"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
You are a lone boy. With only your trusty steed by your side, you take on a quest that will ultimately lead to a grim end for yourself.
You convince yourself that it is all worth it, in order to save the girl. Nothing else matters.
You enter the empty, isolated wasteland. An unnamed region lacking any other sort of true sentient life, besides that of the Colossi.
These massive, diverse beasts are the only beings standing in the way between you and your goal.
You slay them, with full force and brutality as their black blood spurts out in a pure violent display.
Accomplished, you do not feel. You have killed a creature that was simply minding its own, living a life far removed from any conflict before you arrived and toppled it.
You notice that your arms, legs, and face grow darker and more smudged the more you kill, your clothes more soiled and worn.
This pact with the voice from the heavens is slowly corrupting you from within, as with every colossi you slay, your heart darkens as their souls seep into your own.
Shadow of the Colossus is the purest form of "The ends justify the means." With how after every Colossi dies, there's a sad, ominous choir singing a haunting melody, as if every fight was a funeral procession, or how the emptiness of the world results in this pure "I only care about what I need to do" mentality as you desperately hunt down the beasts is expertly put forth through the cinematics, and world design.
For a 2005 PS2 game, this game is gorgeous, and its visuals help to show a world that has been battered and beaten, but still alive.
I still wind up with at least one complaint however.
As much as I am well aware that the gameplay isn't really the most important aspect here, that would be the presentation, I do think the controls in this game feel very clunky and unnatural. I can understand it for when you're climbing the Colossi, since that makes sense, but even basic platforming or even getting on the horse is an incredible fucking hassle at points.
Other than that, this game is a thematic masterpiece with an underlying narrative that begged to ask gamers if killing these creatures was the right thing, an entire decade before Undertale even came to be.
Personally, I thought that killing the Colossi brought no satisfaction, and it shouldn't. They were mostly just doing their own thing before I came and slaughtered them.
How you perceive satisfaction in combat is what will ultimately define your view of this game.
P.S.
Agro is Best Horse!
You are a lone boy. With only your trusty steed by your side, you take on a quest that will ultimately lead to a grim end for yourself.
You convince yourself that it is all worth it, in order to save the girl. Nothing else matters.
You enter the empty, isolated wasteland. An unnamed region lacking any other sort of true sentient life, besides that of the Colossi.
These massive, diverse beasts are the only beings standing in the way between you and your goal.
You slay them, with full force and brutality as their black blood spurts out in a pure violent display.
Accomplished, you do not feel. You have killed a creature that was simply minding its own, living a life far removed from any conflict before you arrived and toppled it.
You notice that your arms, legs, and face grow darker and more smudged the more you kill, your clothes more soiled and worn.
This pact with the voice from the heavens is slowly corrupting you from within, as with every colossi you slay, your heart darkens as their souls seep into your own.
Shadow of the Colossus is the purest form of "The ends justify the means." With how after every Colossi dies, there's a sad, ominous choir singing a haunting melody, as if every fight was a funeral procession, or how the emptiness of the world results in this pure "I only care about what I need to do" mentality as you desperately hunt down the beasts is expertly put forth through the cinematics, and world design.
For a 2005 PS2 game, this game is gorgeous, and its visuals help to show a world that has been battered and beaten, but still alive.
I still wind up with at least one complaint however.
As much as I am well aware that the gameplay isn't really the most important aspect here, that would be the presentation, I do think the controls in this game feel very clunky and unnatural. I can understand it for when you're climbing the Colossi, since that makes sense, but even basic platforming or even getting on the horse is an incredible fucking hassle at points.
Other than that, this game is a thematic masterpiece with an underlying narrative that begged to ask gamers if killing these creatures was the right thing, an entire decade before Undertale even came to be.
Personally, I thought that killing the Colossi brought no satisfaction, and it shouldn't. They were mostly just doing their own thing before I came and slaughtered them.
How you perceive satisfaction in combat is what will ultimately define your view of this game.
P.S.
Agro is Best Horse!