The Last Guardian creator: 'I can't face playing my own game'

In a rare interview Fumito Ueda, the creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus talks, about his hotly anticipated game and his nerves over its release

There are very few games that become legendary for a single moment, a single unforgettable image, but Ico is certainly one of them. For many players, when the eponymous protagonist takes the hand of the captive girl Yorda and leads her from her cage, it is a profoundly emotional experience. Most had never played anything that required one character to connect with another in such a tactile and protective way, and the idea that hand-holding could be a central mechanic was as revolutionary as it was quietly beautiful.

Now, the designer behind that moment Fumito Ueda, is nervously awaiting the release of his third game for Sony, the long-delayed Last Guardian. Little is known about this tale of a boy escaping from a ruined city with the help of a giant creature, but with its hazy, almost dreamlike lighting, vast plaintive landscapes and emphasis on a central relationship, it is very much in the style of Ico and its follow-up, Shadow of the Colossus. It is unmistakably an Ueda game.