Ueda on storytelling in The Last Guardian

Creator and director Fumito Ueda has been hard at work on The Last Guardian for what seems like forever. The long-anticipated title from Team Ico is almost upon us, and will be landing on PS4 on October 25.

With that in mind, it's only natural that we're starting to hear more about the game as the PR machine whirs into life. In a recent post over on the PlayStation Blog, Ueda had some interesting things to say about the game, framed around the studio's particular brand of storytelling.

"They can only communicate via gestures, motion, and reactions, so visual storytelling was the best approach to making the game and showcasing the tale," Ueda says, before adding: "I'm always looking at ways to convey human emotion with technology but at the moment I thought a great way to achieve a range of emotions and expressions was via an animal."

There's going to be voice-over in the game, something we've not seen before from the studio:

"At the start of the game we use a voiceover of the boy when he's older," Ueda explained. "It helps provide a sense of context when much of the communication is non-verbal. It brings the player closer to the boy because you can get direct access to his thoughts. It also gives us a natural way to deliver hints, information, and exposition to the player."

Ueda and the team are giving us more backstory for the boy that we might have seen in previous titles, the idea being to link the player to the character, and create a sense of shared discovery and understanding.

"One of my favorite things about the game are the 'eureka' moments; when the boy is trying to get Trico to understand something and he finally gets it," says Ueda. "That not only binds the characters, but also you as a player because you feel the same nice moment of accomplishment the boy does."

There's more, with Ueda-san explaining how they also hope to create a bond between the boy and Trico.

"Their developing bond is the key theme across the game," explains Ueda. "But the big difference between this and the relationships in Ico and Shadow of the Colossus is that there's a more dynamic range between the boy and Trico. From that first moment in the game, the boy is uncertain if Trico will be a friend or foe, and you immediately start trying to work out how to bridge that communication gap."

Ueda also goes into detail about how players will have to use the boy and Trico to overcome enemies, as the boy doesn't have combat abilities. Throughout the game the developers want to explore the evolving relationship between the pair, not just in the more exciting sections, but all during quieter moments.

"Without those peaceful beats we probably wouldn't have been able to achieve the scale and variation of their relationship, and their payoff moments."