The Last Guardian is a 2016 developed by and and published by for the . Players control a boy who befriends a giant , Trico.
began developing The Last Guardian in 2007. It was designed and directed by , and shares stylistic, thematic, and gameplay elements with his previous games, (2001) and (2005). He employed the "design through subtraction" approach he had used for his previous games, removing elements that did not contribute to the core theme of the connection between the boy and Trico.
Sony announced The Last Guardian at with a planned release in 2011 for the . It suffered numerous delays; Ueda and other Team Ico members departed Sony, forming the studio GenDesign, and hardware difficulties moved the game to the PlayStation 4 in 2012, drawing speculation that the game would not see release. Ueda and GenDesign remained as creative consultants, with Ueda as director and Sony's Japan Studio handling technical development. The Last Guardian was reintroduced at . Upon release, it received praise for its art direction, story, and depiction of Trico, though some criticized the gameplay.Like its predecessors (2001) and (2005), The Last Guardian is a third-person game that combines and elements. The player controls an unnamed boy who must cooperate with a , Trico, to solve puzzles and explore areas. The name of the creature, Trico.
The boy can climb on structures, carry objects such as barrels, and operate mechanisms such as levers. Trico's size and agility allow it to reach areas that the boy cannot reach alone, and fight off guards who attempt to capture the boy. Conversely, certain obstacles, such as gates, or glass eyes that frighten Trico, prevent Trico from progressing, and must be removed by the boy. The boy must locate barrels to feed Trico when it is hungry, pet Trico to calm it after a battle, and remove spears thrown at Trico by enemies.
Though the player initially has little command over Trico, the boy learns to command Trico to leap onto ledges or head in a certain direction, among other actions. Although players are encouraged to train Trico to move in the right direction, new areas can be discovered by letting Trico wander independently. At various points, the boy wields a reflective mirror that summons lightning from Trico's tail, which can be used to break certain objects.
The player is returned to the last checkpoint if the boy is captured by guards, or if he falls from too great a height. Multiple playthroughs unlock additional costumes based on previous Ueda games
