THE LAST GUARDIAN - Oh This Is Gonna Be Rough

[@JimSterling]

"My dog doesn't always listen to me." Your dog doesn't have wings and feathers. Inadmissible evidence.

[@theparagonal]

Jim Sterling Did you just assume my dog's species?

[@2epic4uNubs]

Your site's offline.

[@JimSterling]

Leonardo - Yes. It's scheduled a little later than usual to give all the content today breathing room. 2epic - Yeah, I am needing to switch hosts I think. I am paying through the nose and they're not delivering when big reviews drop.

[@mariokarter13]

Jim Sterling Your point about assuming cute things are going to die isn't a video game thing, it's a drama thing. You create an emotional connection between the character and the audience (cute is designed to do that quickly), then you play with that connection to evoke a response. It doesn't have to be tragedy, but tragedy often creates a more powerful response than something with less conflict.

[@nicolasboissiere]

Jim Sterling I haven't played the game, but from what I can tell most people agree with you, unlike you said at the beggining. Great video as allways!

[@MatthewSchellGaming]

The dog not listening to you was on purpose, it suppose to listen to you more later in the game, they wanted to give a sense of "gaining trust". I don't totally agree with the mechanic and can see how it can be frustrating. It's kind of like when you try to fire a gun in a fps and it not firing.

[@Pay2pray]

Matthew Schell Welp, I aint gonna live forever, so for the sole purpose of saving time, waiting for the doggo for 10 minutes is just not right 😘

[@linkno1]

It might be on purpose, but that doesn't make it good.

[@comedygoldish]

I'd say it's more like a gun having a huge sway or jamming during a reload animation. It doesn't make the game unplayable, it's just frustrating, because the game character isn't meeting the expectations of the player. I don't know if it was a good idea for a game, but I definitely respect the designers for being confident in their image and not "dumbing it down". I think that logically it makes sense, and if this was a movie or short it would be really cool to see that trust be built into pre-existing scenarios, but as a game, yeah maybe not lol. Ironically, I think it was implemented to give the player a better sense of immersion, but all it took is take you out of the experience because you realize the game isn't doing what you're telling it to

[@AggressiveLemur]

a gun jamming, or being unwieldy with huge sway are fine, as long as there is some sort of indication. If the gun keeps making shooting noises and your ammo depletes but the bullets don't kill anything that would be infuriating and stupid. Gun has sway but your character looks like he is holding it rock solid and the cross-hairs don't move? Stupid. How about if the dog does not want to do something it whines, or snarls or the camera sweeps back to looking at the dog doing something else? that way you have an indication that something that, while not working they way you expected, is at least working as intended.

[@alrightletsgo5715]

some actual communication from the game that is happening would help a lot

[@BradHann]

The little boy keeps doing the pee-pee dance.

[@oyaswmi558]

This man gets it.

[@ChibiFlonne]

I'm crying

[@SangheiliSpecOp]

Brad Hann no need for dancing, just let it out

[@charlieben3354]

I hate how i get this reference

[@SolarFlairIsBestPony]

I feel like 'creature doesn't listen' is a realistic mechanic.... it's not a bad idea... but if it was the intent then you'd KNOW it was the intent. This is just AI not doing it's job well. If you were supposed to sometimes throw a thing and it'd fail then the dog would have an animation where it gets a snoot boop and wriggles or something. It'd make defiant little dog noises if it was being a pain in the butt. If it not going where you wanted was a mechanical choice it'd frolic or roll on it's back or scratch itself or SOMETHING. A non action here isn't a clever choice, it's a mistake.

[@sugoiuseismoeabuse4058]

I would appreciate the ai more if the dog made YOU do an action that would encourage it to work with you, and then later on you don't have to do the workaround to bribe/make the dog do the things because he'll obey you unconditionally, making way for more puzzles that can be solved because your dog has a consistent behavioral pattern to use. There I just made a scaling difficulty curve where the initial difficulty is understanding how the dog works in a simple tutorial level, and then eventually granting more quality of life conveniences in exchange for more difficult puzzles.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

I often tell people a pet is not an on/off switch. Its sentient its rebellious and half the time you are only getting it to do what you want because its what its wants to do. Want something like that? I tell em, get a robot dog. :)

[@blackdragonkalameet3844]

even if there was feedback It would still be annoying and frustrating. Generally people don't like incompetence.

[@Ray03595]

I also think the not listening mechanic is fine, but some reviewers have said it doesn't get any better the further you get in the game. And even from this video, it seems like making it eat a barrel is a chore when it shouldn't have to be. I get they were going for realism a bit, but this is still a video game, and people don't want to be standing around waiting for the dog to decide when it's going to let you advance further in the game, just because. That's not fun. They just didn't find the right middle ground between robot dog and disobedient dog it appears.

[@SolarFlairIsBestPony]

Ray03595 Everybody in this line so far is basically remarking on that, my friend. I was declaring the intent of 'not listening' to be false because it is instead clearly a simple failing of the AI.

[@DarknessIsTheTruth]

There are only THREE possible endings: 1) The boy is dead. 2) The dog is dead. 3) They're both dead.

[@callum6224]

Don’t want to spoil this but it’s been 3 years, but surprisingly you’re wrong. And it somehow was still sad af

[@callum6224]

ryne green it’s my favorite game of all time

[@jl3977]

This seems to be the problem with trying to recreate some level of unpredictability of animal behaviour in a computer game; it ends up just being frustrating

[@sofija1996]

A video game is a video game. Bad mechanics might carry some message or emotional impact... but it doesn't change the fact that they end up breaking the game.

[@JimSterling]

Pretty much, yeah. Is it a clever thing to try? Can it backfire spectacularly? Absolutely.

[@tissueoflies2780]

I really think you're giving them too much credit. There had to be a reason this lived in development hell for so long and getting the AI to work seems like a likely candidate.

[@Endar0]

AI coding is not easy. They might have tried for an unpredictable animal AI, except when you spend time with an animal, it usually becomes easier to get an idea of what it might be thinking or to move it to do something you need it to do. And even when an animal has no idea what you are trying to tell it, they usually have some reaction that you can figure out. If they spent more time planning out the AI during early development, they might have been able to make it realistic, but at the same time give the player a way to figure out how the animal behaves, so you can efficiently ask it to do something. And the best part of this would be you have a simple game mechanic of understanding your companion, which you improve by just playing the game. No skill points or leveling needed for it, just play the game and watch the animal.

[@TheWolfSharp]

The ol'paradox of video game realism, have people asking for it, begging for it even, and then have the developers taking that to extremes making every in-game mechanic too frustrating, only to then have people asking for the same in the next release.

[@rancidrance875]

Hype is never worth it people. Don't get hyped until you've played the product.

[@Mexican_Sunbro]

Rancid Rance I was hyped for Final Fantasy XV after watching the Kingsglaive movie and doing some research. The Japanese Judgement Disc demo solidified my hype and playing the final product it met a majority of my expectations, but it did have a few unforseen shortcomings.

[@farmsalot1233]

Rancid Rance as a gamer since the early 90s this is true

[@InfernalMonsoon]

It's funny how that works. When people says a game will be great, it turns out shit and when they say it's shit, it turns out great.

[@truefenriz]

Rancid Rance Now that's a statement I can whole-heartedly support. Hype is never worth it since it creates excessively high expectations and can lead to rabid defensiveness to maintain hype (like with No Man's Sky). Rarely is hype ever met and usually, it never ends well. It's like high risk gambling in a way. This is why I never get hyped for anything. Only excited and usually in controlled amounts.

[@Sixthhokage95]

Especially decade-long hype. After so long it gets to a point where it's damn near certain it won't meet expectations.

[@monkeyking9863]

its a new age hey you pikachu !!!!

[@LordDelta-pi3zc]

My god, you're right!

[@oyaswmi558]

My god.........

[@PhobosDDeimos]

xDDD

[@freddytheshadowninja]

Dunkey stole your joke.

[@monkeyking9863]

freddytheshadowninja youtuber or commenter? if youtuber can you give me link?

