Ico / Shadow of the Colossus

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Colossus is beautiful, literally breathtaking at times. I just beat #8 yesterday. The ~15 seconds after you take down a colossus is a special experience. Very well done.

I actually like Tim's rambling, sprawling non-reviews. If you just accept from the beginning that there will be plenty of tangents and a healthy dose of bullshit, they're generally amusing to read when you're bored at work. If you're into that sort of thing.

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 19:17 (twenty years ago)

Ico was a snooze fest.

quoting myself from the PS2 thread:

the reason ico is good is because it is not afraid to be boring. if you don't appreciate the game it is because you have forgotten how to be bored properly.

― allen riley (allenriley), Thursday, 10 November 2005 08:02 (twenty years ago)

I got Ico around the same time I got Colossus, so I only got maybe 3 hours into the game before switching. I'm not really sure how I feel about Ico. I like the idea of it, the barebones story and gameplay, the sense of scale, the overall lack of characters, enemies, music, powerups/items, HUD, etc. It's very minimal/spare as 3D adventure games go, and manages to be really nice looking without using flashy effects. But as mentioned way upthread, the fighting can be pretty frustrating, and I have to be in the right mood to enjoy all the spaciousness and emptiness and wandering enough to put up with the tiresome battles.

Most of the same things could be said about SotC, except the fighting in that game is extremely satisfying, frightening, and generally much more engaging than whacking shadows with a stick 50 times. And that difference alone is enough to make it a much better game.

― sleep (sleep), Thursday, 10 November 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

i can only remember one battle that was long or tiresome without reason in Ico. it's not like every time there are bunches of shadow creeps in a room you actually have to fight all of them.

the second to last battle, of course, completely doesn't count. i mean omg

the opening of the gates/walking across the bridge sequence and subsequent cutscene is the most heart-on-string i've ever been while playing a videogame

― lemin (lemin), Friday, 11 November 2005 09:03 (twenty years ago)

the "bad" fight mechanics to ico were pretty integral to the idea of the game, I thought. you're just some kid with horns, of course you can't fight very well!

― pretentiosexual rights activist (haitch), Saturday, 12 November 2005 07:11 (twenty years ago)

gunna go bust this out again

― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 12 November 2005 12:26 (twenty years ago)

Plus, you could like the stick on fire, and a lit torch would take out the the shadows even better.

was it only the japanese version that had the lightsaber?

― kingfish cold slither (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 12 November 2005 23:06 (twenty years ago)

it was definitely in the PAL copy that I had on loan from a friend.

― pretentiosexual rights activist (haitch), Sunday, 13 November 2005 12:21 (twenty years ago)

I've only finished Ico once, but am likely to play it through again in the next week if a friend's up for playing as Yorda. I've been told it's a mace you get in the pal copy, but maybe the guy who told me that's blind.

― melton mowbray (adr), Sunday, 13 November 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Second time through, the mace is a lightsabre.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Sunday, 13 November 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Just got Colossus last night and all the prior appellatives apply: breathtaking, beautiful, odd feelings of regret for killing these things. It's very calming up until the point you find the damn thing.
Two down.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 6 January 2006 20:17 (twenty years ago)

I started this the other night as well, it's fantastic.

The flying colossus (#5 I think) is a bitch though, I can't seem to get all up on him.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 6 January 2006 20:25 (twenty years ago)

Or her.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 6 January 2006 20:25 (twenty years ago)

ico is getting a budget release in feb to tie in with the release of the new one.

― pompe vers le haut du volume (haitch), Sunday, 8 January 2006 12:08 (twenty years ago)

(in PAL markets anyway.)

― pompe vers le haut du volume (haitch), Sunday, 8 January 2006 12:12 (twenty years ago)

I started this today and got to the first monster and basically was scared of the thing and he whupped me up pretty good. I didn't even try to attack him, as I was busy trying to figure out how best to evade him.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Monday, 9 January 2006 04:30 (twenty years ago)

I'm on #8 now. I really love this game, and I think it's going to turn out to be the perfect length.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 9 January 2006 16:53 (twenty years ago)

i beat this game last month. the ending is completely unexpected and amazing. i think i would rank this is a my 2nd favorite game ever (#1 is The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past)

― Christopher Costello (CGC), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 22:33 (twenty years ago)

Wow, it doesn't seem like there's that much action in it, but is it more like a puzzle game disguised as an action title?

― GET EQUIPPED WITH BUBBLE LEAD (ex machina), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 20:39 (twenty years ago)

ding ding ding

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 20:42 (twenty years ago)

But it FEELS like an action game, which is great.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 20:44 (twenty years ago)

I'm going to try not to look up any hints for the next colossus.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 21:10 (twenty years ago)

I dunno, I'd just call it a kind of sparse action/adventure game before throwing it under the puzzle heading. There are 16 enemies total and a lot of space in between them. You have to figure out how to defeat each one, but it's usually pretty intuitive after the first one. The execution of the action/fighting (along with the considerable time spent riding your horse across vast expanses) is still where most of the gameplay lies IMO.

