Shadow of the Colossus is often regarded as a somewhat old-school masterpiece of gaming. However, unlike other games which share this title among the community, it is really hard to find games that take heavy inspiration from its thematic or mechanics.
There are probably many reasons for this, but I would argue that what makes SotC an incredible challenge to replicate is that it was a technical marvel for not only it's time, but for modern games still. It is really, really hard to create something that plays and performs as good as that PS2 game. Alongside its technicalities, SotC's gameplay, environment and boss design feels like they were meticulously crafted to create a memorable, emotional and satisfying experience.
So, when a small team tries to replicate a game that feels like lighting in a bottle, they are bound to face lots of challenges. Praey for the Gods feels like one of these so-called "Spiritual Successors" for SotC, which makes it a unique game solely for the lack of other examples on this objective.
The game, however, tries to bring more to the table than the giant slaying of its ancestor. It borrows a lot of modern survival game tropes such as temperature, sleep and hunger management, weapon durability and crafting to fill its large map while you travel between the bosses. It also introduces smaller fights with also-smaller enemies which ambush you as you explore, alongside a single mini-boss which is re-used multiple times in the map.
While the new mechanics are interesting and relatively satisfying to play around, I feel like their implementation clash with the main premise of the game: fighting its massive bosses.
The weapons you use are not relevant to the bosses, only to fight repetitive minions and hunt animals in the open world. Hunger and sleep only affect your stamina regeneration, and they decay so slowly that the only concern you'll probably have is to have them at maximum when starting a boss fight (unless you're playing with maximum difficulty, where their decay is exaggerated and now feels like a chore).
Of all the game's new mechanics, I feel like its best introduction is the grappling hook, the only tool that comes to mind which is useful in both exploration and the boss fights.
Unfortunately, its new ideas are not the only problem. Praey for the Gods has a hard time trying to replicating two of SotC's strong elements: Its varied and interesting environments, and it's appealing boss designs.
Praey's world feels very repetitive, as it's a (very) big chunk of snowy mountains and plains with occasionally same-looking caves, large ice statues and viking-inspired set pieces. While some of it's sections are undoubtedly interesting, the novelty quickly wears off when you spent a long time walking between its objectives. Some way to travel faster (without abusing the grappling hook) or a smaller map would probably have benefited this game.
The same problem could be said about it's boss fights, since out of eight bosses we have three humanoids and three worms (out of which two fly) which dont really differ that much in regards of visual design and gameplay interaction. What really doesnt help is the fact that every boss has a "shaking-you-off" animation that always plays when you damage the boss, forcing you to endure a painfully boring quick time event every time you deal 1 out of at least 9 attacks to win the fight.
So, after all the negatives, I can't say I didn't have fun playing this game. As stated before, recreating such a unique and beloved game is an herculean task, but one that more game developers should feel welcome to try. Despite it's massive flaws, I would recommend Praey for the Gods for people who really loved SotC and want to try another take on it's premise.
There are probably many reasons for this, but I would argue that what makes SotC an incredible challenge to replicate is that it was a technical marvel for not only it's time, but for modern games still. It is really, really hard to create something that plays and performs as good as that PS2 game. Alongside its technicalities, SotC's gameplay, environment and boss design feels like they were meticulously crafted to create a memorable, emotional and satisfying experience.
So, when a small team tries to replicate a game that feels like lighting in a bottle, they are bound to face lots of challenges. Praey for the Gods feels like one of these so-called "Spiritual Successors" for SotC, which makes it a unique game solely for the lack of other examples on this objective.
The game, however, tries to bring more to the table than the giant slaying of its ancestor. It borrows a lot of modern survival game tropes such as temperature, sleep and hunger management, weapon durability and crafting to fill its large map while you travel between the bosses. It also introduces smaller fights with also-smaller enemies which ambush you as you explore, alongside a single mini-boss which is re-used multiple times in the map.
While the new mechanics are interesting and relatively satisfying to play around, I feel like their implementation clash with the main premise of the game: fighting its massive bosses.
The weapons you use are not relevant to the bosses, only to fight repetitive minions and hunt animals in the open world. Hunger and sleep only affect your stamina regeneration, and they decay so slowly that the only concern you'll probably have is to have them at maximum when starting a boss fight (unless you're playing with maximum difficulty, where their decay is exaggerated and now feels like a chore).