[@asrieldreemunov472]

Dog don't always listen to you. Which usually annoys you in real life. *So why would you want a dog in a game that's programmed to listen to you and is a key mechanic in said game not do what you want it to do which will only annoy you.*

[@reaven2535]

Yea but when my dog doesn't listen to me it rubs itself on me looking for attention, or farts and turns away from me. This animal doesn't seem like it's got its own natural interactions with the environment based on its own instinct and upbringing. It feels like it's not doing things because it is a poorly programmed roomba that can't figure out a corner.

[@Clay3613]

It's a semi-feral animal, not a pet...

[@ScreamingBeast]

Maybe that's why we ended up with a semi-playable game.

[@Maynard0504]

lol what a retarded argument

[@michaelmitchell6089]

I haven't experienced any of these issues people have been having with Trico. He takes a little while to respond and often just does his own thing, especially towards the beginning, but becomes quicker to respond the more your connection grows throughout the game, which I love. Whenever Trico wasn't doing what I wanted him to, 99% of the time, it was because I wasn't doing the puzzle right. The only thing that happens is, when you command him, he may start to do something, but if you keep commanding him, he'll get confused and just kinda start doing something but never actually go through with it because he keeps thinking you want him to do something else, and I caught on rather quickly to this. When you want him to do something, command him once and give him a minute, he's a lot more responsive than you think

[@brainflash1]

You'd think that 10 years would've been long enough to work out the bugs with Trico's pathfinding and stop the robe and feathers from having seizures. Did they just slap together and alpha and lock it in a safe until release?

[@RHCP1031]

I think we would all like to know what the actual fuck went on with the development of this game.

[@InfernalMonsoon]

This stuff is a total mystery to me too - I have no clue how it happens.

[@lewiscarrol6193]

You don't really think that the game was in ACTIVE development all this time? It was put on hold, nobody worked on it for some years.

[@Hawkeye19821]

brainflash1 You are being a bit stupid now aren't you? Why are people so thick like yourself? Ten years of development means scrapping things, disastrous happenings, a change of console, perhaps years in between. I.e. duke nukem forever and Alien colonial marines. Ten years of development is NEVER a good thing and means that there have been loads of problems along the way. Do I really have to point this out or arw most people really as thick as they seem on here?

[@brainflash1]

Hawkeye 1982 So you're saying they spent the last 10 years scraping the interaction between the player and the gryphon? Who's being thick now?

[@generaljellyfish1534]

You dislike a game that I am excited for on the basis of a nice looking trailer? I am very upset Jim. VERY.

[@JimSterling]

I fucked up!

[@swishfish8858]

Jim Sterling - No, CHIP fucked up. ...somehow.

[@JimSterling]

Fucking Chip, not able to appreciate MASTERPIECES!

[@AshMcFarlane]

fucking Chip always fucking up like an anime fan on prom night...

[@ricojes]

Fuck CHIPPED UP!

[@BlueBD]

Years of waiting and it Drops with a wiff. I didnt even know it was out wtf.

[@jaxsonme]

Its out tommorow

[@BlueBD]

you sure. Cause i swear i heard the game was already out. and i could swear i even saw people playing it.

[@jaxsonme]

It comes out Tomorrow for the us and Friday for everywhere else.

[@zedek_]

I think it's out tomorrow, but yes, your sentiment still stands. How was this not announced more clearly?

[@isaacargesmith8217]

I mean there were TV commercials and stuff, but even then the announcements were kinda meh.

[@Yama-qg3il]

It's so sad to see all these people hating on the AI of Trico, when I bet the game I thought it was perfct but everyone seems to rush through the game and get flustered when Trico doesn't do what exactly what you tell him to do, I don't know how you played but in my case I just went through the game taking my time to do things and even though I thought the camera was shit in close quarters everything was pretty good... I played the game some time after release so I guess they patched some things with the framerate here and there but I don't usually care about that.

[@WolfCoder]

So this is why it got delayed so much. Doesn't sound like its ready.

[@FuriosoDrummer]

That's unfortunate, because it comes out tomorrow!

[@brokenscart7989]

WolfCoder I reckon they stopped Dev on it for an extended period of time and picked it up again only recently.

[@SakuraAvalon]

From what I heard, the game was meant for PS3, but they had framerate issues, and the PS4 revitalized the game. So, I imagine if that's true, they probably neglected it, then found out about the PS4, and started working on it again.

[@WolfCoder]

This is sad because I can easily tell how much craftsmanship they wanted to put into this game. It is always a lot sadder when it's a really good dev and things don't work out.

[@Dexyu]

Go watch pwediepie play it and make your own idea about the game, dont just take Jims word for it.

[@YoungBonesGaming]

Really wanted this to be titled "This is gonna be ruff" 'cos bird dog.

[@TheEnviousdominous]

I wouldn't call Trico's AI "abysmal". You might get intensely frustrated because you expect the character of a giant mythical beast to share in your intuitiveness, but Trico seems to behave as intelligently as I would expect of a semi-sentient land mammal. This game isn't trying to be Shadow of the Colossus part 2, it's trying to be its own game. If you must make the comparison in terms of AI quality, replay Shadow of the Colossus. How many variables do the Colossi actually have to consider in their routines? No, they only either chase you or follow a prescribed set of checkpoints. I loved Shadow of the Colossus, but I love The Last Guardian as well.For the style of storytelling that this game exhibits, I can see why they didn't want to be blatantly specific with instructions given by the narrator. I realize that you prefer a game to grant you the ability to act and react the nano-second that your mind considers what you'll likely need to do, but The Last Guardian is for those of us who savor the journey as much as we savor the rewards.

[@Geoff900]

It's a game, having A.I which ignores you etc isn't because it's designed like that, it's because the A.I is poorly contrived.

[@TheEnviousdominous]

Geoff900 Okay, well; I based my point off of Mr. Ueda's statement that Trico wouldn't be a companion who simply obeys commands, but rather reacts to being encouraged. Oddly enough, that's exactly what we get with this game. From what reference do you claim that Trico's AI is an example of laziness?

[@AbbasKhan9364]

@TheEnviousdominus Well said! People fail to realize the concept of Trico and basing it off of their perception of what he ''should'' do.

[@Highwind452]

Completely agree. People want to be able to blaze through the game at their own pace and when they solve a puzzle Trico should follow commands immediately and follow it's supporting role dutifully. Well, sorry but this game isn't all about you as the player and it doesn't give a fuck about the time it takes to get from A to B. This is a game that requires you to be patient, for you to enjoy taking your time and to realise the vulnerable situation you're in as a young boy unable to defend himself from numerous armoured captors. It's not just a puzzle/action/adventure game. If it was you would be able to just go at your own pace and be quick about it. You're with Trico, and once you learn his language you will form an unforgettable bond through all the frustration, patience, compassion, teamwork and ultimately... the ending. It. Is. Amazing.

[@TheEnviousdominous]

Toxic Boy One thing I find really annoying is how people instinctively exaggerate their frustrations. Truly, anyone of average intelligence won't spend more than a few minutes at the most on a given challenge. People who haven't even played the game are condemning it because they heard from someone else that it took them ten minutes to get Trico to obey, though they were likely giving him the wrong commands. If it takes someone ten minutes to get past a challenge in The Last Guardian, they're either a liar or they're brain damaged.

[@TaskMaster5]

"It's more realistic when-" Me: Shhhh...shut up. It's a video game. It doesn't NEED to be realistic. What it NEEDS to be is responsive and work. Also...dog bird thing. SO realistic! I saw one just the other day! I get so annoyed when people try to handwave bad game mechanics/design and relabel it as if it's excusable.

[@thomasjenkins7506]

dogs eating barrels isn't realistic and neither are 15ft feather dogs, so why would people think that's an excuse for shitty AI?

[@sageoftruth]

Indeed, a shitty AI is a shitty AI. I'm definitely not defending it. Still, the fact that this animal doesn't exist doesn't mean attempting realism is pointless. Realism can exist in fantasy. Done well, it makes a make believe creature look like something that could exist. Still, even if it actually was true that the feather dog's unreliability was an honest attempt at realism, there are some kinds of realism that just don't belong in video games, unless its one of those niche simulation games.

