The Last Guardian
Fans waited years for The Last Guardian — almost an entire decade, in fact. The fact that The Last Guardian featured a beautiful art style as well didn’t help make the wait for its release any easier. Everything about The Last Guardian’s art direction is absolutely stunning. Technically speaking, the graphics were still stuck in the days of the PS3, which was likely caused by the fact that the console jump to PS4 happened during the game’s lengthy development. But the game’s art is about more than just graphics. The artistic decisions made by SIE Japan Studio throughout the game make the entire journey feel special and make your relationship with Trico one of the game’s greatest highlights. The amount of sheer detail in Trico’s design is captivating and ensuring his movements were soft and fluid solidified his position as a loyal and gentle giant.
The bad news is that the gameplay isn’t nearly as appealing as the art in The Last Guardian. Beautiful musical scores and a lovely art style really just try to help mask a game that is average at best in every other arena. The gameplay is a bit flat and underwhelming. The Last Guardian just benefits from the fact that its touching story, beautiful art and adorably bizarre furry companion kind of makes up for it all. Well, almost.
