After we all ooh-ed and aah-ed at the E3 video for Team ICO's new project, The Last Guardian -- which a majority of (super unscientific) SVGL poll respondents said was a PS3-seller -- many of you weighed in on the community discussion as we tried to answer one question: What, exactly, makes that game seem so good, when most of us are in agreement that it's nearly impossible to tell much about a game from its early trailer?The answer proved to be elusive. It's pretty hard to pin down what about it makes many of us not just enthusiastic, but emotional -- and mulling it over prompted lots of you to extend the question not only to Last Guardian, but to the rest of Ueda's oeuvre, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, too.
Well, Let's Not Overthink Things
"The emotional response thing shouldn't be a surprise," commented John Scott Tynes. "It's a trailer, just like that for a movie, and trailers have long been crafted to elicit an emotional response." I agree with him -- in fact, the heavily-rehearsed and manipulatively-crafted marketing act behind not only E3 trailers, but pre-launch hype in general is something I keep complaining about.
And many of you join Penny Arcade in the humored prediction that neither adorable little boy nor adorable flying kitty-thing ("The Giant Man-Eating Eagle Toriko," says RedSwirl; Simurgh or Simargl, asserts Technomancer) can possibly survive until the end of the game -- indicating that lots of you are finding the emotionality a bit forced or predictable.
But I'm insisting on the analysis because we've all agreed for years that there's something special about these Ueda games, and maybe we can refine our wishes for other games if we can pin down what it is.
A Boy And His Alien
One primary issue many of you raised is how the game presents a relationship between a person and a monster. Fred Zeleny notes that using a giant animal instead of a human companion keeps it appealingly clear of "uncanny valley" territory.
JV points out the pairing is a familiar play on the "boy and his alien" trope that's touched us through the years: See also E.T, Neverending Story, most of the works of Hayao Miyazaki, and any other of about a million fantasy stories and comedic pairings that've seen a human bond with a non-human for friendship and adventure. Lewis Denby describes "an overflowing sense of childlike adventure in the face of something tremendously alien."
But even this theme is a variation on one that's still more common -- simpler than "boy and his alien" is "boy and his dog," a key nostalgia trigger and a simple part of childhood for many. Mike Schiller says the quiet, intuitive pairing between a kid and an animal as "protection and companion... [will] remind you of the one...thing, when you were a kid, that you could talk to and trust unconditionally."
Of course, ICO has a similar central theme -- Yorda may be in the shape of a young woman, but to call her a "human girl" sells her short. She's an ethereal, otherworldly creature, and much of the charm in the pairing and the much-lauded hand-holding relies on just how different she is from the little horned boy, from the fact they don't speak the same language to the charming height disparity between hero and "princess." And as for Colossus, I've heard many, many people say they loved that horse more than they've ever loved any other video game companion, be it man or cube.
The Story Of The SpaceThese unlikely companionships seem to juxtapose nicely with the sort of environments Ueda tends to present: looming, expansive, preternatural and lonesome. They often feature detailed, subtle patterns and architecture that imply tribal or spiritual ruins; they make players wonder what kind of places they must once have been, enforcing the idea of abandonment and decay.
Exploring such intimidatingly solitary, sad spaces must only enhance the player's sense of attachment to a companion. Many of you agreed with commenter Mike Grove's assertion that "even when you're in a completely desolate place, you never really feel isolated."
Another element these games --and this trailer -- share is that all of the gameplay is very visual and very kinetic. Reflecting on his own childhood, Ueda has said he was "interested in things that moved." As with ICO and Colossus, Last Guardian seems to depend on the interaction of two living things with the environment and with one another, compelling the eye. Combine this with another key trait -- the absence of dialogue or overt narration -- and the player can't help but engage his or her imagination to fill in the blanks.
As commenter Mike Grove puts it: "It sort of transforms the player into a reader-figure in the best traditions of post-modern authors, giving them a degree of authorship without demanding that they use all of it. The Last Guardian trailer really embodied this sort of storytelling - we're given a few snapshots of a relationship and almost no explicit information about it."
Why They Work
There's always lot of blab and blah about player-directed narrative, the perils of enforcing authorship, storytelling via gameplay, and all kinds of haute concepts that writers and designers alike dither around with without ever really nailing it down.
But ICO and Colossus have been hauled out time and time again as scions of our medium because -- silently, of course -- they've hit key markers through just a few overt, but deceptively complex design choices that make player imagination the priority.