[@Vivi2372]

It's even more hilarious a notion when you consider that the AI for agro in SotC was pretty much perfect. It didn't always want to do exactly what you told it to, but it always did it. It had enough of an artificial brain and self determination to make you believe you're dealing with an actual horse but almost never got in the way of the actual gameplay. Just looking at this video it feels like they didn't even really try. A creature that was literally scripted to do the exact same thing in the various parts of the game on every playthrough with some scripted animations for when you interact with it and merely gave the illusion of having any sort of AI would actually be superior to this from both a gameplay standpoint and from the perspective of being able to fool the player into thinking it's an actual creature. At least on the first play through. It truly seems a shame to me because the AI of that dog is clearly the most important thing to get right in the game out of every mechanic it has and if you'd asked me after Ico and SotC if they could pull off that sort of AI well I would have had zero doubts. This doesn't even look dated to me, it's just bad AI.

[@23Scadu]

You know what else isn't realistic? Evil grass masks.

[@sageoftruth]

TheUmbrellaCorpX7 Yeah, that's true. As Jim mentioned, they just bit off more than they could chew. So, perhaps I'll go with "inadequate".

[@sageoftruth]

+Dani Hermans The problem is, paired with a bunch of puzzles that only have one solution, this randomness is going to have players constantly thinking "What do the devs want me to do?" which basically ruins the whole attempt at realism, since mentally the developers aren't supposed to exist while the player is immersed in this supposedly realistic experience. I think Trico's behavior would be far more tolerable if his cooperation wasn't so integral to progressing. By making him a key piece in solving a series of platform puzzles, the developers have already condemned him to be a tool, and if he doesn't do his job reliably, then it will make players spend even more time trying to get him to do the thing he's supposed to do, rather than appreciating him as a character in the moments when they're not solving puzzles.

[@warpzone8421]

So, wait. It's slow. It's easily distracted. It doesn't come when you call it. It refuses to perform the tricks it knew how to do earlier... I see the problem here. They created a perfectly accurate simulation of a dog!

[@DearGodWhatIsntTaken]

You're new to the whole sarcasm thing, huh Simsy?

[@ace3091]

Unless you train it pet it, clean its wounds, feed it, and treat it nice, then it responds very quickly

[@warpzone8421]

+ SaJeel Huh? When does the game tell you that's how it works?

[@ace3091]

it doesn't you're supposed to inherently want to care and help him

[@jackhazardous4008]

@ warp zone "how was i supposed to know i had to feed my dog?!" -DSP

[@swishfish8858]

Oh, when did it come out?

[@quintonnegron5652]

Michelle Lehto tomorrow.

[@georgesears934]

But is it better than nothing?

[@Davidon-fm9hk]

George Sears Better than being an anime fan on prom night.

[@Deathlygunn]

George Sears I'd say so, I'd rather have a game that's getting a lot of praise but at the same time a bit dated and at points incredibly frustrating to play through, than just having the game disappear from existence. Plus the great thing is now Team ICO need to prove that they're still capable of making a game to the quality of SotC

[@dethbreth8]

Life's goooood when you're a griffon dog.

[@NathanCassidy721]

George Sears From the sounds of it, no.

[@gtafan110010]

George Sears no, it's worse than nothing. because the imaginary game was good and this is not

[@Hazzza18]

Personally, I appreciate it when developers purposefully choose to go for convenience over 'realism.' Its like how in The Last of Us, Ellie doesnt get noticed by any of the enemies. Its unrealistic, sure. But if they made it 'realistic,' then the game wouldnt be as good as it is, because every minute would be spent trying to save Ellie, like Ashley in Resident Evil 4. Point being, I'd rather a responsive Trico that makes for a fun experience, than a 'realistic' Trico that ignores every second command I give.

[@dorjedriftwood2731]

Harry Miller thank you

[@siopao2001]

I respect his opinion but I feel, after having finished the game, that the issues with the creature not being responsive enough were highly exaggerated.The most important to learn is not to mash commands you are giving to the dog. Press one command and wait.Also be familiar with the jump command (left trigger + triangle I think) and don't just point to the place where you want the trico to go

[@alexbonrad1320]

Hey Jim, I think you were right in your musings. I recall reading that the team wanted you to feel like you were dealing with a living thinking animal you couldn't understand. As such, they made it "unpredictable" and occasionally difficult to deal with hence the pondering and the taking a while to do things. Seems that didn't have the effect the devs were hoping for.

[@sofija1996]

This is a video game. Some things have to be sacrificed for the sake of gameplay.

[@Habbib]

Whining Ylthin Well, that's trying to innovate for ya, one guy tries something everyone thinks is fucking stupid and it may turn out to be fantastic or not. Who thought it was good to make a game about only killing bosses with long stretches of NOTHING in the middle? Team ICO, and SOTC went on to be one of the most beloved PS2 games.

[@Habbib]

Well, that's trying to innovate for ya, one guy tries something everyone thinks is fucking stupid and it may turn out to be fantastic or not. Who thought it was good to make a game about only killing bosses with long stretches of NOTHING in the middle? Team ICO, and SOTC went on to be one of the most beloved PS2 games.

[@raphk9599]

hirotocrash That was a long time ago

[@23Scadu]

Well, we'll see how opinions differ on that one. I mean, we already sort of can, as there are a few reviews out, but very positive reviews for hyped games can't really be trusted (just look at the best game of the last generation according to Metacritic: fucking _GTA IV_), so we'll see in the long run.

[@leiilei5440]

I feel like alot of your anger towards Trico is that he acts like a new puppy who doesn't like listening to someone he just met. like a dog.

[@sufamidan1006]

Not sure I agree with your assessment of Trico's AI. I actually found his AI to be perhaps the best I have ever encountered. Revolutionary, even.

[@sufamidan1006]

t6253 Thousands. I experienced the beginning to the present.

[@petethetripod9702]

SufamiDan so all other reviewers who had the same issue are wrong, are your rite? that makes sense

[@sufamidan1006]

Pete the tripod I can only tell you my experience of the game. In my experience the controls were very responsive and Trico very easily navigated.

[@Tsawodi]

I really don't understand how so many people have trouble with the AI. I almost always got Trico to do what I wanted to fairly quickly. I also didn't spam the commands like Jim does in this video while he claims the AI is sluggish, so maybe that is why I was fine. I also happened to notice when starting the game over that Trico doesn't really listen at the beginning of the game, so it would seem that his obedience and understanding of your commands increases throughout the game (but that is just my speculation after restarting). I'm not going to say the AI is perfect, cause it certainly isn't, but I think the main problem with the game is that people are impatient. Trico can only follow one command at a time and people expect him to react immediately. When he doesn't, they push the button again which makes Trico adjust to a new area. Trico will always have a pause after you issue a command where he will stop and look at what he thinks you want him to interact with. It seems like he isn't responding, but I wager it is the developer's way of giving the player some time to adjust if Trico is about to interact with the wrong object/area.

[@littlekitsune1]

Exactly. I've experimented after seeing people complaining about the AI when I had no issues, and I can guarantee that spamming commands and being impatient for Trico to take a second to do his animations of getting ready to carry it out (he will roar like he's affirming, stare intently at where he's going to jump/interact, and then position himself to start doing it) will result in nothing but headaches. It really doesn't take him long if you're doing it right, but commanding him over and over means you reset him into trying to figure out what you want over and over instead of letting him actually do it. He takes just enough time for you to grab onto him if needed, or tell him he got the wrong thing by 'scolding' with R1+X so that you can try again without waiting for him to finish that one. He also becomes way more responsive and attentive the more time you spend petting him for listening/doing what you want, taking care of his wounds, and feeding him. I've heard people complaining that they couldn't know all that, but... the game tells you the "commands" are actually just encouraging Trico to imitate your behaviors, and shows you in literally the first room that tending his wounds and feeding him are good things. Same with petting him. It showed you it's a gameplay mechanic early on, not just a cute gimmick. I don't think those things needed explicit spelling out. They are very obvious and make sense within the game's context. I agree that people want to treat it like any other more fast-paced game, so they don't pay attention to or think about what this game IS doing, instead of what it's NOT but they assume it SHOULD. While there are valid gripes out there, I think a large chunk of that is jaded by the current gaming mindset, rather than legitimately bad mechanics or AI.

[@MugenNiFukuzatsuna]

I'm sorry but bitching that a wild animal doesn't always do what you want, in a game where it was a valid game mechanic that the AI be mostly autonomous doesn't seem like great criticism. I can see why it could be frustrating though.

