Shadow Of The Colossus: why it is so much praised?

[Bonecrusher]

I've heard everywhere that sotc is an awesome game, and I bought one a few years ago. Even some people told "It is the Planescape: Torment of consoles, if you loved Torment, go and get it".
I had high expectations, but at the end it was just waste of money for me.

My first play for the game:
-There is a boring cinematic (cutscene) intro that has nothing in it.
-When I started I get no background or mission information, just a weird balcony place.
-I have horse? Cool. Horse riding is also very good.
-I don't know where to go, I just want to get out of this wasteland.
-Run around the world and try to explore. But everywhere is empty space, there is no one here.

I felt like playing a hacked pirated copy of a game, and gave up the game.

After a long time, I heard "raising sword to find the mission" thing, and thought to replay the game.

My second play for the game:
-Did I mistakenly prejudiced the intro before? No, it is just a boring walking sequence and better, it is unskippable.
-Ok let's try the sword magic, where is the arrow leads...
-Why it is so hard to climb/jump this cliff... It is just painful.
-Wow, there is a giant monster that I need to kill.
-It doesn't die, even I try to hit the weak point, It is very tiring.
-(after half an hour)Do the game consist of killing just those big bosses?

After these thoughts, I reabandon the game.

I sometimes hear praising related with SOTC, and felt guilty by not playing the game. But I feel distant to it.

I want to ask about the reason of all this praisings for the game, and if I played the game wrong, or if there is a tip/method for playing it correctly?

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

I had high expectations

There's your biggest problem right there. You're expecting too much of the game.

But from what my friend has said about the game, it was more the story and atmosphere that made the game so great, as well as the fact that you ARE severely underpowered against a towering monstrosity.

 

[oplinger]

I had high expectations

There's your biggest problem right there. You're expecting too much of the game.

This is not a fair excuse if the game gets loads of praise, because when that happens you actually have the right to have high expectations.

1. He has the right to high expectations, yes. But it is a fair excuse, because high expectations can ruin anything if you don't -think- it delivers.

2. to the OP, his first playthrough was understandable, he had no idea what he was doing. The second playthrough, as described in this thread, he was looking for reasons to not like it.

OT: The game is praised for being different, not because its super special awesome. The boss fights are well thought out, the atmosphere is also a high point, complete isolation and such. It more or less unfolds as you play though. As for tips? ...Use your sword to point out where to go. ...Go there. Kill the colossi and move on. The fights really are well done.

 

[Grygor]

Keep in mind that, no matter how widely-praised a game is, there's always the chance that it is simply not for you.

Just look at Super Mario Bros. One of the most highly-acclaimed games in history, that regularly places at or very near the top of top-(insert number here) lists, but I never found it to be all that, even back when it was still new. Sure, it was fun, but I wouldn't have even put in on a top-10 NES games of the 1980's list at the time, much less the top 10 video games of all time...

 

[Infinatex]

When I played SotC for the first time I picked it up new, with no idea what it was going to be. My reason for purchase was that it was a) packaged in an awesome cardboard box and b) it was only $50AUD new! And it was awesome!

Over hyping anything sucks. I can totally ruin the experience. SOOOO many people have told me that Mass Effect is the BEST game ever and couldn't get more the 3o mins into it. I blame this on my super high expectations and mainly because it just wasn't for me.

 

[Flying-Emu]

SotC was awesome.

Sorry if you didn't like it.

 

[sanguis3k]

the game overall wasn't that great mechanically but people liked it because it was closer to art in games than anyone else has really managed and the story. it was also targeted at a pretty small audience and more towards japanese fans than western so it is quite possible you just were not the type of person that they made it for.

personally i played it and loved it, it took me a while to get used to things but it was rewarding and each fight was a challenge and you felt like you accomplished something by bringing down these massive creatures instead of hacking through hundreds of mooks to get to a bigger mook who you just repeat the same thing you have been doing but on a larger scale

 

[stiborge]

I played it just like earlier this year after hearing a shitload of hype for it and still loved it. But I also enjoy being alone and I thought the boss battles were fucking epic. I got it at the same time as I got God of War and like it 50 times better.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

SotC was awesome.