Of all the game's new mechanics, I feel like its best introduction is the grappling hook, the only tool that comes to mind which is useful in both exploration and the boss fights.
Unfortunately, its new ideas are not the only problem. Praey for the Gods has a hard time trying to replicating two of SotC's strong elements: Its varied and interesting environments, and it's appealing boss designs.
Praey's world feels very repetitive, as it's a (very) big chunk of snowy mountains and plains with occasionally same-looking caves, large ice statues and viking-inspired set pieces. While some of it's sections are undoubtedly interesting, the novelty quickly wears off when you spent a long time walking between its objectives. Some way to travel faster (without abusing the grappling hook) or a smaller map would probably have benefited this game.
The same problem could be said about it's boss fights, since out of eight bosses we have three humanoids and three worms (out of which two fly) which dont really differ that much in regards of visual design and gameplay interaction. What really doesnt help is the fact that every boss has a "shaking-you-off" animation that always plays when you damage the boss, forcing you to endure a painfully boring quick time event every time you deal 1 out of at least 9 attacks to win the fight.
So, after all the negatives, I can't say I didn't have fun playing this game. As stated before, recreating such a unique and beloved game is an herculean task, but one that more game developers should feel welcome to try. Despite it's massive flaws, I would recommend Praey for the Gods for people who really loved SotC and want to try another take on it's premise.
Meh. Even aside from not really digging the gameplay loop, I played around with every control option and just couldn't find one that actually felt good to play with.
👾 Praey for the Gods (🇺🇸 2021)
This is a brilliant homage to Shadow of the Colossus. The colossi battles are as good as their inspirations, you can tell the love in the amazing work. The game could’ve been perfect if they left it that way. However, in an attempt to make something different they introduced survival mechanics, taken straight from Breath of the Wild, absolutely irrelevant in an empty world. Just beat the colossi and ignore the rest.
🎮 Played on Steam Deck
Rating: ❄️❄️❄️🧊▫️
This is a brilliant homage to Shadow of the Colossus. The colossi battles are as good as their inspirations, you can tell the love in the amazing work. The game could’ve been perfect if they left it that way. However, in an attempt to make something different they introduced survival mechanics, taken straight from Breath of the Wild, absolutely irrelevant in an empty world. Just beat the colossi and ignore the rest.
🎮 Played on Steam Deck
Rating: ❄️❄️❄️🧊▫️
The story of Shadow of the Colossus with the game mechanics of Zelda:BTOW, and that's it. This game does nothing new or inventive that the two games its copying didn't already do way better. The controls are slow and sluggish. You gather weapons but they are pointless as you don't need any to fight the gods. The only unique part is the grappling hook, but it rarely works the way you'd want. Aside from the crypt under the main hub, not a word is spoken in the whole game.
The story and world are nonexistent. The snowy landscapes is vast and empty with every part of it looking exactly the same as everywhere else. They have mechanics to make the game more difficult, and considering how hard it was to get supplies on medium, I don't even want to think about trying the hard parts. It all just moves so slow and you can't tell if anything is worth looking at. the map stays hidden unless you find specific fast travel points, which are all in caves and hard to locate.
The only thing the game gets kind of right is the Gods/Colossus, as they are all at least a little bit interesting. The final arch of the game is cool, managed to add a whole extra star to the game, but is a slog to get through. Another part of the game that I wouldn't want to attempt on hard mode. Then the game ends after just a few hours.
I only gave this game a look because WhatCulture gaming said this was game of the year material back in 2020. Not even close. While it is true we don't have enough Shadow of the Colossus's style games, this is not a worth follow-up to that franchise. It has some style, but there is so little to the world and not much worth doing outside of fighting the gods. Its just dull, and nothing in this hasn't been done before and a lot better.