This is one reason Portal is also probably permanently on the cultural short list of Ideal Games, by the way. Although in a completely different way, it uses the environment to engage and encourage the player to imagine the story beyond the surface.
No Art From A Vacuum
And I'd like to point out that Portal was done with the contribution of people who would've been creative writers whether or not it was in games, and Ueda would have been an artist in some other medium if not this one, further nailing home the need for cross-disciplinary game designers. We've got way too many games designed by people whose primary hobby in life was Dungeons and Dragons or strategy board games -- yeah, yeah, I know, go ahead and add your obligatory comment defending the artistic value of these pursuits as if we aren't suffering from an excess of their influence.
Anyway. One more reason the Last Guardian trailer made us all so happy: It shows that this game has the key traits to suggest Team ICO can do it again. Hallelujah.
Thanks to everyone for your contributions, thoughtful comments and participation in the discussion! You guys are the best, and all of you are cleverer by far than one of me.
Ooh, bonus: Images are all via this high-res Last Guardian screenshot gallery from Offworld.
22 comments:
I thought the main reason that people are so excited about The Last Guardian, regardless of the trailer, was that it's made by Team ICO, but you raise good points.
I agree with you that we could definitely use writers and artists that have experience or interests in areas other than games. What kind of attitudes do writers and artists in other media have of video games? All I know is that Hollywood executives blame the popularity of video games for films being less popular, but I hardly think that counts.
Great article. I can't wait for The Last guardian. But I gotta admit I've only played through a little of Ico and completed Colossus. I'm gonna make it my goal to finish Ico real soon.
We've got way too many games designed by people whose primary hobby in life was Dungeons and Dragons or strategy board games -- yeah, yeah, I know, go ahead and add your obligatory comment defending the artistic value of these pursuits as if we aren't suffering from an excess of their influence.
And anime. Talk about an excess of influence.
Great article, Leigh. You nailed most of the salient points of what makes Ueda's work so compelling.
I'd throw into the mix that another element that makes them so near and dear to people's hearts is that all his games have been about protecting someone, in one form or another. In Ico, for example, you can't die (lest you fall off a cliff), so most game overs are caused by losing Yorda. I think this works as well as it does because self-preservation was rarely that important in games where you can simply restart if you die. Losing someone who you care about is much worse (even if you can also restart in Ico).
Prior to The Last Guardian being unveiled, I had this theory that Trico would be about a man protecting a (his?) child, ala Lone Wolf and Cub. My logic was that Ico was about protecting someone older than you, who you admired. SotC was more of a Romeo & Juliet type deal involving adolescent lovers. So I figured his new game would have you as someone older protecting someone young. I was half right, given that it's almost universally agreed upon that the gryphon-like creature is a child.
A lot of games are about saving the world, but that's such a vague impersonal goal that it rarely seems to matter. Ueda has done a remarkable job at attaching his players to the game's characters, so you feel like they're the only thing that matters. Truly magical!
I think many of the themes are strongly archetypal, in the Jungian sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungian_archetypes
I certainly feel that ICO and Shadow of the Colossus resonated with me not just on an emotional level, but also on a deeper mythological level.
Having never played Ico and played very little of SotC, I can tell you that the trailer affected me deeply.
I would like to see more artists and writers spearheading games design, and I'd like to see developers take more risks. Unfortunately, if you go to far with this you end up with games like The Path – which was an interesting concept but not much of a game in itself.
As an aside, I'd be quite interested to see what Hideo Kojima could do without the MGS franchise holding him back.
That we all pretty much know the ending before playing this game - and still intend to play it - is a good example of how silly the concept of the "spoiler" is. Knowing that one of the main characters are going to die will only heighten the tragedy.
This might qualify as flamebait, given Leigh's love of Hideo Kojima, but I'd say he sort of represents the problem with games writing, rather than the solution. He writes thing overlong narratives that couldn't really exist outside of an 80+ hour context. They're dense, they rely on your being attached to his characters, and they're involved on a soap opera level.
I'm not saying it's bad per sec; there's a lot to be said for deeply involved narratives with characters we've developed unhealthy levels of affection for. But it's an appeal rooted firmly in the JRPG heyday of the late 90s, and which, as evidenced by soap operas, can barely sustain itself outside of video games. I can't imagine what a Kojima story would look like outside of a game context.
Still, I'm totally sold on the point that more people who both understand the medium of games and understand writing and/or art outside of the context of games need to start working on games. I think studios have to start actively courting more of these people, though.