Sorry if you didn't like it.

Essentially my feelings on your situation as well. It sucks that you didn't get the same enjoyment as many others did out of it. Perhaps you were just looking for something else in the game.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's highly praised because a lot of people like it, much like any other game that gets brought up in a topic like this. Because people like it.

 

[dibblywibbles]

the praise was misguided. just because something is different, doesn't mean it's good. the game was boring. I'm with you man. there's others out there that really couldn't care less about such a silly game. I agree that this game most likely wasn't made for me, much like Ang Lee films.

 

[aldowyn]

SotC is a very specific kind of game. There was an article here on the Escapist two weeks ago, "the Shadow and the Sword", explaining part of what makes it so epic.

Anyway, what makes it great is that it is vastly different from almost anything else, and, once you get past the admittedly quite odd controls, it's an incredibly well designed game.

It is all about fighting those boss monsters, though. It's literally like a concentrated dose of epic.

 

[loremazd]

It's the music, mostly it captures a sense of isolation, and elation as you're battling these immense giants.

I guess it's not a -game- in a strict sense, despite the bosses being fun gameplay. It's the experience.

 

[emeraldrafael]

It was just something that was... well... beautiful. Ico too. Its probably the closest a game has actually come to art and poetry (i know I'm spouting crap and am going to get alot quotes saying i'm wrong. But i'm not trying to flame bait, really).

It has the great atmosphere you are supposed to get from an epic story. Its you, your sword, your horse, and one dead chick who you have to save.

Now, i didnt look to much into the game when i played, i just enjoyed playing, but i'm told you can make alot of parallels to life and each thing has some deep meaning. But it was just a good old fashioned adventure game that functioned as a story.

and as was said, it was different.

 

[Sleekgiant]

Its the combination of story, setting, action, and graphics(which at the time for AWESOME!!!111!!) that made this game get the praise it got, and it deserves it. The game is just amazing.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I agree with you that Shadow of the Collusus was rather underwhelming (and this is from a guy who considers the equally massively hyped Psychonauts, Okami, Silent Hill 2, and killer7 to be some of the best games of all time). I think it has something to do with the uniqueness of the game. There are very many (or at least there is a commonly held perception that there are many) games that do nothing different from other games. That game did, and I think a lot of people just latched onto that. It also didn't hurt that the game was gorgeous to look at.

 

[Daedalus1942]

the game overall wasn't that great mechanically but people liked it because it was closer to art in games than anyone else has really managed and the story. it was also targeted at a pretty small audience and more towards japanese fans than western so it is quite possible you just were not the type of person that they made it for.

personally i played it and loved it, it took me a while to get used to things but it was rewarding and each fight was a challenge and you felt like you accomplished something by bringing down these massive creatures instead of hacking through hundreds of mooks to get to a bigger mook who you just repeat the same thing you have been doing but on a larger scale

i agree, in all honesty, the actual gameplay is glitchy and frustrating as hell. The camera simply hates you and the jerky fucked up framerate makes the game almost impossible to play.
But, if you persevere you find an original little game that can also be very rewarding (like collossi 11 i think it was the flying one in the desert? Chasing that on horseback... wow there were more awesome moments in that game than there were disappointing ones, but you have to agree the controls realy were quite fucking woeful.
not to mention those fruits and lizards who you assume do nothing but find out through various stuff on the net that they increase your health and grip gauge... Might have been something worth mentioning in the manual?

 

[Irridium]

Its praised because instead of trying to push more of the same, it tries to do something wholly different. The story is there, its open to interpretation. It has you make the connections on your own, and as a result it draws you in more. This kid lost someone close to him, so he goes to an old, probably forbidden, temple to try and bring her back. Its beauty is in its simplicity.

And the world is supposed to be empty. Its a walled-off area, a sacred, forbidden, and ancient place. Of course there's not going to be anyone there.

And I think having 16 unique, large, interesting, and fun-to-fight monsters is far better then wave after wave of the same bad-guy like any other game.

But eh, not everyone likes the same thing. You didn't like the game, thats fine. Its not for everyone. But lots of people do like it, so they will praise it. Your not wrong for not liking it, but they're not wrong for liking it.