― sleep (sleep), Thursday, 12 January 2006 17:34 (twenty years ago)

I don't know, there does seem to be a new "trick" for each one, and execution is cake once you know what it is. I enjoyed making myself figure out the formula for #8 w/out using the internet!

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 12 January 2006 17:39 (twenty years ago)

The last colossus is the first time I've been truly frustrated in the game. :(

I just want to see the ending.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 16 January 2006 01:35 (twenty years ago)

The last colossus is fucking annoying. The end of the game is pretty amazing and worth it though.

― adam (adam), Monday, 16 January 2006 02:39 (twenty years ago)

Done. Ending was pretty sweet.

Are the outcomes of the, uh, controllable parts inevitable?

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 02:34 (twenty years ago)

I put this down for awhile and picked it up again today and went from 3 to 7 in an hour or so. The bird colossus experience is right up there with the greatest moments I've ever played in a video game.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 05:52 (twenty years ago)

9 hours for first fifteen.
Last three hours on final boss. Same goddamn place every time: can't jump on to the right hand. Thumb has cramped and I'm waiting till tomorrow. So ANGRY

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 28 January 2006 08:28 (twenty years ago)

Ha, so the next time I pick it up, of course I beat it on the first try.
Totally a great game, but I have no interest in the hard or time modes.
Still, one of the greats.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Sunday, 29 January 2006 22:45 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

stolen from slashdot (who stole it from somewhere else) - an in-depth article about the lighting effects etc employed in SOTC. (i can read this kind of stuff all day).

http://www.dyingduck.com/sotc/making_of_sotc.html

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 9 March 2006 10:06 (twenty years ago)

So what happens if I finnish the game in hard mode and time mode?
A friend told me dude gets out of the "forbidden land" land, but I think he might be full of it.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 10 March 2006 17:15 (twenty years ago)

I'm halfway through and loving SOTC. What a beautiful, sad game.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 11 March 2006 09:06 (twenty years ago)

It's pretty special... but that last boss! Oy!

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 11 March 2006 17:42 (twenty years ago)

just bought it, my brain isn't really adapting to the challenge that well so far, but I guess it will eventually. had a few goes at the first colossus and he proved difficult, I managed to climb his leg and stab him a few times but then he threw me off and splatted me.

the whole game is very ambiguous!

― Ronan (Ronan), Saturday, 11 March 2006 20:27 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, that's kinda what makes it so great.

I'm stuck on the sandworm colossus. Oy vey, what a beast.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Sunday, 12 March 2006 19:48 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, the sandworm freaked me out at first too.
Your hint is: arrows on horseback.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Sunday, 12 March 2006 20:58 (twenty years ago)

whoa, just got seriously lost after killing colossus numero uno. some breathtaking scenery though. this game needs your own music in the background I think.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 12 March 2006 21:08 (twenty years ago)

In non-Colossus-related news (I don't have the game yet, and have only played it once [but beat 8 of the Colossi!]), I picked up a cardboard Ico with all the art cards this morning for £4! It's a bit tatty, unfortunately, but.. four quid!!

― melton mowbray's APOCALYPTO! (adr), Sunday, 12 March 2006 22:03 (twenty years ago)

I had this game, now i don't. it's a sad story.

― jeffrey (johnson), Monday, 13 March 2006 18:21 (twenty years ago)

finally played it last night. beat the first two with tips/running snide commentary from roommate.

― kingfish da notorious teletabby (kingfish 2.0), Monday, 13 March 2006 18:27 (twenty years ago)

What an odd game to make snide remarks about!

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 13 March 2006 19:53 (twenty years ago)

Oh, she had already beaten the game, and was critiquing my playing style.

― kingfish da notorious teletabby (kingfish 2.0), Monday, 13 March 2006 20:01 (twenty years ago)

I can't find the second colossus, I travelled a long way and managed to get onto the beach and then nothing!

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 14 March 2006 12:34 (twenty years ago)

I just realised the sword thing.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 14 March 2006 12:50 (twenty years ago)

So I've killed three colossi, each one more tedious and annoying than the last. Is this going to get any better?

― ledge (ledge), Wednesday, 15 March 2006 09:34 (twenty years ago)

Eventually you'll die, and the world will be a better place.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 15 March 2006 09:54 (twenty years ago)

Having that annoying orchestral loop endlessly repeat during the eons it takes me to kill each one winds me up something chronic. Also I started off feeling sorry for my horse but now I spur the fuck out of the bastard. I'M JUST NOT FEELING IT, MAN.

― ledge (ledge), Wednesday, 15 March 2006 10:20 (twenty years ago)

I am enjoying it! It's funny, when you're climbing the colossi the music is all "Oh what a valiant hero you are" and then as soon as you kill one it changes to "FOR SHAME............."

― Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 15 March 2006 11:28 (twenty years ago)

I finished it on hard mode and it was prolly easier than the 1st time around - esp since I had all those helpful toys I got from the time attacks. So I'm going to see what happens when I finnish it on the hard/time mode.
Doin' hard time!

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 15 March 2006 15:42 (twenty years ago)

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