[@MugenNiFukuzatsuna]

Realistic AI is ALWAYS something to be praised and NEVER a bad mechanic. I have issues when my trained soldier compadres don't know how to go around me to open a freakin door not when a wild quasi pet behaves realistically and doesn't follow every order. Especially when you two bonding over the course of the game and him slowly learning to do it is one of the selling points.

[@Runetrantor]

Realism is only valid if it does not impede gameplay. Gameplay is king. We dont see main characters needing to eat or pee because it gets annoying FAST (Aka all the survivals...) Also, it's not that death is the only way we know of emotions, it's that we are so jaded by game developers (And movies) showing us something we get attached to, only for them to rip it out of our hearts brutally. So we decided it's better to not even start the attachment.

[@buttmunch9619]

I'm finding it hard to believe that people think Jim despises the very concept of this game. He clearly states in this video that he loves the idea of not being powerful and having a giant adorable cat-dog-bird as your muscle, just that the execution is sub-par. I mean i love dark souls, say you had a summon that was all your power and you can't have any weapons, armor, spells, etc. but half the time when you summon your muscle he does fuck all. That would just halt progress, and not be fun.

[@jackhazardous4008]

The dark souls comparison isn't apt, because while you can use summons, they're not something you are encouraged to rely on, and you can defend yourself better than they can defend you.

[@dragonetafireball]

I'm glad you can be honest and not let your judgement be clouded by external factors. Loads of people have been anticipating it for so long the can't help but say it was perfect and all that time waiting was not waisted

[@swishfish8858]

I think there's a key difference though. Jim isn't tied to the game (or any game really, apart from maybe Souls games) and has given similar review/impressions to awaited hypetrains. However, he even states that the game has enough for people to love. I mean, look at it. *Look at it*. It's beautiful. Its puzzles and concept will be enough for some people. Not everyone, sure, but I won't call anyone a "fanboy" for liking it.

[@frickthefuckoff]

Michelle Lehto can I call them fanboys if the shit on others opinion of it?

[@ruekurei88]

"It's beautiful." It is...?

[@dragonetafireball]

Michelle Lehto I see your point and maybe my sticking point is that I'm not a particularly visual person and styles I like tend to be more minimalistic so since the visuals don't really captivate me the other things tend to stick out more

[@sageoftruth]

+SaintAlia_of_the_Games Well, I like the bright colors of the boy, contrasted with the muted drab colors of the scenery. Also the dog and the boy both animate pretty well. So, the game does have its virtues. The question is whether or not the game's serious flaws are a dealbreaker.

[@MyFeuerFrey]

Jim Sterling dislikes a game because of "frustrating controls"? News at eleven.

[@BalthorYT]

So Jim gives The Last Guardian a literal half of a point less than I-G-we pander to every fucking major release-N and everybody goes up in arms about it. Beautiful. And people still don't admit we're balls deep into the age of hate bandwagons, where hating X, be it a game, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political orientation or any opinion in general is cool "just cause", and reasoning is not necessary.

[@jacubkobak8750]

I mean I'm all for different opinions and all that, but the game does have an 83 rating on Metacritic including a 9 from GameSpot. and seeing that the game is not out yet, meaning people still haven't played it, what makes Jim's opinion the be all end all of opinions? I ask because people in here are acting like it is decidedly dreadful just because Jim said so. They are even quoting IGN's review score for christ's sake, just because this time it fit's Jim's point of view! I would think that his reviews are meant to give his own opinion about the game, not to tell you what to think...

[@crash1998100]

Exactly. I'm reading an awful lot of "You saved my wallet" types of comments. From the looks of how he plays it's not surprising the game isn't flowing correctly, despite the efforts of Team ICO trying to hammer down the point that the rat face is a real animal sterling still tries to control it like it's a brainless AI there to serve you. I bet if he'd actually try to immerse himself into the game it would flow allot better. Instead he's just running around trying to speed run the thing.

[@johnballs1352]

@@crash1998100 Eh, the game turned out shit so my wallet was saved.

[@Droopah1]

lol at the Sony fanboys ready to defend their Sony(TM) Emotional Moment(TM) games to the death

[@brajuhani]

What are you trying to say there? You want more playable monster games, because they are different and harder? Surely PS has other games than swords and guns, right? Maybe that actually is the problem, you guys have so little to choose from, and you see something different, you get so attached to it even before release, you just go on denial when it turns out not so great. Is that what you are saying? Because that is only way your comment makes sense.

[@TeamAngryFaic]

Dragon Gamer So it doesn't matter if the game isn't any good, just so long as it has monsters?

[@TeamAngryFaic]

Dragon Gamer I didn't say the game was bad. I asked you a question, Mr. Game Dev. You claim variation is paramount for the industry's future all while disregarding whether or not the game in question is actually fun to play. Thematic shifts don't change what is still essentially a platformer. And Atari holds no water in this discussion. They pumped out rushed, broken games for the sake of a quick profit. Their demise wasn't just over-saturation, it was poorly made licensed garbage. But yeah, make your video. You're well-read on the subject, obviously. Being a developer and all. What're some of your games? I'll check 'em out on Greenlight - or Newgrounds, if that's what you meant.

[@JYDeAlberto]

so true

[@TeamAngryFaic]

Dragon Gamer So you don't see this as a game, more so art? Then you're not saying anything to contribute to the general discussion. A game is a game, and if it doesn't function well, then objectively, it's bad. The art perspective doesn't really apply. I could see Postal 2 as a work of art, as social commentary, etc., but that doesn't change the fact that the game is poorly made and tedious. Let's say Trico is intentionally programmed to be consistently unresponsive - that doesn't change the level of frustration and tedium that'll come from such a thing. Impeding the pace of the player to convey something like an organic relationship is all well and good conceptually, but in practice leaves something to be desired. And I skimmed through your channel as you suggested. All I see are horrid Let'sPlays of obscure gems, and your own detached opinions of what - dragon representation, the Illuminati, and Second Life being the greatest RPG you've ever played? You keep your games to yourself? Then you're not a developer, just as you aren't a filmmaker - you're a daydreamer.

[@GamesTrailerzers]

PS4 = wii of this generation Hype check Mediocre games check Lack of good exclusives check Shovel indie games check Last of good first part support check Still waiting this greatness

[@extremeloco23]

Go play Uncharted 4 and Bloodborne. Within 3 years of the PS4 being out, there has been a decent amount of exclusives (not as many as PS2/PS3 tho). Hopefully next year can bring Spiderman/GodofWar/Horizon to the victory.

[@GamesTrailerzers]

Boring and Bored Yep

[@farmsalot1233]

GamesTrailerzers here is your attention.

[@GamesTrailerzers]

Ali 1) spiderman is not coming out 2017 2) GOW might delay in March 2018 3) Horizon Zero dawn going to suck why because Guerrilla Games cannot make a good game to save their ass. Killzone 1,2,3 and shadsow fall said hello

[@GamesTrailerzers]

Anthony Tosh truth hurt

[@Tiparium_NMF]

I think you saying Trico's AI is horrible is really misleading. It's really bad for a game, because he behaves like an animal. He doesn't do what you want all the time, because animal won't necessarily do that. But his AI is really well done to create a convincing creature.

[@Dexyu]

My toughts exactly. Jim may know where to go but he has to show the animal too and encourage it. Allso i laughed at Jim a bit, if you trow a ball at your dogs face there are times when they dont catch the ball, so its silly to say its unrealistick.

[@TheDuckClock]

I thought his criticism was spot on, during my playthough there was a case where he was stuck in a jumping section going from pillar to pillar. It was at a point where he could only go forwards or backwards but even that proved to be a problem for him as he spent a lot of time going around in circles on one of the platforms, while also completely ignoring or doing the exact opposite of what my commands were. There's nothing Intelligent or realistic here, a brain damaged rat could figure whether to go forwards or backwards.

[@Dexyu]

TheDuckClock or Jim didnt train the fucker well and it didnt respond to his commands.

[@Edit-nk6nb]

6.5 isn't even that bad, worth playing on my scale, 5 being alright. I'm guessing people were expecting a 10/10 masterpiece ...

[@zybch]

Yep. In my mind, 5 is average, nothing great but still playable with minimal bugs. anything below is worse than average and anything above is (naturally) better. However the games media have mostly bought into the 7-8 being average, as you almost never see anything lower.

