PS2: Shadow of the Colossus [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

Oobgarm

10-18-2005, 12:05 AM

It's finally out this week, Wednesday to be exact. I have to say that I wasn't overly excited for it, although I figured I'd get it anyway. One play of the demo changed my mind, and now it's one of the games I must have. It's gonna have to wait and be a birthday/Christmas gift, but I'm really excited to give this one a go.

Figured I'd give this game it's own thread, as I'm sure plenty folks here will be picking it up.

MarkMan

10-18-2005, 12:08 AM

It got an 8.7 on GameSpot and a 9.5 in PSM... I'm really looking forward to this game as well... :)

s1lence

10-18-2005, 12:31 AM

Well thanks to pdorr3 hyping this one up, I'll probably pick it up as well.

Nesmaster

10-18-2005, 12:42 AM

damn rights *points to sig*

neuropolitique

10-18-2005, 12:46 AM

I've been mildly interested in this game for some time. It looks to be very atmospheric. When I get a new PS2 I hope to pick it up.

Did anyone see the ad in EGM? It's a fold out page, but it folds out 4 times. It's huge! very cool.

lendelin

10-18-2005, 01:03 AM

I played the demo as well, and I have to say I am looking forward to play the game. I'm even tempted to get it right away and pay $40 for it which I usually never do.

The game seems to be an interesting experiment. It breaks in many ways with the standard fare of gameplay elements in games; it seems to try a new approach of storytelling which isn't even on the axis of the Miyamoto approach on one end, and the Lorne Lanning approach on the other end.

Based on the limited demo, I have only one gripe so far. In contrast to Ico the accessibility doesn't seem to be there. Ico could be played easily by everyone, and it was very easy to get into; and the controls when climbing one of the colossi aren't the easiest ones with changing camera angles.

...on the other hand, this flawed part might even enhance the gameplay experience if it is in balance with the story and the atmosphere of the game. If it turns out that the core intent of the game designers was to show the questionability, doubts, mystery, and hard work to defeat huge innocent beasts, then this seemingly flawed gameplay element would make sense.

Well executed or not, in the end this game is worth checking out because it seems to deliver a very different game experince. It seems to be unique and different -- and when do we get these kind of games nowadays? Not very often.

zerohero

10-18-2005, 01:09 AM

I'm a Ico fan so of course I gotta get this baby!

PDorr3

10-18-2005, 01:11 AM

Boy am I looking forward to this :D
Loved the demo, and I simply love the whole jist of the game, its truly unique and engrossing. Screw all the negativity about "theres nothing to fight between the colossus" play the game for what it is and accept its style. Maybe this was crucial in some sort of way for the games structure.

I know I will be getting it WED, and will be playing it to death like Ico.

Also, if anyone has any extra ads that were included in the EGM and what not for this game I want 2 of them (double sided) I am willing to pay $5 shipped if you can get me two, I mean they are just ads, but I havent had the chance to get to the stores.

MarkMan

10-18-2005, 01:12 AM

-hellvin-

10-18-2005, 01:17 AM

I think I'm probably going to pick this one up for sure. Once I started reading about it, I was really intrigued. I like how the whole thing basically has a david vs goliath type of story and battling humongous titans standing 300ft tall looks incredibly fun.

shoes23

10-18-2005, 02:23 AM

Just a quick question for everyone. The release date is the 18th (which is today/Tuesday), did it get pushed back a day?

AMG

10-18-2005, 04:47 AM

This game has been on my want list for ages (at least it feels that way).

I can't wait to get it.

MarkMan

10-18-2005, 05:21 AM

Just a quick question for everyone. The release date is the 18th (which is today/Tuesday), did it get pushed back a day?

Most release dates that are listed are ship dates... so expect most game specialty stores to have it in stock on Wednesday the 19th.

Austin

10-18-2005, 07:39 AM

I'm frothing at the mouth for this game. I'll be grabbing it first chance I get.

Joelius

10-18-2005, 10:24 AM

I'll be picking this game up tomorrow. The demo truly sold me on it, i mean, it just seems so amazing. Everything about it just makes me tingle all over.

Nesmaster

10-18-2005, 12:23 PM

I'll be picking this game up tomorrow. The demo truly sold me on it, i mean, it just seems so amazing. Everything about it just makes me tingle all over.

