[sethsez]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Can anyone explain to me what is actually impressive about this game? I haven't played it (or ICO), but all the previews I read seemed to suggest that it consisted of boss fights and riding around luciously rendered landscapes, but not much more ...

In terms of pure, raw gameplay, it's not that impressive. Well, the boss fights are bar none the best in gaming, but that's not what people are going on about.

What's amazing here is the sheer emotion. The game takes a very basic template and uses it to explore a wide range of emotions, from attatchment, to guilt (and eventually regret), to awe, to humility.

The quest you set out to do would, in most games, be presented as a no-brainer: kill the colossi, get the girl. The idea that killing majestic, totally innocent things is selfish wouldn't even be touched on, but here it's a very central focus. Without any overdone dialog or anything like that, you just feel guilty for what you're doing. Selfish for killing these things to meet your own needs. You can tell they're scared when you're climbing all over them, and they're in pain when you stab them. Many of them don't want to kill you... they just want to be left alone, but you, the "hero," are determined to slay them. Similarly, Agro (the horse) is nothing more than a mode of transporation, but his presentation is such that you really do care for him in a sense. There's a button to pat his head... this has no gameplay effect, but that probably won't stop you from doing it anyway. I've never seen a game use so little to communicate so much about its characters, and give all of their lives some real weight.

That is what's so special about this and Ico. The gameplay in both of them (while absolutely rock-solid) is just a frame to hang the themes, ideas and characterizations on. They both built complete worlds and characters with extremely sparse dialog and barely any backstory. They're also among the most emotionally involving games I've ever played, and I'm glad to say Shadow of the Colossus takes its place right next to Ico as a true work of art.

NON-PRETENTIOUS VERSION:

You get to fight absolutely gigantic creatures. I mean... huge. And the fights are truly epic, here. At its best, they don't feel like bosses out of Zelda, they feel like battles out of Beowulf. And each one is a gigantic, majestic puzzle waiting to be solved. You have a dinky little sword and a bow & arrow tha just pisses 'em off, and you're fighting walking skyscrapers. The challenge isn't in stabbing them in the head (or other vital area), the challenge is figuring out just how the hell to get up there in the first place.

[SKOPE]

Originally Posted by sethsez

The challenge isn't in stabbing them in the head (or other vital area), the challenge is figuring out just how the hell to get up there in the first place.

...and figuring out which part(s) you're supposed to stab.

[Lucien21]

Originally Posted by bigjko

Penny-Arcade's Tycho talked about it, and I'm not sure if it was good. At the very least, he insisted that it needed to be seen.

Did you see the comic- Hilarious

[Dasilva]

I've fallen madly in love this this graphic style. They seem to be really pushing the PS2's limits.

[bigjko]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

Did you see the comic- Hilarious

Haha, yeah. It's really the first time in a long time I've actually just sat there and laughed and laughed, and laughed, at PA's comics.

[vivasawadee]

I'm getting this game this weekend. Can't wait.

[sethsez]

More people here need to play this.

[wilco]

Its number 2 on the sales chart according to gamespot, that must be a good sign(although its behind dragonball tenkaichi)

On a side note, it got a perfect 10 at eurogamer, I dont remember ever seeing such a score over there
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61436

I gotta stop reading these things... at least until the game comes out over here.

[sethsez]

It's selling well?

Now THAT makes my day. This game absolutely deserves it, and considering it's released in the middle of a storm of games, that bodes well for it. Here's hoping it can keep up this momentum.

That review, though... it says you play a boy with horns. You don't. The rest of it seems accurate, but that's a pretty big mistake.

Time will tell if this becomes one of my top 10 favorite games, but it's certainly in the running right now. Nothing can match the experience of playing it for the first time, though.

Oh, one last thing... if at all possible, play this on a widescreen TV. It really makes full use of the width, adding to an already immense scale.

[wilco]

Just went to dig up this thread to give this information, its being released in Europe in 17th February and with it, a re-issue of ICO to everybody that complains its too hard to find.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62333

[GED X-42]

Thats so typical

3rd Febuary = We love Katamari
10th Febuary = Psychonauts
17th Febuary = Shadow of Colossus/Ico

You wait ages for one then three come along at once

Its going to be an expensive Febuary

[tabacco]

I haven't gotten to play it yet through a combination of cheapness and forgetting to borrow it from Jake, but Thumbs has a review up as well:

http://www.idlethumbs.net/display.php?id=238

[nordic_guy]

Originally Posted by GED X-42

Thats so typical

3rd Febuary = We love Katamari
10th Febuary = Psychonauts
17th Febuary = Shadow of Colossus/Ico

You wait ages for one then three come along at once

Its going to be an expensive Febuary

Don't worry. Psychonauts will most likely be delayed.

If I have any money left in March, I might check this out. I might have to consider getting Ico as well, if it's re-released up here.

[Ninth]

A buddy of mine bought it, so we play through the first three ones (in two hours) a few days ago.

Well, the atmosphere is enchanting, although I'd say it's a notch below Ico, the graphics are not very crisp, the sound is good, the storytelling is neat (see Sethsez' post), the gameplay is interesting but not the kind I would enjoy if I were playing by myself. It's just too stressful.
On that note, SotC is even less an AG than Ico was, because you don't have real challenge, apart from being coordonate (which is a huge challenge, granted, but not an AG one).

So in the end, I'd say that although this game has a fair share of poetry to it, it fails to reach Ico's level of outwordliness, and it's a far more stressful game.

[KriD]

Originally Posted by Ninth

So in the end, I'd say that although this game has a fair share of poetry to it, it fails to reach Ico's level of outwordliness, and it's a far more stressful game.

Well, I don`t know about you, but those shadow creatures in ICO was just as much stressful (if not more) than the colossi in SotC. The only difference is than I enjoy the stress in the latter.

Both phenomenal good games though, but I rate SotC a little higher.

[Starflux]

My roommate bought Colossus yesterday and just started playing and playing. I watched with open mouth. I have never seen anything like it. So utterly enchanting and beautiful on many levels.

Utterly fantastic.

[Spiwak]

So I was sort of thinking of maybe buying it, perhaps.....good idea then?

[wilco]

Today I went to a store looking for it and it finally was in my hand... But then I looked inside my wallet...
Maybe next week or something.

[42yoMan]

Since this is apparently selling pretty well, what do you think the chances of there ever being a PC release are?

[insane_cobra]

It's a Sony game so I'd say pretty close to nill.