MANILA, Philippines – Ah, yes, The Last Guardian. Here’s the most important thing you need to know: it’s finally coming out on December 6, 2016 for the PS4.

The release date, at this point, actually isn’t a big secret. But the game labored in development hell for so long that hearing the game is actually coming out still sounds somewhat shocking – for some gamers at least, myself included. The game had treaded Duke Nukem Forever territory, a title which started life in 1997 and released in 2011. The Last Guardian‘s development began in 2007. 

Nine years after, a demo – a real, breathing demo sat in front of me. It’s the demo they showed at Tokyo Game Show 2016 but I’m still stoked. I’m stoked because I had been a fan of two earlier games made by the studio, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2. I’m stoked because how cool is it that big studios have begun regularly bringing in these kinds of demos usually reserved for the E3s or Tokyo Game Shows of the world to our local gaming events? 

I’m also stoked because Trico’s feathers look so amazing. (There were some moments when I, and another correspondent, just looked at the feathers. Seriously, these are some grade-A feathers.) Trico is the massive griffin-like creature that your character – simply known up to this point as the boy – builds a relationship with throughout the game. 

Trico is a strange animal. It’s a quadruped with thick bird-like legs and feet; a long, slender tail that moves like a chimpanzee’s; and acts like a puppy. It’s at times majestic, and at times, helpless. It’s in these traits that a dynamic between the boy and his monster is formed. They both need each other to traverse the sun-drenched ruins in the demo. 

See us play the demo here: 

The demo, according to Sony, takes place somewhere in the middle of the game. The boy and his creature have built somewhat of a working relationship. You press R1 to call Trico. But Trico, not being completely trained at this point, doesn’t respond instantly. You’ll sometimes see him twist his head left to right as though he is trying to interpret your command. You’re not entirely sure that it understands you, but when it does respond the way you want him too, it feels rewarding – as if your relationship with it has taken a step in the right direction. 

It’s an engrossing gameplay mechanic. Whereas most games provide you precise in-game reactions when you press a button, in The Last Guardian, you don’t always know how Trico will respond. Trico is similar to training a dog in this manner.

You press a button but you have to look at Trico’s body language and big, expressive face to see if he’s understanding you correctly. This is crucial especially when you’re about to make a big, life-threatening jump and you want to make sure it understands that it has to catch you. The game forces you to really tune in, and understand Trico’s behavior as if you were trying to undestand a real-life animal. And it’s just great that Trico appears to be a charmer.

My understanding of Trico at the beginning of the game was this: “Okay, how am I going to control this massive creature? And please don’t eat me.” But as we went along the challenges the game threw our way, there was some sense that I was learning how to work with Trico. 

Sometimes, I helped him. Trico is afraid of certain stained glass artifacts littered throughout the ruins. I had to break those with a rock so he could pass. Other times, Trico had to help me reach high places (or save me from falling from high places as well.) You learn each other’s weaknesses and strengths as you go along.

In the full game, I believe the most rewarding aspect is seeing how this relationship blossoms from its awkward beginnings to an incredibly tight partnership by the game’s end.

By the game’s end, I imagine the pair’s bond to be so strong that Trico will be able to respond quickly to your commands and you’ll be able to read his visual cues just as fast. 

That’s just speculation, of course. What’s not speculation is that the warm, artsy The Last Guardian is a welcome change of pace from the usual glut of loud, flashy triple-A titles out there. – Rappler.com