As the closing credits scrolled by, I did a slow clap and said "thank you" out loud. I am in awe of every single person that worked on this game. Truly one of the greatest works of art of all time.

Agro. Dear sweet Agro. Every time I set out to find the next colossus, I'd kneel and pray to Agro. That the designers assigned a specific animation to Agro when Wander does this touched me on a deep level. I prayed to Agro more than I did at the shrines. I love that horse.

Took me 24 hours of playing to get through the game. The last couple of bosses gave me a bit of challenge, especially the final boss. I thought I was going to break my R2 button from pressing it so hard for so long. I completely understand why some people complain about the controls and the camera, I agree it is absolutely frustrating at times, but in the end, I'm actually glad they're like that. I got so immersed that the feeling of not being in total control really added to how much the game was affecting my emotions. I love the rhythm of the boss rush though, it made the experience feel very balanced. I love the puzzle of the bosses and that feeling of satisfaction once I'd figure out what I had to do. And the environment, just wow, that environment and the beautiful architecture. I really feel that people who haven't experienced this game are really missing out on something truly special. This game absolutely deserves its legendary regard. Fumito Ueda is such a genius, a word I don't like to throw around, but this is a truly special creation.

Shadow of the Colossus is a good experience, but it's not a great game. I'm sure that this was a fantastic, heck revolutionary, game when it arrived on PS2 in 2005 but, 15 years later, it's hard to continue to make such claims.

There is so much that I really like about this one, namely its art style, presentation, score (and use of silence), pacing, story, and its breathtaking world. It all comes together to create a distinct atmosphere that promotes a state of self-reflection, which I'd say is perhaps the game's greatest achievement. It is difficult not to find yourself lost pondering the nature of your quest, the world, and your actions as you traverse its lands, and I think it's quite brave for a game to go about achieving this state through the emptiness and silence of its world. How many of today's releases would dare give you the silence and space to ponder your own adventure? Rather than assault you with pseudo-philosophical moral statements from NPCs about actions you may or may not remember committing, Shadow of the Colossus asks you to do the thinking and I think that there is something quite unique about that approach.

My problems with the game begin and end with the encounters with the colossi. The colossi themselves and the spaces they inhabit are, like the rest of the game's presentation, jaw-dropping. They produce a real sense of presence, scale, personality, and believability. Unfortunately, the 'puzzles' that hold the key to defeating the colossi are usually either unintuitive or easy. There were too many moments when I thought 'how on earth was I supposed to know that?' when discovering the solution to a puzzle because the game never suggests that the solution, or mechanic behind it, is at all possible (colossus 15 is perhaps the greatest offender in this department). I'm all for out of the box puzzles, but many of these are utterly obtuse without some sort of hint. The puzzles aren't my biggest gripe, as that is with the controls.

Oh god, the controls. You don't so much control the wanderer as 'suggest' his movements in any situation outside of walking/running on ground and swimming. You don't 'control' the camera in any situation. In terms of movement, I think this is an artistic choice made to add a sense of 'life' to your horse and the colossi you mount but it ends up making the execution of your plans a struggle. Climbing colossi is a game of alternating between waiting for them to stop shaking you about and then hoping that the wanderer will move vaguely in the direction you're pressing, all whilst praying your stamina doesn't run out. Attacking colossi is a game of alternating between waiting for them to stop shaking you about and then hoping that you'll land an effective blow before they shake again. Not to mention you'll fail time and time again because the camera will swing wildly into difficult angles at the worst of times and your grip will betray you. Carrying out the solutions to the puzzles can be as unnecessarily frustrating as solving the hardest ones. Overall, you end up feeling like you are at best influencing the game and that at worst you are relying on luck.

I don't think that this stems from bad programming or anything of the sort. I feel like these issues are conscious design decisions made with the intention of adding to the immersion and, to a mild degree, they work in this sense. The colossi should be difficult to scale because of their defensive efforts, the puzzles shouldn't be formulaic and obvious, Argo should have their own sense of direction, the camera should highlight epic and cinematic moments, etc. The problem is that these things come at the needless expense of taking away too much agency from the player, and that creates too much frustration for me to honestly enjoy the gameplay. It's a shame to see such great ideas miss like this.