Definitely. It's gonna be a hard 24 hours :(

zerohero

10-18-2005, 01:12 PM

I'll be picking this game up tomorrow. The demo truly sold me on it, i mean, it just seems so amazing. Everything about it just makes me tingle all over.

man, the trailer had me before the demo.

zerohero

10-18-2005, 01:15 PM

The demo was something else... it was really fun... It felt very Prince of Persia-esque at first then it just took off from there... climbing atop that collosal enemy and stabbing him in the forehead was some good times... lol.
What made me go, WOW, as when the Monster would start trying to shake you off like some kind of pest.

Crazycarl

10-18-2005, 01:28 PM

i've had my pre-order on this game since august. and i picking it up tomarrow. i thought it wasn't coming out 'till the 28th, so now im happy.

Crush Crawfish

10-18-2005, 05:00 PM

I was originally pretty skeptical on this game. I definitely liked the idea of fighting 16 huge colossi, but I felt like the huge, empty world might get pretty boring. However, after playing the demo, I must have this game. I'll be getting it as soon as I can. :D

Nesmaster

10-18-2005, 06:28 PM

Went to EB and they told me it's the 20th. I sure as hell better not have to wait til thursday for it :angry:

Spartacus

10-18-2005, 06:46 PM

I was just reading Zoe Flower's piece in September's Playstation magazine titled 'A Piece of Cake'. The article likens the pleasure of playing a good game to the pleasures of eating great chocolate cake. I'll quote some of it here in case anyone's interested in her take on Colossus.

"I have always been a huge proponent of art-house styling in games. I demand to see creativity blossom and an industry that nurtures innovation! So I've been riddled with guilt since playing Clover Studio's Okami and feeling slightly underwhelmed (that cake looks mouthwatering but tastes just OK). Combine that with my colossal disappointment in Shadow of the Colossus (cake that I wanted to throw at someone in anger), and I find myself losing faith. Indeed I must confess, while Okami stunned my senses with its painterly style and Shadow took my breath away with its mythical creatures, they just weren't FUN enough! As soon as the control scheme or camera began to baffle me -- which they did in both games -- I started to remember that I have laundry to do, or a show to produce, or a bike to ride, or another game to try."

Coming on the heels of Killer 7, this does not seem to bode well for artistic innovation in the gaming industry.

On a side note, in the same issue of Playstation magazine there was a two-page spread about Shadow of the Colossus's predecessor, Ico. It noted that they are the creations of Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido who's previous work included Ape Escape and Tomba, which I didn't know. I also didn't know that Ico was initially a PS1 title. Now I will admit that I have owned a copy of Ico for some time now but have never gotten around to playing it. As if to completely baffle me about it, they describe it in the same breath as visually stunning (which I had always heard about it), yet it doesn't set any technical benchmarks for the PS2. ?

Well, right now I'm up to my neck with face huggers in Alien Trilogy, but as soon as I'm finished with that I have to a least give Ico a look and see what all the hoopla's about. Colossus can wait until after all that!

GamecubeFreek

10-18-2005, 11:39 PM

I've had the game reserved for a long time now, so I am getting pretty excited to play it. I loved the demo. It was awesome how there were a bunch of areas you could explore aside from the main area that was intended to be played. That is apparently how the final game is supposed to be. Not much action in between collosi battles, but sight seeing is a must.

downfall

10-19-2005, 12:11 AM

Ico just frustrated me to the point of my turning it off and just not playing it again. The puzzles and such weren't terribly difficult, but I thought the fighting was unbelieveably poor. I'm not bad at video games - I'd consider myself an above average player - but where I stopped, there were several straight rooms full of the creatures that you battle, and somehow I would manage to get knocked down since I'm battling 6 of those things at once with a teensy stick, and of course they'd carry the girl off and I'd have to do the whole thing over. Again and again. Not challenging in a fun way - but challenging in an irritating way, and that's just not my thing.

I'll probably rent Shadow of the Colossus and try it, but given the current complaints I've heard about control and such, I'm not in too big a hurry.

zerohero

10-19-2005, 09:44 AM

PDorr3

10-19-2005, 06:05 PM

I'm playing right now. I just beat the 7th colossi. So far I love it, I will give full impressions/review after I beat it.

Nesmaster

10-19-2005, 07:26 PM

Well, 6 down. 10 to go. I'm a bit worried now cause these 6 didn't even take 2 hours.... Hopefully they get more difficult from here :). Otherwise, Amazing game. Would love to see it in 480p :D

BTW, I found #4 the hardest so far :P

segagamer4life

10-19-2005, 10:01 PM

mine is on its way from the good people at gamefly.... sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

2Dskillz

10-19-2005, 10:20 PM

Is it just me, or does the game give you the feeling of being Atreyu from The Neverending Story.

