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**Zed** · 19-02-2006, 08:39

Originally posted by Concept from ICO thread

Think I'll probably play it (ICO) on the second run through myself this weekend before I go back to the PAL version of Colossus on hard.

Thats what i started. Or at least i did to the cart, then played a bit of Hard SotC, and going back now for some more ICO.

Partly i wanted to check the graphic differences (re: SotC thread), and yeah ICO looks much more low-res when blown to 7 foot; pixellation, text a bit dodgy, still very atmospheric. SotC's text looks smooth, but slight pixellation about Agro's legs, however overall fantastic.

Both play so differently, and are excellent for their own merits. However i cant help but agree with the sentiments that it could have done with a bit more platforming. Especially after the first Colossi where you have to climb up a bit of cliff, i thought it implied things to come. That second idea would have been classy though, and more power is what the sequel needs.

EDIT: so just spent a few hours getting fruit and white lizards, and my health bar is 3/4+ of the screen, however my grip is hardly increasing if at all. Is there a limit on Hard mode? As is it dosent work, or the max you can get from tails is related to how many colossi youve topped? Still goes up from killing Colossi, just wondering about lizards.

Also i've found more little touches; Agro wandered off to get a drink of water as i was pissing about with trees, he has a drink, then shakes his head as if drying himself off. I also swear i saw him chasing some birds! If you leave you PS2 alone for a while you get a demo of him just running about (no wanderer). Found some turtles, they dont do anything do they?

**nero1001** · 19-02-2006, 14:44

Originally posted by Concept

Yeah, I was worried that

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Same here with me. I thought that as quick as it unfortunately was, my progression through the game was nice and smooth which made the pace of the game spot on. Start at temple, ride about to find colossus, meet colossus, suss out how to kill it and then administer coup de grace. That was all great until the final boss which just seemed like hitting a brick wall, but like all game bosses and all of the other colossi that came before it, one you suss it out it`s easy.

My clear time for the game was 9 hours but I played the final boss again and managed to get it down to 8 hours 29 mins. For most games I suppose this would`ve been fair but this game is so great I wish I was only half way through.

edit - About the end sequence, your thoughts please. SPOILER!!!!

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**Synthesthesia** · 19-02-2006, 18:20

I'm fighting colossi 12, and i was swimming in the water, and i went through him, to the inside

**Rik2501** · 19-02-2006, 19:39

Originally posted by Jusatsushi

Okay, new voice-over! Dormin's voice now has a female echo. Makes no odds to me, but some posts on other forums had marked it an issue.

The US and Japanese version of the game both have the female echo as well. A quick check of the US manual reveals that Dormin definitely has a female and a male voice actor. It kinda ties in with Dormin being this kind of Legion like entity by having more than one voice. When i first played the game i thought the female portion was the same actress as the queen from Ico but it isn't.

**mr_sockochris** · 19-02-2006, 20:10

The only difference I've noticed with the PAL version so far is the 1 second slow-mo as you deliver the final blow to a Colossi. I like it

**Concept** · 19-02-2006, 21:18

Originally posted by nero1001

edit - About the end sequence, your thoughts please. SPOILER!!!!

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Spoilers:

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I am not sure about Dormin being previously banished, though Emon does use the the term 'he' when in actuality Dormin is an 'It'. This by itself could suggest that Dormin was once a solid, single entity and perhaps male in another form. I agree that the idea that Wanda is openly selling his soul... the introduction makes that clear when Dormin ominously states that the consequences of his actions will be very dear. From that point of view, Dormin is arguably the one who is most honest and open in Colossus. It lives up to its side of the bargain by resurrecting Mono.

The one thing which indicates all may not be what it seems is during the middle, when Wanda has a nightmare of Mono as a dark being (or a dark being half imposed on to her dead, almost innocent state). This has led some to speculate that Mono may be a younger version of the Queen from ICO (though I tend to disagree with that as I believe Colossus occurs hundreds or thousands of years before ICO takes place).

