Zero Punctuation: Shadow of the Colossus

[S_K]

Lent this to my sister and her husband and I'd bet money they still haven't played it compared to some shovelware and WoW, damn those uncultured gaming swines! I should trick them into doing the twist pencil trick from the psychonaughts video.

For those not in the know though personally I recommend playing Shadow of the Colossus and THEN Ico because both games are clearly connected in story through some of the imagery alone, they just don't serve you all the answers to your questions on a silver plate, you have to figure things out for yourself. The only thing this game is guilty of is being pretty emo, but by playing ico second you kinda undo that in a way

 

[Warteen]

In 450+ comments, somebody probably already mentioned it, but my video game snob side feels the need to point out that we don't really know if the girl in the game is a love interest. The plot analyses I've read indicate that she is most likely not, but rather a girl who the main character sacrificed (he wears the same garb as the guys who come to get him at the end of the game) and he feels super-guilty about it.

Also, wow, the people talking poorly about this game are saying some really dumb things.

 

[Belbe]

Woot! Love this review!
It's ok, you'll cave to the SC2 one day...

 

[Aesthetical Quietus]

Seriously, more adverts before the start of the video? Feeling greedy much?

...You realise just how much video hosting costs right? Even if the file was only 5 MB's, and only a hundred people watched it, that's still 500 MB's of data right there. The reality is more like 17MB's and thousands of people. As a sort of relevant example, Justin Bieber's most popular videos ending up sending several PB's of data. Yes PETABYTES.

Anyways: I enjoyed this video, good as always Yahtzee.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Liked SotC a lot; I played it pretty late (something like 2008) after telling all my friends to play it in 2006, which was already late, but they all agreed it was good.

I liked the gameplay as well, and the epic feel of it. Something has [had] to be done about the world map and countryside navigation though. I'd play the game 1 boss at a time at a friends place on the weekends, and spending 1 and a half hours finding a colossus just to spend 30 minutes on the boss itself gets to be a bit of a stumbling point after 10 or so guys.

And, as mentioned, the last boss was no fun. Sure he looked fun, but after being tossed off those hairy palms into oblivion for the 5th time (something about him scratching himself?) I just shut the game off.

 

[Seneschal]

In 450+ comments, somebody probably already mentioned it, but my video game snob side feels the need to point out that we don't really know if the girl in the game is a love interest. The plot analyses I've read indicate that she is most likely not, but rather a girl who the main character sacrificed (he wears the same garb as the guys who come to get him at the end of the game) and he feels super-guilty about it.

Also, wow, the people talking poorly about this game are saying some really dumb things.

Yahtzee didn't tackle with the plot in general, but if it is vast and rich and everything. I agree that Wander and Mono probably didn't even know each other (people say she doesn't recognize Agro when he appears). On the other hand, the whole of Ico was one big romance plot (no, not the shoe-horned subplot, the real and meaningful plot).

It's also cool how the entire world reveals itself just through the gameplay. For example, it has been observed that Agro is a MONSTROUSLY large horse, and Wander is, uh... vertically challenged a little bit. To ride such a horse, they would have to have known each other for a lifetime. And, curiously, Wander couldn't swing a sword properly if his life depended on it (he just kind of flails with it), even if he rides and shoots arrows like crazy. And how Dormin speaks with a male and a female voice at the same time, indicating a dual entity, like an old heathen god locked away and forgotten after the rise of the modern faith. And the end ties beautifully into Ico, explaining the origin of the horned boys.

It's what interactive media do best - not to tell the story, not even to show it, but to pull you right through it. In my opinion, only Valve games use their environment better.

Anyway, at the risk of defending people who hate SotC, I understand how it cannot appeal to everyone. Even at this point, gameplay is what matters the most. It seems the market isn't ready to accept profound drama in a videogame. We stick to B-movie plots, with the occasional Die Hard, The Dark Knight, Avatar, and Matrix, but we're closed to the possibility of a game equivalent to The Shawshank Redemption or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Does this mean games are incapable of hosting such storytelling? HELL NO, I'd even dare say they'd do it better. It's just that someone out there is going to complain that he only got one weapon, that everything was repetitive, that the controls were wrong, that the frame rate sucks, that the graphics are last-gen, like he's playing a Mario game and it's not instantly titillating him. He expected a toy, someone got him a book, and he still hasn't learned to read. I'd be disappointed too. Especially if the book cost $100.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's nice to see ZP gush about a game every once in a while. Especially one as amazing as Shadow of The Colossus.

