Gaming Shadow of the Colossus

[James]

[color=#707875]Wanda & Colossus has been in the rumor pages for quite a while now. Originally, the nickname was "NICO" and originally, there was a thought that this game would be a direct sequel to ICO.

Despite IGNPS2's totally disingenuous headline (because it's [i]not[/i] ICO II or a sequel in any sense), this game should catch the interest of anyone who was a fan of ICO or indeed, anyone who is a fan of adventure games in general.

If you own a PS2 and you haven't played ICO, you're really missing out. Its cool premise, absolutely amazing dream-like atmosphere and brilliant production quality all came together to create a subtle masterpiece. It was subtle for many reasons (the general absence of music, and the fact that even small sounds were treated with utmost care by the developers). But by the same token, it featured some of the best examples of architectural design in a game ever. I think it is difficult to overstate ICO as a piece of art -- it's one game that really blurs the line between pure art and a video game, in my view.

Wanda to Kyozou (roughly translated to Wanda & Colossus) is the next game by the ICO team, though it isn't at all a sequel.

Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido (designer/art director and producer respectively) are in charge of this game. They are essentially taking the same role in Wanda & Colossus that they had in ICO. So even on that basis, I think we know we're in for something special.

[img]http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/546/546753/wanda-and-colossus-20040910052641531.jpg[/img]

The game essentially revolves around a boy who is apparently trying to revive a girl who has lost her soul. He takes her to a shrine, where he lays her down. He then hears a voice from the sky, which basically tells him that the only way to revive her, is to defeat the giant beasts that populate the ancient land.

Of course, it's a very simple concept -- as ICO's was.

But it's the execution that is going to make this a really interesting game.

Basically, you have to go around the landscape on horseback and confront various giant creatures. The creatures come to life once you touch them. And then, at that point, the battle begins.

There are several interesting aspects to this. And in my view, this is a really cool idea.

The aim is to essentially climb up the creature itself and to locate its weak spot. In essence, the Colossus becomes a kind of "level". As you make your way up its body, you're basically dealing with an obstacle course, which you need to get through in order to hit your target. The IGNPS2 article suggests that elements of the creature's body will change, to try and block your access.

Actually attaching yourself to the creature is half the puzzle. In one example, the Colossus strikes its sword into the ground. At this point, you can actually cling to the sword and climb up it.

In another example, the Colossus runs through a field and you must chase it on horseback.

I've only included the one shot here, because it's the most recent and the sharpest. The other shots are from an early video, and are pretty low quality (but you can find them at ps2.ign.com).

So, I'm interested to know what your thoughts are about this new title. I am personally very excited about it. I think it holds a great deal of promise, not just because of its unique concept, but also because the team behind it are really perfectionists. Considering that ICO was their first project (and considering that it was so wonderful), I think we can expect good things from Wanda & Colossus.[/color]

[Shinmaru]

Definitely excited about this one, even if I don't have a PS2 lol.

Ever since I played it at a friend's house, I've been a huge fan of ICO. I loved how it was simplistic, yet at the same time its puzzles had that subtle intelligence about them. And, of course, you can't go without mention ICO's awesome graphics and architecture. Amazing stuff, to be sure.

Reading about the game's premise has definitely raised my spirits a bit, since it's so unique. If done right (and I have no doubts that it will be), this could turn out to be quite the amazing game. This kind of thing reminds me of the discussion going on at the 2D vs. 3D thread; a game like this is really taking advantage of the 3D world. You could do the same thing in 2D, but you'd get nowhere near the same experience.

One thing that a lot of people complained about with ICO was how long it was. I don't know how much longer (if at all) it will be than ICO was, but it's something to watch out for. That's really the only consistent complaint I've heard about ICO, heh.

[BlueYoshi]

The only experience I've ever had with ICO was when I played the demo version of it that was released a few years ago with an issue of OPS2 magazine. I never thought much of the game back then, as I was quick to judge it by the rather slow first impression that I got, so I let it go beyond me and haven't taken much thought of it ever since.

