|
Jaadus's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
|
| [January 27, 2008 11:07:15 PM]
|
So I beat it...
The challenge level certainly increases with each colossus to the point where (assuming you haven't played it before) the last two colossi can take about an hour to defeat. I definitely appreciate this. Normally, I would say that no single fight should take an hour, but since individual fights are the primary gameplay, and limited to a total of 16, I am fine with this. Granted, a lot of this time is borderline (or full-on) frustration trying to figure out how to get to the colossus's vitals, but the feeling when you succeed is amplified by the time spent in this way. It's the emotional cost & reward system, and I think they pulled it off well. Well enough for me to voluntarily finish the game over the weekend, at least.
And that intoxicated horse? I grew attached to it... I really did. It's a savage, and after all the time I spent cursing at it, it still cooperated and pulled some badass stunts that helped me reach my goals.
The last few fights (final two especially) were a little tedious, but all of them remained enjoyable. I'm impressed with the platforming elements they managed to put on moving creatures and make it work so fluidly.
No spoilers here, but I also wanted to say that I thought the ending was a little predictable, but good nonetheless. My roommate watched it and thought it was bad, but I haven't witnessed him consent to the quality of any endings, so I'm not really going to let it bug me.
add a comment 
|
| [January 25, 2008 10:20:12 PM]
|
GAMELOG #2
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay seems to be the same throughout. Ride to the location of the next colossus, defeat the colossus, rinse repeat. Mostly I just want to update my critique from the last log. [I also wanted to say that I found that you can skip the large intro cinematic, and all small cutscenes during the game, but I find the short ones give a helpful description of the colossi's locations.]
I've gotten a little better with the horse. Occasionally it will still sprint in the opposite direction when I tell it to slow down, or avoid running when I really want it to, but that happens at a fraction of the frequency it used to. That said, I believe its more of me learning to deal with their fault, more than a lack of one. I'm still displeased with its control.
I also found a way to switch the camera in the options, but by the time I did I was finding myself using the other controls because I'd gotten used to them. They stayed.
As for the repetition, when it comes to fighting the colossi, I really don't mind. I thoroughly enjoy those sequences. Riding to each colossus on the other hand, gets boring. I'll talk a little more on these subjects in the Design section.
Weapons. When the game begins, it lets you scroll through Sword, Bow, and Unarmed. This stays the same through the rest of the game. The sword is your primary weapon, used to stab the colossi in their weak points. It is also used to reflect daylight to point at the location of the next colossus, and to reveal the weak points on them (it's some sort of ancient magic sword). The bow basically has one function: get the colossus's attention. It deals next to no damage, and there is no use for weapons as any sort of puzzle. Unarmed is about as useless out of combat as in it. There is no reason to be unarmed, ever.
DESIGN
Massiveness is a huge factor in this game. It is the root of the game's highlights, but in other areas it can be improved upon. The game takes place in an expansive, natural themed world. The scenery is all vegetation and cliff-sides, with stone temples and pillars, while the colossi look as though they are furry creatures with stone elements in their exoskeleton.
Riding to each colossus gets old because of how long it takes. Granted, the vast plane upon which you ride really makes you feel small, and makes your journey feel great. But a virtual world does not have to be proportional. I think it may have been worth the aesthetic sacrifice to cut down the distance needed to travel.
Killing each colossus, however, has remained enjoyable. I have killed six out of the sixteen, and I savor each encounter. Each one brings something new. A new way to grapple to its weak points, a new way to use the environment to your advantage, a new risk being posed as you climb across its shoulders, and so on. Gripping in game by gripping the trigger on the controller feels like you're actually clinging for your life. Paired with finite strength, you know you have to let go at some point, so there is loads of suspense as you are forced to risk yourself.
Out of the six I've fought thus far, the fourth and the sixth have required the player to utilize the environment. The fourth stomps the ground as you swoop through a tunnel to its lowered back. The sixth leans down to look for you as you hide under a ledge and you leap onto it's upper half, taking it by surprise. I thought these elements were clever, but underused and a little basic. Given that I'm still roughly in the first third of the game, that's acceptable, but I'd like to see more later. I also expected to use the environment in battles where I didn't have to, which caused problems. With some minor level changes, those problems would not have occurred.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 25th, 2008 at 22:22:24.
read comments (2)  -
add a comment
|
| [January 25, 2008 06:59:44 PM]
|
GAMELOG #1
SUMMARY
Shadow of the Colossus seems like an action adventure game. It takes place in an expansive realm, where there is a god-like being with the power to bring back the souls of the dead. Your character brings a girl to this place at the start of the game, and the god instructs you to destroy the 16 collosi that live in this land. Your pursuit and conflict with these collosi is the entirety of the game.
GAMEPLAY
Going into the game, I had very high expectations, as I have only heard positive things about it. After the first hour or so, my feelings are still positive, but there are more flaws than I had expected.
The game itself is a wonderful concept. It definitely feels epic when you ride across a massive bridge, and engage in combat with something whose tooth is the size of your torso. As a colossus tries to fling you from its back as you're holding for dear life, and you give a quick leap and thrust your sword into its skull, you feel a whole new kind of bad-ass. My issues don't lie here, but mostly in controls.
That epic horse ride loses a hearty chunk of its "cool" when it looks like your horse just downed a keg. Just trying to get it to run was an issue, and then you have to make it run -straight-. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but I think I got that to happen twice. You can't just ditch the horse and foot it, either, because with a world this vast, even a drunk horse gets you from a to b faster than walking, so its just something I had to put up with every time I ran to a colossus.
My other control issue was the camera. Occasionally it will guide the camera's movement automatically when you are on a cliffside-like location, but other than that, you move it on your own with the right analog stick. The left to right sensitivity is far different from the up and down, and the directions are inverted horizontally, but not vertically. I really hope this is a setting that I can change, because it made lots of the combat unpleasant focusing half my efforts on just seeing my enemies. I'll definitely look into it before continuing.
The intro and cutscenes: The intro was very drawn out. I was well done, and I felt like I was watching a movie. I knew something awesome was coming. But it was at least 15 minutes before I could push a button. The cutscenes in the rest of the game are tolerable. I like seeing each colossus's sequence. The temple scene after each colossus, however, looks almost the same every time. I don't really want to complain about this, though, because I personally can't think of a way to improve upon them, and they teleport you back to the temple into the center of the map each time. I would much rather watch thirty seconds of cutscene than to run all the way back on my substance abusing horse.
add a comment
|
|
|
 |
Jaadus's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
|
|
Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Friday 25 January, 2008
GameLog closed on: Sunday 27 January, 2008 |
|
