Shadow of the Colossus

[razu]

I knew there was a game sort of like SotC, (really 'sort of' too). Warning Forever: http://www18.big.or.jp/~hikoza/Prod/

It's a shooter that consists of ever-growing bosses to fight.

I'm not trying to take anything away from the whole feel and experience of SotC, but I always had a nagging feeling that I'd played a game with a similar basic framework.

To reiterate: I'm not saying "ha ha, this is all ripped from something else", I'm just saying I wondered why it felt a bit familiar and this is the game that has come to mind, and I have posted in order to generate a bit of thought and conversation.

Also, the strange thing about SotC is that having had time away from it I've started to like it more and more. Mainly due to the massive speculation about the back-story in this thread I feel. Top game, definitely in the 'ones-to-keep-for-my-son-to-play' category.

[Concept]

The framework may be similar in terms of structure, but the actual experience of exploring its landscape is something that no other game can match in the same way. That's what I love about both ICO and Colossus - the fact they're individualistic to the point even if copycats attempted to mimic the same forms of play, they'd never be able to capture the minuteness their atmospheres express.

I agree that spending time away from the game has brought the need to get back to it. I've been playing LCS quite rabidly over the past week or so after playing Colossus... and it's been on my mind a lot. Like ICO... I don't want to play it too much in case the experience wears itself out, but at the same time, it's hard not to miss the world it offers up when you stay away.

I think only the very rare, and best games offer that sensation - when a set of locations evoke a similar sense of nostalgia or regret a person might have in leaving a place they enjoyed visiting in the here and now.

[Len]

I checked Otaku's site but the box set wasn't mentioned. I'm interested in it. How does one go about obtaining if Sony aren't supplying it outside of Japan and it isn't listed anywhere else (I don't use ebay)?

I agree with everyone else - those t-shirts look lovely.

Mail Alex at Otaku and tell him what your after, that's what I did. None of the stuff I got or wanted was available on his site. He should be able to help you out hopefully...

[Concept]

Cheers Len.

I'll do that.

[Strider]

**** me this game is doing my nut in. Trying to do the first colossus and the controls are ****ing appalling. Ridiculously clunky, stupidly unresponsive and overcomplicated for the sake of making it harder than it should be. I can see why everyone ****ing loves it, but it's not very forgiving*























* This could be becasue I'm ****ing **** at it...

[Concept]

The first colossi is the easiest out of the sixteen.

Only took me two minutes first time (after three gaping at it).

[lurch996]

**** me this game is doing my nut in. Trying to do the first colossus and the controls are ****ing appalling. Ridiculously clunky, stupidly unresponsive and overcomplicated for the sake of making it harder than it should be. I can see why everyone ****ing loves it, but it's not very forgiving*



* This could be becasue I'm ****ing **** at it...

Too right, the controls are a nightmare. If your having trouble on the first colossus the later ones will piss you off. Another annoying part I found was searching for new colossi, sometimes the sword doesnt help, and I wish I could kill that bloody horse and find a car. other than that, its a nice game.

[Zed]

The first colossi is the easiest out of the sixteen.

Only took me two minutes first time (after three gaping at it).

But its totally new. It took me ages to do the first colossus (kept climbing the wrong arm and getting stuck), and i died once or twice too (blush), but then it clicked and i could enjoy the next couple without having to fight the controls or what the game expected of me. But yeah i found the first one difficult just because i never played the demo, and from working out what the glowy bits and sword were meant to do.

Stick with it Strider - amazing once you get into it.

[Concept]

It isn't that hard - the game teaches you the mechanics (run, jump, hang) on the way to the colossi, and then it's just a case of holding R1 and climbing over its fur. The second colossi

->Open Spoiler<-

stumped me for a while until I released you had to pierce its partially exposed hooves with the bow & arrow.

I agree - Colossus improves as the game wears on. Especially when it comes to drowning in its landscape.

[mr_sockochris]

The controls are fine, you just have to learn how to use them. Think about it, then you're climbing over these huge, moving, shaking beasts you're not going to have perfect grip or balance, only when you do do the controls work to their fullest. It makes sense once you've got the hang of it and know when you can and cannot move. I can honestly say I don't find the controls the slightest bit unresponsive or innacurate, he grabs when I hold R1, he jumps with a tap of triangle and he stabs his sword when I press square. Only when I'm off balance or lost my grip do the controls understandably fail. I could count on one hand the amount of times I have fallen off a Colossi and it's not been my own stupid fault, it's a just a learning process

[Concept]

The controls are fine, you just have to learn how to use them. Think about it, then you're climbing over these huge, moving, shaking beasts you're not going to have perfect grip or balance, only when you do do the controls work to their fullest. It makes sense once you've got the hang of it and know when you can and cannot move. I can honestly say I don't find the controls the slightest bit unresponsive or innacurate, he grabs when I hold R1, he jumps with a tap of triangle and he stabs his sword when I press square. Only when I'm off balance or lost my grip do the controls understandably fail. I could count on one hand the amount of times I have fallen off a Colossi and it's not been my own stupid fault, it's a just a learning process

I didn't have a problem with the controls either. On foot, the wanderer handles much like Edge in Panzer Dragoon Saga (with greater moves/responsiveness obviously), and in terms of climbing Colossus is in many ways an improvement on ICO...

[Rossco]

I totally agree, any time I've fallen or missed a jump or grab, it was all my fault.

Didnt have any problems with the controls, once you learn them, which is almost immediately, I was fine.

[Dogg Thang]

Well I made it through the game okay but I don't think the controls were perfect by any means. Some tricks, like jumping a specific direction or jumping backwards, are affected by camera angles in a way that caused me problems a couple of times and I had to stop and work out the exact control order and timing of what I was doing. Now the controls worked, but SotC relies so much on immersion in the world and any time I have to think about the controls (rather than simply doing the action I wanted) I am taken out of the game and that's not a good thing.

In a game that was simply a game, the controls would have been fine but I wanted to lose myself in this world and every now and again I was thrown out of it by having to work out the game mechanics.

[t-dog]

if anybobody thought, like me, that the music was incredible and added that sonically extra dimension to the game, then here is the place to go.

http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/773 (gamerip)

[Concept]

Thanks (I'm not sure forum rules allow people to post in-game rips, but the soundtrack hasn't been released yet and this makes for a nice substitute while waiting to purchase it).

Kow Otani is a God.

Many of these pieces demonstrate that Colossus has music on par with the best of the very best. There are so many different moods and layers in the pieces he's provided in the game, from quiet, soothing and mysterious themes (in the water whilst attracting colossi 5 to swoop down), to the downright triumphant and energetic (colossi 1 and 3 etc.)...

I think that's what is amazing about Colossus' soundtrack and why it works as brilliantly as it does... because the quality across the entire musical production is sustained at a very high level across the range of moods Otani expresses in his work.

It really is sensational, and the real soundtrack highlight of this year. It's a shame more people won't get to hear his work in Colossus, because this kind of sound work deserves international recognition... not just from gamers, but from music lovers of all kinds. :/