It's certainly interesting that Wanda states Mono was sacrificed because she was cursed... if anything he makes sure her death doesn't allow her escape from this destiny, because at the end you could interpret his premonition of her spirit being tainted by his action (during the middle), and consequently trapped in the forbidden land as a further sign of her being cursed upon what he's tried to achieve. The baby with the horns, and her nurturing of it, could also be an indication that she will sustain and further the growth of this curse. Even here however, the game is morally ambigious.

For example, take the stance of Wanda... he must slaughter and kill mainly docile enemies to bring back his friend/lover. It's an act of love tainted by selfishness. On the flipside, Mono takes a similar position on the end... she's showing affection to a baby whose future deems it, and many others, to curse. In a sense, the baby and her are related in terms of their fates.

What Colossus asks us to question is the nature of the typical view of what evil is.

As for your question, the colossi are puppets, magical incarnations in the same way the idols are physical incarnations used to hold parts of Dormin hostage. The black smoke which both infects Wanda and hovers over him as he's unconcious in humanoid form are parts of Dormin representative of the subject of their host.

Sorry - to put that into plain English, I believe Dormin's parts can take many forms (for example, it may have been separated and parted inside animals that have since been transformed through Dormin's power over time). That's probably the reason why the smoke looks 'human' as it overlooks Wanda throughout his quest, because they're reflecting his body and spirit that they're bound to.

(Dormin itself says at the end when fully formed that "we've borrowed the body of this warrior")

What's intriguing upon the conclusion of the game is that the portal Emon opens differentiates between the infection of Dormin within Wanda, and Wanda's own spirit (the smoke gets drained off him). When that happens though, we still find that he's still tainted by his actions. His soul is lost, and consequently his hopes for Mono are equally lost.

**SuperBeatBoy** · 19-02-2006, 21:29

im playing it for the 2nd time on the pal version. i think the slowdown on the pal has been improved from the us version, dont quote me on that though. i haven't played the ntsc one since the beginning of january.im also finding that playing it a 2nd time is even more enjoyable, i dont know why that is.

**Synthesthesia** · 19-02-2006, 23:11

Okay...found another glitch

404 Not Found

http://img480.imageshack.us/img480/7222/p10100392pp.jpg

It was on the 14th boss, on

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Anyone else had this?

**MattyD** · 20-02-2006, 05:00

Is there a hard mode in this? I'm sailing through it a little quicker than I'd have liked so I started again, thinking I'd play it on hard, but there's no difficulty select. Is there one after you complete the game for the first time?

**Shearie** · 20-02-2006, 07:46

Don't know if this has been posted yet but here are some completely amazing time attack videos. http://bgr44.cool.ne.jp/wanda/movie/movie.html

Only one of those videos is actually number 1 in the rankings.

And heres a making of SOTC article translated. http://www.dyingduck.com/sotc/making_of_sotc.html

**Concept** · 20-02-2006, 07:51

That translated making of feature is absolutely fantastic. Cheers.

**nero1001** · 20-02-2006, 10:06

Thanks for your thoughts on the ending Concept, I understand it a little better now.

If you watch a film you get to know the full story over a couple of hours, but after playing a game for 8 hours and you still don`t get the jist of it, you want to know what`s going on. I gave up on Killer7 though, what`s that all about?? Don`t answer that!

Incidentaly, on GameFAQ`s there is a plot FAQ that someone has written about Killer7. The fella who wrote it is obviously very clever and has done a lot of reserch to produce it but it makes the story of SotC in terms of understanding it look like "Clifford the Big Red Dog"!

**nero1001** · 20-02-2006, 10:15

Originally posted by Shearie

Don't know if this has been posted yet but here are some completely amazing time attack videos. http://bgr44.cool.ne.jp/wanda/movie/movie.html

When you`ve finished the game check out the vid for the final boss. There is a well nifty trick for

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OWNED!

**Darwock** · 20-02-2006, 10:17

About this:

Originally posted by Concept

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Ico spoiler:

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**nero1001** · 20-02-2006, 15:44

I`ve just done some time attacks but does anyone know if your times and the items that you recieve are auto saved or do you need to visit a save point when you want to end the game?

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