The Second-To-Last Guardian?
If there’s one thing that Gen Design have exceeded at over the past few years, it’s capturing a sense of scale in their games. They’re the minds behind the immortal classics that are Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, as well as the ones responsible for the flawed yet endearing The Last Guardian. If you’ve played the latter two, then you’re well aware at how awe-inspiring the titular creatures are, and just how tiny you feel in comparison.
This motif has certainly worked well for them in the past, and it seems creator Fumito Ueda is showing no signs of changing his tune given the most recent teaser for his brand new project.
According to an article on Eurogamer –Â
Gen Design – the developer led by Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian creator Fumito Ueda – has posted what may be an image of its new game.
Underneath a Happy New Year message on the Gen Design website there is the image of a girl (or perhaps boy) sat in the dark on a kind of stone altar, radiating a beam of light. Far more eye-catching, however, is the massive chubby fist of a giant off to the right.
In the website’s source code (via Resetera) the picture is named “Beauty and the Beast 2018”.
I met Fumito Ueda at the Gamelab conference last summer, where he talked about his process of making games and how traditionally he created an image early on to represent what he wanted to achieve.
At the time he couldn’t say much about his game. “About the new project,” he said, “I can’t say many things, but until now the priority for me is visual image. Now I change a little bit the process so I intend to make a prototype because there are many tools to facilitate making one.”
He did say, though, he intended his new game to be “very different”, although as with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian, there may end up being a familiar look and feel to it – as there appears to be in the image.
“The last three games we created, I didn’t intend to be very similar to each other,” he told me. “When I start to create our games, always I think we will create something different. But as a result, in the three games there are some similarities, a feeling. In the process of operation there’s a moment when one game links with another. But I don’t put it in at the start – it happens in the process. So now I think I’m creating something very different, but the result? I can’t say.”
It’s certainly a striking visual, though not without a sense of familiarity. Even if the game does end up focusing on a giant monster like Ueda’s previous works, each have been such a tour de force that we have no doubt we’ll enjoy this new entry regardless!
If you still haven’t had your fill of Gen Design’s genius, be sure to check out the trailer for the upcoming remastered version of Shadow of the Colossus as well as see where the game ranked on our for the Top 10 Video Games of the 6th Generation!Â