However, it's news like this that makes me realise what a jerk I was back then lol. The graphics are astonishing, and by that one shot, I can tell that the engine won't have any trouble in setting moods and things of the liking. And the concept of incorporating the giant's bodies to play the roles of the game's "dungeons" opens the opportunity for many new things.

I can't help but notice how that giant looks so... innocent, though lol. Definitely looks the part.

[Semjaza]

ICO was a good game. I don't love it as much as some seem to, but it was very atmospheric and quite unique in many ways. I still love running around with the girl, especially because they seem so real. When he pulls Yorda (I think that's it) around, you actually get the sense that he's really tugging on her arm. It doesn't seem like game physics, it seems real to me.

Anyway, this game seems interesting. I'm mostly posting because I have some scans from Famitsu showing new stuff. Game is pretty gorgeous.

[HardSlash]

Just played the demo. This game is gonna be the shat. Do yourself the biggest favor of all time and pick up the new issue of Official Playstation Magazine for the demo disk. And if you already have, whats your opinion?

[Killer7]

Yeah, I thought it was very good. The style of gameplay is really original. Basically for the uninitiated, the game is a series of 16 boss battles. You start off by using your sword to direct the light to where the enemy is. After going through the terrain to find him, you find a way to climb up onto the collossus' hulking bodies (which are to be frank, FREAKIN HUMONGOUS). and use the sword's light once again to find the weak spot. Another original thing is the art style, but you would kinda expect that from the people behind Ico. Like Ico light is used very lifelike and you feel like your in a magical dream. The only problem was that the demo disc was extremely glitchy, and actually crashed on me twice.

[Rachael]

I loved the Demo. My absoloute second favourite hobbie is horse back riding. It's like they captured a real horse and downloaded it into the game. Algo (the horse's name) is very life like.
However I have to disagree with James and say that Shadow of the colouses seems to be the sequel to ico. For the people that have played the Demo you'll see that the hero moves and fights exactly like ico. The lifeless girl on the alter actually looks like yorda without the white glow around her. There are other aspects to that seem to have been taken from ico as well. If the ico players remember, Ico was transported to the castle on....A horse. Algo seems to have the same apperence (yet he is brown and not black) as the horses in Ico. The totems that surround the hallway were the girl sleeps look like the prison that Ico and the other 'cursed' boys were taken and locked in. And last and final thing: at the begining of shadow of the colouses you fight the shadowy monsters that were in Ico.
I'm sure this sounds very familiar to the people who have the PS2 magasine. This is the way I see it: Ico found Yorda at the end of the game on the beach. She looked asleep or maybe in a coma. Many years of past and Ico has become a straping young lad and he is still looking for a way to revive Yorda. Meanwhile Yorda has lost her glow/powers because she is 'asleep' and not in the castle anymore. This theory seems reasonable.
Since there are many simialrities to Ico and Shadow of the collosus. It seems only natural that Shadow would be the sequel. If it isn't than (harshly put) It seems almost a copy to Ico

[armana]

Another one of my many reasons to buy a PS2.

This game looks absolutely breathtakingly amazing. If there's one thing I like about gaming it's atmosphere, and this title seems to have ****loads of it. Some of the clips I have seen of it have me speechless, such as the one where the main character leaps onto one of the colossus' swords and begin to climb it. Awesome stuff.

ICO, unless I'm mistaken, wasn't released here in Australia, which is anther reason I can't wait to play this game. If I am mistaken please tell me.

[James]

[QUOTE=armana]
ICO, unless I'm mistaken, wasn't released here in Australia, which is anther reason I can't wait to play this game. If I am mistaken please tell me.[/QUOTE]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Actually, you can buy ICO here. I'm not sure how common it is, but I rented it from a local Blockbuster here. You should find it in gaming-centric stores, I'd say.

As for the whole sequel idea...I don't know how this game can be called a sequel. Although there are surface similarities to ICO, the core gameplay is quite different.

In ICO you are navigating a castle, dragging someone around with you. In Shadow of the Colossus, you are hunting around large environments by yourself until you find a Colossus, which itself is a seperate kind of gameplay.

