It's hard to believe now, but Shadow of the Colossus wasn't a runaway success when it originally released in 2005 on the Playstation 2. Sure it had great reviews, but it's audience started as a little niche before word of mouth spread about how incredible it was, eventually earning a remaster on the PS3 years later. Shadow of the Colossus is such a remarkable game in the medium of video games that it is often cited as THE game one needs to play to recognize that video games are art. Being reissued on the PS4 it's remarkable how original and novel Shadow of the Colossus still feels. This may be because over the past decade Shadow of the Colossus has rarely been imitated. It's minimalistic story telling, narrative undertones and structure are not elements that many video games have tried to imitate time and time again. This means that in a video game market full of sequels and remasters Shadow of the Colossus still somehow manages to at least feel original despite being around for over ten years.
The story centers on a young boy named Wander who brings a young girl to the Forbidden Lands. It is unknown what has happened to her, but he intends to revive her and he seeks the help of a God named Dormin to do so. Dormin lays out a task for him, defeat the sixteen Colossi across the Forbidden Lands and he will revive the girl he cares for so much. Wander takes to the task without hesitation and that's as much of a prologue as you need to understand Shadow of the Colossus. Once this happen the player takes control and sets out to defeat the sixteen different Colossi. If there were no greater depth to the story of Shadow of the Colossus it would make for a relatively boring story. But Shadow of the Colossus opts to tell the most of its story through gameplay and visual design more so than words. Much of the dialog consists of Dormin merely telling you were the next colossus is, but as the game presses on Wander's clothes become more ragged, the atmosphere more eerie and cryptic with small to-the-point cutscenes interspersed that the player will have to think about and connect... because the game isn't interested in doing that for you. What unfolds as the player reaches the end of the game is one of the most brilliant twists in gaming and it's even better because the game expects the player to own it rather than letting them passively observe through a cutscene.
The minimum storytelling is in full effect here. Fumito Ueda and Team Ico don't put anything in Shadow of the Colossus that doesn't need to be there. The Forbidden Lands are noticeably absent of standard enemies for narrative purposes. That being that no one is allowed in them and they've been sealed off. There is no life, only the colossus. Yet it never gets tiring to ride across the vistas and there's a surprisingly large amount of things to explore. So no, Shadow of the Colossus doesn't have standard enemies or "dungeons." They add nothing to the narrative and so they're not here. This helps the narrative get straight to the point. This is not the kind of storytelling that's for everyone, but what makes this approach so unique is that EVERYTHING about Shadow of the Colossus in terms of gameplay and environment is in service to the game's story.
All this means that the only enemies there are throughout the game are the various colossi that you'll face. They not only serve as the main bosses of the game, but also the dungeons. If there was any genre that Shadow of the Colossus could potentially fall into it would be the puzzle genre. Each colossus is massive and part of the fun and challenge of the game is figuring out how to scale them. Wander must latch onto a colossus, climb to it's weak point and stab it several times his sword until it falls. At first this is easy, with the first colossus only having one weak point. Then it gradually ramps up in difficulty. Some colossi have multiple weak points while others require figure out how to scale a colossus. This may entail finding ways to throw them off balance or finding ways get them to hold still long enough. As you scale they'll also try to shake you off or something to that effect.
You don't have much at your disposal to fight the colossi. You simply have a sword, a bow and Agro. And while the sword and bow are as basic as it gets, Agro is one of the most amusing concepts of the game. Many have complained about how Agro controls, not recognizing that part of the design of Shadow of the Colossus is that you get to point Agro in the right direction but you do not get to have full control of her because she is not yours to fully control. At first this seems difficult to digest, but in reality it's rather simple. You can steer Agro but that's really about it. Yet the bond that gets formed with Agro through the adventure makes for some rather good moments. There are even some battles where recognizing how Agro controls is rather important to actually getting through the game. For the most part the AI of Agro is competent enough that you won't mind certain moments where all you need to do is simply hold down the X button to make her gallop.