If you want a good Zelda: BOTW style game, I'd recommend Immortals Fenyx Rising, as that actually does some good story telling and use of those mechanics. Stick to the original if you want a Colossus game. This one has a moment or two, and I gave it a pass by the end, but its not one I'd ever recommend and not one I'll be going back to any time soon. maybe in four to five years, but even that is doubtful
The story and world are nonexistent. The snowy landscapes is vast and empty with every part of it looking exactly the same as everywhere else. They have mechanics to make the game more difficult, and considering how hard it was to get supplies on medium, I don't even want to think about trying the hard parts. It all just moves so slow and you can't tell if anything is worth looking at. the map stays hidden unless you find specific fast travel points, which are all in caves and hard to locate.
The only thing the game gets kind of right is the Gods/Colossus, as they are all at least a little bit interesting. The final arch of the game is cool, managed to add a whole extra star to the game, but is a slog to get through. Another part of the game that I wouldn't want to attempt on hard mode. Then the game ends after just a few hours.
I only gave this game a look because WhatCulture gaming said this was game of the year material back in 2020. Not even close. While it is true we don't have enough Shadow of the Colossus's style games, this is not a worth follow-up to that franchise. It has some style, but there is so little to the world and not much worth doing outside of fighting the gods. Its just dull, and nothing in this hasn't been done before and a lot better.
If you want a good Zelda: BOTW style game, I'd recommend Immortals Fenyx Rising, as that actually does some good story telling and use of those mechanics. Stick to the original if you want a Colossus game. This one has a moment or two, and I gave it a pass by the end, but its not one I'd ever recommend and not one I'll be going back to any time soon. maybe in four to five years, but even that is doubtful
A lone tribal woman genocides large ancient beasts in order to..reach the..afterlife..?
Was an interesting narrative and world, but all in all the game feels like Breath of the Wild combined with Shadow of the Colossus.
Except it was super jank and made with Unity.
There's some potential in here, but as it is, it just makes me want to play other games instead.
Sorry to say, I can't really recommend this game. Maybe on a deep sale or in a cheap bundle I suppose.
Was an interesting narrative and world, but all in all the game feels like Breath of the Wild combined with Shadow of the Colossus.
Except it was super jank and made with Unity.
There's some potential in here, but as it is, it just makes me want to play other games instead.
Sorry to say, I can't really recommend this game. Maybe on a deep sale or in a cheap bundle I suppose.
decent sotn clone
Apesar da dificuldade e de ser praticamente impossĂvel replicar o que foi feito em Shadow of the Colossus, eu nĂŁo pude deixar de ficar empolgado logo que comecei a jogar essa obra em questĂŁo. Nunca coloquei na cabeça que seria um sucessor espiritual ou qualquer coisa do gĂŞnero, mesmo sabendo que seria uma grande cĂłpia com algumas modificações aqui e ali. Afinal, Ă© uma ideia que me encantou anos atrás, e agora, pode ser que me encante de novo.
Como mecânica básica, eu gostei da introdução do controle de temperatura, sono e fome. Dentro de um ambiente bastante hostil, que nos instiga aventura, é bacana precisar racionalizar os recursos e saber usar as fogueiras com precisão. Além de que, também, cria-se uma constante busca por materiais para reparar as armas. Contudo, isso não foi bem integrado ao modelo de sua base, uma vez que não há uma recompensas o suficiente ou minimamente interessantes por explorar o mapa. Por isso, minha jogatina foi somente pegar o mapa completo e derrotar os colossos.
Contudo, devo dizer que o essencial para a luta contra os colossos, que Ă© o sistema de agarrar, carece de refinamento. Diversas foram as vezes em que a personagem se recusava a se agarrar, ou mesmo que colidia com uma superfĂcie aleatĂłria e soltava o bicho. É sĂł muito frustrante.
O jogo tambĂ©m apresenta um sistema de combates menores, mas sĂŁo sĂł minions totalmente descartáveis. O que eu pensei ser um artifĂcio divertido para se criar cenários onde se há a constante necessidade de reparar os armamentos, na verdade foi sĂł um loop de rola e bate, sem padrões de ataques interessantes ou legais. AlĂ©m disso, nem mesmo há uma grande diversidade de armas, e sequer elas sĂŁo importantes nas lutas dos colossos. EntĂŁo, como todo esse sistema gira em torno de minions, acaba por ser um grande demĂ©rito.
