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Shadow of the Colossus

Any of you remember a game from a few years back called Ico? No? Wouldn't surprise me. It was a textbook definition of 'sleeper hit'. An awesome, awe inspiring game that slipped almost completely under the radar. I remember not thinking much of it when I first heard about it, but it kept getting good reviews so I figured I'd give it a rent.

I bought it immediately thereafter and have been a fan ever since. It is by far the most beautiful and moving game I ever played. The only videogame I know of that could be considered art.

I say all that because I found out that the folks what made Ico have finally made a sequel which comes out in stores later this month. I heard about it I think as early as 2003 and even made a topic about it here. Now it's coming out and I felt compelled to let people know about it.

Okay, so here's the game as I understand it so far. You are a young man who needs to save a young girl from a sleeping spell...or bring her back from the dead. All I know is she's lying imobile on an alter in this big stone structure beyond which is a vast field that you traverse in search of this giant creatures which you must kill. Let me make clear right now, these are some big muthahumpers. So big, that in order to kill them, you must actually climb up them as they are trying to stomp you out of exsistence. The demo I played had me crawling up the back of a guy who was well over a hundred times taller than I was, and I've been told the giants in the real game are ten times larger.

That's the key thing about the game that I got when I played the demo...it's big. And I don't mean it takes a long time to beat it or it has a long list of stats to keep track of (which it doesn't). I mean that it's...well...big. Aside from the giants you face, the world you travel around finding them in is absolutely breath taking at the shear size of it. Cliffs that loom hudreds of feet into the air and chasms that go down into dark valleys and a bridge spans the whole thing...blew me away that the PS2 could make something so beautiful and so frickin HUGE! It's one of those things you have to see to believe.

It comes out on the nineteenth and you can bet yer ass I'm gonna be ditching work that day to grab it.

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Arts

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Twarts

As a HUGE fan of Ico, I've been looking foward to this game for quite a while as well. There's a demo? Where'd you get it from? Anyway, yep, I'll be playing it nonstop after it's released. Looks absolutely amazing.

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The island bathes in the sun's bright rays
Distant hills wear a shroud of grey
A lonely breeze whispers in the trees
Sole witness to history

ICO-You were there-

Man,I...I'm speechless ,this game is jaw-dropping(just from a trailer!),although I have never played ICO,I have heard great things about it.But Shadow of the Colossus is absolutely amazing,it looks exactly like a movie,I mean,you literally have to climb your opponent.I hope the gameplay won't be disappointing(I doubt it).However,for the mean time I will be playing ICO,and get an early taste of its predecessor.

By the way,Happy Birthday Spiffyness .

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"...But we will succeed. We pride ourselves in making the impossible possible."

We got some kind of ad for this, but it didn't really look that hot. Maybe I'm looking for the wrong things. This sounds like it would be worth renting, if any of the Blockbusters around here had a decent video game selection. Maybe I'll buy it from EB, try it out, and return it the next day if I don't like it.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

I don't know if ICO really slipped under the radar. It certainly has a lot of dedicated fans, and I'm one of them. The fantastic gameplay and unique artistic direction made it an experience wholly unlike any other, especially for the time.

I'm really looking forward to Shadow of the Colossus. It's a really intriguing idea that's hard to conceptualize at first, but I'm sure they can pull it off in a similarly brilliant fashion. It looks like it might even be better than its predecessor.

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"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."
~Dorothy L. Sayers

"The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."
~T.S. Eliot

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!"
~ Bruce Lee

I didn't really like ICO too much IMO, but personally this game does look awesome. Still, I might rent before I buy.

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Neneko is Neneko because Neneko couldn't be Neneko if Neneko wasn't Neneko!
--as quoted from Neneko, Mahoraba {Heartful Days}

I can stab a man with a thick paperback book thru the ribcage.

Well none other than Narratorway could have created the thread about this game, I guarantee that.

