Editorial: The Last Guardian's Wild and Wacky Road to Release

The Last Guardian’s Wild and Wacky Road to Release

          After all the years of waiting, it’s finally here. The Last Guardian is being released tomorrow after almost 10 years of development. Just for clarification, I won’t be able to play it until Christmas, so don’t expect a review from me for a while. We good? We good.

          In the same vein as No Man’s Sky, I felt it would be good to go over full story of The Last Guardian one last time before it gets released. It all started with Team Ico, the same people who developed Shadow of the Colossus. After releasing that game way back in 2005, they began work on a new project. One of the integral points in Shadow of the Colossus was the relationship between player-character Wander and his horse Aggro. With that in mind, they crafted the story of a boy and a man-eating beast, and their adventures together.

          Enough of the game had been finished that it made it to the Sony stage at E3 2009, creating one of the most iconic trailers in recent years. Heads were turned towards The Last Guardian all over. The game also made a lesser-known appearance at that year’s Tokyo Game Show, where the game’s director, Fumito Ueda, explained the process of design behind the monster and some of the ideas behind the game itself. People were so excited to see what this game was and when we would see more. It was one of gaming’s biggest mysteries for years.

          That’s when things started to get messy. The Last Guardian missed E3 2010 completely, leaving many gamers disappointed. I specifically remember my first time ever hearing about the game was through YouTuber PeanutButterGamer’s old E3 2010 wrap-up video, where he considered The Last Guardian’s absence from the show to be one of the biggest disappointments of that conference. However, the game did make a return at that year’s Tokyo Game Show again, with a promise for a Holiday 2011 release.

          And then the game completely and unceremoniously vanished off the face of the Earth. We didn’t even make it to April 2011 before it was announced that Last Guardian wasn’t going to make the Christmas window, and it was unclear just when the game was going to be released. Last Guardian also no-showed at both E3 and Tokyo Game Show that year, with Sony having to intervene and explicitly state that the game was still in development. All the while, Fumito Ueda packed up and quit Sony, although he was still working on the project as a freelancing developer. We later learned that at this point it time it had become apparent that Last Guardian was too ambitious for the PS3, and required the processing power of the upcoming PS4 to run properly without significant framerate issues.

          2011 turned to 2012, and 2012 turned to 2013, and there was still no sign of a release date, a new trailer, or anything Last Guardian related anywhere. The game’s release was quietly moved from the PS3 to the recently announced PS4, as the developers continued to work tirelessly on the game. Rumours abounded about just what happened to Last Guardian behind those closed doors, including that the game completely restarted development numerous times. Sony re-registered their trademark for the game and continued to maintain that it was still in development. Fumito Ueda apologized for the lengthy wait, saying that development was mostly out of his hands at this point.

          As 2014 arrived, things continued to get crazier. In what I can only assume was an attempt to get clicks, IGN started a rumour that The Last Guardian had once and for all been cancelled. In response, the developers took to Twitter to reassure everyone this was not a case, and reportedly had a good laugh over the whole misunderstanding.

          2015 arrived with still no sign of the game, although the rumour train began to pick up steam again. It seemed the IGN rumour being officially debunked was all the Last Guardian fanbase needed to hold out hope the game would be soon. Gamers held their breath as E3 2015 approached, in hopes that the long awaited release would finally make its grand return.

          And Sony opened the show with none other than The Last Guardian, presented in all its PS4 high-definition glory. The crowd went wild. After 4 years of no trailers, no release dates, nothing at all, there was The Last Guardian, plain as day on the big screen. The trailer ended with a tentative 2016 release date, with the developers promising they’d stick to their guns on this one.

          And now we’ve arrived at present day. Last Guardian was shown once again (complete with a live orchestra!) at E3 2016, with a late October release date. The game was delayed yet again, however, as the developers reportedly discovered a few bugs they wished to remove from the game before launch. And now, the game is here. After years and years and years of waiting, gamers will have The Last Guardian in their hands starting tomorrow.

          Here’s hoping it doesn’t suck.

Song of the Week

          I don’t like listening to soundtracks of games, movies and the like before I experience them for myself. I like to know the context of the music before I start listening to the piece on its own. Because of that, I’m not sure if this song is from the official Last Guardian soundtrack or was just made for the trailer. Regardless, it’s a delightful tune and one that fits the aesthetic of Last Guardian well.