[@Sone418]

people think 7/10 is bad lmao

[@kdhlkjhdlk]

7/10 **is** bad when they're not allowed to rate it lower because they're IGN or won't get review copies next time. Just look at Jeff Gerstmann being fired for giving Kane & Lynch a (deserved) bad score. One of the actual things cited as previous "bad behaviour" in that case was giving a Ratchet & Clank game a mere 7.5/10.

[@Legion640]

In this industry, an 8 is considered average (sometimes still seen as mediocre) and everything below it means dog shit bad. People need that number to justify their purchases. And if that number doesn't reach perfection, they get pissed like the dumb child they are.

[@zeroskaterz92]

6.5 compared to their previous games? Then it is somewhat bad for a game that is far more advanced in terms of hardware capabilities.

[@LostScot]

Who would've seen it coming though? A game in development for a million years comes out and doesn't live up to the promise? Shocking.

[@aaronatkinson177]

Cuphead was in development for a while and it came out terrific 👍 👏

[@stuartz3118]

For the people who already finished the game: Trico is stubborn even when you are about to finish the game? Because I read that at the beginning of the game Trico are ''dumb'' because he dosent know the boy and as you progress to the game he will obey the boy more and more. So this is dosent happen? Trico has a really bad AI or this improve as you play the game as he gain the boy's trust?

[@taddad2641]

you are able to direct him to a certain degree for the puzzle solving. point towards the next goal and he goes, if with some hesitation. like a real animal, trico works up before he pulls a jump, much like a cat. a lot of his behavior is very cat like, from the way he moves his body to how he moves his head and stares at your or other things another thing is that you have to feed him barrels. he gets more motivated when he has recently eaten, so feed him as many and as often as you can.

[@TheDuckClock]

I had one case where Trico didn't know which way to go when having to jump from pillar to pillar, despite being only two ways he could go: Forward of Backwards. But even that turned out to be too hard for him to figure out. I gave him the command to jump and for some reason he took it as turn around 180 and look at the scenery. I then told him to look the way he's supposed to look (even pointed the camera the right way) and he took that as jump back to the start.

[@TheEnviousdominous]

I love the game, but there are some areas where Trico's confusion is brought on by poor game mechanics. In one area you have to stand on the low end of a tipped card, and Trico stomps the other end so you can launch into the air and access a higher area. After that you need to ride Trico as he leaps to a ledge on the outside of the tower, but telling Trico to leap to the ledge can sometimes have him understand you as saying that he should go back down to the tipped card. If you notice Trico getting confused, you can hold R1 and press X (if I remember correctly) to make him forget everything and wait for your next suggestion.

[@Rebazar]

That's what they were going for, but it's not executed nearly as well as it could be. Hence these sort of criticisms.

[@Biddybalboa]

I don't think that's correct spamming commands doesn't work R1 and X is just another commmand.

[@carpetfluff35]

One thing I found weird is Jim saying when he threw a barrel that Trico only caught it twice in his entire playthrough and yet he's caught five I've thrown in the first 10 minutes. This may be because I called his name before I lobbed them...I don't know.

[@littlekitsune1]

Yep, that's the reason. Calling Trico to get his attention is always a good idea when getting him to do anything.

[@raidenofthedesert]

It took me 7 years to get around and play this game. Just wrapped it up a few hours ago and I had such a bad time it brought me back to a creator I haven't watched in probably 3-4 years. This is 100% what it felt like for the 9-10 hours I spent with the game before hitting credits.

[@ericpeterson9110]

I think last guardian is a good litmus test for what people want out of a game. If you want to rush through, then the game will reward you with a slower experience. If you slow down and be patient, the game will move much faster and seamlessly. I just did a second playuhrough and ran the game in 4 hours no problem.

[@SinisterSi718113]

I have to say, the big feather dog playing with the barrel looks EXACTLY like my real dog playing with something. Which is amazing, but I don't play video games to see my dog play with something. If I wanted that I'd go play with my dog.

[@KashKey-]

I'm... Actually ok with the fact that Trico takes some time to do things. It's weird, I know, but as an actually dog owner of 4 Samoyeds, I've come to be very patient with creatures that have Trico's problems and appearance, and as a result... It just feels more real to me.

[@kenkastlekausmo701]

Question is does your pet wield wings upon its back?

[@morosforhire4544]

Realism isn’t an excuse for shit

[@pleasethedragon]

God, I've had this complaint since the first trailer I saw for The last guardian. But it still really bothers me how the main character's art style doesn't belong with the rest of the game world. I searched for some ICO screenshots, and I played Shadow of the colossus. I realize this is part of the stylistic choiced for the Studio. But it's REALLY noticeable here. Like, take you out of the experience constantly with how noticeable it is. It's a studio Ghibli character living in a hyper-realistic final fantasy cutscene. Individually both look gorgeous, but together it's just really weird.

[@sageoftruth]

I actually liked that about the art. Everything is drab and ruined and then there's this running bundle of energy whose bright color palette helps show that he is in a place where he doesn't belong.

[@mewgiah8057]

Interesting that Jim can put up with the horrendous gameplay and fps of Deadly Premonition, but this is too much for him. I love DP, and have seen a couple hours of TLG gameplay. And it doesn't look that horrendous to get in the way of the overall experience.

[@XxHordakxX]

Because there is much other stuff to enjoy. It is like a B movie. I dont like to compare such different games. But also, there is nothing wring to like or even love the game.

[@bowlofrice1006]

There's no money to be made on praising this game, he has to rush out another trashing nameless indie game that's noones fucking heard of to keep getting that patreon money rolling in.

[@1RamenGuy]

you realize that kids have been hyped for this game for eons, right? "Nameless Indie Game". Dude do you live under a rock?

[@ShawnZipay]

Ah, I see the hive mind has moved a bit on from "he does it for the ad revenues!" to "he does it for the Patreon money!" Keep grasping at those straws.

[@bowlofrice1006]

darko1295 Truth hurts huh? He followed his video with a trash indie noones fucking heard of exactly like I said... but go ahead get mad at me for being right... fucking idiot!

[@Clesstan]

So basically, jim, has no patience. is that what he was trying to say for 20 fucking minutes?

[@JohnnyBurnes]

I wonder how many people will play this game whilst telling their real dog to go lay down?

[@meoirin]

thats actually an interesting thought kinda like playing fallout after a real nuclear apocalypse happened

[@jamesfowler3015]

...I guess, but the difference in scale between those two scenarios is kind of...vast. :P

[@SianaGearz]

Yeah apocalypse, apocalypse never changes, but a griffon is certainly many times larger than a dog!

[@glurak888]

I wont tell you weather the dog dies or not... Dude, now we know it dies.

[@Uncompromising_Mode]

He goes on to say "Other tragedies can be expressed in games" So it doesn't die, but something shitty happens to the dog, obviously.

[@linkno1]

Judging from that part where the dog takes ages to jump down into the circle room and then gets turned violent by the magic turquoise rock, I'm guessing the dog goes violent by the same reasoning and kills the player at the end...Then the dog dies.

[@corwincori861]

Player Character tells the story as an grown adult and this game is one huge flashback so kid won`t die for sure as for the dog who knows...

[@jhosioja]

Well, it wouldn't be a first time where a dead character narrates a story.

[@comradestinger]

[SPOILER] It actually does not die. :v [SPOILER]

[@Adustus]

After reading the review, I still think I'm going to enjoy this. I care vastly more for the emotional aspect of the series than the mechanical, so I think I can shrug off the technical issues and still pull some good experiences out of it.

[@KeyMan137]

Thank you for staying honest with us Jim.

[@Rainebowes]

everyones saying this game is hyped but i really dont feel it. no ones really talked about it with the exception of how long its taking to complete development. i dont think anyone really expects it to be amazing at this point. its more like, "its a new team ico game. lets have a look and a feel."

[@87morpheus11]

It doesn't matter if your dog listens to you all the time or doesn't, this is a video game with a story. The story needs the dog to listen to you when it needs to listen to you and if it doesn't listen to you then what the creators want to happen won't happen and you're going to die. That is all Jim is saying.

