Yeah, that's cool.*





*understatment of the year

Must get this, if it is anything like ICO then it's HOT!!!

I've been hearing some pretty good things about this game, it certainly looks nice as well.

its so....beautiful.....

Fantastic. It's absolutely fantastic.

I heard the game was phoenominal. Awesome graphics and sound from the reviews I've read. I heard it had an awesome plot too. I'll get it.

And shooting your horse with exploding arrows never gets boring.

I just beat SotC last night. Sad, sad ending, man. It's too bad they taunt you with interactivity without letting you affect anything.

I really enjoyed the minimalist game design (like Ico); you get two things to do: explore the empty world, or fight a Colossus. Things could not be more focused, and consequently, not of a more fixed quality.

This team also remains one of the only game developers to actively pay attention to having nature actually seem alive rather than just pittoresque; leaves sway in the breeze, lilies drift in the water, water flows as if it's actually reacting to physics. More people need to go there, cause it really boosts the immersion.

Oh, and Agro >>> Epona.

LOOK OUT BELOW! THERE BE SPOILERS ABOUT!












Yeah, I loved the interaction with Agro. It felt that you were actually riding the horse instead of becoming the horse like with Epona. And I cheered when he came back during the ending scene, I was so glad he was still alive.

The soundtrack also had to be one of the best I have ever heard. Just the feeling as you get on the colossus and desperately hold on to it as it tries to get you off with the exhilarating music pumping through your ears, just made it an amazing experience. I still can't get the music out of my head and I haven't played it in months.

Also the environments were just amazing, I spent hours just riding around exploring and admiring all the stunning design they put into the surroundings. Damn, this game was beautiful...

END SUPER MEGA-FUNKY SPOILERS

First you complain about spoilers, and then you're responsible for them. God damn it, at the least, flag your shit.

I'm sorry... :(

Happy now?

Quale said:
I'm sorry... :(

Happy now?

It was mostly in regards to your first paragraph.

And no, I'm not.

Rahul said:
Oh, and Agro >>> Epona.

Heh, seconded.

Also, I posted up a massive amount of appreciation for this game elsewhere. After playing it back in August, I was completely spellbound by the game. One of the best I've ever played, undoubtedly. Anyway, for your convenience, I'll copy and paste all of what I typed there. I think this thread needs more fanboyish praise. And with that, a wall of text:

A fanboy approaches! Flee now, or be subjected to my incessant praise for this game. Fumito Ueda (director of Shadow and ICO) is a genius. Some interesting factoid about him, taken from Wikipedia:

An admitted perfectionist, Ueda felt that only one or two out of 500 artists who applied to work on Shadow of the Colossus met his criteria, and often demanded thorough changes in design until it matched his vision.

Anyway, I love Shadow of the Colossus. Maybe a little too much. I can say, with certainty, that it's one of the best games I've ever played. The atmosphere, gameplay, story, and concept are all brilliant. Can't forget the music, either - Kow Otani's riveting work makes the battles against the colossi much more intense. There's something extremely awesome about the concept. A physically weak protagonist, with an will stronger than diamonds, sets out to bring the one he loves to life. And his task is seemingly impossible, but with only his courage, wits, and an ancient sword, he's determined to bring his loved one back. Determined enough to travel to this "forbidden land" and slay sixteen colossal beings.

Love the fictional language used in the game, too. It adds greatly to the surreal, otherwordly style.

Speaking of the character's weakness, I love how he was portrayed. The animations in the game are nothing short of excellent. The protagonist, Wander, stumbles as he walks, takes a few moments to regain his balance after a long jump, carries the sword as if it's too heavy for him... The protagonist's movement is extremely naturalistic, and the same is true for his horse, Agro. I haven't seen anything like it before. When I saw gameplay footage for Twilight Princess, I was disappointed. Horse riding in the latest Zelda game didn't seem as fluid as it looked in Shadow. Twilight Princess actually felt primitive, graphics/animation wise, in comparison. Point is, the level of perfection and attention to detail in Shadow of the Colossus is amazing - the game is really a work of art.

One of the things I especially love about the game is that it's far from being a hack 'n' slash... You can slash away at the towering creatures, but chances are that this will only result in getting smashed. Arrows are generally inneffective too, unless you utilize them in an effective way. When it comes to down to it, you have to use your wits to kill these colossal creatures... so SotC is really like an addictive, intense version of a puzzle game. There's nothing quite like trying to escape from the attacks of a colossus (with Kow Otani's simply epic music playing) while trying to figure out how you can slay it.

The first four colossi are great. I imagine that once you guys see the fifth, you'll be hooked though. The processing of killing that one is one of the best moments I've ever had in gaming. I kid you not.

Killing them always made me sad, though. Having a soft spot in my heart for animals, it definitely hurt to make these creatures (in spite of their immense size) suffer like that. The sounds they make as you pierce the sword into their vitals is saddening. I remember piercing one with arrows continually, and its screams of agony made me stop and use the sword to put it out of its misery quicker. Kind of silly, I guess, but this game manages to do that to me. It's hard, too, because you don't want to kill the colossi, yet you know that you want to play more of the game/help the protagonist save save his loved one.

The ending of the game is, hands-down, the best I've witnessed so far in any game, ever. It's the perfect combination of dramatic events, resolving of issues, and leaving the gamer wanting much more. That's all I'll say about it, though. I imagine it's pure magic only if you aren't spoiled of it beforehand.

So, yeah. I'm a fanboy. I've played through the game twice on the normal difficulty already, and I'm planning to play through Hard Mode after I complete ICO for the first time. This is a game I'd love to play over and over, but I also don't want it to lose its novelty.

The only thing I'd have to ponder about is how it's possible to survive being stepped on by a colossus in the normal difficulty level (this is remedied in hard mode, which is unlocked after you complete the game once). I suppose it removes any sense of frustration, as in the normal difficulty you don't have to worry that much about dying (I mean yeah, you're fighting things 1000 times bigger than you, of course there's a huge risk of dying, but it's still pretty easy to regain your health after a severe hit). Looking forward to playing hard mode, though, as it'll make things much more realistic.

Last edited by Kanji on January 02, 2007