The Last Guardian cover art

The Last Guardian

Puzzle adventure about coaxing a giant half-tame creature through ancient ruins.

Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION2 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION5 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    2/10

    Slow climbing and platforming, very forgiving

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    0/10

    Trico is willful but not modeling you adversarially

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    3/10

    Trico's unpredictable compliance adds noise

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    5/10

    Environmental puzzles with intended solutions

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

Compare with

Similar games

see all →

Ranked by shared genre first, then by how closely the cheat-test profile matches - a cross-genre tag means a pick matched on skill profile alone.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror cover art

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

Practiced Mastery · exploration platformer

E
R
V
O
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
The Cave cover art

The Cave

Pure Optimization · puzzle platform adventure

E
R
V
O
The Cave
Deliver Us the Moon cover artcross-genre

Deliver Us the Moon

Systems & Chaos · sci-fi puzzle adventure

E
R
V
O
Deliver Us the Moon
Life is Strange cover artcross-genre

Life is Strange

Systems & Chaos · narrative adventure

E
R
V
O
Life is Strange
The Wolf Among Us cover artcross-genre

The Wolf Among Us

Pure Optimization · detective adventure

E
R
V
O
The Wolf Among Us
L.A. Noire cover artcross-genre

L.A. Noire

Systems & Chaos · detective adventure

E
R
V
O
L.A. Noire

Game details

Released
2016
Developer
Team Ico
Platforms
PS4
Modes
Single player
IGDB critics
80/100
IGDB users
83/100
PlatformPuzzleAdventureAction