The Last Guardian – who’s guarding who?
Shadow of the Colossus could be one of my favorite games of all time. It has a quality to it that simply can’t be compared in any other game that has ever been made (or probably ever will be). So every time I watch the video for Team Ico’s “The Last Guardian”, I am convinced that, whatever this game turns out to be, we’re all in for a real treat. First and foremost this trailer makes me ask one, gigantic question: who is guarding who? Certainly we all assume from the beginning that the big, feathery creature (who is far cuter than Falcore from The Neverending Story) is protecting the boy. But then I started to think about the relationship that the team is showing us. It seems to me that the boy freed the creature. Suppose the creature is the last of his kind? What if it is now the boy’s task to protect the creature from the very people who want him locked up and, possibly, destroyed? A child is much more likely to accept a beast for what it is than an adult, who makes up his or her ideas as they go along and are always quick to judge something as a foe rather than a friend. If that’s the case, then I predict the story is going to be one that borders on the very, very sad. As I have heard people say on several podcasts (post E3), it can’t end well for a creature that is that cute.
Thinking about that has totally colored the way I watch the trailer. I, honestly, can’t watch it any more without getting choked up. The relationship between the two is so sweet that it feels wrong to be forced to play a game where everyone is trying to split the two apart.
My other question is this: so far the first two games have had subtle links to one another, Shadow being a precursor to Ico. Where does this game fall in the story line? Is this the son of Ico and the girl he rescued? Does this go back even further than the story in SotC? Or is this a story that’s completely separate from the previous installments? There are more questions than answers at this point. But one thing is certain, this game has a long way to go before it’s released. And I’ll bet the team working on this game is going to do everything it can to make it as unusual and unique as both Ico and Colossus. Anything less would be a gigantic disappointment to every gamer out there who appreciates Team Ico’s drive to be different.
They may even pull off a feat that few games ever achieve: the ability to make the player feel genuine emotion for the unlikely pair, as well as for a boy who is the only one brave enough to protect his new friend.
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