Shadow of the Colossus

[Family Fry]

All im gonna say IMO if Bitz games had made this game exactly the same, it would have been ignored.
ONLY because team ICO were behind it people tagged it as being visonary, ICO was that, SOTC wasnt.
You could do a PS3 version on blu ray with Hi Def graphics, put 100 collosi on it to battle with and it would still be as boring as hell.
No one can dispute at all that it looks good for a PS2, just wish it played as good as it looked cause ultimately i persoanlly found it awkward, frustrating, repetitive and boring.
Thats my 50 cents bulletproof on the matter (not that anyone will give a ****!)

[rmoxon]

No one can dispute at all that it looks good for a PS2, just wish it played as good as it looked cause ultimately i persoanlly found it awkward, frustrating, repetitive and boring.

I finally picked this up the other day and decided to have a look on here, and I really have to disagree with this statement. this game is by far the most captivating and beatifully designed game I have played in ages. The game plays very well, despite the frame rate issues the gameplay itself is incredabley smooth, the first time you fight a collossus sent shivers down my spine and each fight just gets more and more jaw dropping really.

probabaly the best PS2 exclusive I have played since god of war, in fact somehow, this game is even more spactacular than that one. Just such an addictive and charming expereince.

Back to the above post on the gameplay and well the challenge is just about right, its easy to get to grips with, and it just has excellent gameplay in my opinion. Its completely enjoyable and has yet to frustrate me once becuase, amazingly for a game made up entierly of boss fights, it never feels cheap, its all about using your brain and your reflexes. Also there is really no way that the game its repetative at all seeing as how each monster requires you to figure out a completely different way to get to its weak spot/s, it actually has quite a bit of variety.

Also, traveling from one place to another isn't half as boring here as in many games, compare riding your house about the land in this to say riding your boat in The Windwaker. Theres no contest really, you actually feel like youre in the world here, youre required to manouver about the landscape and not just watching a boat glide across water for 15 minutes in between actually playing the game like in that. Shadow of the Colussus takes so many fantastic ideas and it uses them all better than they have been used before, and more than that its molded them into somthing that feels fresh. It's just damn stunning and deserves all the praise it has been given IMO.

[Sketcz]

Bought this recently for $20 new off Play-Asia... But it's the Chinese version. Is there much dialogue/text in the game to worry about? Also, any idea it's so cheap?

Not sure about it, not even too excited by it since I hated Ico, but hey, for $20 new you can't complain, right?

[Geoff D]

Bought this recently for $20 new off Play-Asia... But it's the Chinese version. Is there much dialogue/text in the game to worry about?

Before each Colossi there's a cryptic clue, but it's not necessary to read. The 'speech' is all made up anyway, so that's no bother. I can't imagine you'll have a problem with it.

[Sketcz]

Awesome, cheers.

[Dogg Thang]

Hmm...some of the clues are pretty useful later on. I don't think you'll really be missing out but you may have to get the odd nudge from someone if you get stuck. I know I would have had I not had the hints.

[Yaka]

and if you feel you need english subs for the intro and the ending scene theres a couple of vids on google vid

[Sketcz]

Great. Now I just have to wait for the shipments out of Hong Kong.

Or wherever PA ship from.

[Kaladron]

Bought this recently for $20 new off Play-Asia... But it's the Chinese version. Is there much dialogue/text in the game to worry about? Also, any idea it's so cheap?

Not sure about it, not even too excited by it since I hated Ico, but hey, for $20 new you can't complain, right?

I have the Chinese version and i'm happy to inform you that it has full English subtitles.

[Sketcz]

Well, then there's nothing to be concerned about.

[spagmasterswift]

http://www.kotous.com/video-games/shadow-of-the-colossus/the-first-colossus.php

Oooh hype!

[Wools]

Very nice, reminds me of those Black & White ceature one's.

If they made the winged Collisi with Agro & Wanda trailing behind it I would sell my house* for one.

*Please note I do not own a house but cash will be avaliable.

[Concept]

Missed this.

I still don't know why you keep lumping SoTC in the same kind of game as SA and Oblivion.
You might travel within a large 3D space but the game couldn't be any more linear.

Yes, but I was talking from that field design perspective in context of your criticisms on the technology.

Obviously it does have its merits , but I find it hard to believe that any developer believes that is is acceptable to release a game with such a large variety of crippling flaws. If the platform that you are developing your game for isn't technically capable of handling the game you intend to make, you shouldn't make it at all , or at the very least make the adjustments to the design of the game to make it fit around the hardware.

Come off it. If every developer took that attitude no system would ever be pushed. We wouldn't have seen the likes of Soul Reaver, Shenmue, Resident Evil 4, Stranger's Wrath or Colossus. It's a conservative method of thinking. Colossus is nowhere near as bad as you make it out to be, and although some of your criticisms are valid, those flaws don't ruin the game. Far from it.

Why you are suddenly a victim I don't know, this is games discussion site, I'm just putting across my view so that other people can read my opinions and either agree or disagree and carry of the discussion.

I apologise for that, it's just you seem to snipe when anyone mentions anything Colossus related, so it wasn't a difficult conclusion to jump to.

[EvilBoris]

I'm sorry too, especially if you felt I have sniped your comments. I don't intend to, I talk about a lot of things, and th subject of SotC being overated is one I get a little over-zealous about.
I just really enjoy having big lenthy conversations about games and sometimes a bit of debate is the only way to get it.
As time goes by i can only really remember the really epic bits I enjoyed and am forgetting about the nasty bits.

The eagle collossus is an unforgettable gaming moment.

[Extra Terrestrial]

I apologise for bringing this thread back to the surface but I am just wondering if Shadow of the Colossus will run better on the PlayStation 3 by 'automatically' upscaling the image, 60Hz, widescreen and perhaps offering a smoother frame-rate when the game gets busy due to the faster nature of the PS3 hardware?

I shall not be buying a PS3 for quite some time and my PS2 is starting to play up due to the constance use of the Swap-Magic method and damaging the laser / disc parts in general so it would be nice to keep hold of SotC and know that when I finally get a PS3 sometime in the future, it will run better than it did on the PS2.

Does anyone know the answer to what I am questioning?


As for the game itself, I still haven't got to the secret garden (haven) on the PAL version despite realising - before I sold the game - that I could have easily done the quest in the NTSC version. My poor old PS2 is starting to give up so the day I will grasp and view the delights of the secret garden will most probably be on the PS3!

I have also notice after attempting to defeat the last Colossi (XVI) that it represents the temple very well as the structure of the final Colossi is very similar to how the temple is built so it can be seen as another theme of some sort but I view it as mere fantasy.

I had a close look at the wander's face during the last few colossi (as I had an old save file up to colossi XI) and you can clearly see the despair and ghost-like appearance of the boy if you zoom in the camera during the cinematics and in-game. It is a fascinating growth to the wander and shows the care that the developers went to change the facial (and clothing starting to wear out / fading colours) details.

It is such a wonderful experience and one that I share with great fondness.