Ever since the day Mr. Ueda and Team announced The Last Guardian, I've been anticipating it. I had the chance to play and finish it in advance. Without any spoilers, let me share my thoughts on the game. I can screenshots or whatever for the hard believing, until then, stick with me.
-It took me around 15 hours to finish, did a lot of looking around and exploring, I'd say it should average around 12-13 hours for most.
-The pacing was masterful, lots of slow puzzle stuff and faster exploring/battle parts.
-Played with day 1 patch
-Trico is really a wonderful and magical driving force of this game, your bonding with the beast is very well presented over the course of it.
-As most would call it, the game utilizes "whacky ps2 controls". Not much concern from my part, I got used to it in the first two hours.
-The camera on the other hand is really terrible sometimes, I often got stuck in small places.
-The setpieces are amazing. You always can keep track of your progress, lots of amazing vistas, caves, ruined buildings and there are a lot of unusual and surprising places.
-This might consider as a minor spoiler gameplaywise, but there were no collectibles or items.
-Music is scarce but phenomenal, it really hits when you hear any of it. I really love the other two Ueda game OSTs but this time they stepped it up.
-The game as a whole was perfectly satisfying, it lived up and beyond my expectations gameplay and storywise alike.
-As for the story: you haven't seen anything. A lot of people complained about the trailers showing the
but God bless Ueda and SIE for not blowing the real deal, it's the trend nowadays.
-As for connections with Sotc and Ico, don't ask me. I'd have loved to find somethinf evident, but it must have slipped by or I haven't noticed. I'll definitely do a second run for those.
Overall I'd give it a strong 8-9/10 anytime. As for me, as an Ueda fan it is a 10/10. It really did worth the wait, Ueda and genDesign delivered their dream and passion through this game. This is my new fave from them, and it's in my overall top 3. If you were doubting to get it, don't hesitate.