In this world, there lies a man amongst giants. It’s been over a decade since mystical, colossal beings roamed the lands and were slain by a brave wanderer and his horse in desperate search for a cure to death. After finally receiving an overdue remastered edition on the PS4, the beings of Shadow of the Colossus have been resurrected and this brave wanderer must embark upon his journey again. The question for you now, is will you join this hero on his dangerous quest? This honest review on Shadow of the Colossus may help you decide. Also, check out my gameplay video here :) AboutShadow of the Colossus (SOTC), is an action-adventure, puzzle game in which players take the lead as a heroic man and get to venture through a vast map while strategically attacking colossi to gain their spiritual entities. It originally released on October 18th, 2005 through the inventive minds of Team Ico, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and SIE Japan Studio. The game received tremendous praise and high ratings from websites like GameRankings (who gave SOTC a 91%) and IGN (who rated the title a 9.7/10) in 2005. In fact, as a winner of several awards ranging from “Best Visual Arts” and “Best Game Design,” many players and reviewers have rated this as one of the best games of the decade. Today, SOTC is still highly praised and respected. Its remastered sales are a testament to this. For instance, in the UK the amount of physical copies sold this year were up to 70 percent higher than original PS2 sales according to Game Spot. The three year development period that a 35 member team took to create this well-loved game was worth every second. The anticipation of the first battle inches closer as the earth quakes and the skies fly away. StoryThe narrative of SOTC is surrounding the voyage of a young man named Wander and his horse Agro to unknown, forbidden lands. The reason behind his perilous travels solely revolving around the most common goal of protagonist men: to save a woman he cares for named Mono. These forbidden lands contain the key to life as long as the spirits of 16 colossi beings are destroyed. And thus, Wander is forced to become a warrior and be victorious against his foes at all costs to bring Mono back to life. Be aware, that as the game progresses it is revealed that something even more sinister and mysterious is in control of the colossi and Wander himself. GameplayThe bigger they come, the harder they fall. There is only one solo character to reign as in this title. As a small framed and frail looking young man, Wander is actually quite the opposite of his physical demeanor. Players can expect to transform into skilled archers, swordsmen, climbers and horse tamers while playing as Wander to take down the colossi. While the targets are primarily focused upon finding and annihilating the colossi, players are able to travel around the huge map enjoying the harmonious sights of the landscape. Other than that, there are no other people, towns, or objects to immersively interact with. The lonely lands add to the severity of the situation as this whole adventure is based upon life or death. Yet it wouldn’t have hurt to add a couple more hidden architectures or interactive animals to enhance the environment. It’s just a straightforward game with little variation in what you can do other than the main quests. Besides the fact that you can shoot a couple lizards for health and possibly stumble upon a secret garden arena! In the end, the engaging storyline, fun boss battles, and immaculate graphics and audio make for a game you can rarely get tired of replaying. Quests/Missions SystemThe main quests consist of finding and executing 16 diverse colossi creatures. Each colossi comes with a hint as to where you can find them and have their own unique characteristics and weak spots needed to destroy them. Some colossi fly amongst the desert floors, while some reside underwater and shoot electricity to protect themselves. The level of difficulty increases with each colossi as well. The precision of timing becomes imperative as players must use Agro in some battles or have to evade an obstruction at the right moment. Since each colossi is so variably different, some being peaceful and some being outright terrifying, the sense of unpredictability is invigorating. No two battles are exactly alike. On the other hand, some battles are excruciatingly painful to complete and take more luck and randomization to complete rather than skill. This takes away from some of the fun of the quests, but they are still overall something to look forward to completing. Additionally, there is a time attack for players who want to challenge themselves in defeating the colossi in an allotted amount of time. GraphicsUnderneath the terror of the colossus, hides a beautiful and peaceful world. The art visuals from the PS2 version were ahead of their time in 2005. The furry textures of the colossi’s fur, grainy sand, and gritty, rocky terrain were amongst the features that gave SOTC such praise to begin with. Nowadays, every asset has been remastered to make the game look even more realistic. You can see the birds clearly flying above the colossi’s head as you mount them. You can see the glare of the sun mixing into the smoky and steamy atmosphere near the lakes. You can see the tiniest of details that create this world. The combat animations for the colossi are beautifully accurate. Most of them lug barbaric weapons around and take ages to swing them since they are such heavy and huge creatures. The animals that fly, soar the skies and you can feel the rush of the wind while riding them. Even Wander’s animation is great quality as he stands upon his horse, riding into battle with his arrows drawn. Developer(s)Team Ico is the mastermind development team behind this masterpiece along with Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bluepoint Games. Designer Fumito Ueda, producer Kenji Kaido, and writers Junichi Hosono, Masashi Kudo, and Takashi Izutani worked tirelessly without mediocrity or excuses to perfectly craft this piece together. While on the surface, most aspects have good functionality and little errors, there are small bugs in the game where you can get stuck in certain terrains. These are minor issues though that don’t defeat gameplay. Ueda specifically sought to intrigue players with a new representation of what boss battles should be. The abundance of requests for a remastered version are also what lead these developers to creating a new version for players to relive the adventure. Besides releasing a DLC the day after the game released again this year, no other additional features have been currently added to the game. Final VerdictUltimately, I rate the game a 9/10. In my opinion, it’s a title that should go down in game history as one of the most emotionally captivating, intensely invigorating, and intricately written games ever. Pros:
Christian ReferencesOur lead hero, Wander, with his adventures in battle against skyscrapers of beasts reminds me a lot of the story of David and Goliath. Just like Wander, David was a tiny, young man in the eyes of the mighty Goliath. Yet, his faith in God and determination to bring safety to his people pushed him to run into the battlefields nonetheless! Even though Wander is a fictional character, David and he have one pretty cool thing in common: courage to save those they love. Read David and Goliath here: 1 Samuel 17 Watch me play SOTC on YouTube!
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