Shadow of the Colossus

[The_Hangman]

So, I finally played this after all these years. Initially, I was rather unimpressed but it grew on me.

The boss battles were my favorite parts of this game, especially the battles with the two aerial bosses. It was absolutely thrilling to climb on each monster and take them down. The fight with the sand monster was especially exciting, what with riding Argo and shooting the monster in the eye. Some of the area designs were nice, most notably in the second "bull" boss with the level's Aztec- looking structures. I wish there were more platforming sections. I wanted to see that play style developed more.

As for complaints - I felt the overworld was rather bland and unnecessarilly large, since there was little of interest in it and treks toward boss battles took far too long. There were some serious frame rate issues and, overall, I wasn't too impressed with the artsyle's grays and browns.

All in all, pretty good. Easily one of the more memorable games I've ever played, despite its issues.

[cortjezter]

i'm pretty sure the vast emptiness was intentional, not a flaw. it helps magnify the scale of the bosses, and give some context to this sort of forgotten, ancient world. emptiness also helps give some extra emotional impact and contrast from the epic battles.

[Androo]

i'm pretty sure the vast emptiness was intentional, not a flaw. it helps magnify the scale of the bosses, and give some context to this sort of forgotten, ancient world. emptiness also helps give some extra emotional impact and contrast from the epic battles.

Plus I believe that the world you're in is practically a magical one where the 'gods' reside (or so you think in the beginning). Or are my details super hazy?

I love, love, LOVE SotC. Got the EU Collector's Edition in fact. Cannot wait for the Last Guardian.

[MalikHalo]

i'm pretty sure the vast emptiness was intentional, not a flaw. it helps magnify the scale of the bosses, and give some context to this sort of forgotten, ancient world. emptiness also helps give some extra emotional impact and contrast from the epic battles.

Plus I believe that the world you're in is practically a magical one where the 'gods' reside (or so you think in the beginning). Or are my details super hazy?

It's not really the "world" you're in, because there are more places that exist, you just don't see them. But where you are is a place where everyone is forbidden to go. I don't remember if it's because it's where the gods reside or if there's some other reason.

[The_Hangman]

I know the vast overworld was intentional, but I think the reason it bothered me is because it was just too big.

I just didn't have the patience for it. For the record, I got bored by the long boat rides in Windwaker and I absolutely rejoiced when I received that teleporting spell.

[Golbez]

Well, since the game is essentially nothing but a series of boss battles, they had to pad the length somehow. Thus, the vast overworld. For me it gave me another challenge en route to figuring out the next colossus. Discovering the location of the next colossus was half the battle.

I loved SotC; my only real gripe was the awful framerate issues. Otherwise, a masterpiece of a game.

[Androo]

Well, since the game is essentially nothing but a series of boss battles, they had to pad the length somehow. Thus, the vast overworld. For me it gave me another challenge en route to figuring out the next colossus. Discovering the location of the next colossus was half the battle.

I loved SotC; my only real gripe was the awful framerate issues. Otherwise, a masterpiece of a game.

...and the horrible, no ATROCIOUS, Agro controls. And please don't tell me that was to make it seem 'real' - fighting mythical giants has nothing to do with realism and the same should have applied to the horse controls.

[Golbez]

Yeah, I wish Agro would've controlled like Epona...in fact, the controls for SotC in general weren't very good. I remember half the time I spent playing the game, I felt like I was fighting with the controller to make either Agro or Wander do what I wanted them to do.

The controls were a real hindrance trying to get my wife into this game...she fought through the Agro controls, but when she finally got to the first colossus, she got frustrated with the combat and gave up. I tried to pick up the controller and finish him off, but I was rusty since I hadn't played SotC in a few years, and I didn't do much better. Still, awesome game. Hopefully The Last Guardian doesn't have similar issues.

[Duff3c]

I had almost the same experience as the thread starter, that I didn't like the game at first but it grew on me with time. I think that was the true magic of the game... there isn't a lot of substance there, but you get drawn into the experience and get lost in the vast, open world. I would love for them to make an updated version of this game for the modern generation consoles, even if it only has been one generation since it originally launched... This game would be INCREDIBLE if it were developed on the PS3... it would be GORGEOUS.

[dandancc]

I never had problems with controls. Agro was weird at first but, when I got hang of things, it was a breeze controlling him. Wander just controls perfectly, maybe except for the bow controls, which did create a more believable experience. I don't think design choices are made to make the game realistic, but rather believable. Kinda like in Monster Hunter it doesn't feel weird that you are wielding a sword twice your size and that monsters have elemental powers.

[KingBroly]

My problem with this game is the following:

The framerate

I don't think I need to say anymore than that.

[Androo]

My problem with this game is the following:

The framerate

I don't think I need to say anymore than that.

You know what? This is the only game that had some [serious] framerate issues that I STILL enjoyed. It never bothered me. Just to be able to play in something so remotely expansive against beings so massive was enough for me to appreciate the fact that framerate issues were a given.

Remember you could wonder around the world all the time and never encounter a single loading screen. That is amazing considering the hardware.

[dandancc]

I don't get complaints about framerate too. What the heck of consoles did you play it on?

I mean, I played it not so long ago, and it didn't feel much worse than most current gen games. It is pretty laggy for PS2 standards, but the framarate issues weren't constant, and never hindered the experience. It was worth it to sacrifice framerate to obtain such bloom lighting, motion blur, realistic fur, incredible animations and no loadings.

[Androo]

I don't get complaints about framerate too. What the heck of consoles did you play it on?

I mean, I played it not so long ago, and it didn't feel much worse than most current gen games. It is pretty laggy for PS2 standards, but the framarate issues weren't constant, and never hindered the experience. It was worth it to sacrifice framerate to obtain such bloom lighting, motion blur, realistic fur, incredible animations and no loadings.