So yeah, of course, people are calling it a spiritual successor or whatever (like Perfect Dark to Goldeneye), but I don't think people would generally say that PD was a sequel to Goldeneye. ^_^[/font]

[50 cent]

Oh this game I have seen a lot of this on g4 lately and it looks and sounds simply amazing. I really am looking forward to this game, and just the obstacale(sp?) to get ont he beast to find it's weak spot sounds fun and challenging. Also I heard that there won't be any other enemy's other than these beasts. So you search for them finding some items to heal your self I suppose then go and defeat them, but I do suspect for because just running around would be pretty boring after a while.

[Mitch]

This game is breathtaking. I've never played Ico, but I've always wanted to. I just beat this game a day or so ago. It's beautiful and unique, but at the same time is flawed in its ways as well. My main gripe probably concerns the camera: at times it pans around to the point where all you can see is the hulking skin of the back of a colossi, or something like that. You can control the camera, but controlling it becomes unweildy, especially when you're trying to hike your way up to a colossi's weak point or trying to jump from the shoulder of a colossi to his hand. Another gripe is just that the battles against the colossi got frustrating from time-to-time, but I guess that's just a part of the game. I also didn't enjoy having to travel for a while before I met the colossi, because that part of the game felt pretty extraneous to me and just kind of there at times. It was nice to roam this pretty land, and to take in what it looked like and all, but some of the traveling to the colossi just took too long, or it took me a while to find where I was supposed to go. All of these faults, however, are pretty forgivable and are mainly minor things. If you haven't played this game, at least give it a rental. In fact, that's what I suggest, since the game itself only takes about 10 hours to complete (but then you open a hard mode, and can play that, and after that, I'm not sure what happens, because I haven't done it). The main thing is the game could've been longer (that's why it's a better rental than anything, but it's still cool to own I suppose).

The main draw of this game is its atmosphere and its uniqueness. Its atmosphere is gained by the graphics and the land you roam as you search for the colossi, how none of the characters speak english (what they say is told through subtitles), and also the spare use of sound and how subtly it is handeled. Its uniqueness is mainly the colossi battles. There's nothing like confronting a new colossi (there are 16 in all), and seeing it towering over you and you having no idea what to do and then slowly finding it out. It's like nothing you've ever seen in a game. In some battles, what you have to do is obvious, in other battles it took me hours to fully understand what I had to do. And if you reach the final colossi. . .it was just amazing to see this humonguous thing towering over you, and then to climb it and then to lay that last stab on his weak spot and watch him fall. It gives you an immense sense of satisfaction. I also enjoyed the ending, it had quite a twist at the end. Give this game a shot, you'll love it in some way, guaranteed.

[OtakuSennen]

[quote name='50 cent']Oh this game I have seen a lot of this on g4 lately and it looks and sounds simply amazing. I really am looking forward to this game, and just the obstacale(sp?) to get ont he beast to find it's weak spot sounds fun and challenging. Also I heard that there won't be any other enemy's other than these beasts. So you search for them finding some items to heal your self I suppose then go and defeat them, but I do suspect for because just running around would be pretty boring after a while.[/quote]You heal on your own, and it's not like you have to spend an hour trying to find the Colossi- the game pretty much shows you where to go.

The whole atmosphere of the game is built around isolation, and if you had to run around killing generic goblins for an hour inbetween each Colossus not only would the mood be killed, but the game would go from being "A breathtaking, epic, unique gaming experience" to "Another fantasy adventure game with cool boss battles lost somewhere inbetween."

[DotHackerX]

I twas wondering what was with all the "beams" of light that seem to be comeing down from the sky. Are they like, there to show that uv beaten a colossus, or what?
Iv beaten it twi ce and I still cant for the life of me figure it out!!!

[Dodeca]

[SIZE=1]Woo.

We Brits just got this last Friday, and when I went to get a copy on Tuesday it turned out to be the last in stock, heh. It took me a little while to get used to the camera and grabbing/climbing, but overall I've found it very, very satisfying so far. I, for one, love travelling to each Colossus. The scenery is so varied and detailed, obviously having taken a lot of work, that I just can't help being drawn in by it.

