I’m back!
Alright, let’s dive in. I’ve told you about my reservations and my excitement, so I think it’s about time we got the speculation train chugging.

Gameplay-
One of the most interesting things about The Last Guardian is the very strong suggestion that you play as a child. And going by the way Team ICO designs games, I’m also going to assume that you don’t really get beefed up as the game progresses either. In the E3 trailer, the child is shown struggling against a guard and any time he prevailed over one, it was because he used the environment to his advantage, not because he whipped out some crazy ninja moves. So how will the child interact with the beast? Will it be like Agro? Controllable, but with a mind of its own? I can hardly imagine that every time you ride the beast, you’ll be required to watch a cut scene. That just seems mad. But then again, wouldn’t the child be too overpowered with the beast? Well it seems obvious that the beast is too large or too clumsy to follow the child everywhere, because we see the kid inside a castle or a cave without the beast. But why does he even go to those places? Does he need to collect certain things to escape? Does he even need to escape? But I suppose now I’m touching on…

Story-

What is this beast? How did he meet the child? Who is the child? How did the beast escape from the chain we saw at the beginning of the trailer? The beast has the very important horns seen in all three games. Perhaps this is yet another prequel? Or maybe a tale to properly take place after ICO on the rough timeline. WHO KNOWS?! I actually didn’t think about story too much before I started talking with fellow fans today, but now that it’s on my mind, it’s actually very intriguing. The premise in Shadow of the Colossus contributed greatly to its mood, so I have to imagine the story will have equal weight in The Last Guardian as well. Innocence and bravery are two themes that come instantly to mind. Misunderstood outcasts seems to be a running theme with Team ICO, and The Last Guardian doesn’t appear to be any different. Actually, it seems to be strongest in this game because of the assumed innocence of the child. Even in Wander’s case, he knew he was entering forbidden land. Wow, the more I discuss the possibilities for this game, the more I get excited for it and my reservations melt away.
But since there’s not really much else to go off of at this point until this year’s Tokyo Game Show, I should leave the rest up to you. What do you expect/hope for in The Last Guardian? Do you care? Let’s have a fanboy fest in the comments below! The promised stupid picture post is still coming, but not until later tonight. Ethos out!

Since I laid out some negatives in The Beginning post, I will instead relay all the good things that came to me when I re-watched the newer trailer released at E3 this year. Aside from obvious graphical improvements (just compare the two trailers at the point when the landscape is first revealed), there is much about the extended preview that gets me excited.

-After getting used to the beast’s design (which is also better in the newer version), I really started to appreciate how Team ICO is making it come alive. Little quirks and movements make this completely ridiculous-looking beast entirely believable. I feel like that thing could legitimately exist in some jungle somewhere.

-The soundtrack appears to be quite promising. As my sleepy-head co-host, Riddles pointed out, Shadow of the Colossus sports one of the greatest gaming soundtracks around, and as such has set a very high standard for the “series”. My friend Andy recently lent me the ICO soundtrack which is also very atmospheric and occasionally quite good, but not SotC level, so it’s cool to hear The Last Guardian have a flavour that’s both promising and also not just a continuation from the other two games’ music.

-While I loved the barren landscapes of Shadow, The Last Guardian seems to have a far more lush environment overall, which excites me quite a bit. The swimming sections are intriguing even if deep water does terrify me, and the caverns are warm and natural.

-Like I said, the prospect of bringing back minor enemies irks me a bit, but it is encouraging that the trailer suggests that there will be no traditional hack and slash gameplay. Rather it appears like our young hero will be searching the environment for ways to use it against his foes. Which, if anything, is more like Shadow of the Colossus than ICO. It makes sense too, because could a little kid really hold his own in battle against those spooky phantom guard things?

So although it took some time, now that I’ve accepted the game’s direction, the mechanics are starting to make sense to me. I’ve been talking to other fans on Facebook, here at Riddlethos, and over at the IGN PS3 boards, and I’m going to put some speculation people have made about these mechanics and the plot in the next post. Stay tuned!

I always put “leaked” in quotations because I believe it was an intentional leak to build hype. Not that it’s a bad thing, I just want to be clear.
Long time Ethos fans will likely remember my initial reactions to the old trailer.
I literally thought it was a joke trailer when the beast was first revealed because I thought a cat face had been photoshopped on.
Now I understand that designer/director, Fumito Ueda, has since stated that the beast is supposed to look funny. I’m also sure that will play into major themes in the game as well, so that means that I reacted the way I was supposed to, I guess. Doesn’t mean the trailer was any more appealing to me at the time.
Now those worries that I stated in that old article aren’t really present anymore. I talked about not wanting to rely on a partner in the same way I did in ICO. I don’t feel that will be the case. I don’t think the beast will be an annoying Yorda clone, but far more similar to Agro. I still have worries about watering the damn thing and it becoming a fancy Nintendog (as someone over at the IGN PS3 boards put it), but overall, I’m looking forward to interacting with the beast.
No, I was also worried about a small thing that I didn’t mention in that Lusipurr.com article. There is a point near the beginning in which the beast knocks a guard into a wall. It was a badass scene, I’ll admit, but my heart also sunk when I saw another person besides the beast and the boy. I praise Shadow of the Colossus over and over for its mood and ability to capture loneliness and hope, and I felt like the shadow people in ICO only existed to take me out of the experience. Same with the ending of SotC. Most people loved it, but I just got annoyed when other characters entered the world.
Anyway, if I was worried about just one guy, the E3 trailer had another thing coming to me!
As you can probably tell, I was pretty down on the game when I first saw this trailer. I have such high hopes for Team ICO games, that I’m not sure what wouldn’t have disappointed me.
Anyway, those aren’t exactly my sentiments anymore, but one thing at a time! Stay tuned for my Last Guardian journey on-going throughout the day.