[@kershmaru237]

is there any chance that this is done intentional, to simulate your companion being an animal with a mind of its own (and potential stubbornness) rather than an run of the mill NPC you don't control directly but for all intents and purposes are in absolute control of?

[@AirahsELL]

Kershmaru That's exactly what they did. and it's shit.

[@sugoiuseismoeabuse4058]

Nintendogs did it better.

[@i69GrzzlyBears]

That ending killed me. Was waiting for a big beautiful moment where he grabs on and it's epic, then nah. Kid falls to his death.

[@hannahbanana7182]

Tyler Ross Thanks dick bag...

[@i69GrzzlyBears]

Hannah Banana The end of the video, not the game, dip shit. It's not out, so I obviously haven't played it.

[@hannahbanana7182]

Tyler Ross Oh whoops lol Sorry mate

[@whenthemusicsover6028]

I guess you could say that the kid didn't fully realise the *gravity* of the situation. :)

[@TheEnviousdominous]

You're lying, and you're a fucking idiot. Must be nice.

[@587DeathKing]

"It's not a bug, it's a feature"

[@SpectralStar]

I always just hold the barrel for Trico to eat or I throw it into his mouth, kind of like tossing your dog a treat. The only problem I had in this game was the part when you get rid of the green smoke and fall into the water pit. That was the only part I had to look up anything for, and I believe if I had tried for another 5 minutes I would've gotten it by myself. The frame rate never bothered me, though it was noticeable in the grassy and tree filled areas. There was like 3 of those areas in the game. It took me 15 hours to beat the game and I call that a win. Trico is the most interesting A.I. I've ever seen. It mimics animals so well that I forged a bond like I would with my pets. I also understand that reviewers really can't have that much patience when it comes to these games. They have to play the game enough to either complete it or to see enough of it to make sound judgement, then they have to upload it as soon as the embargo is gone so the early bird gets the worm. I just want to say that if you are a person with very little patience, then you will not like this game. This series has always been about puzzle and problem solving. If people reviewed Shadow of the Colossus in this day and age they would give it a bad score simply because most games hold your hand and are built with no quirks or personality at least 90% of the time. All in all, it's a good game. It doesn't always play like you want it to, but that's the magic of the games in the series. They build a beautiful world filled with obstacles and enemies the likes of which you've never seen before. Whether your toppling giants, holding a woman's hand or just building an unbreakable bond with a new found friend you can't do any better than this series.

[@syntheticgerbil]

Yeah, among all of the troublesome elements of Trico's AI, the barrel tossing isn't one of them. It's brilliant. It does work exactly like a real life dog in terms of getting its attention for doing tricks. I think either Jim does not own a dog or does not have one that performs tricks.

[@nixtblack]

between this and the dishonored 2 review, that old accusation that Jim doesn't know how to play games properly kinda rears its head in my head. Sorry Jim, but your opinions and mine just no longer mesh.

[@chickmcjr]

He gave Vanquish a 5/10 because he was crap at it. You should have known ages ago he doesn't know how to play games.

[@nixtblack]

chickmcjr yeah, vanquish was awesome. I was trying to be polite, cause Jim's fans are a reactionary bunch, but, yeah, I've never really gelled with his opinions. I just like him from his early days at destructiod.

[@Maynard0504]

oh so you watch his videos just to validate your own opinion?

[@petethetripod9702]

nixtblack no, the issue is the game is broken, accept it #nomanssky

[@superfurryfox1]

I love Breath of the Wild, he gave that game 7/10... but ya know what? I still watch the guy... because I respect other people’s opinions.

[@wombat8812]

Why was this game so hyped up, anyway? It looks boring as fuck.

[@HagenFlachmann]

Because the lead developer was Fumito Ueda of Ico and SoTC fame.

[@voidofspaceandtime4684]

If a game is boring, it's not a good game.

[@L1nkn1vy]

Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen Everyone wants a Shadow Of The Colossus sequel

[@blackdragonkalameet3844]

ico and shadow of the colossus were the same. Boring games that were showered with pretentious nonsense, praising them to no end

[@voidofspaceandtime4684]

Bryndleson The Mona Lisa is a piece of fucking art. You don't attach a video game controller to it and move her around.

[@AnimagicMissile]

Just out of curiosity, Jim, did this footage include the "Day One" patch (that has reportedly been released before "Day One") that claimed to fix some of the bugs and responsiveness issues? Not that there's any excuse for a game in development for 10 years to NEED a Day One patch, mind you, I'm just wondering if it's possible that our experience with the game will be less frustrating than yours. If you played the game before any of the updates were released, is there any chance of getting a quick update later on letting us know if the fixes were sufficient enough to make the game more worth playing? Thanks!

[@AGrayPhantom]

See, this is why I _don't_ want Half Life 3 to be released it's been too long and the game would never meet the hype.

[@pp-nx1ck]

AGrayPhantom well it wouldn't actually be HL3, it would most likely be HL2 episode 3

[@Lemmynx]

if they named it that, at this point, that would be market-ably unwise of them

[@billybob-fh4wz]

Nope they said in a interview long time ago when they were still talking about HL3 that they are done with Episodic game. If Valve ever decides to finally release a new Half Life it will be called Half Life 3.

[@ScreamingBeast]

Half-Life 3 hasn't been in development for 10 years Half-Life 3 hasn't been in development for a single fucking minute.

[@billybob-fh4wz]

ScreamingBeast Yes, yes it has i have no clue if they are STILL working on it but yes at some point it was real and was being developed.

[@Terastas]

Supposedly, Trico's unresponsive A.I. was deliberate. Allegedly, they wanted him to feel like an animal. But then it occurred to me: We also complained about the poor handling of Agro in Shadow of the Colossus. . . And the response to that was also "That was deliberate." So while I do think the game is solid (or at least on par with Shadow of the Colossus, which I personally was just sort of "meh, 7/10, I guess" on), I'm also smelling a lot of bullshit emanating from the studio itself. Thankfully, it'll be damn near a decade before we have to smell that bullshit again.

[@TheEnviousdominous]

Correct me if I'm wrong Jim, but I don't think you understood the controls of the game. I have a friend who had a very similar impression of Trico's AI, until I showed him that he was incorrectly inputting commands. He was pressing and releasing the R1 button, and pushing a direction for Trico to go follow his command. Trico would of course just mill about, because you're supposed to hold down R1 and look in the direction you want Trico to go before pressing a direction. After I showed him that simple fix, his opinion of the game changed dramatically. Also, to your point about supposed "red herrings" in the game; the most extensive false paths only add about a minute to your game time. The only reason you'd wander away from the obvious path forward is if you were going to retrieve a glowing barrel for Trico to eat, and these barrels are only nearby if glowing butterflys are seen. This makes it very easy to determine if climbing some randomly placed vines will be a worthwhile endeavor.

[@blackdragonkalameet3844]

TheEnviousdominous if he has misunderstood the controls then this is, again, a black mark against the game as it should have explained its self properly. Failure to explain mechanics and controls is just as bad as them being buggy or unreliable. As it produces the same result from the players perspective.

[@TheEnviousdominous]

Black dragon Kalameet Before you pinch off another long-winded thought, make sure it serves a purpose. You obviously didn't play the game. There's an area that you come to near the very beginning of the game where it presents you with an image of the controller itself and the R1 button is highlighted. Words on the screen say something like "Press R1 and press a direction to command Trico". I've noticed a lot of people, like Jim, who didn't comprehend that they have to hold down the R1 button. Beyond that, the game has an online manual that explains the controls. Jim misunderstood the controls because he probably wanted to rush through the game and be able to shout "FIRST!" as far as presenting an online review. If you dick around long enough, Trico will often do what needs to be done in spite of you and this was likely misinterpreted as the game finally responding to his inputs. Play the game before you rush to fucking stupid conclusions like "The game failed to properly explain its mechanics!".

[@blackdragonkalameet3844]

TheEnviousdominous sounding pretty butt hurt over your precious game not living upto the hype

[@TheEnviousdominous]

Black dragon Kalameet Uh huh, so basically you have nothing to use as a counter-argument. Run along scamp.

