At E3 2015 this week, Sony re-revealed its long-in-development PlayStation adventure game The Last Guardian. Before Monday evening, the last time we saw anything new from the game was back in 2009. Now, creative director Fumito Ueda has admitted that he wasn’t sure that people would even remember the game–thankfully, they did. But it was a concern, he says in an interview with the PlayStation Blog.
“Yes, it’s been a few years since our last announcement,” Ueda said. “From my point of view, it was very unpredictable how the audience would react. I wasn’t sure if people would remember the title. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous.”
But this anxiety was short-lived, as fans responded positively to the game’s announcement.
“After the announce I saw the reaction, and the cheering–and that proved to me that people had really been waiting and were excited to see us reveal The Last Guardian for PS4,” Ueda said. “Afterwards, I was more relaxed and happy!”
Also in the interview, Ueda said there were “a number of reasons” why The Last Guardian has seen such an extended development schedule. One of the most significant reasons was the technical challenge of transitioning the game from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4.
“If I had to call out one of them, it was more of a technical hurdle that we had to overcome,” Ueda said about why the game was delayed. “But eventually we have overcome it, and we have finally–proudly– announced the game for PS4 during the E3 press conference.”
Given the extended development of The Last Guardian, some might be wondering if the game has changed at all since we last saw it. The core components have not, Ueda said, though the game should look quite bit nicer now that it’s running on a better platform.
“The game content itself–the storyline etc.–that stuff has not changed,” he explained. “Obviously, the migration to PS4 has enabled us to push the envelope on the technology side. The overall aesthetic that the team is going for isn’t necessarily ‘edgy’ but we have a very specific art style we are aiming for and the PS4 hardware has helped us achieve our goals.”
Be sure to read the full interview for lots more. You can also check out GameSpot’s own interview to hear directly from Ueda about The Last Guardian.
The Last Guardian launches in 2016 exclusively for PS4.
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