On the surface, Shadow of the Colossus isn't a difficult game at all. It's a rather simple game to play. The depths of this game might not be uncovered right away if only because they're not so unabashedly revealed. For instance, it's actually remarkable how much character some of the colossi have. Or just how staggering cool some of their designs are. And some of these designs provide hints of how to scale them and how to handle their aggressive behaviors. But all of this is done in a way that feels natural to the world you're playing in rather than as standard videogame conventions. For instance, when a Colossus is aggressive their eyes turn orange, but when they're passive their eyes simply remain blue. Yet the game makes this feel as though it's just a natural part of this world and not some kind of video game convention like in other games where the hint is that you need to be avoiding an attack.
Likewise, the way each colossus moves is absolutely astonishing as well. Their attacks are perfectly choreographed, but you feel the weight of each swing they make. You also feel just how gargantuan they are in comparison to you. Everything about each colossus manages to feel grandiose with each victory feeling like it's own played out version of David and Goliath. These battles are also accompanied by an amazing musical score that puts into perspective how huge, dangerous or majestic each encounter is.
All this makes for a great package on its own. Shadow of the Colossus isn't a very difficult game, however. It never was. Most video games where narrative takes center stage are rarely that difficult to play through. Shadow of the Colossus's challenge mostly comes from figuring out how to go about each battle, but the attacks of each colossus are telegraphed that getting hit rarely happens. Even if you found yourself in danger a lot, Shadow of the Colossus has plenty of opportunities to increase your health. Your health increases after each battle with a colossus, but there are also fruits scattered around the world that increase your health if you eat them, and lizards that you can shoot and take their tails to increase the amount of grip you have, which helps for scaling each colossus. After a while the damage from a colossus fails to be a hindrance.
There are, of course, changes made to the game. The most noticeable of which is that the game's visual presentation has been given an overhaul. Often when games like this get such a visual over haul there's this idea that they'll lose the art direction that made the game so good to begin with. This doesn't happen in Shadow of the Colossus. The game has been rebuilt from the ground up to feature more dynamic lighting but not at the expense of the visual soul of the game. The areas will still look familar, the art design still shines through and informs us of the world we're playing around in. It's just all better looking, more dynamic and the game is far more fluid to play. Nevertheless it's a faithful recreation. Bluepoint Games (the team responsible for the PS3 remaster) really outdid themselves here. The visual style of the PS2 game already aged well to begin with, but this is still amazing to look at. I can't tell you how much time I've spent just riding across the plains taking in the fantastic visuals of this game.
Shadow of the Colossus is not a game that was ever meant to be attempted just once and put back on the shelf. The original game had time trials and a hard mode and both return here. A New Game+ mode is also available but now you can begin on a new difficulty setting carrying over some of your stats as well. The game also has a new control scheme updated for the current era. The original control scheme made sense for it's time, but it's a good thing it's evolved a little over time. It's a little simpler to play, but if you really miss the original control scheme it's also here.
If there was anything to lament about Shadow of the Colossus it might be that for die-hard fans of the original you're not actually getting a lot of new stuff here. This isn't really a bad thing, but if you were someone hoping that perhaps some of the colossi that were cut from the original release would be here you'll be out of luck. This is almost an exact recreation of the original game and they've added nothing to it. Again, this isn't really a bad thing. Part of the charm with Shadow of the Colossus is that it isn't a superfluous game. The only other thing that may keep the game down is that as a minimalist game that doesn't waste too much time with its story... it's going to be short. And in an era where replay value doesn't carry as much weight as it used to and where people expect their games to be long (regardless of how padded out or artificial that game length may be) Shadow of the Colossus may end up appealing more to people who have already experienced it rather than to newcomers. This isn't to suggest it won't find it's audience, but is to suggest that it's possible some new players may not necessarily take to the experience as a whole immediately.
All that said, Shadow of the Colossus has aged surprisingly well and has retained its status as a cult classic. The game is every bit as exciting and fun as it was when it was released on the Playstation 2. From it's amazing visuals and music to it's charming story, Shadow of the Colossus still stands as one of the greatest games ever made and now it can be experienced in a whole new light without necessarily robbing it of all of its original charm.
