Shadow Of The Colossus

[Chromer]

The game can last for over 25 hours so I don't think you'lln be renting this one for a weekend buddy.

[jewpinthethird]

As of now I have defeated 10 Colossi out of 16, I believe. The first 4 were fairly easy to beat, but they've gotten tougher and tougher as time goes on. Some of the later colossi have taken me nearly an hour to find and kill.

To give you an idea of how big the world is, I spent 2 hours exploring the map and I still haven't seen everything. You really think you have seen everything on the map, and then you see a cave or a bridge you hadn't noticed before which leads to an even larger area. It just keeps growing and growing.

Before exploring the map, I thought the environment was fairly uninteractive...mere eye candy. Oh how wrong I was. You can do all kinds of things. Without giving anything away, I'll just say, don't be afraid to shoot things with your bow and arrow. Paying attention to minute details really pays off.

Also, I believe you can replay each colossi, called "reminesence mode", by praying by their corpse once you have defeated it. Though I can't be positive as I haven't tried it out yet.

The more I play the game, the better it gets. Shadow of the Colossus is a must buy.

ps. I could see knocking off this game in one weekend. I don't know how long it'll take to defeat the remaining 6 colossi but I imagine I couldnt take too long. However, you'll only be able to finish the game within that time span if you do very little exploring and since exploration is a big factor in the gameplay, you wont get the full experience.

[jewpinthethird]

Alright, I just beat the game. I got nearly 17 hours of game play out of it (16:41 to be exact). Personally, I felt it was not too long, not too short.

Possible spoilers in the next few sentences...it would give away the ending, I promise and I will be as ambiguous as possible...but be warned, if you are quick on the uptake, you'll probably get a good idea of how it ends.
You will appreciate the ending a lot more if you have played ICO first. Unfortunately, very few people have played ICO, so I do believe a lot of people won't entirely get the ending....at least not appreciate it. End possible spoilers

This is the best game I have ever played. A perfect 10 out of 10. Spoiler: This game will also give a lot more depth to ICO. Four years was a long wait, but it was worth it. And if it is another 4 years wait before the sequel comes out, then so be it.

I would also like to note that I will be replaying this game again in Hard Mode. And there is still more to unlock.

[mead1]

Alright, I just beat the game. I got nearly 17 hours of game play out of it (16:41 to be exact). Personally, I felt it was not too long, not too short.

Possible spoilers in the next few sentences...it would give away the ending, I promise and I will be as ambiguous as possible...but be warned, if you are quick on the uptake, you'll probably get a good idea of how it ends.
You will appreciate the ending a lot more if you have played ICO first. Unfortunately, very few people have played ICO, so I do believe a lot of people won't entirely get the ending....at least not appreciate it. End possible spoilers

This is the best game I have ever played. A perfect 10 out of 10. Spoiler: This game will also give a lot more depth to ICO. Four years was a long wait, but it was worth it. And if it is another 4 years wait before the sequel comes out, then so be it.

I would also like to note that I will be replaying this game again in Hard Mode. And there is still more to unlock.

This post has finally convinced me to pick this up. Probably getting it this weekend.

And on ICO, is this game down in price nowadays? Or is it one of those cult classics you con't find except for 70$ on ebay?

[evilbutterfly]

So what kinds of unlockables are in this game that make it worth replaying and such? And there's no multiplayer whatsoever, is there? I have a feeling the game would get ridiculously boring, and I'm seriously just gonna have to find somebody who has it and borrow it.

[jewpinthethird]

@Mead1: You can probably find ICO at a gamestop of EB games used for about 5-20 dollars. I paid 50 for it when it came out and it was worth every penny. It is a cult classic, but it is very short and the replay value isnt all that great, so I bet you can find many used copies.

@EB: There are a lot of items you can collect by beating the colossi in Time Attack Mode. Mostly new weapons, different skins, maps, and armor. Also, without ruining anything, there are still areas that can only be reached once you have collected all the items. There is also a hard mode which is basically normal mode, only you do a lot less damage, you take a lot more damage, and there are a lot more critically points on the colossi. There is no multiplayer, but this is my second time playing through the game and I still want to play more.

