So this is sort of a weird thread because I don't really have a question in mind for the community. The main reason I'm making this thread is this; Shadow of the Colossus is amazing and I want to let everyone know about it. I just bought the HD-remake on PSN and I didn't really know what to think. I had heard how incredible it is but I've heard that about games before and have been disappointed. So I bought it, started it, and went to the first boss. At first I had a bit of an issue with the controls and the character's animation. It was hard for me to wrap my brain around how the game worked and how to actually climb the bosses. But after the first boss I started to get the hang of things and started to love the game. Every boss is an event. Every battle is dramatic. The music is so perfect and the graphics create the perfect mood. This is one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had with a game and I'm only half way through it. It's just so amazing to me that every boss is so grand and my character is so small. Then the fact that I'm fighting this incredible beasts with just a sword, bow and arrows, a strong grip, and wits. It's like the David and Goliath battle over and over and every time it's amazing.

So, now I need to think of a way to allow for community involvement. Um....well, how about this. What is the GB community's impression of the game (the original or the remake)? Am I over selling the game?

You're not overselling it. If you haven't gotten to the end yet, it's absolutely brutal. The game was brilliant when it came out on PS2, but it absolutely shines in the HD re-release with a much more consistent framerate and higher res textures. It was definitely a game ahead of it's time, so it's wonderful that people get to experience it now in a way that is probably truer to the teams vision than the PS2 one was.

It was pretty wikid to play, i did this just recently and was a one of thos games that gave me a glowy feeling after i had finished it, although there was defiantly a few frustrating bits with some of the boss's that let it down a tiny bit it was a great experiance.

Agreed.

SOTC is one of my favorite games, and the ending is amazing.

The most justified HD re-release thus far in my opinion.

Here's to hoping we see The Last Guardian some day.

That game blew my mind when I first played it on PS2 and I've had the HD version on my to-buy list for a while now.

Shadow of the Colossus is incredible and as close to perfect in my eyes. The music fits each moment perfectly and I love how it tells such a grand and unique tale with almost no dialogue or back story. It's a close second to my favourite game of all time, Snake Eater being number 1. I hope Last Guardian makes as big of an impact when it releases.

@msavo said:

@JasonR86 Which boss was your favourite btw? I go back and forth on a bunch for multiple reasons but it's usually Avion, the fifth colossus that is the bird. The music that plays is just so, for lack of a better term, epic and scaliing it for the first time had me in aw. I couldn't believe I was fighting this huge flying beast and it's death of falling into the water with you just floating there as the darkness creeps in is one of the most memorable moments in gaming for me.

So far I've really liked the bird just because of how I got his attention and jumped on him as he flew at me. For some reason I found that to be amazingly well done. Plus fighting him as he flies every which way, including upside down, was really incredible.

One of those games I keep meaning to play. I think I'd sold my PS2 by the time it came out.

@msavo:

I'll make a blog about it.

Yeah, Shadow of the Colossus is pretty awesome.

a work of art.

I also played the hd version for the first time late last year, and I agree, that game is a masterpiece.

Regrettably, I never finished it. I got to the last boss but had a lot of trouble trying to beat him. Most of the stuff leading up to that though was quite excellent.

i enjoyed both this and ico.

i think the colossus' could've been more varied, too many felt too similar.

also, on the ps2, the frame rate is awful.

still think it's pretty good and offers something you can't get anywhere else.

It was pretty great, and while it didn't have the type of replay value to make me want to play it all the way through again immediately, it's one of those game that you can go back to after you feel you have forgotten about it. I haven't thought on getting the HD version, but if I did, I'm sure it'd be pretty amazing again, even better being HD and a higher frame-rate (although I originally didn't have much to complain about when it comes to frame-rate. Higher frame-rates for older games are always welcome though). Shadow of the Colossus was one of those games that my friends and I had talked a lot about back in high school. Good memories.

There are a few things I didn't like about the game, one was that the final boss (although huge and grand from a visual point), I didn't have a lot of fun taking him down. I accidentally made it more difficult by wanting to beat him so bad and fast to get to the end of the game, I messed up more than I'd like, making the final boss seem more like a chore, but that was probably just me. The other thing, though very minor, was that there isn't anything else to do in the game other than find the bosses and kill them. I guess the beautiful world you get to search around in for them though is amazing and makes up for it, and it's really better for story purposes.

Don't do what most people seem to do: make no effort to play ICO despite loving Shadow of the Colossus.

I love both ICO and SOTC.  SOTC is one of those games where there is so much crazy stuff you can do, and the manual doesn't tell you about any of it.  I love games that are like "Hey, figure this out".
 
 Not a real big spoiler but

Beat it last night for the first time, I'm not sure I've ever found a game so frustrating yet so rewarding at the same time. This is one of my favorite games, for sure.

I'm up to the big monster (you know, that one) who you have to crush with a bridge, jump to its head, and then stab. He's really frustrating. I can barely get stabs in before my character freaks out. The one time I did stick with it and end that fucker's head then I found that I had to climb under its arm to stab down there. And that fucking sucks because, in between freaking out and holding on, the character's dead tired by the time he gets to the arm. I spent like an hour on that fuck before giving up and deciding to go back when I had more patience. I haven't gone back yet.

Ha, yeah... There are some games that are frustrating, but you know that everything that's going wrong is your fault, and you just need to play better.

...this isn't one of those games. Stop shaking, fucker! Just hold still! My grip is...! Well, guess I'm climbing this thing again...

Still love this game, though.

shadow of the colossus is one of my favorite games ever,

its a stupid thing to wish for, but i wish that game could get remade with next gen technology every generation.

that game caused me to feel emotions and it wasn't particularly long, or have a long story, it lets you just bond with the characters... doing something amazing. Its amazing. That third beast (the one with the sword) is the coolest. its huge!!!

It's been a year dude! When are you going to beat this game!

I beat it like last month and I found 16 colossus to be a bit much but they were all awesome because how big they were. Except those 2 small ones. But that one colossus is an asshole to fight. Took me about 30 minutes to kill it. Go get more shiny lizard tails.