I will play it, of course, being a big fan of the first game. The idea is excellent, and all the visuals and demos I've seen so far have always left me with my mouth watered... unfortunately, it won't be in France funtil Christmas, at least.

I never actually played ICO, but I've heard great things about it and I too caught a few screenshots of Collossus and I have to say, "wow!" Everything is just so detailed. Definitely something you need to at least check out.

What the hell is that supposed to mean you french so and so?

Actually, I'm kinda worried about the visuals. The demo I played definitely had some framerate issues. Nothing was anywhere near affecting the gameplay, but it wasn't as smooth as Ico either. I know I was only playing a very small section of the game, so...it's a slight shiver up the back to be sure.

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I read a review of it in my latest EGM. I believe it got a solid 9 out of 10 from them. I think the problems they noted with the game where the frame rate, where mountains would suddenly pop into view, and the huge gaps of open area, which wasn't really a problem so much as a part of the game that could get boring.

I recently got my hands on a copy of ICO, after trying for about 4 months. The game certainly was artistic and I liked the minimalistic story, but I didn't think it was spectacular. I think the main problem was that the puzzles in the game were never very difficult, just rather time consuming. Another problem was the game was short. For the $20 I paid for the game I think it is excellent, but I would have felt a little unsatisfied if I had paid more than $30 for it.

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-- You're Gonna Carry That Weight --

Not gonna get it untill Feburary over here, sucks. :\

And with not alot else to get excited about untill them, looks like I might pick up a copy of ICO. Apparantly not a hard task like it sounds to be in the US.

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Whether you take the doughnut hole as a blank space or as an entity unto itself is a purely metaphysical question and does not affect the taste of the doughnut one bit.

http://slightly-bitter.blog.co.uk

I'm definitely getting this. I always wanted to play Ico, but was too scared to order it incase the people at HMV noticed I had previously ordered several CDs I could never be bothered to collect. All the same, it was an intriguing and original game I regret not buying when it came out.

A few weeks/months back, I read a preview of this, then titled Nico, and since then I've waited in anticipation simply because of how original it is. The screenshots I've seen are beautifully vast, and it looks to have exceptional design. I'm suitably awed and rather excited - this is the sort of refreshing, innovative design more developers need to have the balls to attempt.

Well, I got the game today and played the hell out of it. I'm halfway through so far. Here's the review:

It's a mixed bag to be sure and for the moment I feel sorta disappointed. For one, I'm halfway through so far, and didn't start playing it until after work. Course, I hear theres a lot of work still to do after you beat the game, so it might end up being more than that. The framerate's still a problem, but is a bit better than the demo let on. Still, it still noticable during the more hectic moments with the big boys. My biggest beef however is with the camera. It's the real hassle during the fight with the colossi.

That said, the battles are incredible! I cannot describe what it's like to climb up these creatures while they're walking around and trying to squash me. I got to climb up one while it was flying! That's just awesome man!

Most of my beefs with the game are technical while it still ends up being effective at what it does. Though it would be nice if I could save more often.

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Arts

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i love the idea behind it. no baddies, no dungeons, just you and the collosi...colossuses...whatever.

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moé in the streets, senpai in the sheets

So far I've beaten 8 of the colossi, and I'm quite impressed with the game. The sense of scale you get when you face off against these giants is awesome.

The problems with mountains and such suddenly appearing wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It doesn't affect gameplay, so its not a real problem.

Thus far the colossi seem pretty varied; each one is kinda like a puzzle you have to figure out while trying not to get squashed. I would have liked the colossi to be more difficult, though. The only colossi I've died against is the "tail in a bucket" one that spits that electric poison stuff. And that was because I got screwed by the camera. Perhaps make more ways for them to shake you off or something. But I'm only half way through, so maybe the colossi will start getting harder.

Overall, great game. The worst thing about the game, I think, is the camera. The horse is no treat to work with either, but I'm not sure if Argo is supposed to be like that or not.

