On a side note, the title of my blog actually stemmed from SotC. SotC being one of those pivotal gaming moments in my video gaming history, and my being rather tall and large, I found Colossal Gamer only fitting. Oh yes, my profile picture is a fan drawing of one of the colossi in SotC also.
You may be wondering what Ico is; it is another game created by Fumito Ueda, that was actually released well before SotC. SotC is considered by many to be a spiritual successor to Ico; while in actuality, it is in fact set up to be a prequel hundreds or thousands of years before Ico. This is why I am reviewing Shadow of the Colossus first, because even though it came out after Ico; chronologically it takes place before it, and I think it should be played in chronological order.
Shadow of the Colossus; previously released on PS2 in 2006, has now been remastered into beautiful 1080p graphics in the 2011 release; Ico and Shadow of the Colossus collection.
In SotC you play as the protagonist Wander. And your characters drive for the game is pretty much love, in the simplest sense of the definition. In 2006 SotC was publicized as "how far would you go for love?" Don't be mistaken though, this game is not mushy gushy, romance love. It is the melancholy yet vastly epic kind of love. This game in the truest sense of the word is an Epic. Wander is a young man from an unnamed village, who has traveled to the forbidden land atop his loyal horse, Agro. Carrying what appears to be the love of his life; Mono's, lifeless body. When Wander arrives at the Shrine of the forbidden land, he makes a deal with a mysterious voice who goes by the name Dormin. Since Wander wields the ancient sword capable of controlling light, Dormin agrees to resurrect Mono on one condition. Wander must slay 16 Colossi. The epic quest ensues from there.
First Video Review Ever!
Shadow of the Colossus is unlike any other game ever made, it even differs from Ico... A lot. Shadow of the Colossus will change the way you view video gaming if you have yet to play this game. It honestly is a work of art, and is able to tell a beautiful story without words. The story and the story's characters, and their emotions, etc. Are all portrayed through amazing scenery, and a beautiful soundtrack. The 1080p revamped graphics makes it all the more amazing. I am able to see various textures here and there, as well as noticing beautiful backgrounds, and vivid colors that just don't pop in the PS2 version. If you already own SotC for a PS2 that you still own, I am not sure it is worth getting the PS3 version; however, it comes with Ico, which is yet another boundary breaking game done by Fumito Ueda that adds to the story of SotC. Two classic groundbreaking games for 40 dollars is a must.
Trophies have been added too. So for you trophy hard core go getters out there, then this game is a must for you, if you like the game that is. (Going to be my first game to platinum on!) If you haven't played it, then well you need to, because it is a seriously awe inspiring game.
Back to the game, for those of you who have not played this game. The rest of the game carries on with you, Wander traversing this forbidden land to reach 16 different colossi, and slay them. That is it. Pure and simple. No small minions to get in your way, no mini bosses, no leveling up, no purchasing uber equipment, no buying arrows, just 16 bosses, separated by beautiful scenery that you travel with your horse.
Your horse, Agro is a huge part of this game. You form a bond with that horse that you don't get in any other game. Which is understandable, considering she is your only companion throughout the entire game. Plus, Agro is vital to various Colossi.
Wander, has two weapons at his disposal; the ancient sword, and a bow and arrow. The bow an arrow is very weak, and is only used to anger the colossi into getting them to come after you, or is used to hurt sensitive areas on them to get them to move various body parts that will allow you to climb them easier. The sword can be held up in the sun, and is your only guide to each colossus. The sword can also be held up in the sun mid colossus battle, and it will point you to weak spots on the colossus, as well glyphs. The light being your only guide to each colossus, causes moments where you get lost. To some, this is extremely annoying and frustrating and whine about it. I am not going to lie, I have whined once or twice about getting lost. But honestly, I love it. It just adds to the overall immersion of the game, it makes you stop and have to think "do I take a left here, or a right? Oh wait... have I been here before? I'm going in circles!" Then once you do find your destination after being lost, it provides great satisfaction.
Colossi. Plural for Colossus. Meaning, these dudes are effing huge!!!! You are like a spider monkey traversing the iron giant, having to reach a multitude of spots or "glyphs" that are revealed when your ancient sword is wielded, then you must commence stabbing each spot in order to fell the beast. The process of taking a colossus down; you, an average joe if you will, Fills you with a sense of epicness not found in games today. The subtle drawn out tones while you approach the colossus, then once you finally get aboard the behemoth, the music escalates to some super epic stuff that just gives you goosebumps! Holding on for dear life whilst stabbing away is just, words can not describe the feeling is instills in you. Each colossus is different too, so do not think of this game as repetitive. Each colossus requires a different strategy of getting onto them. It is almost like solving a puzzle, "now how do I get to that hair spot for me to climb? Is there a place I can shoot him to knock him over? hmmmm ... Let's try, woohoo, it worked!" And if you get stuck on a colossus for to long, Dormin will give you a hint in how to go about the colossus.