As for the Colossi themselves, I just whacked the seventh last night, despite it almost killing me twice. The visual effects as you're trying to hold on to them are superb, as in every other part of the game, and they do give a very believable performance as 'living things'. Once you figure out which part to grab, and how to get there, it's pretty easy, but until then I'll admit it can be quite frustrating. I also find it quite amusing how Agro runs away from you if you start aiming/firing arrows at him. Quite entertaining.

Two questions though: Is there actually a point to killing the little lizards and picking up their tails, or is it just for the hell of it? And can one shoot down the hawk that occasionally flies overhead as you're riding around?

...What? ...No, of course I don't like killing defenceless creatures! I... just want to know, yes?[/SIZE]

[Charles]

All right, here is another game that a lot of you should jump on since it can now be found for twenty dollars.

Now, I wasn't very fond of [B]Ico[/b]. I admired many aspects and still view it as a tremendous artistic accomplishment, but it never really clicked with me.

[B]Shadow of the Colossus[/B], on the other hand, had me hooked from start to finish. The camera work annoyed me to a large degree, and the frame rate was jerky but once I overcame those issues I began to apperciate the game as one of the finer accomplishments on the Playstation 2.

The musical score is [B]phenomenal[/b]. The music is epic and picks up pace once the player mounts a Colossus. The design of each Colossus and different strategy for climbing atop each one is genius. As mentioned by Dodeca, these beasts animated superbly. Despite how large many of them are, they animate gracefully and very naturally. Subtle touches, like the way they attempt to shake you off are simply impeccable. Even your horse animates with a fluidity and natural grace that I've never seen in a game before.

There are also plenty of easter eggs and secrets to unlock that make for a great incentive to replay the game multiple times.

I highly suggest that you all check it out if possible.

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]I'm borrowing my friends PS2 and another friends copy of the game just because they both said it rocks that much. And they're right.

Now, I'm only halfway through the game ([spoiler]Currently struggling with the giant tortoise[/spoiler]) but it's already earned its way to my top ten favourite games list. The way that it makes you think rather than just running up to the beast and hacking away is really great.

Actually, I think what I like most about this game is figuring out how to get onto their fur. There's just something about that new music blasting and the satisfaction of knowing you've tricked a colossus that really gets you. [spoiler]I was especially fond of how you had to trick the Fourth Colossus, lol.[/spoiler]

GAH! *goes to play some more*[/FONT][/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[font=tahoma]I beat the game a while ago, my only complaint was with how short it was. Other then that it was a very fun game. It was challenging in a sense, not neccesarily difficult but it involved a lot to take down most of the collosi.

It didn't really start getting hard for me until the 8th or the 9th (I forget which number it was exactly. It's the one you [spoiler]find in the dried out land with the geysers, the big turtle like collosus you have to trick into walking over a geyser to reveal it's vital point.[/spoiler] I believe that was the first one to put me past two tries to beat a collosus. The fourth one didn't kill me...but i was there for a long damn time trying to figure out what the hell I had to do. Other then that one and the aforementioned one...the others were pretty simple. Some of the later ones though, ESPECIALLY the 12th one (may be forgetting my numbers, it's been months since i beat it) it's the [spoiler]one in the small area in the water, you have to jump onto it's head and guide it by hitting the stones[/spoiler]. Actually i remember stumbling upon that area by accident when looking for another collosus, and i thought to myself it would be an awesome place to put a collosus...turned out to be the most annoying one aside from the final one.

My personal favorite was (again i don't remember the number exactly) one of the later ones. [spoiler]The flying serpent like collosus you fight in the desert. When you have to jump from Argo onto it's wings after some crafty (or spastic) archery work from underneathe[/spoiler].

