[Intrepid Homoludens]

Shadow Of The Colossus obliquely revealed, quietly innovates
News, Idle Thumbs, 3/26/05

Thanks to a Q&A session at Kikizo Games, we now have a few more clues to what Shadow Of The Colossus (or 'ICO 2' to you wishful admirers) will look and feel like. But that's about it, given that lead designer Fumito Ueda and producer Kenji Kaido are being both revealing and mysterious about it. Understandably they're holding back more than they give, for now.

Shadow Of The Colossus follows in the footsteps of ICO, that beautiful and haunting tour de force adventure/platformer found only on the PS2 console. But it's most likely that this title will be not so much a sequel per se as it will take place in the same world.

Whereas ICO focused on an intimately growing relationship between a boy and girl through their struggles in a fairytale setting, Shadow Of The Colossus will attempt to capture a more epic sweep of massive heroic proportions. The main gameplay will recall battles of mythic scope and grace, like those of Homer's Iliad. Kaido explains that to defeat the gigantic opponents you must literally latch onto and traverse their bodies in search of their 'Achilles heel'. This angles the combat into a kind of action puzzle on an actual living and breathing battlefield, where physical prowess, agility, and intelligence must work as one.

Storywise the humanistic touch continues, with primary emotional bonds between the hero and his horse. And believe me, with enemies literally hundreds of feet tall against you and your ride, that partnership had better work out.

In moments of directness, Kaido admitted the differences in audience response to ICO influencing the conception of Shadow Of The Colossus. He stated that non-Japanese cultures found ICO too 'artsy' for their taste, and were instead more responsive to action oriented gameplay. I think it's safe to say that EA wouldn't know what the hell to do with these games if they bit them in the ass.

Like its predecessor, Shadow Of The Colossus will maintain a consistently sublime art direction, with a decidedly romantic, sepia toned look. Basically it could easily make you weep. But don't take my word for it. Watch the gameplay movies and decide for yourself (scroll down to the bottom of the page for 'Trailer 3').

Exclusive to the PS2, no launch date for this game has been divulged so far. But we'll be watching, of course. So should you.

[Fairygdmther]

So Trep, when do you get a PS2 or PS3?

FGM

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I don't think so, girlfriend. I'm quite poor these days, so any new console is entirely out of the question. I'd love to get a Xenon (Xbox2) when it comes out, I'd prefer the flexibility of that one. It's so difficult, the way the industry is set up to force you to pay allegiance to one console (or even one platform) with its exclusive game releases, and you are a pauper and some games are simply out of reach.

Still, it's nice to dream.

[TM3]

Cool title! The game looks better and more better to me as I see the screenshots and hear the info bits. I would like this out. Come on! Chasing and climbing on giants? Real good.