Como Ăşltimo apontamento, os colossos, que sĂŁo o maior artifĂcio do jogo, sĂŁo todos uma merda em design, arena e luta. O Ăşnico que eu fiquei minimamente cativado foi o Trhall, que nitidamente recebeu um cuidado a mais. Outro detalhe Ă© aquele QTE horrĂvel para cada vez que o colosso se move, alĂ©m dos bichos se sacudirem a cada mĂsero dano que recebem, o que deixa tudo dolorosamente mais chato.
Ademais, embora a ideia seja bem bacana, ficou apenas no papel. Sua implementação entra em conflito direto com a premissa do próprio jogo, e reflete essa mediocridade em todos os outros aspectos acima citados.
Como mecânica básica, eu gostei da introdução do controle de temperatura, sono e fome. Dentro de um ambiente bastante hostil, que nos instiga aventura, é bacana precisar racionalizar os recursos e saber usar as fogueiras com precisão. Além de que, também, cria-se uma constante busca por materiais para reparar as armas. Contudo, isso não foi bem integrado ao modelo de sua base, uma vez que não há uma recompensas o suficiente ou minimamente interessantes por explorar o mapa. Por isso, minha jogatina foi somente pegar o mapa completo e derrotar os colossos.
Contudo, devo dizer que o essencial para a luta contra os colossos, que Ă© o sistema de agarrar, carece de refinamento. Diversas foram as vezes em que a personagem se recusava a se agarrar, ou mesmo que colidia com uma superfĂcie aleatĂłria e soltava o bicho. É sĂł muito frustrante.
O jogo tambĂ©m apresenta um sistema de combates menores, mas sĂŁo sĂł minions totalmente descartáveis. O que eu pensei ser um artifĂcio divertido para se criar cenários onde se há a constante necessidade de reparar os armamentos, na verdade foi sĂł um loop de rola e bate, sem padrões de ataques interessantes ou legais. AlĂ©m disso, nem mesmo há uma grande diversidade de armas, e sequer elas sĂŁo importantes nas lutas dos colossos. EntĂŁo, como todo esse sistema gira em torno de minions, acaba por ser um grande demĂ©rito.
Como Ăşltimo apontamento, os colossos, que sĂŁo o maior artifĂcio do jogo, sĂŁo todos uma merda em design, arena e luta. O Ăşnico que eu fiquei minimamente cativado foi o Trhall, que nitidamente recebeu um cuidado a mais. Outro detalhe Ă© aquele QTE horrĂvel para cada vez que o colosso se move, alĂ©m dos bichos se sacudirem a cada mĂsero dano que recebem, o que deixa tudo dolorosamente mais chato.
Ademais, embora a ideia seja bem bacana, ficou apenas no papel. Sua implementação entra em conflito direto com a premissa do próprio jogo, e reflete essa mediocridade em todos os outros aspectos acima citados.
The game is inspired by Shadow of the Colossus and has a add of exploration and adventure.
You can simply ignore the puzzles and totems and go straight to the bosses, and, also, at any order(I found one boss accidentally and killed it).
All mechanics lack refinement, they're all buggy.
Most part of the game is walking and climbing, but even this is not perfect. It can be frustating sometimes, but not too much.
The puzzles are pretty good, none extremely hard.
The lack of information on the map and where to find the pieces of maps is problematic, I needed to use a third-party Interective Map to guide myself(interactivegamemaps.com). And even then I am not sure where are the remaining pages.
The inventory and interactions with items are bad polished. It should have more shortcuts, you need to do everything with your mouse.
Overall, it could be better, but it's still enjoyable.
After I finished beating the bosses, I adventure through the world collecting items and solving the puzzles while listening to podcasts. :)
You can simply ignore the puzzles and totems and go straight to the bosses, and, also, at any order(I found one boss accidentally and killed it).
All mechanics lack refinement, they're all buggy.
Most part of the game is walking and climbing, but even this is not perfect. It can be frustating sometimes, but not too much.
The puzzles are pretty good, none extremely hard.
The lack of information on the map and where to find the pieces of maps is problematic, I needed to use a third-party Interective Map to guide myself(interactivegamemaps.com). And even then I am not sure where are the remaining pages.
The inventory and interactions with items are bad polished. It should have more shortcuts, you need to do everything with your mouse.