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From the manufacturer
Experience the wonder and magic of a fan favorite
Rebuilt from the ground up for the PlayStation 4 system
Tales speak of an ancient realm where Colossi roam the majestic landscape. Bound to the land, these creatures hold a key to a mystical power of revival – a power you must obtain to bring a loved one back to life.
Gameplay Overview
Explore vast forbidden lands filled with haunting ruins on a quest to bring a girl back to life
Conquer an unforgettable menagerie of towering creatures, each presenting a uniquely crafted challenge to overcome
The beloved all time classic gets rebuilt from the ground up for PlayStation 4 system.
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Shadow of the Colossus - PlayStation 4
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Dragon Ball Z or Collossus on PS4 #thisorthat
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Reviews with images
List of Changes. Worthy Remake
This game is the exact remake of the original, but with a graphical overhaul and performance upgrades--Here are a list of changes to the game:1. Graphics.Unlike the PS3 Remaster, this version does not only have graphical up scaling, but also new renders and slight remodels of the environment, characters and colossi.A night-and-day difference; the major change you'll notice in this version as you can now see detailed in the rock formations, strains of grass and individual hairs in the Collossi.The Dynamic lighting effects in this game are amazing and is the best I've seen in any game thus far. There's also reactive foliage and water physics to get you more engrossed into the world2. Constant Frame Rate.Unlike the choppy inconsistent frame rate of original, this game has smooth frame rate throughout.If you have a PS4 Pro you can play at 60FPS at 1080p (performance mode) or 30FPS at 4K (cinematic mode)Standard PS4 runs at constant 30FPS at 1080p3. Controls. The core gameplay is the same, but there are some quality of life changes added to make the control more modern (you can also opt for orginial controls for the purists out there).PS4 Touchpad brings up a mapJump is now the X button instead of TriangleDodge/Roll is the Circle button instead of R1 + Triangle4. Game now saves automatically. Praying altar no longer serves as manual save terminal in-game and only heals Wander when activated.5. Photo modeYou can pause and take pictures at any time and add filters similar to other first party exclusives like Uncharted and Horizon Zero Dawn6. GalleryCollection of digital pictures filled with comparison shots and concept art7. New Game+.This time around you can select different difficulty settings instead of sticking the one you beat the game with.There's also Mirror Mode and Time Trails.8. Trophy SupportYou can now earn PSN trophies (when comparing to PS2). Compared to the PS3 version; there's 7 more additional trophies you can collect bringing the total to 38 vs 31. PSN considers them different games so if you own the PS3 version you can stack trophies--What Stayed the Same:-Story. You go to this alter and try to resurrect a fallen princess. You are told in order to do so, you have to defeat 16 Collossi roaming around the land. Then off you go and try to slay 16 of them in a series of boss battles; each of them different in size and ways to take them down. Story isn't that deep at face value, but through gameplay, you'll get a deep moral understanding/emotion investment of the world especally when you reach closer and closer to the end game.-There are some returning issues with the game like how your horse does what it wants at random times and camera issues when in narrow corridors. For those who only play modern games the character controls may feel a bit stiff and clunky at first, but you'll get used to it if you keep at it as there is a learning curve to the character's movement.-Sound is spectacular as always. The colossi roars are more distinct this time around (either that or I have a better headset this time around). Still no English voice acting, just random gibberish coming from charactersOverall, best way to experience the Shadow of The Colossus if you haven't played it before, and an excellent revisit with enhanced visuals for those who did.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2018
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2018
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Came in as described.
Came in on time
Reviewed in Canada on April 20, 2024Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Israel Herrera Gomez
Buen juego
Reviewed in Mexico on January 27, 2024Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Israel Herrera Gomez
Reviewed in Mexico on January 27, 2024
El juego es muy bueno para ser un remake del 2005. Nunca lo he jugado pero creo que se acabará rápido.
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Amazon customer
timeless classic for a reason!!!!
Reviewed in India on April 2, 2021Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Andrés Peña
Bueno
Reviewed in Mexico on December 19, 2023Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Lisa Haley
Quality
Reviewed in Canada on March 1, 2024Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
