A remaster of Shadow of the Colossus
In a desolate land where beasts as big as mountains roam free, a lone hero and his horse must ride into the unknown on a quest for ancient power. Shadow of the Colossus, an undisputed PlayStation 2 masterpiece, is about to be reborn with the power of PlayStation 3.
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One of those few, rare games that show you that a game can be art. It is beautiful, fun, intelligent, and has an awareness of the medium that it uses to tell a story in a way only a game can.
This is the first game i ever played that felt like a dream.
I do not remember what my first Fumito Ueda game was. I played the remake of Shadow of the Colossus before the original, and it was the only game I have ever been frustrated at. The controls and some obtuse colossi puzzles made it very frustrating. This is by design, to make the player feel small, weak, and meaningless, and perhaps at the time, I was not ready for this. This combined with the normal, modern visuals did not make for an experience that I was eager to revisit.
I played both Ico and SoTC via the Japanese Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection: Limited Box. Upon revisiting this with Ueda's signature art style and lighting, and also being familiar with the colossi, made for a significantly better experience. I do not speak Japanese, and not knowing what is being said improves the atmosphere in my opinion. Similarly, with the Japanese version of Ico, the Runic language is untranslated on the first playthrough, leaving it up to the player to form an idea of what is being said and the story. Upon a second playthrough, the Runic language is translated.
Without going into a lengthy review of a game where everything has already been said, this game is a miracle in all aspects of game development.
I played both Ico and SoTC via the Japanese Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection: Limited Box. Upon revisiting this with Ueda's signature art style and lighting, and also being familiar with the colossi, made for a significantly better experience. I do not speak Japanese, and not knowing what is being said improves the atmosphere in my opinion. Similarly, with the Japanese version of Ico, the Runic language is untranslated on the first playthrough, leaving it up to the player to form an idea of what is being said and the story. Upon a second playthrough, the Runic language is translated.
Without going into a lengthy review of a game where everything has already been said, this game is a miracle in all aspects of game development.
A vibe única de SOTC é o que me fascina com ele até os dias de hoje, o sentimento de solidão é imposto de uma maneira tão imersiva que faz com que as cavalgadas com a Agro não sejam apenas um caminho até o próximo colosso.
As batalhas com eles apesar de alguns terem designs parecidos, são todas únicas, tendo estratégias diferentes e coisas distintas a se fazer durante o combate, destaque aqui para as lutas com o Avion e Dirge, de longe as melhores.
A trilha sonora é um ponto forte aqui também, acho sensacional como as trilhas tocam nos momentos da batalhas, mudando de tom quando estamos prestes a acertas os pontos vitais dos colossos.
No PS2 pelo que eu me recordo ele rodava a no mínimo uns 20 FPS, esse port além de aumentar a resolução para 720p, ainda roda a 30 FPS, tendo algumas quedas apenas em alguns momentos de muitas coisas acontecendo na tela, porém para mim foi um port bem descente, conseguindo melhorar a experiência do jogo original.
As batalhas com eles apesar de alguns terem designs parecidos, são todas únicas, tendo estratégias diferentes e coisas distintas a se fazer durante o combate, destaque aqui para as lutas com o Avion e Dirge, de longe as melhores.
A trilha sonora é um ponto forte aqui também, acho sensacional como as trilhas tocam nos momentos da batalhas, mudando de tom quando estamos prestes a acertas os pontos vitais dos colossos.
No PS2 pelo que eu me recordo ele rodava a no mínimo uns 20 FPS, esse port além de aumentar a resolução para 720p, ainda roda a 30 FPS, tendo algumas quedas apenas em alguns momentos de muitas coisas acontecendo na tela, porém para mim foi um port bem descente, conseguindo melhorar a experiência do jogo original.
Kinoest game to have ever kino'd but with better graphics
Shadow of the Colossus still displays Ueda's signature approach to minimalist and subtractive design, and it benefits greatly from that still. There’s a lot I still love about Shadow of the Colossus. The character dialogue is excellent at painting a picture of this haunting world and the characters within it, suggesting character motivations and themes to chew on.
I love the narrative setup of Shadow of the Colossus. A man, Wander, has come to a forbidden place bearing the body of a seemingly dead woman. He wants to heal her, and in his quest he gets the direction of a mysterious entity who tells him to slay the colossi that roam the land. Immediately this setup suggests a lot of really compelling themes. There is the contrast between life and death, or life that comes about through death. If Ico is a game about the strengths of human bonds, SotC asks what people will do to restore bonds they have lost, and the price that can come with that. And the game pays all of this off really well with its conclusion. I won’t spoil its ending, but it brings these ideas and themes which have been simmering over the course of the game to a close.