The almost empty openess adds to the fantasy quality nicely, you can actually appreciate the company of your horse.

PDorr3

10-20-2005, 12:05 AM

I have found every colossus so far to not be too challenging. #4 had me confused, I had an understanding of waht to do but not exactly sure on how to exicute it. The hint that poped up spoiled it for me :/ #5 took me 45 mins to beat, mainly because I kept falling, cool battle though. Just beat #8. I coulda got alot more defeated, but I decided to save that for tomorrow. Better than ICO? Well since ICO is my favorite game of all time its hard to say. Definitly atleast a 9 out of 10 in my book, and hopefuly by the end of the game it will hold a spot in my top 10 games of all time, which it has a good chance of doing.

I do find it dissapointing on how easily some of the colossus can be taken down though, some take awhile and some take 5-10 minutes. I just wanted more time to take in their beauty.

Also the song before you mount #2 is one of the best scores I have ever istened to in a game ever, it really got me going!

Oobgarm

10-20-2005, 09:44 AM

I have found every colossus so far to not be too challenging. #4 had me confused, I had an understanding of waht to do but not exactly sure on how to exicute it.

I'm having a bitch of a time defeating #4. I've actually seen someone else do it, but I just can't. I gave up after a half-hour of trying.

I can't wait to try #5, though. :D

Crazycarl

10-20-2005, 11:13 AM

if thats the one that looks like a horse, i had a hard time w/ him to you have to go through a tunnel, then com out on the opposite tunnel, then hold down R1 so you walk instead of run. sneak up on him from behind and wait till he sits down to look in the tunnel jump on his ass and hold on. I'm on the serpent (number #6 i thinkg or #7). I was playing 'till 3 am it was great.

blissfulnoise

10-20-2005, 11:38 AM

As much as Ico was about hope and courage, Shadow of the Colossus is about desperation and despair.

But there is much beauty to be found in both.

Nesmaster

10-20-2005, 01:39 PM

I just got to #11

Fast bitch. And he doesnt leave you alone :angry:

#10 took me the longest how to figure out, but i managed without the hint :P

My favorites so far are #3 and #8... 8 is just awesome ;)

and if my numbers are wrong, for those who beat the first 10 see below **SPOILERS**

Basically the Knight and the Lizard are my favorites... losing track of numbers :P

*END SPOILERS* :P

Crazycarl

10-20-2005, 02:37 PM

i thought number 9 rocked, but im stuck on 10 know, i have no clue what to do.

shoes23

10-20-2005, 04:08 PM

Hopefully what I've been hearing about the replayablility of the game is true, because right now I'm on #4 and it only took me about an hour (and that includes just messing around on the horse for a while). I know they included a hard mode in the game after you get through it for the first time, but many reviewers mentioned another aspect without going into depth about it so I will be waiting to see what it is. I would definatly place ICO ahead of this game however, and was realy hoping for the level of exploration that ICO delivered (SotC seems to be just a little to "flat" for my tastes as so far all I've had to do is hop on my horse and find which general direction I needed to be heading in).

Nesmaster

10-20-2005, 05:12 PM

It only took me about 5 hours to get to where I am, with 4 or 5 colossi to go... It will have some replayability, as it's loaded with extras, and after i beat it I'm gonna go right back in, on Hard :D

I'm curious how it's gonna be harder. do they just do more damage? or do they act differently ie. try to knock you off more violently, or even have more weak/vital spots? Find out soon enough i suppose (BTW if anyone knows, I don't wanna hear it. I'll find out myself :P)

Six Switch

10-20-2005, 05:30 PM

can't wait to get home from work and play this.the demo was good enough,i am excited.

Nesmaster

10-20-2005, 09:27 PM

:(

Done. Over.

Well what to say. The ending was awesome. Took me about 9 hours to finish. and let me just say that hard mode will be worth your time to play through again ;)

Overall one of the best PS2 games I have ever played

Me at the last colossus: @_@

PDorr3

10-20-2005, 10:43 PM

Nesmaster

10-20-2005, 11:03 PM

*Possible Spoilers for description of colossus ahead*

I believe it was #10 or 11 where you face the small colossus in the fire type temple. The game is extremely flawed in this area, this colossus is really cheap because if it knocks you down, you often never have time to move out of its way before it knocks you down again. This is a really cheap and aggrivating process....probably the first colossus I didnt have fun fighting.