As my shrink used to say: Try to transform that negative energy into something positive.

 

[Impluse_101]

*Climbs up the ladder to his clubhouse* Cooool

 

[Centrophy]

Haha, quoted you anyway Centrophy. The running around is for atmosphere, ambiance, exploration. The game is meant to be an experience, not a "game" in the literal sense. Zana, the fact you thought of the searches as "trouble" shows that you were intent on looking for something the game was never meant to provide. The game is a stroll through a beautiful countryside, and you're jogging through it with a pedometer and an ipod. Not that that's wrong, I enjoy competitive games as much as "artsy" ones, but of course you won't enjoy a game you go into with all sorts of expectations. Centrophy, you just fail at navigation. It sounds like you spent hours wandering in circles. Do you get lost in new places often? Besides, the searching was another way to express Wander's dedication to reviving Mono. The game would have been less compelling if he rode the magic teleportation bus straight to every fight. It's not supposed to enhance the gameplay, it's supposed to enhance the narrative.

I did suck at navigation in that game. Kinda hard to decide where to go when the light is pointing at a wall and I haven't picked up the Dodongo stomach/bomb sack. Oh, the map was also rubbish as well. Now maybe I'm not one of those games are art people. However IMO, when a developer makes a decision to include a playable section that is "all about the experience" and "enhancing the narrative" but the player thinks it's boring and a waste of time then it's not the player's fault for "not getting/understanding it". (Is anyone else really tired of the "you just don't get it" argument?) Also you say that the exploration section is a great stroll through a beautiful countryside. But that's just it. There wasn't anything interesting to see there. It's like wandering through vanilla Oblivion except made worse because there weren't any creatures or npcs. It just felt rather bland kinda like white rice. Now I can understand that some people really like the taste of rice, but as for the rest of us... well. I guess I just went into the game expecting an epic adventure fighting epic huge monsters and came away feeling let down. Anyway as I said in my first post these are all my opinions. Nothing I say is going to make you change your opinion of the game and vice-versa.

On the positive side, the game had really good horseriding (Maybe the best)... if you're into that.

Now to be arbitrary and post my opinion of this game for the sake of it. *Ahem* I have an active dislike of this game. I remember playing and yes, finishing this horse riding simulator back when it first came out and received critical acclaim. Sure the boss fights were entertaining however I found that I spent most of the game in an empty lifeless world on the back of my horse trying to figure out how to get over those awful mountains. It was just really really boring and IMO a poor design decision and can be constituted as length padding.

I honestly can't understand all the love when half the game is spent doing nothing.

Then again I'm not trying to sway any opinions nor am I going to, just stating my opinion. Now don't quote me! Tired of getting the blasted things in my escapist inbox.

What's the point of stating your opinion in a public forum if your not willing to take the risk of someone questioning you?

For post count, it's just like raising your gamer score! And to participate in the community otherwise why sign up?

 

[reiem531]

Pretty much everyone who's saying "BAAAAWWWW SHADOW OF COLOOSUS IZ OVER HYPED AND HAZ BAD CONTROLS?!?!?!!!!" obviously did not understand the game.

The point of the game was not "just to kill the colossi"
The point of the game was not to just be boring.
The point of the game was definitely not RUN SHOOT BANG KILL ZOOM WAHEY (which is what so many people wish it was)

The point of the game was to make the player FEEL something. EMOTIONS, remember what those are? It was made to make you feel cold, desperate, lonely, scared, exhilarated, and many other things. It made you sad when one of the main characters died, it made you vaguely hopeful at the end, it made you feel helpless in the face of the colossi. THAT was more the point and just the fact that it made me feel so many different things is what overshadows the less-than-perfect controls and whatever other bullshit people complain about.

 

[Nullroar]

Damn Damn Good Good Damn Good Damn Good....ITS THE KONAMI CODE, PEOPLE!

 

[Potato21]

Didn't he say Portal was perfect? Anyway I hope they release Shadow of the Colossus with Ico in a PS3 double re-release pack, I want to play it but my PS2 controller at this state barely functions. The analog stick travels, some buttons push themselves at random occasions, and the rubber on the analog sticks has this really weird feeling to it now.

