Shadow of the Colossus
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
Shadow of the Colossus is a game that I’ve always considered to be overrated. I’ve played through it twice in the past – once on the PS2 when it first came out and once on the PS3 when it was paired alongside ICO. Neither time did I think the game lived up to the hype. I liked the game, sure, but people often built it up as one of the greatest games of all time. In my mind, it wasn’t even close.
When I saw that this game was coming out on the PS4 with completely remastered visuals, I knew I’d have to check it out someday. After four years of kicking the tires, I finally got off my butt and gave this game a chance. Would I still feel the game was overrated, or would I finally begin to see what everyone else loved so much about it? A little bit of both, actually. Read on for my full thoughts.
Story:
This is one of those games where the storyline is intentionally vague, letting the player’s imagination fill in the gaps. Things begin when a man named Wander arrives in what is known as the Forbidden Land. Wander brings the body of his slain lover to a temple within the Forbidden Land, and places her upon an altar. Wander prays for her to be brought back to life. His prayers are partially answered by a spirit known as Dormin, who tells Wander that if he can find and slay all 16 Colossi located in the Forbidden Land, he will bring her back to life.
As Wander sets out on his task to defeat the Colossi, a small group of soldiers enters the Forbidden Land, looking to stop him. If he manages to defeat all the Colossi, he will unleash a nefarious evil that’s been dormant for centuries. They’re too late, however. Wander defeats all of the Colossi and returns to the temple. There he turns into a giant shadow creature, and fights against the soldiers who had been trying to stop him. The shadow figure drives the soldiers away, but not before it is sucked into a pool of water in the temple. Wander’s lover awakens on the altar, and she approaches the body of water and pulls a baby out of it. The end.
There’s a lot of different ways to interpret this game’s story, but I am not going to bother.
Gameplay:
The original Shadow of the Colossus was released in 2005, still what I consider to be the fledgling era of 3D gaming. From what I can tell, the controls haven't been upgraded at all in the years that have since passed. And it definitely shows. Controlling the horse can be quite the ordeal. It gets stuck on things. It can be hard to turn around. I hated riding the horse and having to hold my sword up, because the horse would either come to a stop or veer wildly off course in the process.
On foot, things are much better. This game isn't known for its smooth control scheme, but it suffices. Running, jumping, and grabbing onto things is pretty easy to do.
The main goal of the game is to kill all 16 Colossi. So basically this game is like 16 different boss battles. There are no basic enemies in between Colossi, as there are in most video games. You won't be hacking your way through a crowd of bat creatures while making your way across the map or anything like that.
Traveling in between Colossus battles is a big part of the game. How it works is that you hold your sword up into the sunlight, and a beam of light points you in the direction of the next Colossus. As I alluded to earlier, the controls make this aspect of the game a lot more difficult than it needs to be, particularly when you're on your horse.
Finding the next Colossus is almost like working your way through a maze or puzzle. The beam of light may tell you to head one way, but you'll often find yourself cut off by mountains, cliffs, and large chasms. So you have to find a way around these obstacles, taking yourself off the path of the beam in the process.
I'll admit, I got completely lost more times than I care to admit. The beam of light can be very deceptive sometimes. And I have a poor sense of direction, so if I ever found myself forced off the path, I wouldn't know where to go next. It's nothing you can't work out without a little trial and error, but the fact that a couple of these Colossus battles took me 20+ minutes to even get to is a little obnoxious. Maybe some people like that about this game, but I did not.
The Colossus battles themselves are easily the best thing about this game. Some of these battles are massive and epic in scope, and really make you feel like you're in the middle of a giant epic fantasy battle scene. Each Colossus has a different tactic you must take in order to defeat it. What it mainly boils down to is finding a way to climb the Colossus, likely by grabbing its fur or something hanging off of it. You have to find the weak spot on the Colossus and stab it with your knife. The longer you hold down the attack button the more damage your strike will do. You have to be careful, though, because the Colossus can buck or shake you off of it, and you'll lose your opportunity to strike.
There is a stamina meter that determines how long you can hang onto the Colossus. If you can find somewhere on the Colossus's body to let go and rest, you can recharge your stamina meter. Doing so is key to defeating these Colossi, because if you run out of stamina and fall you have to repeat your past actions all over again.
Wander not only comes equipped with a sword, but he has a hunting bow as well. Its arrows won't do much damage to the Colossi, but you can use them strategically to affect the Colossi's behavior - like shooting them in the foot to make them raise their foot up to look at it - giving you the opportunity to jump and climb up onto its body. There's another particularly memorable Colossus battle where you have to fire your arrows into its eye. Good stuff.
For a game that is mainly riding a horse across barren landscapes and fighting boss battles, the game doesn't ever get tiring or seem repetitious. I wholeheartedly had a good time with this game on my most recent playthrough. As I said before, in the past I haven't been too gung-ho about this game, but I think I'm beginning to change my mind on it.
Graphics:
The PS4 version of this game looks amazing. If you're going to play Shadow of the Colossus for the first time and you want the full experience - play this one. It really nails the haunting, dreamlike atmosphere it's going for.
The Forbidden Land has this empty and eerie feel to it. But it also has this magical feel as well, as if this mysterious land was once a place of great things. The trees, the ruins, the scenery, all of it is absolutely beautiful and the game really does a great job of sucking you into the experience.
Also amazing visually are the Colossi. Some of these creatures are breathtaking to look and with their size and scope. I like it when you get in close, and you have to grab onto their hair in order to climb them. The hair looks so freaking cool. Who would have thought I'd be so taken by a giant smelly creature's back hair in a video game?
Sound:
This game wouldn't be as atmospheric as it is without the sound doing its part. The game is quiet when it needs to be, filling the silence with ambient noises like birds chirping and wind blowing. When the action is ramped up, a sweeping musical score makes the Colossus battles seem beyond epic.
Overall:
I'm glad I'm finally beginning to understand why people like Shadow of the Colossus so much. I wouldn't say it is the best game ever made, nor would it likely be in my top 50. But it's pretty darn good. The story, while it doesn't give you much in the way of answers, is intriguing. The music, sound effects, and the graphics really bring the magic of this game's atmosphere to life. If you can, play this with your headphones on while in a dark room. It is amazing.
As fun as this game is, it does have flaws. The length, for one. You can fly through this game in a day or two if you put your mind to it. The control scheme, particularly when you are on the horse, is quite archaic and often gets in the player's way. And I absolutely hated getting lost while trying to find the next Colossus. That darn beam of sunlight is so misleading. It will lead you directly into a mountain that you can't get past, causing you to have to backtrack halfway across the entire map to go a different route. It's stupid and frustrating.
On the whole, I really liked this game. I can see myself coming back and playing it for a fourth time at some point in the future. Yes, the game has some warts, but it is one that I find myself appreciating more and more as time goes by.
THE GRADE:
B+
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