Review by Keisha Ta-asan
Back in 2005, Shadow of the Colossus is undoubtedly considered as the greatest game of all time. The game appeals to gamers because of its unique gameplay, astounding graphics and visuals, and a mysterious heartbreaking story. In 2018, Sony Interactive Entertainment decided to do a remaster of the original game for the PlayStation 4.
In this game, we first meet Wander, a young man who enters a forbidden land with a horse named Aggro. His purpose was to revive Mono, who had a cursed fate and was sacrificed to the gods. Wander and Aggro enter an abandoned temple where they met the deity Dormin. Dormin explains that the price of reviving Mono is the lives of sixteen Colossi scattered across the remote areas of the forbidden land. Wander has to defeat all sixteen colossi to bring Mono back to life.
Aside from remastered controls, the gameplay is identical to the original game. The players are only tasked to do two things: (1) to navigate Wander to the location of the Colossus by using Aggro, and (2) to kill the Colossus. The progression of Shadow of the Colossus revolves around this cycle of horseback riding and combat, to finish the game you have to finish sixteen cycles of horseback riding and colossi defeating. It is like playing a game full of boss fights but without the appearances of minor enemies. It is simple, yet it is what made the game unique.
The Futility of Holding On
Shadow of the Colossus is a game that has the ability to combine gameplay and the story. First, the game’s primary control was to hold on to the Colossus. It even has a “grip meter” where it indicates how much long Wander can hold on. The astonishing part here is that ‘holding on’ became a storytelling device. This was apparent throughout the game as you defeat colossi after colossi, but was highlighted at the final scene.
At the final scene [SPOILER ALERT!], players are given control after a cut scene. The game allows you to hold on to the stairs before being sucked by the magic cast by a religious figure named Lord Emon. However, this will be futile as your grip meter runs out. Fumito Ueda, the director of the game, emphasized this last act of holding on as his favorite scene, saying, “Throughout the game, the primary action control was ‘hanging onto’ the Colossus for all of the battles, but I do like the fact that we used this same action control for something other than battles at the end of the game. It’s almost like all the battles with Colossi leading up to this scene were just a prelude so that we could successfully portray this very last ‘hang on’ action”.
It is safe to say that the recurring theme of the game is futility or inevitability. As Wander kills a colossus, he is stabbed by a black fluid-like tentacle which is the shadow of the colossus he killed. The shadow remains in Wander’s body thus causing his body to deteriorate every time he kills a colossus. At first, players might try different techniques on how to run away from the black tentacles, but eventually, the futility of these attempts would hit them, literally.
For a simple combat game, this is one of the main reasons why Shadow of the Colossus is considered great. It gives players a whirlwind of emotions such as allowing them to believe that they stand a chance to outmaneuver death, or they can stop Emon from leaving the temple, or they can save both Mono and Wander at the same time.
The Relatable Characters
Another good reason for the success of the game is its characters. Wander is known for his determination to kill all sixteen colossi. He killed them all without batting an eye. Still, Wander is a young man and he is just that--a young man. This is apparent from the way he slowly stands up after being attacked, to the way he stumbles clumsily as he holds on a Colossi. Even the awkward way of how he uses his sword established Wander as a normal man. Nevertheless, Wander slaughtered all sixteen Colossus. This begs the question, is Wander willing to sacrifice everything for someone else? Or is Wander incredibly stubborn and selfish?
Wander’s unwavering resolve led to bad consequences such as [SPOILER ALERT, AGAIN!] Aggro falling to her death. It may seem weird to include the horse, but trust me, Aggro became a character all players can relate to. Aggro’s defining trait is obviously, loyalty. The game builds her up as an independent character. Aggro does not only stay where Wander leaves her, but she also explores. Yet she never fails to come to Wander when called for. When riding, she steers herself away from cliffs and obstacles and does not always respond to Wander’s commands, or specifically, to the player’s control.
The idea of having a partner is comforting to the player. The idea of Aggro always coming back to the temple looking for Wander, despite the dangers he puts her, makes Aggro a character anyone could have fallen for.
The game never explicitly states that you should feel guilty over killing a colossus but it’s a pretty common reaction of those who played it. Is it really right to kill the Colossus even if all of them were howling in pain? Colossus 5 never attacks until provoked. Colossus 11 shows fear. Colossus 13 does nothing but fly aimlessly around, it doesn't even attack the player at all. Then there’s the segment where we play as the giant Dormin, where we find out how hard it will be if we are the Colossus and we are being attacked. Through this role reversal, we can start to imagine the desperation these creatures felt when facing Wander and start to truly sympathize with them.
All in all, Shadow of the Colossus deserves its high ratings. The original game alone is worth playing and the remake even made it more visually pleasing.
This article is based on an earlier version that the writer submitted for the course Journalism 111.
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