I remember being amazed at the animations too until I played Winder Waker and couldn't stop 'awe-ing' at the animations of toon Link!

Graphics wise I wasn't a fan of the faded colour palette but I could see why they went that way. And I tend to notice the pop-ins more than the framerate.

[KingBroly]

I don't get complaints about framerate too. What the heck of consoles did you play it on?

I mean, I played it not so long ago, and it didn't feel much worse than most current gen games. It is pretty laggy for PS2 standards, but the framarate issues weren't constant, and never hindered the experience. It was worth it to sacrifice framerate to obtain such bloom lighting, motion blur, realistic fur, incredible animations and no loadings.

The framerate (Especially on the final Colossus) got unbearable at times. It was almost always jerky as well.

[Golbez]

I don't get complaints about framerate too. What the heck of consoles did you play it on?

Pretty much every single review, even the most complimentary ones, mentioned SotC's framerate issues. Either your standards are low, or you played some secret version of SotC that didn't have horrible slowdown.

[FollowMeAround]

complaints about framerate dips in games always seemed weird to me. i usually either don't notice them or don't get distracted enough by them to take me out of the experience. it's an issue that gets brought up a lot in game reviews, so i guess that it can be very important to people.

SotC, in particular, was mesmerizing in so many ways that framerate issues never got to me.

[Androo]

complaints about framerate dips in games always seemed weird to me. i usually either don't notice them or don't get distracted enough by them to take me out of the experience. it's an issue that gets brought up a lot in game reviews, so i guess that it can be very important to people.

SotC, in particular, was mesmerizing in so many ways that framerate issues never got to me.

SotC did have framerate issues and horrible ones at that - but it was worth it in my humble opinion.

[dandancc]

I don't get complaints about framerate too. What the heck of consoles did you play it on?

Pretty much every single review, even the most complimentary ones, mentioned SotC's framerate issues. Either your standards are low, or you played some secret version of SotC that didn't have horrible slowdown.

I certainly did have slowdown. Lots of it, and sometimes around the 15fps range. The thing is, it never hindered the experience. It definitely didn't happen at key moments during gameplay. At worse, it made less impact when showing some bosses. I see many current gen games with framerate issues almost as bad as SotC, and they get praised all around, even if those framerate dips were in key parts of gameplay unlike in SotC. Heck, Gear of War 1 had some pretty huge (short, but huge) dips, and I played with the game installed on an HDD. And I'm not even considering the pop in and tearing that is oh so common this gen. By PS2 standards, well, it wasn't the best performance - which I still stand that is worth it, considering what they achieved on the platform -, but by current standards, it holds up pretty well.

Granted, I did play on an almost brand new PS2, one of the newer models. I believe there were some differences in performance between those and the older PS2s.

[Golbez]

I don't get complaints about framerate too. What the heck of consoles did you play it on?

Pretty much every single review, even the most complimentary ones, mentioned SotC's framerate issues. Either your standards are low, or you played some secret version of SotC that didn't have horrible slowdown.

I certainly did have slowdown. Lots of it, and sometimes around the 15fps range. The thing is, it never hindered the experience. It definitely didn't happen at key moments during gameplay. At worse, it made less impact when showing some bosses. I see many current gen games with framerate issues almost as bad as SotC, and they get praised all around, even if those framerate dips were in key parts of gameplay unlike in SotC. Heck, Gear of War 1 had some pretty huge (short, but huge) dips, and I played with the game installed on an HDD. And I'm not even considering the pop in and tearing that is oh so common this gen. By PS2 standards, well, it wasn't the best performance - which I still stand that is worth it, considering what they achieved on the platform -, but by current standards, it holds up pretty well.

Granted, I did play on an almost brand new PS2, one of the newer models. I believe there were some differences in performance between those and the older PS2s.

Don't get me wrong, SotC is still an amazing game regardless, but the framerate problem was definitely noticeable and did take me out of the moment several times during the game. So it didn't ruin the game for me or anything like that, but it was bad enough that I still remember it all these years later when I think back on the game.

I think the other reason it stands out is because it's really the only major blemish on an otherwise perfect game.

[dandancc]

Don't get me wrong, SotC is still an amazing game regardless, but the framerate problem was definitely noticeable and did take me out of the moment several times during the game. So it didn't ruin the game for me or anything like that, but it was bad enough that I still remember it all these years later when I think back on the game.

I think the other reason it stands out is because it's really the only major blemish on an otherwise perfect game.

I did experience the same slow down as you, then. But it was far, far from being game breaking as some are saying here. Definitely didn't screw gameplay for me, not even once.

I really wish the'd make a PS3 port with 60fps and HD res.

[Androo]

Don't get me wrong, SotC is still an amazing game regardless, but the framerate problem was definitely noticeable and did take me out of the moment several times during the game. So it didn't ruin the game for me or anything like that, but it was bad enough that I still remember it all these years later when I think back on the game.

I think the other reason it stands out is because it's really the only major blemish on an otherwise perfect game.

I did experience the same slow down as you, then. But it was far, far from being game breaking as some are saying here. Definitely didn't screw gameplay for me, not even once.

I really wish the'd make a PS3 port with 60fps and HD res.

...bundled with HD version of ICO. That. Would. Be. Orgasmic.

[cortjezter]

I really wish the'd make a PS3 port with 60fps and HD res.

...bundled with HD version of ICO. That. Would. Be. Orgasmic.

i'm actually banking on either this, or their eventual software update allowing BC so i can finally finish my ps2 copy of ICO that i spent so much time and money tracking down, and then start on SotC.

[The_Hangman]

All in all, SotC just makes me want to play ICO now.

It looks like a more interesting game in my eyes.

[Golbez]

I also need to play Ico.