 

[klaynexas3]

i absolutely love this game. it's so much fun just running around killing big ass monsters with a sowing needle. i would have to say that the thing about when the colossi get smaller, they tend to be harder to do shit to, and they're much faster, and trying to hurt it is a much longer process than most other colossi(not the final one, i still never found out how to beat that nasty *****).

though, on the SCII note, i would have to say while not playing it, it looks alright i guess. i'm not a big fan of RTS but i don't think it's a genre to so lightly disregard. plus, halo wars was just an awful game, and while i haven't played many RTSs, i know that you should at least give SCII a try since you only played a really bad one. supposedly, starcraft is like the best next to dawn of war when it comes to RTSs. so maybe give it a look at.

on the not many games note, try the new PSN game scott pilgrim vs. the world. i found it to be fun and it's something new to all the games companies keep shitting out lately.

 

[scorptatious]

One of my most favorite games of all time. A true masterpiece in gaming.

 

[Lunar Templar]

yay!! for Yahtzee reviewing a GOOD game >.> .... er .. excellent game
and even more for being one he LIKED

:3 and yes, if you make it to my post, it IS that good, 16 fights that can take a good while if you've never played it

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

What's with the 'man up' thing?

'Man up and review the game...'

Man up and fight a grizzly bear. Man up and phone your mum. But man up and review a computer game? Girlfriend, please.

You are a legend. I just died laughing; more so because it reminded me of a time in New York when we were sitting on a rooftop balcony under the Empire State Building, and this girl told my friend to 'Man up and drink your cosmo.'

OT: I really wish I could experience this game. It's a wee bit cruel, Yahtzee, to review a game that I can't buy and even then couldn't get hold of the system to run it on, you callous misanthrope

 

[Lunar Templar]

Pretty much everyone who's saying "BAAAAWWWW SHADOW OF COLOOSUS IZ OVER HYPED AND HAZ BAD CONTROLS?!?!?!!!!" obviously did not understand the game.

The point of the game was not "just to kill the colossi"
The point of the game was not to just be boring.
The point of the game was definitely not RUN SHOOT BANG KILL ZOOM WAHEY (which is what so many people wish it was)

The point of the game was to make the player FEEL something. EMOTIONS, remember what those are? It was made to make you feel cold, desperate, lonely, scared, exhilarated, and many other things. It made you sad when one of the main characters died, it made you vaguely hopeful at the end, it made you feel helpless in the face of the colossi. THAT was more the point and just the fact that it made me feel so many different things is what overshadows the less-than-perfect controls and whatever other bullshit people complain about.

>.> it had bad controls? ..... didn't notice,

but that probably had to do with the walking building i was trying to kill with a tooth pick
but i can't say i felt lonely, scared or desperate, more over whelmed though,

my reaction to the first colossi was 'your fucking kidding, i have to kill THAT, with a sword and bow?!?!?!' and that feeling repeated it self a few more times, the 'turtle' being a particular pain in my ass to just get ON, and whats more, killing one left me a greater sense of accomplishment then most any other boss fight, in any game

 

[MajoraPersona]

It's like trying to get a famous neuro-surgeon to perform a heart transplant; wrong area of expertise.

This is stupid. People are not asking Bioware to make an RTS, they are asking a critic to criticize.

There's a HUGE difference between MAKING something (where the term 'area of expertise' applies) and CRITICIZING something.

Yes. One involves investing a large amount of time to create, from a basic model, an interactive experience from a jumble of data. The other requires a steady hand, intense focus for hours on end, and results in aiding someone in surviving a little bit longer. Or has the nature of similes changed since I was ten years old?

Are you one of those people who weren't there for the whole Ebert debacle? Where a famous movie critic said that video games aren't art? Just as the title of 'movie critic' does not make one suited to review video games, being a 'video game critic' does not automatically make someone an expert on how video games work.

Yahtzee does not play RTS games. He does not enjoy them. Therefore, he would not be suited to tell others what is wrong with the game, as, for the most part, he may not be clear on what is and what isn't supposed to be integral to the game genre as a whole.

Yahtzee's reviews tend to focus on pointing out flaws in a variety of games. Variety, in this case, refers to primarily FPS games, sprinkled with the occasional platformer, RPG, or action game. Plus one or two about Guitar Hero. And the USA.

For those of you who aren't completely stupid, I apologize for this rant. It's only said the things that have been stated a million times before, but I feel it bears repeating until everybody gets it.

TLDR: No you.