Overall, it could be better, but it's still enjoyable.
After I finished beating the bosses, I adventure through the world collecting items and solving the puzzles while listening to podcasts. :)
Por ser mt fĂŁ de shadow of the colossus, esperei mt esse jogo, pra ele ter lançado e eu nĂŁo sabia que já tinha sido lançado há 1 ano kkkk, sĂł fui jogar agr por achar caro no ps4, mas surgiu a possibilidade de jogar no Pc entĂŁo joguei, Ă© um jogo mt interessante, tem os tais colossos e Ă© a 1 vez q um jogo usou o sistema de escalar pelos de gigantes desde sotc e the last guardian, Ă© interessante a ideia dos colossos, mas acho q as mecânicas de survival irrita demais, e o movimento da personagem pode frustrar demais, e a estamina em alguns chefes acaba rápido demais e fazendo vocĂŞ cair e ter q escalar td denovo, o gancho tem q estar uma distância especĂfica para acertar, e o cenário Ă© bem repetitivo, mas valeu a experiĂŞncia, um jogo ok
(copy-pasted from Steam)
Play this game without expecting it to be a different game, please! It's very solid, especially for a game made by a team of three devs. It may have shared mechanics with Shadow of the Colossus, Breath of the Wild, and others, but it's not a copy and shouldn't be expected to be one.
All the bosses have unique fights, with different strategies to choose from for each, depending on your play style. The majority can also be fought in any order, you can stumble across one by mistake at any point in the game (but you can run away if you'd like to save that fight for later!).
Minibosses are difficult until you learn their attack pattern. Fun challenge regardless, and completely optional.
Survival elements such as weapon durability, cold, hunger, etc. are entirely optional due to a very functional difficulty system. You can choose the actual difficulty (4 settings from easy to legendary) as well as whether you want survival mechanics (story, boost, survival), for an experience that you want to play. If I see one more person complain about how they don't want to play a survival game I will lose it. You can turn it off!!
Overall a good game with nice visuals and an epic soundtrack. I love Dreki so much <3
Play this game without expecting it to be a different game, please! It's very solid, especially for a game made by a team of three devs. It may have shared mechanics with Shadow of the Colossus, Breath of the Wild, and others, but it's not a copy and shouldn't be expected to be one.
All the bosses have unique fights, with different strategies to choose from for each, depending on your play style. The majority can also be fought in any order, you can stumble across one by mistake at any point in the game (but you can run away if you'd like to save that fight for later!).
Minibosses are difficult until you learn their attack pattern. Fun challenge regardless, and completely optional.
Survival elements such as weapon durability, cold, hunger, etc. are entirely optional due to a very functional difficulty system. You can choose the actual difficulty (4 settings from easy to legendary) as well as whether you want survival mechanics (story, boost, survival), for an experience that you want to play. If I see one more person complain about how they don't want to play a survival game I will lose it. You can turn it off!!
Overall a good game with nice visuals and an epic soundtrack. I love Dreki so much <3
zdar ne. Praey for the Gods jsem hrál jenom tak 2 hodiny protoĹľe to prostÄ› nenĂ sranda hrát, je to jako shadow of the colossus. To je všechno, ty se nÄ›jak dostaneš na to monstrum vyšplháš se k nÄ›jakĂ˝mu bodu a 6krát zmáčknšeš ÄŤtverec, a tak jednou za 5 sekund musĂš na dalšĂch 5 maÄŤkat trojhran. NenĂ to prostÄ› sranda hrát, nevim co v tĂ© hĹ™e dÄ›lajĂ survival mechaniky, nejsou dobĹ™e implementovanĂ˝ ikdyĹľ by se to do takovĂ© hry hodilo. Má to i normálnĂ combat systĂ©m kterej je to nejhoršà co ta hra nabĂzĂ animace jsou velice clunky a nepřátelskĂ˝ aiÄŤko fakt nic moc. Všechno ostatnĂ je docela meh, ale tohle byla prvnĂ hra studia No Matter a to je docela kurva ĂşspÄ›ch udÄ›lat tohle na prvnĂ pokus takĹľe se těšĂm na jejich dalšà hru.