The controls for this game are pretty straightforward, x calls your horse, triangle jumps/mounts your horse, circle picks things up, and square attacks. R2 zooms, while the D-pad alternates from your two weapons to no weapons. Here's where it gets tricky for all the modern gamers out there, the grab button. With games today such as inFAMOUS, and Assassin's Creed where you just hold a button down and you climb any surface you wish, we are unaccustomed to the "grab" button. I read an article on IGN prior to the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, that spoke of a group of editors trying to get onto a colossus, but failing. And after a while, they finally realized they had to hold R1 to latch onto the colossus. This game mechanic provides a sense of urgency when toppling a colossus.
Essentially, your hud consists of a stamina meter, a health bar, and which weapon you are wielding. (But only while being affected, then it disappears for a more immersing feel). The stamina gets used up for jumps, attacks (both with bow and sword), and most importantly, clinging on for dear life. If that stamina meter runs out while you are climbing a colossus, you fall and get hurt badly, or die. Then you have to climb all the way back up the colossus. This adds a sense of strategy in the way you conserve your stamina, when to latch on, when it's safe to let go and let your stamina recharge, so on so fourth.
The campaign on average lasts about 8 hours first play through, veteran SotC fans can get it done in 3-5 hours though. However, the longevity of this game is increased by what you can do after the campaign. Once beaten, you unlock normal time attack, and hard mode. If you wish to do time attack, all you have to do is pray at each statue of the colossus in the shrine, and it will teleport you straight to the colossus for a timed battle. After every 2 successful time attacks you unlock an item that can be used on your second play through. The downside, is these items can only be used on the file you already have made, therefore only available to normal mode. And are only available after story mode, so there isn't much compensation for getting the items aside from bragging rights, and extreme ease of colossal take downs.
As mentioned previously, you have to create a NEW game to play on the hard difficulty setting, you can't use your old file with all your items and such, you have to start from scratch. Which isn't so bad, considering how easy the items make it. Once hard mode is beaten, you unlock hard time attack, which in turn unlocks items for use in your second play through of hard mode. Additionally, these items do not affect your time attack. You will not be able to use them in time attack. Therefore, getting items lacks compensation... Except for the lizard finder, and fruit map....
You are able to increase your health and stamina meters by eating shiny lizard tails, and fruit spread out all over the land. These things are quite difficult to find without the lizard finder and fruit map. Both of these items are unlocked through time attack. You can make your health and stamina ridiculously awesome, unfortunately you have already beaten the story mode on measly health and stamina. But you can still get satisfaction from killing things easily with your beefy health, stamina, and gear after the fact if you so desire.
Plus, with the trophy system, it urges players to complete all four game modes, among other things that are easier to do with the items and increased stamina and health.
One of the really awesome features of Shadow of the Colossus on PS2, were all the hidden easter eggs, and glitches unknown to people, but dedicated players found. Trophy lists make the discovery of these things not as magical, such as the climbing trophy you get for climbing the shrine and reaching the secret garden. No one tells you how to climb the shrine in game, you have to some how discover it on your own, or do what I do, and look online for awesome things.
Normally, to climb the shrine, you have to max out your stamina, and play all four game modes. However, in the PS2 version, there was a glitch where if you jumped diagonally all the way up it used practically no stamina per jump so you could get to the top of the shrine really early on, which is what I did. I did not know this was a glitch, so I tried doing it right off the bat on the PS3 version, and the glitch had been fixed..... :-( It saddened me, but also urged me even more to beat all modes, and get the platinum for this game.
Other cool features are grabbing birds and flying with them, or grabbing fish and swimming. Furthermore, the environment has some pretty beautiful places that you would not discover just from going to each colossus. It takes some actual exploring to discover some of the beautiful places.
Overall, this game is extraordinary due to its method of ambiguous story telling that leaves a lot up to the player, it's cutting edge gameplay, phenomenal soundtrack, and beautiful scenery only made more beautiful with 1080p graphics.
Breakdown:
Story: 10/10
The story in this game is phenomenally epic, and is told in a way never done before, that leaves a lot to the player in terms of what happens before and after the game.
Graphics: 9/10
Th graphics were beautiful for 2005. As for 2011, the 1080p update made it even more purdy.
Sound: 10/10
The voice acting is great and is done in a fictional language which is beautful, and the soundtrack is to die for...
Gameplay: 10/10
The gameplay is superb, with the simplicity, yet epic scale of it all. The controls are finicky at times and can make slaying colossi very frustrating, but do not take away from the overall experience.
Overall
I recommend this game to everyone. Even people who don't normally play video games. It is a unique work of artistic storytelling, that breaks video game boundaries to this day, and immerses the player in a spiritual experience no other games provides.
This game is rated teen for blood and fantasy violence. (There is absolutely no blood. Just a scratch on his face only noticeable in the PS3 version. The colossi do seep black looking blood, but it's black; therefore, "fantasy violence.")