[@blackdragonkalameet3844]

TheEnviousdominous I have already highlighted why your incorrect. You failed to counter anything in your response. All you did was whine about people not playing it right. Even if people are playing it wrong, surely that's a mark against the game anyway. No good game could ever be misunderstood by this many people

[@onceonly1111]

I agree about the frustration of Trico not really seeming to pay attention, but I figured out there were cues to indicate that they did or didn't understand you - a positive response is a kind of bark, whereas a negative/I dont understand response is more of a whimper or high pitched cry. After giving a direction, Trico would bark and then line themselves up to perform the action, which might take upwards of 10-20 seconds (e.g for a jump they look up at the jump, wiggle a bit, look again, crouch down, sniff, and crouch down again and then jump). Most of the problems related to a poor response which I had were to do with approaching something from the wrong angle or direction - climbing the tower near the end of the game is one example because Trico needed to be in a very specific spot for some jumps, and it seemed like they had to 'see' where they were jumping to for themselves (even though the player had seen it and pointed to it) before they could actually attempt it.

[@nikunashi3494]

At the end, the guy runs off the crane at full speed instead of dropping, the acceleration continues and overshoots the bird/dogs back and falls to death, blames the game 'its supposed to grab on at that point but doesnt', no, you overshot your jump.

[@morosforhire4544]

Niku Nashi ah.. the “you played the game wrong” defense, a classic.

[@DirtyWhiteRabbit]

Sounds like the game turned out exactly as I expected it to be. Being that it was designed more for the PS2 Era. I played ICO not too long ago, didn't really think this would be much different. However, I will probably buy this eventually and accept it's faults.

[@TheOfficialChalupay]

DirtyWhiteRabbit well it was literally a PS2 game

[@jamesharrison658]

well a ps3 starting title, so basically a well polished ps2 game.

[@blackdragonkalameet3844]

I'd advise against buying it. Supporting titles like this gives developers the message that we like nonsense like this.

[@jjj7790]

There's literally only one company that makes games like these, and it's only out now because their company fell into a time rift back in 2009.

[@blackdragonkalameet3844]

+jjj7790 even so, buying the game supports a buggy title. It reminds me of Bethesda, where people complain about their buggy games but continue to buy them anyway.

[@Strideer1989]

I feel the mechanics are unique and needs patience like mechanics for monster hunter or dark souls

[@Strideer1989]

these game didn't hold your hand and teach you very well but that's the appeal and learning curve.

[@dorjedriftwood2731]

Jr_H89 dark souls is incredibly responsive if you get comfortable with the mechanics you have complete control of your character. Your character doesn’t do what it wants to do and refuses to respond to your inputs.

[@Azhrei2000]

I'd like to know what animal can digest wooden planks (nevermind w/e is inside the barrels).

[@codythompson9973]

18:22 Multiple pathways will make it more maze-like. If they were going for that, a maze can't really be a maze if there is only a right path to go on. Otherwise, it will be a straight shot. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. But, too bad the game is this "glitchy?" I'm confused if they purposefully programmed random chances of avatar failure (Even when the player should have done something right) or if there is a lack of polish.

[@codythompson9973]

+Generic Knight The Generic Don't throw the usual: "It is 20xx, so everything should adhere to a certain standard." But, I do somewhat agree with you. If every path is a blank wall, that would get old. If some, but not all are just simply dead ends, then that would get old.

[@codythompson9973]

+Generic Knight The Generic I'm saying that arguing dates over gameplay is pointless. Some games like Super Mario Bros. age wonderfully. Of course the graphics of many games don't, gameplay quality does not equate to how old something is. You're argument is pointless. For example, this game has worse level design than games like Half Life. But, Half Life was made in 1998. Doom has great level design. That was made in 1993. Argue over the merits of a game, not what year it is.

[@eddebrock]

Oh really, a superhyped game that's been development for ages is a pile of shit. So surprising.

[@Caitlin_TheGreat]

So at 4:44 Jim describes something I remember all too well from the early 3D puzzle/adventure/rpg games. You have a puzzle where you stumble on the solution, but assume you're wrong because the game is either extremely picky about how you interface with it, or it's buggy. How's that for some nostalgia? Like any modern release, the game probably needs some patches to make it more consistently enjoyable. And this is why pre-ordering is a bad idea. I mentioned this a handful of days ago when I saw an article stating that this game had a staggering amount of pre-orders and of course people jumped to defend the "good idea" or paying money for something you won't get to play for a long while and which may not be in proper working order when you do get it. If it ever is.

[@ryan489]

After watching the video. I feel some of it was a nit picking but the majority of the time he had some good points. The fact that the Dog doesn't do things that it should do would be annoying. Also making unique controls just for the fact of making unique controls will not work out most of the time. The running Idea seems stupid to me too. As jim and others have said focusing on one thing too much means that other things will suffer and sadly this looks like the case. The biggest thing is; he didn't say it was a bad game he just said it can be very frusterating and it's not mind blowing. You can't tell me that SOTC wasn't frusterating because it was at times as well. I'm still getting the game, I'm going to play it and then have an opinion on it Though I could see a patch incoming to solve some of those issues. If Sony were smart about it.

[@hobanagerik]

My child doesn't always listen to me either. Sometimes when they jump out of a high window they fail to grab my hand on the way down. Kids are like that and this game replicates it perfectly. They aren't bugs, it's part of the simulation. And don't let any fan boys tell you otherwise.

[@littlefieryone2825]

I think that's half-true. But still, I don't think it was intentional for Trico to attempt to eat the barrel and have his beak go through it.

[@nympseudonym]

Honestly, the 'dog and kid won't both survive' assumption isn't unique to video games. If this was a movie, TV show, or book people's knee jerk assumption would be the same. Because it's the easiest route to take for emotional impact regardless of medium. And nine times out of ten the assumption will be correct.

[@manbear9537]

Been playing for a few hours now. Not had any problems with Trico so far. As long as I keep him fed (feed him in open spaces) then he does what you want. Call him over to an area if you want him to be where you are. Really don't know what Jim is talking about here. The camera is a little janky but that's the only thing. This game is not meant for impatient people.

[@syntheticgerbil]

Well this is part of what confuses people when they look up help on what to do. You are telling them they need to feed him to make his AI work. This couldn't be further from the truth. You only have to actually feed him when required. If you are speed running the game you can skip every barrel except the required ones and make it work as much as possible as long as you know what to do. There is no programmed feeding mechanic, you are perceiving this. What is actually the issue is the poorly explained commands and besides that the issueos sometimes the AI breaking and requiring you to restart the checkpoint.

[@Lyubimov89]

The dog IS going to die. I haven't played the game, but i just can tell that it's going to.

[@CrispyChrisss]

Lyubimov89 the boy could die. or maybe both.

[@TheCalmPsycho]

the boy couldn't die, not in the gameplay story anyway, there was a deep manly voice after the combat section talking about his past self petting the dog thing.

[@Msoulwing]

Having played Shadow of the Colossus, a fake-out might be on the horizon.

[@DreadPirateDuo]

I'm going to go with Final Level = Dog and Boy must battle each other to the death for world dominance.

[@Tamiss]

Neither of them die

[@D3aD3nDahead]

Sometimes I have a hard time making my dog eat. I think they nailed it.

[@spacedoohicky]

15:30 To me it looks like they tried to make it look like an infant of it's species. With it's underdeveloped wings like a baby bird. A puppy would have trouble catching thrown food. I'm not trying to justify the design decision. Just something I noticed.

[@Merchantic]

Just finished my playthrough yesterday. I only really had trouble with getting Trico to dive in the water, and the section where you're trapped in the cage and trying to move while in it.

[@Chairman_Wang]

It doesnt seem that frustrating... I think your enjoyment depends how impatient you are.

[@ericpeterson9110]

Yeah, the game is a bit of a litmus test tbh.

[@DakNJaxter]

I get that all the little issues were a deal breaker for some people, and maybe especially for people like Jim that have a tight schedule (he keeps saying the game is wasting his time), but honestly. the way Trico doesn't always react right away, or get things right, even times where I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing, that made this game extra special for me. Too many game now are focus tested to the absolute max, and the result is too clean and smooth, tailored for instant gratification. Some of the awkwardness of Trico, or the level design or puzzle sequences made the experience feel more authentic. The only thing I'd agree on is the circle button. They could have put the shield on "R2", or the "Up Direction" or anything. That's the only time I felt like the game was being genuinely/needlessly fiddly.