Im on #14 and its the same crap, another small colossus that keeps knocking you down and wont let you up, Its a shame.

I was very impressed by colossus 9 I believe, the huge turtle guy, or maybe its because I love that song so much :) The huge water turtle one was also awsome, probably the two largest (not tallest) colossus so far.

I must admit though, sometimes the environments are downright boring, they are so plain and boring, while other areas are beatuiful. Such little flaws though do little to hurt the experience of taking down these massive creatures though.

*Spoiler Alert*

Yeah, although the 2nd one was much worse than the first one. The 2nd small one actually killed me 3 times before i figured out what to do, but once you do figure out what to do, it's almost impossible to lose as the part you have to climb is right there after the cutscene.

I agree that the flame area is extremely flawed. I actually managed to knock the colossus off on the opposite end, thus not breaking his armor, forcing me to restart. Kind of annoying, but what can you do. I haven't totally figured it out, but you CAN get up faster after being knocked down. I just rapidly press x and square together, although i dont know if you have to press both, or one or the other. Works though.

So aside from the final boss, #15 took me the longest to beat, with the huge flying snake thing in the desert in 2nd. Hope more people beat this soon so I can discuss the final colossus/ending with you guys :P

PDorr3

10-21-2005, 12:35 AM

Ill try and beat it tomorrow. I dont like to play late at night because I like to play this game with my surround sound turned may up. Cant do that late at night because people are sleeping.
I read that rotating the left joystick helps you get up faster, Ill try it.
I cant wait to see the ending though...it must be pretty epic.

PDorr3

10-21-2005, 09:53 PM

Juat beat it about an hour ago. I was getting really aggrivated by the last colossi, he just wasnt fun to fight like the others, and falling off while you are at the top is just downright frustrating. It took me an hour to beat him.

Asside from that the ending was nothing that I expected and (POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD) I can definitly argue that this is the prequel to Ico, there is just so much evidence leading up to this conclusion.

Overall, this game is not better than Ico. There were just a few things that truly bugged me sometimes:

-The environments were often too barren and boring
-Flat dull textures dont help....
-The music changes abruptly, and really has a horrible transition in fights...yes I find this hurting the experience
-Some of the colossi were too easily beaten, some just take a matter of minutes to defeat, I wanted more epic battles
-Some battles just have way too much "bucking" and shaking, it makes it overly aggrivating when you hardly EVER get a chance to stab them (most evident on #16 and the two small colossus)
-Some songs are recycled, I would have liked each colossus to have had totaly different tracks for each. While many do, some are just re-used.

With all of these complaints though, this game is really epic, and was exactly what I was hoping it would be. It seems like I'm being extra harsh and nit picky, but all of these minor imperfections matter when it comes to me trying to rank this above my #1 favorite game of all time (Ico)

This is definitly a top 20 game for me, and is truly one of the most unique and mesmerizing experiences in gaming history.

Sniderman

10-21-2005, 11:14 PM

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2005/20051021l.jpg

(Tip o' the hat to Penny Arcade!)

BHvrd

10-22-2005, 05:41 AM

What did you expect from a 10 year old with a stick? I loved the game!

Yeah Ico was cool at one time, but somehow it turned into a bash fest on it for some reason "shrugs", I still think that game was brilliant.

I can't wait to play shadow of the colossus, it looks really great.

Cafeman

10-22-2005, 10:56 AM

I got the game last night, and played it for over 3 hours. I beat #6, got to the underwater serpent one & turned off the game at 1:30 AM (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz time for me!).

Ico was impressive but I got stuck & quick playing it; its easy to see this is by the same team, isn't it.

My thoughts so far:

- the hardware (PS2) is holding back the game. A wee bit of choppy frame rate and other PS2-style artifacts initially disappointed me. That was my first thought when watching the intro real-time movie etc.

- But then after a bit of playing, I am quite impressed at the epic feel, the scope of it all. I just love the huge world where you ride your horse around the bleak abandoned land, and then there is a Colossus to battle. I like how you can see an overall map of the lay of the land too. I didn't try it -- what happens if you ignore the light beam and try to battle 'em out of order?

- Of the six Colossi I battled, the first was the hardest (!) simply because I wasn't sure of how to do it. After I understood the controls and how to scale up a beast, it was simple to figure out on the other five Colossi.