Otherwise the only ones they'll find, unsolicited, are people like the majority of us forum-posters: intelligent, enthusiastic folk with a desire to express themselves and little or no prior experience, something no one's going to want to throw several years and several thousand dollars behind.
All I'm saying is, let's get Jonathan Lethem to write a game about Brooklyn. And maybe coming of age and becoming comfortable with your own sexuality.
All nerdery aside, great post. It's always nice to see forum discussions manifest themselves as intelligent exchanges.
No, I understand that criticism of him. Ahead of his time in some ways and behind in others (WHICH IS A KEY THEME OF MGS4 OMG SO BRILLIANT META).
Better get a mop, because you just BLEW MY MIND!
I loved the article. As someone who has been introducing Team Ico's games to my friends over the years it's nice to see analysis on just what makes people like them so much.
However, I don't necessarily think that it is beneficial to use the analysis to refine what we want from future games. I feel like the artistic nature of Team Ico's games is something partially drawn from how different they are from anything else. If other games duplicate what makes them special, it sort of cheapens them.
I can't agree more about the narrowness of influences in creating video games. But, it is something that I think may get better in the coming years because video games are increasingly being seen as more mainstream in terms of player demographics and because of the amount of money big games make. Visionary director and sleep-inducing rambler, James Cameron, seems pretty into the idea that games offer a unique storytelling experience. Despite his E3 performance I do think we need more people like him in the industry.
"...that neither adorable little boy nor adorable flying kitty-thing ... can possibly survive until the end of the game -- indicating that lots of you are finding the emotionality a bit forced or predictable."
Unless I am misunderstanding things, I find this sentiment to be a bit disingenuous to the work that has already been prduced by Team ICO. Looking at Ico and SotC, most, if not all, players knew the outcome would be grave for all parties invovled, however it was the journey that made the end emotionally relevant and genuine, not forced as some would suggest.
For example in SotC, toppling all the Colossi one by one, then slowly seeing the hero's appearence grow darker and tainted. Despite the fact we could see how this was going to end, I can't imagine someone not being devestated watching it all unfold.
I may be a punk for saying this, but I cried HARD at the end of both Ico and SotC (and the microwave scene in MGS4, but I digress).
I cried at the microwave hallway. that is all.
I appreciate most what Cermak commented on, but I only half agree with it. This is at least---when speaking in the context of the minds that are in the industry right now. I'd rather see more "Cameronian" minds that were "born in the industry" rather than film aficionados or those making cross media passion experiments. I'm not too sure I want the presence of "mudbloods" yet. ^_^
Your sentiment on the type of people we need is something I certainly agree with, I'm just not for opening up that particular door entirely (I'm advocating simply cracking it to sneak a few people in). We definitely need to move past that D&D collective persona you targeted, but I'm remaining on the obstinate "pureblood" side for right now.
I also liked the immediate response that the journey is the goal and how detrimentally defining it can be to immediately make a quick-lumpings about who's going to die at the end of The Last Guardian. It shows how and what gamers are quick to knock into categories for the sake of convenience (not to mention pseudo-cynical quips showing how insecure their relationships are with their own emotions). Every Metal Gear Solid had at least one moment I could honestly say I shed a tear at (not to mention a very specific moment in Shadow of the Colossus). I've no shame for any of that and I'm not in middle school anymore either.
As for the Last Guardian itself. I'm cheaply going to state that my stance on the title will be birthed from pure ignorance [http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8989997&publicUserId=5490769].
I also think there's something to be said with how gamers see those situations, as I stated above in most gamer's inability to move past the desire for "fun". I can see how plausible the predictions for death are, but my own mind isn't cognitively wrapped around that idea yet---so that means nothing is ruined for me. People disregard context left and right for the sake of analysis [not saying you are], and it usually comes back to bite them in the ass towards the end.
1 ~ the situation of the premise counts
2 ~ who the little boy is counts
3 ~ the situations involving said assumed death counts
As well as probably one hundred other tedious details that add up to form what's going to likely be another worthwhile title from Ueda and co.
~sLs~
More people with Kojima's "creative aura" please. ^_^
~sLs~
Long time reader, first time poster. I think this is my favourite SVGL entry to date. The last time I felt this way about a game was with Ocarina of Time. I’m a game journo too and I know how easy it is to become jaded and cynical with the scores of mainstream mediocrity filling the shelves. Ico and Shadow are amongst my fave games and I have no doubt that The Last Guardian will join them.