I wouldn't mind seeing another installment...i don't have a clue how they would go about it judging from the end of the game...but the concept is a fun one.[/font]

[size=1][color=dimgray]Added a little more spoiler tags. Be a bit more careful later. ;D - White[/color][/size]

[Charles]

[quote name='BKstyles][font=tahoma']I wouldn't mind seeing another installment...i don't have a clue how they would go about it judging from the end of the game...but the concept is a fun one.[/font][/quote]

[spoiler]Well you do know that Ico is the sequel, right?[/spoiler]

[Doublehex]

[spoiler]From what I remember, Ico just takes place after SotC. It is not neccesarily a 'sequel'.[/spoiler]

[TheResplendent]

[quote name='Doublehex][spoiler']From what I remember, Ico just takes place after SotC. It is not neccesarily a 'sequel'.[/spoiler][/quote]

[font=tahoma]That's what I thought as well, I heard it was merely a game that took place in the same time and atmosphere but not neccesarily having any ties to SotC. But i would like to play it regardless of whether or not it is actually a sequel.[/font]

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]As I type, I am fighting the Fifteenth Colossus. But that's besides the point.

What is it with everyone and thinking the Twelfth Colossus was hard? He was one of the simplest and easiest Colossi in the game. It took [spoiler]like 30 seconds to get on its back, and then another 10 seconds to run up his back and onto his head. Once there I just guided him to a pillar thing, jumped off, made him slam his fists down and jumped onto his weak point. Easy as pie.[/spoiler][/FONT][/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[QUOTE=White][COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]As I type, I am fighting the Fifteenth Colossus. But that's besides the point.

What is it with everyone and thinking the Twelfth Colossus was hard? He was one of the simplest and easiest Colossi in the game. It took [spoiler]like 30 seconds to get on its back, and then another 10 seconds to run up his back and onto his head. Once there I just guided him to a pillar thing, jumped off, made him slam his fists down and jumped onto his weak point. Easy as pie.[/spoiler][/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[font=tahoma]Hm, well I never said the twelfth one was difficult to defeat per say. It was difficult to figure out more so then it was to actually defeat. I spent a good amount of time trying to work my way on top of him. After that it was pretty academic. [spoiler]It's actually quicker to jump directly to it's head from the center stone and the surrounding structures though.[/spoiler]

The ninth and sixteenth collosi by far are the more difficult to [i][b]defeat[/i][/b]. The fifthteenth though is fun as hell, hope your enjoying it White. Not as fun as the thirteenth of the fourteenth but definitly soldifies the last group of collosi as the more exhilirating fights.[/font]

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma]Well, no offense but I had no problem figuring out how to beat number 12. I started the fight, [spoiler]ducked under the water so his attacks wouldn't hurt me, swam to his back, saw the fur, climbed to his head, striked the rocks and found out that they steer him and then jumped off onto one of the circular platforms when his head was near one.[/spoiler]

I just beat [spoiler]Gorilla Man[/spoiler] and I'm currently trying to find the final Colossi. I think [spoiler]I have to go around the area that the first Colossi was found, but I keep on getting trapped in a forest[/spoiler]. Oh well, I found some fruit while I was there. >_<"

[b]EDIT:[/b] Yay! I finally found and killed the final Colossus. The ending cinematic was jaw-dropping. [spoiler]At the part where you controlled the guy being sucked in by the energy, my friend and I managed to get all the way to the girl laying down but it wouldn't let us go further. lol[/spoiler][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Charles]

[spoiler]Guys, Shadow of the Colossus is a prequel. The game explains how the cursed horn children came to be. So, Ico is a sequel.[/spoiler]

[r2vq]

[color=#007520]Charles, is that official information or your logical conclusion?

[quote name='White][COLOR=DimGray][FONT=Tahoma][spoiler]At the part where you controlled the guy being sucked in by the energy, my friend and I managed to get all the way to the girl laying down but it wouldn't let us go further. lol[/spoiler][/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote] My friend and I did that too. It took us a good fifteen to twenty minutes to work our way through the wind, but we eventually managed to get as far as it would let us. If I remember correctly, we didn't [spoiler]see anyone lying on the stone table! After seeing the 'bed' empty, we gave up and let the wind pull us away. And amazingly, in the cinematic that followed, the girl [i]wakes up[/i] from the place that was previously empty![/spoiler] Now... did this happen to you too, or did we just not notice?

-r2[/color]