating camera and controls will divide opinion, but there’s no dividing opinion on what is clearly the best game about friendship there is. It’s flawed sure, but it’s still a masterpiece in it’s own right.

Score: 9.0