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.