[@Triforce9426]

You jump in this game with the triangle button. Just take a moment to wrap your brain around that..

[@Geferulf_TAS]

Welcome back to 2004.

[@lesterthenightfly1828]

It's your boy, SotC.

[@gutzs]

No it doesnt make sense. What makes sense is making it the x or o button like EVERY OTHER GAME

[@manabluerose]

Triangle, are you serious?? It's X or nothing. Why is this company failing so bad...

[@s1r3r3]

In some console games you still can't change the button layout. That's even more baffling.

[@dirge808]

Trico pawing at the barrel instead of eating it is obviously intentional because he acknowledges the barrel is there and starts messing with it. Notice Trico's eye's were yellow while messing with it then black when he eats it. The yellow eyes probably meaning he was nervous or scare? maybe because he was still in the tunnel?

[@marcosdheleno]

well as a dog owner, i can tell you, the number of times i threw something for her to eat, and she completely missed were too numerous to count, she did catch it sometimes, but most often than not she missed it. and she is a pretty smart dog i have to say, she can understand many words and names, and i were to call someone, she will go to that person and start barking to catch their attention, but with food, she is is not very dextrous.

[@Ryukachoo]

it's annoying that people are defending decade old ai as "well, dogs are dumb in real life" try actually playing the game and see if this realism doesnt frustrate the shit out of you (it will) but i wonder if they could rework the AI and push it in a content patch?

[@sulijoo]

Maybe the more advanced AI becomes the more unreliable it becomes? If your pet doesn't do what you want, you don't call that a glitch or malfunction, do you? It's just real life. It's inherent to entropic systems, it's chaos. The more realism we demand from games, the greater the role chance and chaos will play and the less input the player will have. . It's a hard line to walk. A glitch is an NPC walking into a wall, getting stuck on terrain, or a path-finding failure. These looked less like glitches and more like misbehaving AI, and yes there is a difference.

[@nikkis.2066]

thank you....someone with some bloody sense around here.

[@SchAlternate]

As Jim put it in his review of the game, intentionally bad game design is still bad game design. A game designer should never, EVER create a mechanic in a game that purposefully prevents the player from accomplishing the goal the game sets them up to, even if done for the sake of some asinine trite ("It's more realistic that way", "There's an artistic meaning to it", etc). And I don't mean creating a really challenging event that requires frame perfect precision to overcome (though that's not necessarily good game design, just not for the same reasons), I mean stuff that is completely out of a player's input, like undodgeable attacks, finicky physics that disrupt gameplay, and, as you put it, AI that is designed to not do what it's designed to do every now and them with no clear indication. It doesn't add anything to the game besides unnecessary frustration for the player.

[@JoshuaGarrison93]

you can't have that opinion and then also complain about games being too violent or criticize "power fantasies." You people don't know what you want. A game is either a product that functions (or not), or a work of art that requires no justification. Pick your poison.

[@SianaGearz]

I think there's a classic AI design trouble here from ground up, where the AI state is too opaque and there isn't enough telegraphing going on. This is something that game developers ought to do, convey the state more clearly, so it doesn't appear too illogical and frustrating - it could have provided much better experience while still misbehaving as much.

[@littlekitsune1]

@SchAlternate The goal the game sets up is to bond with Trico and figure out how to interact with him effectively to get him to do what you want. If you are impatient and treating him as just an AI vehicle to insta-cruise through areas, then you will fail at that and not enjoy the game. And yes, there are very big tells in Trico's behavior and noises that tell you if he understood a command, is carrying out an action, etc. You just have to pay attention like the game expects. Doesn't make it bad game design (though I'm not denying the game has its flaws) it just makes it not for the people who won't take the time to understand and enjoy that aspect.

[@brendanbergmann6290]

You and IGN are getting hate becuase of your opinions. Such a shame

[@MJSHappy]

Brendan Bergmann IGN doesn't deserve half the hate it gets. People just shit on them for having opinions they don't agree with.

[@hinasakukimi]

you'd think people would appreciate IGN being honest but i guess not

[@Leo-pw3kf]

7.8, too many doggos Honestly, IGN deserves all the hate. They're a fucking awful group of reviewers with shallow opinions and no communication skills.

[@MrKajjaGG]

LOL Morons feeling sorry for IGN. Edit: LMAO I missed the guy that called IGN "honest". You guys are fucking fickle as fuck. Simply because your favourite edgelord KZbinr dislikes a new release, that makes IGN honest? What a joke.

[@breka3482]

+Sagittarius Cornwallus because they made idiotic reviews like complaining that the enemy ai is too smart

[@davidjohnson5847]

my families second(and consequently last dog we owned) prince would let you hit him in the face with whatever you were trying to give it to eat. our first dog windsor would most definitely catch anything you tossed towards him. after windsor past and years later we got prince it was about one out of every three times you tried to toss him like a dog treat, chew toy, or whatever and he would just freeze and look at the approaching mid air treat and take right in the nose. it was weird. I had never seen a dog do that before him, but he consistently kept that behavior up until the day we had to give him away. a funny/weird thing about him letting himself be hit by his food was that there were also times when he like just refused the treat. like even when he got hit with it he would just eat it off the floor or ground after impact, but there were a few rare occasions when he would like turn his nose up at the toy or food and then turn and walk away with his body language and the look on his face practically screaming his disinterest in whatever you just offered him. like he suddenly realized he was to good for what you tried to give him and you had better come correct with nothing but the best most high class toys/treats the next time you tried to give him something. as if you suddenly became the paid help to a wealthy employer. like I said weird.

[@Agitatius]

Very glad how clearly you mention that it´s impossible to criticize PS4-exclusives. NeoGAF especially is already in full-insanity mode, handwaving away all criticism and calling out reviewers who gave the game a lower score "ignorant" and haters. I find that very frustrating. I´m a reviewer myself (for a small website) and I don´t know what I´m even writing for when people decide a game to be their goty without having played it, without reading what I´m writing.

[@PsiSoldier28]

I hadn't even considered whether the dogbird would die til you mentioned it Jim :v

[@ToonCatTV]

This generation's Lester the unlikely

[@ichrismoku]

Games that leave me wandering around aimlessly circling back on myself spamminng the jump button just need to die in a fucking fire. I do not have the patience for that kind of shit any more. Especially when the game makes me sit there wondering what i'm doing wrong or fighting against the mechanics of the game to get it to do what it's supposed to do. Good call Jim.

[@Dexyu]

Man you must bee preaty shit at games, pweds playd it and had no problems.

[@lazy0nara]

Whats your dog's name? :D Two major problems for me were the camera in tight spaces and the platforming saving my buttons inputs.

[@stephanieaensland6520]

I rather like the idea of red herring paths, personally. One of the biggest problems I've had with modern adventure games (the uncharted series especially) is that if it's a possible path, it's THE path. It kinda kills the sense of exploration for me and makes me feel more like another cog in the machine than a person with any sort of agency. It is, in many ways, the same reason why I can't stand it when puzzles only have one possible solution when you've been able to deduce another viable way to do it.

[@Ericnorify]

Seems like the framerate has a tendency to dip.

[@NewGuy1414]

I toss treats at my dog that she just lets hit her face all the time. She can't catch shit.

[@omarct]

This shit is just common sense 4:15. If you had half a brain you would realize that because the dog is crawling through the tunnel he is not able to eat the barrel. Is it realistic? Of course not, but games have limitations and you seem to fail to realize this. This is like asking why a character like Snake from mgs3 can't eat while crawling through a tunnel. Is it possible? Yes, but there is a limit to how many things developers can put in the game with the budget and time they have. Granted, I don't remember if snake could eat or not while crawling through tunnels(i think he could) but that is besides the point as eating in mgs3 required very little movement from the character and wasn't as cinematic as this game.

[@soulreaver6300]

Oh, so...you can't be reasoned with. got cha.

[@AbbasKhan9364]

Fully agreed. It's a pretty fantastic game.

[@GrandAngel8000]

"I'm Jim Sterling, and I love being a turd to beautiful games because the controversy gets me a bigger audience."

[@ryanvogel5895]

You all know that reviews are opinions, right? You don't have to agree with them, but that doesn't mean Jim is wrong. I enjoy your honesty and perspective, Jim. Keep it coming.