[Kefit]

I was incredibly excited for this game.

Then I played the demo. The choppy framerate and ugly graphics (I'm sorry, but the drab colors and texture bluriness are just awful), combined with terrible controls pretty much killed all desire I had to play this.

I might check it out when it falls in price, but until then I have enough else in my life to keep me busy.

[jewpinthethird]

I was incredibly excited for this game.

Then I played the demo. The choppy framerate and ugly graphics (I'm sorry, but the drab colors and texture bluriness are just awful), combined with terrible controls pretty much killed all desire I had to play this.

I might check it out when it falls in price, but until then I have enough else in my life to keep me busy.

I never played the demo so I can't compare it to the full version, but I didnt notice the horrible controls, however, there is a learning curve. As for the ugly graphics, that would be the opposite phrase I would use. The colors are rather pastel at times when they arent saturated in light. I dont know, I really dig the style and it suits the game.

Anyone who is skeptical about whether or not to purchase the game, I suggest renting it. It's one of the games you will either love or hate. Give it a try.

[mead1]

I picked it up yesterday, this game is a winner. I defeated the first 2 collossi today. This game is incredibly satisfying. Taking down the first collossus was a great triumph for me, as it was difficult to get the hang of the controls. The second was much more enjoyable since I had them down.

[jewpinthethird]

Here is a good review of the game:

http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,69334,00.html

[evilbutterfly]

So I got some mail at the house not too long ago, apparently, and my parents just yesterday passed it along to me. There was a demo disc from some magazine and guess what was on it?

Well let me tell you, the game was a bit odd for me at first. I didn't like that the horse was kinda hard to control. I mean...I guess it's more realistic, since a horse isn't really under your complete control. And uh, climbing around was kinda hard at first. And the whole "shine your sword at it" didn't seem to help too much. I didn't have time to focus the light before it would be there swinging at me. I just kinda figured hey, there's a big glowing spot on its head that looks like a brain, I should probably stab that. Getting on top of that thing was ridiculous, though.

I still think this would probably be better for renting/borrowing from a friend, but the game was way better than I expected. Probably a hell of a lot of fun to watch someone play, too.

[gowereinside]

I just rented it about two days ago and beat it in 8 hours. Yeah you can unlock things but after I got done playing it I didn't think it was good enough to play again. Renting it was a good idea but I would of been pissed of I bought it

[Moogy]

I started playing it yesterday. 3/16 colossi killed. Amazing game.

[evilbutterfly]

Bump because I want to know if you guys are still playing the game now or if it has gotten old. Is there enough to do after beating the collusi that you are still entertained? Tell me tell me tell me. :P

[jewpinthethird]

The game simply is about beating the Colossi and exploring the world. I havent played the game in a few weeks. I beat it twice. I dont really have the patience to unlock the secret weapons and cloaks and jazz as it doesnt really add to the story. Perhaps I will some time in the future. I know for a fact that I will play SotC again. I would say SotC's replay value would be that of a good movie. Not really a game you can play over and over in a row, but one that you can play again year after year without it getting old.

Possible spoilers:
My only diasppointment would have to be that the world is rather empty. There really isnt much else to do once you've seen everything (mind you seeing everything takes a good 4 hours or so) besides defeat the colossi. I did get to the top of the temple, but there isnt anything to do while you are up there. And I checked out the bridge...nothing.

Dont get me wrong, as it is, Shadow of the Colossus is a great game...and one of the best games I have ever played (along with Katamari, and ICO). It is perfect in what it presents. I understand that filling the world with things to do would really distract from the atmosphere...but it seems kind of a waste that there is all this land that serves as nothing more that mere eye candy. I think my main gripe with the game is that there is so much that has yet to be explained. I crave more knowledge about this world. They've set the stage for a sequel, I just hope they follow through.

Shadow of the Colossus is, in my opinion, a must play, by any means...rent it, borrow it, or buy it...it's up to you. Just play it.