Here are some info snippets about The Last Guardian taken from interviews with the Japanese press:
The music used for the trailers will not appear in the game.
Three different fonts are used in the Japanese logo of the game. This mixing of typefaces was done to mimic the mismatching look of Toriko and to reflect the many gameplay aspects of the game.
The team is not yet ready to disclose how much progress they've made on the game even though the game has been at a playable stage for quite some time.
The game world is filled with air, so animals like birds affect the objects around them. For example, if a bird flies to a tree the leaves will move about because the air around them is affected.
The choice to have a young child as the protagonist, instead of an older chap, was done because the pairing with the creature reflects one of the central themes of the game - companionship. The team considered choosing a female lead but the idea was dropped due to the particular requirements of level design.
The graphical fidelity of the game world's environments is quite realistic but effort was made to make scenery look surreal, as if in a fantasy world.
When talking about the creature's design, Ueda is most fond of Toriko's face.
Everything is being hand-animated, just like in Shadow of the Colossus. There is no motion capture. This is because there are numerous subtle movements that are not possible to capture using motion capture techniques. Animations are filtered out using a special program first used when working on Shadow of the Colossus. Every little unnatural looking animation is eliminated and replaced with a better looking one.
Ueda says the team tried to cater for the Western market along with Japanese tastes from the very first day. This is because ICO and Shadow of the Colossus were welcomed very warmly in Europe and America.
The change of title (The man devouring giant eagle Toriko to The Last Guardian) was made to cater for both markets. The Western title is more direct, can be translated freely in many different languages and describes the game fully. The Japanese title on the other hand is more ambiguous, and evokes a feeling of uneasiness - that there's something quite mysterious about this giant creature.
Ueda wants to release the game as soon as humanly possible but he wants the game to be complete, without having to discard elements that wouldn't make it in due to time constraints. That said he knows fans have waited for a very long time and he says it's not that far into the future as we may think.
Welcome!
Do you like ICO and Shadow of the Colossus? Do you want to learn more about The Last Guardian, the newest project by Fumito Ueda and his talented team? Then you're at the very right place. This blog is entirely dedicated to Team ICO and their fantastic titles. Read up, comment and enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Copyright
In-house content © 2006-2009 Team ICO Gamers.
ICO®, Shadow of the Colossus™ & The Last Guardian™ © 2009 Sony Computer Entertainment. All rights reserved.
10 comments:
Wow, some very interesting information and I'm very happy as it is not disappointing info. While I want the game to come out soon, I'm also a perfectionist and so I also understand waiting until the game is fully completely.
Did anybody notice the three letters "I c o" that appeared in the The Last Guardian title during the E32009 trailer? I was so shocked to see it, and it felt so good as I noticed the hidden letters myself!
I only noticed the letters after someone else pointed them out. I guess they were a little easter egg for the long-time fans.
What worries me the most about this game is the danger of becoming to much "americanized" and loose the emotional subtlety of the previous games.
I hope Ueda knows that one of the reasons the first 2 games had a great appeal to western gamers was because of the Japanese minimalistic approach in design and story abstractness as well s a subtlety in portraying emotions.
The first two games stand as the best games i've ever played but from what i've seen from The Last Guardian it gives me a slight Disney sense and i'm afraid that it might loose the uniqueness of its predecessor's.
But of course it's still my most awaited game of this generation and i can't wait for the day i'll have it in my hands.:)
I believe that Mr. Fumito Ueda knows about Americanisation, and I have full confidence that he would keep his style. Unlike some other developers who have 'lost' their minds and went ahead and Americanised their franchises (Kojima's MGS4, Konami's SilentHillHomecoming, and Capcom's RE5), I do think that Mr. Fumito Ueda is different, there is no deadlines for him, but he acknowledges that he has to make them. He's a perfectionist and Sony leaves him be to do whatever he pleases. I hope that means that Administrators don't have control over him to force him to make a game that has to make money in all regions. That's what the Japanese developers are doing right now. If they don't make money in the west, they've failed. Where's the motive to make a game based on what you like rather than what the people want? Making games that you like is what made those original titles classics to this day. Now everybody wants to tell the developers how they should make a game...for financial returns. And, the developers are actually asking the people what they want to see. Games have degraded. But I have hope that The Last Guardian will always have a place in my heart after I play it....just like Shadow and Ico.
I agree with Seriyuki a 100%, you stole the words from my mouth and I couldn't have said it any better!!
One thing I want to add is that I really want Koh Otani to return as composer for this game! His score was perfect in every way...
And I won't forgive Ueda if he compromises anything for the sake of "Western appeal", I want this game to be as perfect as he wants it to be! And judging from the way ICO and SoTC both turned out to be phenomenal/out of this world games, I'm expecting the same here!!
i hope for summer 2010 release.also i want to see gameplay
The game looks so great. Easily my most anticipated game on the ps3 ever. I wonder when it's coming out, Ueda says it's coming sooner than we think. I am thinking October 2010. Team Ico released Ico in Sept. 2001 and Shadow of the Colossus in Oct. 2005. I think Next Oct. is a good bet. : )
@Dan
I'm glad you think it's Oct2010, because Mr. Ueda says it's sooner than you think. So, it should be sooner than that. (Just positive thinking ^_^).
"The team considered choosing a female lead but the idea was dropped due to the particular requirements of level design."
... I'm having trouble conceiving gender-specific level design issues. Maybe along the lines of "Girls can't climb/jump"?
@Despera: Admittedly, there have been a number of disastrous examples of Japanese creators trying to cater to their own warped idea of "western tastes". I don't expect it'll be a problem in this case, though... or, at least, I hope it won't.
Right now I am hoping for a Summer release. Like June or July or something. The Last Guardian is a huge game for the ps3. Big games come out either early in the year or at the end. Since GOW 3 and GT 5 are coming in March, so I'm ruling that out. I hope for Summer release but I'm still thinking next Oct. But i could be wrong, hope I am.
Post a Comment