Shadow of the Colossus

[Emir]

Ah! Ico is great, got it on the way now. Had the LE cardboard version when it was first released, but sold it on for some stupid reason i've done 6 colossi now, number 5 was just best.boss.ever.

->Open Spoiler<-

I played it while my friend was sitting with me, i shot it, and it headed towards me. My friend was like "RUN FOR COVER!" but i just jumped and grabbed onto it's fur

that, is probably one of the best moments gaming has EVER offered me. 10/10.

Totally agree. Definitely my fave.

[Nisa]

How playable is the jap version? Is it import friendly?

I just got the Chinese/Asian version through the post today and it has an English language option, the only thing that isn't English is the speech but you do get subtitles.

I've only taken down 3 Colussi so far but this is shaping up to be the best game I've played since Resident Evil 4, at first I thought the graphics were a bit of a let down and felt that it should have been held back for PS3 but once I reached the first Colussi any feelings of dissapointment vanished instantly.

I think the music is some of the best I've heard in any game for a long time as well, I love when the tempo changes as soon as you start clinging on for dear life as you climb up each Colussi.

[lurch996]

I just got the Chinese/Asian version through the post today and it has an English language option, the only thing that isn't English is the speech but you do get subtitles.

I got mine today too but the speech isnt in any 'real' language anyway, I think.

[Concept]

Similar to Panzer Dragoon, the universe Ueda and his team have created for both ICO and Shadow of the Colossus do indeed feature their own language.

[Synthesthesia]

Are they the same? This sounds VERY similar to Ico if it isn't.

[Concept]

They're the same. You can't quite classify Shadow of the Colossus as ICO's sequel as Ueda has never explicitly stated the two are connected, but it's fairly clear they take place in the same world (pay close attention to clothing, architecture, idol design, scriptures etc.).

In that sense, the parallel with Panzer Dragoon is even more apt, as each of its games can also be thought of as disconnected from each other in terms of their own stories, but also fit into a wider, arching picture.

[sj33]

Played this for about half an hour this morning before putting it back - gotta play Ico first.

But the game is one of the most captivating, beautiful games I've seen in the short time I've played it.

I said this in the other SotC topic, but it's bizzare... the game premise itself isn't particulaly special, the game mechanics themselves are stuggling, crippled by a low resolution, dodgy framerate etc... and yet this all means bugger all, it still manages to be cativating from the get-go, making the players jaw drop at how beautiful the world it is, dunno about you but my first instinct wasn't the quest - it was to explore.

Says something really, and shows that a game can be running in 1920x1080 @ 120fps and still fail to capture the players interest... this shows what's truely important in capturing the players imagination visually - not the number crunching, but providing them with a vision that captures the players imagination and makes them want to see more.
Another parellel to Panzer Dragoon too, IMO.

I can't wait to get stuck in some more.

[Synthesthesia]

Just done Colossi number 10, i don't want to play anymore because i don't want this game to end Only 4:58:33 on the clock...

[Wools]

I've played it up to the second Collisi and rode around the land...

It's beautiful, so beautiful!

[stroppa]

is it just me....?

but, when you finally take down one of those colossi, do you...feel sorry for the big guy?

I do, I feel guilty, it's the slow motion effect after you've knifed the ****er in the head, and watching it crumble to it's knees...poor thing.

quality game.

[Akira]

Ah man,reading everybody's experiences with the pal version has given me the urge to fire this bad boy up again.

Yes,the soundtrack is majestic,epic,beautiful.One of my favourite's of all time

[Bleeders]

I hear you Akira, I'm almost tempted to flog the US version and buy it again.

[Zed]

is it just me....?

but, when you finally take down one of those colossi, do you...feel sorry for the big guy?

I think thats part of what they tried to impart.

->Open Spoiler<-

You're basically killing the only living things in this land. They are free and happy (well maybe?) and just defending their turf. YOU are the aggressor, and in the worst way as its for selfishness.

So yeah i felt sorry for them too.

Let's not forget Penny Arcade's comic on SotC: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/10/21 classic summary from their POV!

[iloveannie]

A guy in Gamestation asked me if there was anything to do in between killing the Collossi. I gave him the answer and then spent the next five minutes raving about how, on completion of the game, I spent another four hours just riding across the landscape. I think he's quite excited now

I think it's easy for us to view games on their high-end graphical capabilities as technology seems to encourage these advances. However we all know that a true artist will take the tools and present a work that truly means something. How many CGI wallpapers have you seen over the years displayed on your screen? Wishing to see them in an art gallery or adorning the walls and ceilings of stately buildings is another thing altogether.

Comparing Ico to SotC in terms of gameplay is not really possible. I think everyone who has played both will whole-heartedly agree with that, despite the artist's vision carrying the same theme. We could speculate that Ueda means for them to be in the same world, however we cannot be sure. Perhaps one is a story told in the world of the other. Perhaps both are lucid dreams.

As for the remorse felt by some on the deaths of these mighty creatures? For me that only came about when killing those that diplayed truly animal behaviours. Those closest to ourselves did not seem so innocent. Why, I'm not sure.

For me there seems to be so much soul in these two works of art: the still desolation of a land so quietly alive, the beauty and spectacle that reaches so far, of needing to reach out and feel the presence of others, of not wanting to be so utterly alone.

It would be a terrible shame for this team to produce something that I would call a 'video game'. A change of style perhaps, something radically different. Something dark with no foreboding (that's already present). I picture the most brilliant black. Flashes of neon light cutting through like slithers of glass. Exacting and digital (but not technological). No emotion. No shades of human indecision. So far a departure from the world we find ourselves in where the sea rolls and breaks upon the cliffs so far below, where the wind tussles with our hair whilst the circling gulls remind us of a world so familiar.

I loved this world.

[Darwock]

This game sure does weird things to people!