An extraordinary tale of trust and companionship

History lessons are rarely the best place to start, but it is important to understand the genesis of The Last Guardian, an extraordinary video game a decade in the making. Fumito Ueda's adventure about a boy and his beast has been oft-delayed and rarely glimpsed, its creator curiously shuffling roles mid-development. At times it seemed to vanish entirely, giving the impression that this follow-up to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus was, like its gryphon-esque cover star, nothing but a myth.

The backstory is important because, now it is here after shifting platforms to PS4, The Last Guardian inevitably bears the scars of a lengthy development. Its frame-rate can chug, some textures can be flat and you will find yourself wrestling with an insubordinate camera more often than you would like.

These technical indiscretions are initially unmissable, yet eventually dissipate, drowned out by The Last Guardian's heart and ambition. This is a singular game about trust and companionship, an almost wordless symphony of bonding as you, as a young boy, form an extraordinary relationship with a great beast the size of a building. While it shares thematic and aesthetic similarities with Ueda's other works, you will not have played anything like it. And quite possibly never will again.