This post has been edited by Rujuken on 1st November 2005 19:06

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-- You're Gonna Carry That Weight --

I just beat this game two days ago, and I am thoroughly impressed.

This is one of the most beautiful games this gen, excluding the framerate issues. The fact that it was on the PS2 was the most impressive part, but kind of sad, as if it were on any other console it would flow so much more smoothly. That being said, however, a slow framerate isn't that bad in a slow game like this. And anyway, it kind of added to the blur effects I saw.

Each of the collossi was inventive, but it seemed like once you figured out the trick, the rest was just routine. Some of the later collossi were exceptions.

By far, my favorite collossi was #13,

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

the "Sky Worm" I will call him. I had so much fun trying to jump on to him on my horse while he was moving.

The ending was also very odd, but extremley good.Quick question:

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Is it possible to stop the priest and co. from getting away, or to not get sucked into the portal? I think it would be interesting to get a new ending

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

I beat the game about 2 weeks ago, and I have to say that it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. The landscape was beautiful, the Colossi were breathtaking, and the battles themselves were spectacular. The ending, although predictable, was very well done, and the soundtrack (which I usually consider a major point in any game aspiring to be "art") was simply marvelous, especially the ending piece. While the framerate hung a bit at times, the blur effect used as a counter adds a nifty frantic feel to the action.

Overall, I'd say that anyone with a PS2 has no excuse to not buy this game.

My favorite was also #13, and

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I'm almost positive that you can't kill them, but... I don't really have any proof. I'm just pretty sure I heard that somewhere... (well that and the fact that I've tried many times)

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The island bathes in the sun's bright rays
Distant hills wear a shroud of grey
A lonely breeze whispers in the trees
Sole witness to history

ICO-You were there-

I haven't got the chance to play this game, but I think the idea is rather brilliant. From what I can gather, these battles with the colossuses look amazing and rather epic. Memorable even, and I'm a rather big nostalga buff.

But is there replay value? I don't want to fork over a hefty price for a game that'd last about 10 hours or so and be done with it.

I'd buy it to give it a shot and all, but Christmas is coming up and I've got books and tuition to pay for and all that jazz. Mmm...jazz.

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Really Random Quote of the Day: "Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war." - Richard M. Nixon

So if you're done reading this, you know I have nothing to say and you've wasted your time. Thank you come again.

The game is rather short, but every moment is so amazing that it's well worth 40 bucks. But at any rate, after you beat the game you unlock a hard mode, as well as an easy and hard time trial mode. With the time trial mode, you can get cool items to equip which just lets you have more fun with the battles. There's plenty to keep you occupied after the awe of the first play-through wears off.

Yay for jazz.

This post has been edited by Spiffyness on 19th November 2005 07:24

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The island bathes in the sun's bright rays
Distant hills wear a shroud of grey
A lonely breeze whispers in the trees
Sole witness to history

ICO-You were there-

I would have to disagree, as I think it's only worth a rental, but a definate rent at that. There's just too little content, and the items don't really make it all that more enjoyable. You could play through easy and hard in one week, anyway. If you can dish out the 4-7 bucks, you must rent it.

In other news:

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I discovered its absolutley impossible to kill the people in the ending. I tried about 13 times : (

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

I just started playing this game today. I'm through the sixth colossus so far, and Im curious about what others think of the game.

In my opinion, I'm torn between thinking its an absolutely beautiful, brilliant concept, but as a game it feels a little empty. Don't get me wrong - I'M FIRMLY on the side of thinking its a damn good game, but if it only went a few steps further I think it would have the potential to be one of the best games ever.

Anyhow, I'm off to go beat the pants off of the seventh colossus now. Wish me luck!

Edit

Thanks mods, I couldn't find this thread yet!

This post has been edited by WildHalcyon on 9th August 2006 19:29

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Oh sure, I don't have to get kicked in the junk to activate it, but I like it anyway. -- Thief commenting on the difference between Throw and Blue Magic.