I can't recommend Shadow of the Colossus as a game, but I can recommend it as a one-off artistic experience. It's emotive, immersive, atmospheric, sincere, unique, and important but it's also frustrating, archaic, and demanding. Play this one like you're walking through an installation at an art gallery, that is experience it slowly, focused, reflective, present, and questioning but just don't expect the act of walking itself to be all that fun.

Descriptors (for my personal use): atmospheric, immersive, emotional, lonely, unique, artistic, style-over-substance, beautiful, frustrating, archaic

Shadow of the Colossus is seen as one of the greatest games of all time. When it came out for the PS2 in 2005, it blew many people away. The 2018 remake is no exception.

The story tells of a man dubbed as "Wanderer" going to a place known as "The Forbidden Land" with his horse, Agro, to revive a dead woman named Mono. His connection to her is never made clear. However, a popular theory is that she holds some form of romantic interest in Wanderer. To revive her, he is tasked with exploring The Forbidden Land, finding, and then slaying 16 Giants known as Colossi. The plot is very simple but it contains an out-of-left field ending that blew me away.

The graphics are so beautiful. The PS2 version looked good for its time but it still had its own issues. With the remake, the graphics are stunning. I wouldn't call it as impressive as the original due to the fact that games in 2018 look just as good now. However, it still is very beautiful.

The music is just insane. One of my favorite video game soundtracks now. It gives me literal chills just listening to it.

Now with the controls. The gameplay is centered around your stamina or your "Grip" during fights where you gotta be holding onto the Colossus, you gotta regulate your grip so you don't fall. The Grip can be increased with Lizard Tails and defeating the Colossi. However, it goes up very little which keeps you at your toes. This goes the same for your health. It's also about wind-up. The longer you wind up the more damage you will inflict. But it's also something you gotta regulate with your grip.

The controls on the PS2 version are infamous for being very clunky and weird. Unfortunately, the controls in the remake are no exception. It's definitely better. But getting on your horse, climbing, shooting your bow, and using your sword is still a bit hard to do correctly and it's easily the biggest issue with the experience.

The game is short but it is well worth the playthrough. It's a very sad game because of the fact that these Colossi weren't doing anything wrong, to begin with. It's a story that makes you question if you are the hero or not. It's a story about selfishness (At least that's how I viewed it)

The best part about this game is how fighting the Colossi makes you feel so insignificant and small. The game has issues, sure. But when that triumphant music picks up while you climb on the backs of these creatures... Nothing feels more satisfying than that

Would Recommend

4/5

First of all, I need to say that I did not play to the original game. I only played to this remake on my PlayStation 5.

The game is a really strange concept and I have to say that I like it. You are a guy and you want to save a dead (or asleep) girl. For saving her you go to a temple where a voice says: 'If you want to save her, you must kill 16 colossus'. With this, you have an open world where you have to find this colossus with your sword (which indicates the direction you have to go).

This exploration system is interesting but I feel the world is really empty. There are no enemies, collectibles, side quests, NPCs... nothing. I guess they wanted to feel this loneliness in your quest, but the game seems unfinished. There are objects that you can collect but the game doesn't say what are you collecting, for what is this object used... And you don't have a 'objects' menu... so these objects are useless to collect ¿?

About the story, I am not going to spoil it, but it is quite good, even you don't know anything until the end of the game. Moreover, you need to play other games to fully understand. If not (as me), you would not understand some things.

Finally, about the gameplay, the movement is though, uncomfortable, the main character is quite clumsy. I can understand the original PS2 game was like this, but I feel the remake should have been improved this in some way. About the combats with the colossus... some of them are really interesting and fun, other colossus are really boring, repetitive and a pain. Some of them are really easy and some of them are challenging.

In conclusion, I like the game because it feels different from the rest of the games, but at the same time, I think that the game needs improvements. I recommend it but, play it knowing that this is really a different game.

Did Shadow of the Colossus need a 1:1 remake for the PS4? Need is a strong word, but if the question is:

"Should Shadow of the Colossus be eternally preserved as a testament of flawless game design for anyone who values the artistry of the medium?

