It has been a few days since the Sony E3 Press Conference and you may be wondering whether the announcement of The Last Guardian was actually real or just a dream. You will be happy to know that it really did happen and we have an interview with the veteran creator Fumito Ueda, where we get to hear how it feels to have this fully out in the open now, his thoughts on the general reaction and a lot more. Unlike all the other interviews we have been posting lately, this is not in video form, but rather in a written interview on the Playstation Blog. It is a bit strange since it was PS Blog conducting those video interviews but what can you do?
So, for the benefit of those gamers who might not be familiar with the game, can you give me a brief overview of what exactly The Last Guardian is?
Fumito Ueda: In short, it’s an action adventure title. It’s a story about a young boy who has been kidnapped or captured under strange circumstances. It’s about an encounter between that boy and the mysterious beast Trico amidst ancient ruins, and a story about their journey together in the hope of escaping their mysterious predicament.
In short, that’s what the game is, but we don’t want to tell you too much. We want players to experience it for themselves as the story unfolds.
Obviously it’s been a number of years since we last heard news of the game, and there’s been so much speculation about the title among PlayStation gamers. How does it feel to finally re-introduce the game to your fans?
Fumito Ueda: Yes, it’s been a few years since our last announcement. From my point of view, it was very unpredictable how the audience would react. I wasn’t sure if people would remember the title. Admittedly I was a bit nervous, but after the announce I saw the reaction, and the cheering – and that proved to me that people had really been waiting and were excited to see us reveal The Last Guardian for PS4. Afterwards, I was more relaxed and happy!
Can you talk a little about why the game has taken longer than anticipated?
Fumito Ueda: Obviously there were a number of reasons for the delay. If I had to call out one of them, it was more of a technical hurdle that we had to overcome. But eventually we have overcome it, and we have finally – proudly – announced the game for PS4 during the E3 press conference.
Has the game changed at all since we last saw it?
Fumito Ueda: The game content itself – the storyline etc – that stuff has not changed. Obviously the migration to PS4 has enabled us to push the envelope on the technology side. The overall aesthetic that the team is going for isn’t necessarily ‘edgy’ but we have a very specific art style we are aiming for and the PS4 hardware has helped us achieve our goals.
One of the aspects of the footage you showed during the E3 press conference that I found most interesting was how the boy and Trico moved. The boy’s motions in particular are a little unusual, but extremely charming. How did you go about defining their characteristics?
Fumito Ueda: When I was formulating the concept of The Last Guardian, one of the things I looked at was the relationship between people and animals, and I thought this was something that I wanted to build a game around. Most people really relate to animals – they find them cute and easy to bond with – so that relationship was the primary focus. The reason I chose this core theme is that I wanted to appeal to as many people as possible, knowing that it would resonate with many players. As a result, I hope some elements of the boy and Trico’s expressions may well come across as ‘charming’.
The footage mainly featured environmental challenges. Can we expect different kinds of threats elsewhere in the game?
Fumito Ueda: The demo that we showed this week is a vertical slice of the game and we intentionally selected this to show some of the dynamic game transitions. There are quieter encounters that the boy and Trico will experience at other times in the game. There are a variety of different level designs and challenges that players will encounter.
Given the fervor and anticipation around the game, are you feeling a burden of expectation to deliver something incredible?
Fumito Ueda: Obviously I’m very relieved to finally have had the chance to stand up and say, “Here we are again!”. I saw the crowd’s reaction and the reception was great. That reception has fed our motivation to work even harder to complete production. From a creative and development point of view things haven’t changed – we’ve been working very hard already – but we’ll certainly be fueled by all the attention and love we’ve got this week.
After years and years of rumours, speculation, delays and a near Half-Life 3 level of will it, won't it, The Last Guardian will be arriving on Playstation 4 sometime next year.
We've got the full list of The Last Guardian trophies - check the list for guides to unlocking them.