In between it’s exceptional start and end, is a middle which is good, but feels like a lot. Maybe it’s a bit absurd to complain about the size of an adventure in a game literally about confronting foes of gigantic proportions. I certainly felt the size of the adventure! Where Ico was very compact, very tight, SotC has you fight 16 of these giants, and the structure doesn’t really change in between each one. The voice tells you to kill a beast, you ride across the land to find its lair, you kill it, and then you repeat. This is the structure of the game, and it doesn’t deviate from this path for a single moment. I found that this made the pace drag a bit. Where Ico would have you bounce between combat, exploration, platforming, and puzzles very regularly, SotC has riding to the fight, maybe hunting some lizards or exploring parts of the environment, and then doing a fight. I just found it a bit more tiring, which again, maybe that’s the point. Still, maybe if the game was slightly shorter I’d be more inclined to replay it.
The world itself is still lovely and haunting. The Forgotten Lands are gorgeous and full of nature, but there is a history etched into the rocks. You can only observe fragments of old structures, with very little ability to comprehend their original purpose and meaning. The land can’t be understood, but its atmosphere is felt.
The battles are also memorable. Each is unique, with their own personality, and that lends itself to a very unique form of puzzle combat where defeating a Colossi isn’t about matching their raw strength, but in outsmarting and outlasting them.
There is a lot to love about Shadow of the Colossus. Its narrative setup injects this adventure with such potent and complex themes that leave players with few simple answers. To play Shadow of the Colossus is to accept that it won’t be an easy experience, not just with the gameplay but in the questions the game forces you to answer. I have immense respect for it, even if the compact beauty of Ico is just slightly more to my own personal taste, but honestly, after writing this I could maybe convince myself that Shadow of the Colossus is the better game. Maybe.
I love the narrative setup of Shadow of the Colossus. A man, Wander, has come to a forbidden place bearing the body of a seemingly dead woman. He wants to heal her, and in his quest he gets the direction of a mysterious entity who tells him to slay the colossi that roam the land. Immediately this setup suggests a lot of really compelling themes. There is the contrast between life and death, or life that comes about through death. If Ico is a game about the strengths of human bonds, SotC asks what people will do to restore bonds they have lost, and the price that can come with that. And the game pays all of this off really well with its conclusion. I won’t spoil its ending, but it brings these ideas and themes which have been simmering over the course of the game to a close.
In between it’s exceptional start and end, is a middle which is good, but feels like a lot. Maybe it’s a bit absurd to complain about the size of an adventure in a game literally about confronting foes of gigantic proportions. I certainly felt the size of the adventure! Where Ico was very compact, very tight, SotC has you fight 16 of these giants, and the structure doesn’t really change in between each one. The voice tells you to kill a beast, you ride across the land to find its lair, you kill it, and then you repeat. This is the structure of the game, and it doesn’t deviate from this path for a single moment. I found that this made the pace drag a bit. Where Ico would have you bounce between combat, exploration, platforming, and puzzles very regularly, SotC has riding to the fight, maybe hunting some lizards or exploring parts of the environment, and then doing a fight. I just found it a bit more tiring, which again, maybe that’s the point. Still, maybe if the game was slightly shorter I’d be more inclined to replay it.
The world itself is still lovely and haunting. The Forgotten Lands are gorgeous and full of nature, but there is a history etched into the rocks. You can only observe fragments of old structures, with very little ability to comprehend their original purpose and meaning. The land can’t be understood, but its atmosphere is felt.
The battles are also memorable. Each is unique, with their own personality, and that lends itself to a very unique form of puzzle combat where defeating a Colossi isn’t about matching their raw strength, but in outsmarting and outlasting them.
There is a lot to love about Shadow of the Colossus. Its narrative setup injects this adventure with such potent and complex themes that leave players with few simple answers. To play Shadow of the Colossus is to accept that it won’t be an easy experience, not just with the gameplay but in the questions the game forces you to answer. I have immense respect for it, even if the compact beauty of Ico is just slightly more to my own personal taste, but honestly, after writing this I could maybe convince myself that Shadow of the Colossus is the better game. Maybe.