Then the answer is a resounding YES. Shadow is easily among the artistically arresting things the industry has ever produced, the sort of rare flash of brilliance that comes along once in a generation. It's a video game in the purest sense; a meditation on a singular theme and something that needs to be discussed in every video-game development class from now until the end of time. It's as essential piece in the story of video games and if they want to remake it again and again I won't complain, as long as it meets the same level of quality found in this version. In all honesty, I wish Blue Point would just tackle the entire canon of PlayStation classics while they're at it. Between this and the Demon's Souls, it's clear they are the best in the biz at this particular brand of ultra-faithful remake. Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill would be GREAT picks, if anyone out there is listening! Thanks.

Let me start by saying, after playing Shadow of the Colossus, I can completely understand why it has the reputation, as a cult classic, that it has. It is a unique experience that, quite honestly, I haven’t really experienced before.

In Shadow of the Colossus, you take on the role of Wander, a young man who travels to the Forbidden Valley in an attempt to resurrect the woman he loves. According to myth, the entity known as Dormin has the power to bring back someone from the dead. The catch? Dormin wants Wander to slay sixteen creatures, the Colossi, who reside within the Forbidden Valley.

And that is pretty much the game, you travel throughout the land, find the Colossus and slay it. The game has no side quests, a very small cast of characters and very little combat. Yet, Shadow of the Colossus is incredible.

Each Colossi is unique and whilst the way you kill each Colossi is the same, the tactics you use are completely different. You see, the Colossus are… well, colossal creatures. You can’t just simply run up to them and start hacking at their ankles with your sword. No, you must strike their vital points, which are often situated high up on the Colossi. The way you reach the vital points vary from each creature. For some, it is as simple as running up to them, jumping on and just climbing your way to the top. For others, you have to interact with the environment around you, in order to access those vital points. In some ways, Shadow of the Colossus feels more like a puzzle platformer than an action adventure game, as the real challenge of the game is working out how to climb the Colossus.Just this gameplay alone makes Shadow of the Colossus stand out. I mean, for the time, there weren’t many games where the actual slaying of a creature took a few swings of your sword, whilst reaching the creature was the true challenge.

I will say that the controls are not one of Shadow of the Colossus' strong points. Don’t get me wrong, Bluepoint Games did a good job at giving players the option of using the classic controls or a more modern version. However, as I played through the game, I found the controls somewhat sluggish. For example, I was trying to climb the last Colossi and for some reason Wander decided rather than climb up, he would instead cling onto the Colossi’s hand and enjoy the view, despite me trying to encourage him to climb. And when you are only able to climb as long as you have stamina and when you have no stamina, you fall, this makes the experience both stressful and nerve wracking. Still, this issue with controllers does not ruin the experience but it will frustrate some people, especially if they have not experienced the PS2 era of control schemes.

Onto a more positive thing, another aspect of the game I love is the music. Whilst you are travelling through the land, the background music is quite subdued and reflects the desolate landscape you are travelling through. However, once you encounter a Colossus, the music becomes incredibly epic and certainly makes the encounter so much grander. This is definitely an area that other developers could take notes from Shadow of the Colossus, as matching music to the moment is something that some games miss the mark with.

Something that is a bit unusual with Shadow of the Colossus is its story and pacing of that story. You don’t really know what happened that led up to Wander making his way into the Forbidden Valley and for much of the game, the only thing you know is Dormin will only restore your deceased friend if you slay the Colossi. For much of the game, that is pretty much all the plot you get. You get hints that there is something… off with the situation but nothing concrete.That is, until you have defeated the last Colossus. Then you are subjected to about fifteen-twenty minutes of plot. I personally prefer the storyline to be a little better paced, however this style of storytelling does suit Shadow of the Colossus, as it puts the player on the same level of understanding as Wander. All in all, the story reminds me of ancients myths and legends, which ultimately I love.

Overall, Shadow of the Colossus is a fantastic game that I highly recommend people try at least once. It is a really unique experience, that does show its age at certain points, but the story it is telling is timeless. Shadow of the Colossus was an amazing experience and has definitely persuaded me to take a look at the other Team Ico games. So, if you are looking for a game that makes you feel like a giant slayer, then I highly recommend this game.