![]() That’s where The Last Guardian came from.” I thought OK, if that’s the case, there are a lot of mechanics from that relationship that we could heighten and expand on. “For me it was the main relationship between Wander and the girl, but after the release, I read a lot of feedback from players who were touched by the game, and they said that the relationship between Wander and the horse was the most important and appealing – we got the sense that this was what most people felt. “Once we were done with Shadow of Colossus there was a moment when I reflected on what we really wanted to communicate and portray in that game,” he says. Indeed, it’s surprise about how players have interpreted his past work that led to the pairing at the centre of Last Guardian – the boy and the beast. But as a lot of people played through Ico and Shadow of Colosuss, they said, ‘Oh, these games are about building a bond, they’re about trust.’ From my perspective, I just say, here, go ahead, play it – then at the end, the player can come to their own conclusion about what the game is trying to tell them. “From our side, we didn’t have a strong intent to portray relationships as a theme of our games. When asked about the way in which intimate relationships have figured highly in his three PlayStation games, he shrugs and smiles. Of course, no one could accuse him of bashing his games together, but he retains the self-deprecating air of the chancer who made good, who is almost mystified by the meaning that people ascribe to his work. Ten years ago, in a rare biographical interview with the Japanese games magazine Continue, he claimed that while studying art at university he specifically chose to specialise in conceptual art for the main practical component so that he could get away with bashing together something abstract a day before the course deadline. ![]() He exudes this air – whether manufactured or not – of winging it. He certainly considers every question carefully, he is polite and focused, but time and time again he refuses to share his influences and refutes any attempt to interpret to his work. In person, he is a playful, mischievous but also likably frustrating presence. Photograph: SonyĪfter meeting Ueda at E3, it’s clear why there is so little backstory about him. Ueda-san’s first game for Sony, Ico, was famous for its hand-holding mechanic, linking the eponymous protagonist with the prisoner he rescues, Yorda.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |