|
Flamojo14's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
|
| [January 25, 2008 11:14:35 PM]
|
Entry 2:
Gameplay:
For my second gameplay session I defeated three more colossi. I really enjoyed the variation of the colossi. So far there have been some on two legs, some on four legs and one that flies. Figuring out how to beat each colossus is pretty fun, but the learning curve is a little steep. You really have to be observant to beat this game. I spent ten minutes on the fourth colossus just running around aimlessly until I finally figured out that if you hid in the small underground caverns in the area long enough the colossus will lean over to peek inside and you can pop out the other side and climb up its back. So far each colossus has been a challenge, but not so difficult that I got too frustrated to keep playing.
One frustration of mine is the mysterious plot. At first I really liked the withholding of background information, but I still haven’t learned anything about the Wanderer’s motivations or relationship with the dead girl. Where did he get that magic sword? After each battle he gets stabbed by the creepy black tentacles and somehow ends up back at the fortress surrounded by shadowy black figures who can only be the spirits of the colossi as there is one more after every battle. The black figures just stand there and stare at him while he is unconscious but the game refuses to reveal any more of the plot. This is both frustrating and compelling. This game seems unique in the way it progresses. Despite the lack of cinematics I noticed that my character is beginning to deteriorate. His hair has gotten darker, bruises have appeared on his body and his skin has become more and more dull. It seems like as he kills colossi he has been hurting himself somehow. The creepy tone is enhanced by this new development and I think this is a really cool way to let you see that something is happening; but letting you notice on your own without just being told. This game is all about observation.
Design:
The level design of this game is amazing. The world is gigantic and extremely detailed with various terrains from forests, lakes, caves and deserts. There are also many ruins strewn about the landscape and you frequently end up facing a colossus there at some point. I did a bit of galloping around the countryside just for the sake of looking at the seamless world that the designers created. Another aspect of the landscape that I enjoy is that specific kinds of trees have yellow fruits that you can shoot down with arrows and eat to increase your life bar. Having a larger life bar isn’t too important in this game but it helps out when you fall off of a really tall colossus or get stomped on a few times while trying to figure out what to do. There are two gauges in this game, already mentioned was the health gauge but the second and I feel more important is the stamina gauge. You don’t take too much damage while fighting but the stamina gauge is crucial because it determines how long you can cling to the side of a colossus before falling and needing to climb all the way to the weak point again, which can take several minutes in some cases. The size of the stamina gauge also determines the strength of your sword attacks when stabbing the weak points. You can increase the size of your stamina gauge by shooting special lizards with white tails that crawl on the save points that you find around the world. You can kill the lizard and eat it or just shoot off the tail which leaves it alive to generate a new tail that you can come back for later. Though the white tailed lizards are somewhat of a secret as nothing mentions them in the game, as usual you just have to notice on your own or go online, it is essential that you increase your stamina as the game progresses or you won’t be able to cling to the later colossi long enough to kill them.
The lizards and the stamina gauge bring up some of the issues that I had with the design of the game. The lizards are pretty small, especially compared to the colossi. The controls for the bow and arrows are very difficult to use with any accuracy which becomes painfully obvious when you’re trying to shoot the tiny lizards as they scuttle around the save point. The controls in this game are generally pretty loose and inaccurate. Steering the horse isn’t so bad in open spaces but if there is any kind of objects like trees or walls navigation becomes really tedious. I spent a good amount of time with my horse rearing because I kept accidentally steering it into walls.
The other issue I had was with climbing on the colossi. If you are climbing on a colossus trying to kill it, it will try to shake you off, understandably. This aspect can get very frustrating when you are trying to build up a good charge for your stab or even try to navigate on the body. If the colossus shakes too violently your character will stop climbing and cling on for dear life. I like that this feature gives the game a more realistic feel and also adds to the desperate tone I get from the landscape and the Wanderers continued physical deterioration. But after five attempts to stab the weak spot before I run out of stamina, fall off and spend another five minutes trying to get back to the weak spot I want to bash my head in with the controller. Also the physics for the jumping don’t always seem accurate so that when you think you will make a certain jump the Wanderer goes off in a random direction and misses and you must start all over again. These control issues are very frustrating because they make the game hard to beat not because of a good challenge but because of bad and annoying physics. Despite these frustrations I still enjoy the puzzles of each battle and look forward to exploring the world to find the next colossus and figuring out how to beat it, even if I sometimes have to put the controller down for a minute so I don’t throw it through the TV screen.
read comments (2)  -
add a comment 
|
| [January 25, 2008 10:17:10 PM]
|
Entry 1
Summary:
You play as an unnamed character that is commonly referred to by players as 'The Wanderer.' The game begins with a cinematic that shows the Wanderer riding his black horse Argo and carrying a body as he crosses a very long bridge and enters a gigantic and ancient looking fortress. You soon find out that the Wanderer has stolen the body of a young woman and a magical sword and brought them both to a forbidden realm where a spirit named Dormin will restore the dead girl's soul, but only if the Wanderer uses the sword to defeat the 15 colossi that roam the forbidden land. The price will be high Dormin says, but the Wanderer accepts the challenge. For each colossus you must find its weak spot using a beacon that emits from the sword then discover how to reach that weak spot by manipulating the environment or by climbing on the colossus itself.
Gameplay:
What made this game really interesting for me was how mysterious and desolate the world feels. The dulled color scheme of the world and the slow and sad music during the introduction give the game a melancholy tone. The dead girl has been sacrificed because she had a cursed fate and the magical sword can protect the Wanderer from the menacing smoke creatures that begin to approach him when he enters the fortress. I wanted to know who the girl was and how the Wanderer knew her and how he got the sword, but the game teases you and won't let you know any background information. Immediately I didn't trust Dormin because of the mixture of voices blended together to create its main voice. The Wanderer seems to be in the forbidden land as an act of desperation. He wants to bring the girl back to life so badly that he has resorted to coming to this land that has a definite cursed feeling to it. Despite not knowing whether or not I could trust Dormin the only way to proceed is to battle the colossi. Once you have free rein to explore the world you can’t help but notice that the world is almost completely desolate. The only other creatures besides the Wanderer and Argo are lizards, hawks and of course the colossi. The world is massive, but there is really no point to exploring anyplace that isn’t along the way to the next colossus. The empty world adds to the sorrowful feel of the game that I found so intriguing.
For my first session I defeated the first three colossi. Each colossus was a unique battle besides the common goal to stab the weak spots on the colossus’s body. A typical place to find a weak spot appears to be the head but they appear on other parts of the body and you must find and attack each weak spot in order to bring the colossus down. Each colossus is more like a puzzle than a boss fight. You must use the beam of light that projects from the sword to locate each weak spot. Then you must manipulate the environment and the colossus until you can reach the spot. There is climbable fur and stone structures that you are able to climb on each colossus and you must carefully examine each situation in order to figure out how to win.
I enjoyed the deceptively simple style of this game. Your only actions are run, swim, jump and climb. The only weapons that you are given are the sword, arrows and the horse, but as the game progresses you must constantly find new ways to combine the limited actions and equipment in order to discover the way to bring down the next colossus. The only time when you hear music is when you are in battle and the music is usually eerie and sad. When you finally find the way to reach the colossus’s weak spot the music changes to a fast and heroic song that lets you know you’re on the right track and really gets you excited. When you finally kill the colossus shadowy black tentacles reach out of the body and attack the Wanderer, knocking him out until he reawakens at the fortress and receives instructions from Dormin about the next colossus. The ominous feel of the game and the mystery of the plot make me want to keep playing and the excitement of solving the puzzle of how to defeat each new colossus made it hard for me to put the controller down.
add a comment
|
|
|
 |
Flamojo14's Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
|
|
Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Friday 25 January, 2008
GameLog closed on: Sunday 27 January, 2008 |
|