- That being stated, the challenge of some Colossi is to find how to reach a grappling point in the first place! The horse-style Colossi was the toughest puzzle for me but a GOOD puzzle. No more moving square blocks and pulling switches ... the Colossi is both the puzzle and the boss encounter. So far, I'm very happy with the first 6 and I assume the challenge will continue to ramp up now that I know what I'm doing.

I've been waiting for this game for 6 months, since I first really saw a preview of it. Glad it isn't called "Wanda and the Colossus". ;)

Queen Of The Felines

10-28-2005, 02:32 AM

Sorry to bump this, but this is pretty cool. There's a "viral" marketing campaign for this game and it's got a lot of people fooled. Check out these websites, they're all fake.

http://giantology.typepad.com/
http://arkadysimkin.pl/index_eng.html
http://www.snopes.com/photos/tsunami/colossus.asp (which isn't officially a part of it but it appears they're playing along...)

Kristine

Cafeman

10-28-2005, 08:04 AM

LOL@ those giantology sites!

I beat SotC 2 nights ago. I recommend the game -- despite some camera issues and some frustration the game is unlike anything I've tried before, and that (and its great execution) makes it well worth giving a try!

SPOILERS AHEAD about some of the details of some Colossi battles ... get out if you haven't played these yet!
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About the Fire Colossi level being flawed ... and I though he was like a cross between a bull and a lion ... I don't know why you say it was flawed because it just had a tougher, more complex puzzle. I also knocked him off into the wrong side, that channel, where he stayed for a while, growling at me. I jumped down there (Fool!) and quickly realized that hadn't been a good idea either! But I got out by climbing the one side.

He did swat me a few times as I tried to get up, but if you do the quick roll (R1+jump I think) it will usually get you out of the way. DIdn't you have to roll out of the way after you jumped down to the bottom and ran half way back up?

The 2nd iteration of that Colossi, it was getting frustrating but when I finally figured it all out, I marveled at the design. All those things you had to lead him to, in order to (finally) get him vulnerable enough to kill!

Anyway, the last 2 Colossi took me at least an hour each to figure out & beat, they certainly weren't as easy as any of the first six. FOr #16 if you haven't played him yet, here's some non-spoiler advice -- don't fight the camera! Let it go where it wants when you are hanging on, and a good angle will eventually show up. Fighting the camera makes it worse, much more frustrating.

I felt sorry for killing the first couple, but after a while, I felt MUCH SATISFACTION at taking those things down. I'm done now, I beat it within the time of 1 week's rental, so I took it back & can't replay it on Hard mode or Time Attack. But if I had bought it, I'm pretty sure I'd still be playing around with the game.

atomicthumbs

10-29-2005, 02:28 AM

Finally got the chance to play my copy tonight. HOY! What a fantastic game (not to mention addictive)! After a little more than three hours, I beat 6 Colossi, and i gotta say, the bat was easily my favorite! I mean, YOWZA!!!

Jasoco

10-31-2005, 06:30 AM

HA! NOW I get the Penny-Arcade comic.

This game makes me cry. Tears of joy for such a beautiful game. A game I never heard of until tonight when a friend posted a thread on my own forum about this game. So I checked out GameSpot like I always do and I'm blown away. I will definitely be getting this tomorrow.

Funny thing is even though I hadn't heard nothing about it, yesterday when I was perusing the game cases in the Electronics department at work (I haven't worked in it for a month now. So I had to check for new goodies.. not many.) this game drew my eye for some reason.

Had I known about it yesterday, I would have bought it then. I like the $40 price too. Nicer than $50.

I never even finished Ico though.

Jasoco

11-01-2005, 09:13 AM

Dangit. I had a big post to post and the FORUM WENT DOWN! I can't get that back. And I can't remember what I typed. I'm teh sad now.

I am halfway done with the game. It's awesome. Huge bosses are huge and awesome. The eighth was the hardest so far.. until I figured out how to aim my bow better. I kept holding the R1 button and tried to aim that way because I figured it'd make it easier to aim at him.. Silly me. Once I let go of the R1 button and just aimed it was much easier to hit the feet and knock him to the ground.

The electric eel was awesome. Hanging on for dear life as he pulls you under. If he were smart enough he would just go under and stay under to force me to surface or die. Silly monsters.

Now I'm on the ninth. I no longer have sympathy for these things. Must kill them. Must kill them all!

So I am playing Ico now instead.