“Cross-disciplinary game designers”. Spot on. This is exactly what the industry needs. The thing I love most about your posts, and this one in particular, is how you cleanse my intellect, ridding me of countless sluggish and vague ideas and crystallising them into something precise and succinct. Such a great talent to have. I guess what I’m trying to say is… you write what I think. And I totally adore you for it.
Oh, one more thing. I was lucky enough to interview my favourite game journalist - Jes Bickham - before he retired. I asked him which games had elicited the most profound emotional impact. I think his answer helps explain why Ueda's games are so brilliant.
"Since Ocarina of Time, there’s been a handful of games I’ve truly loved, all for different reasons – Metroid Prime, Soul Calibur 2, Twilight Princess, Halo 3, to name four – but the one thing that actually gave me a profound emotional tug was Shadow of the Colossus. I think it’s a sterling, A-grade piece of work. And I think that’s down to what I said above, about blank slates – its world is gloriously empty. There’s nothing to collect (aside from fruit and lizard tails, and then only if you want) – and that makes it all the richer. It makes you appreciate the stunning environment for what it is – a stunning environment, at once dead and devoid of life and incredibly lush. (It’s the same thing as riding across Hyrule field just to watch the sun rise). The whole game is a joyous voyage of discovery.
And then there’s the story of the main character. And what I love is that, to again echo something I said above, context is all here – he’s killing these terrible, beautiful titans to resurrect his girlfriend, and when I felled the first colossus I felt both exhilaration and profound regret. It was both a triumph and a terrible thing to do – like killing an elephant, or something.
And you don’t find out ‘til the end about what you’re doing is justified, or evil, or just tragically misguided and borne out of terrible loss. You know, what are these things? Are they wicked, or just lumbering great innocents? I truly love that game; it’s a terrific spectacle that doesn’t tell you what it is until the end, leaving you to *think*."
Filling in the gaps with imagination - I think that puts nicely what drew me into games in the first place. You had crude graphics and premise with an easy-to-learn-punishing-to-perform gameplay. So creatively constructing everything missing from a game was part of the fun.
Zelda's one of those examples. Outside the story blurb in the manual you're on your own. Not just in terms of learning how to find dungeons, items, etc, but also what Link must be going through at any moment.
While having story-driven games with high end visuals today isn't bad per se, it creates a different experience. Much like a good movie we become awe with technique, message, imagery, mechanics...and not so much with participation. What Team ICO games accomplish is forcing an emotional participation by refusing to spell everything out. I like that, just as much as I like the latter example.
Although truth be told, I never once thought storytelling and its delivery trumped gameplay. Which is kinda the whole point of videogames. Though it's great to see developers tackle these things from different angles.
Referring to Ueda's creations as games, seriously limits the description of what the end-result "emotionally" his work invokes in any given person. ICO transferred me to a place that I wish really existed. I can remember Ueda saying something of the same, he wished these places existed.
Ueda does an exceptional job in creating an area where most people use games as escapism, Ueda's creations are more of emotional engrossment. I can remember crying, the first time I played ICO when Yorda had to let go ICO and he had to make his way back to the castle. I cried as I made my way back through the rocks and past the large metallic tubing.
Ueda says he is not attempting to create art. I believe he does it without even trying.
i think people who set out "trying" to make art end up making crap.
"Ueda would have been an artist in some other medium if not this one,further nailing home the need for cross-disciplinary game designers."
Ask any developer which department visualizes all the pieces of a game world the best and you will most likely come up with: "Animator". They can't schedule for shit, but they see all the pieces and problems and relationships.
I always enjoy a good article on Ueda's games. This post I enjoyed.
One thing I've really love in the previous two games is the environment. Huge, mysterious, empty, almost a feeling of being stranded. Natural sounds, no constant music in the background. Wind in all forms, screeching, rustling, gusting. Resonating footsteps on stone. Water splashing, falling, flowing.
It's a joy to experience and explore the physical landscape, as well as the ambient soundscape. Sucks me right in.
I believe the major charm in the Yorda/ICO relationship is the way they depend on each other. ICO protects Yorda from the shadow beings, and Yorda can open doors that ICO cannot. They need each other. That they are so different, and can't even understand what the other says, makes the dependency all the more beautiful.
TLG looks like it will capture the essence of Ueda's previous games. With one trailer, I can already sense that the foundations are there for another game experience. I know it will be good.
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