Shadow of the Colossus (Remake)

I've never purchased a remake for a game I already own before. I did re-purchase Syrim because the complete edition was less expensive than the two pieces of DLC. Never did finish Dawnguard...

Anyway, Shadow of the Colossus was an eye-opener when it came out in 2005 or so. It's the reason I wound up getting a PS2. When I heard it was a game that was all boss fights, I initially thought that sounded rather silly, but upon seeing it, I was blown away. It manages to be epic in scope but mythic in simplicity.

The new version of it is not doing anything particularly radical. The game is the same, the world's layout also the same. But while the original looked great for its time, seeing this world rendered in current graphics is really breathtaking.

Having played the original, this experience brings back a lot of memories. I wonder, for those who were too young or perhaps just missed it, what they might think of this game.

It hints at a whole mythology and world, but very intentionally leaves things very open to interpretation. In a way, it reminds me of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but these games have a much more complex and fleshed-out world. Instead, imagine a world with the simple mythology of Zelda - where everything pretty much boils down to a few mythic elements - but in which we only glimpse the shadow.

The premise, in case you're unfamiliar, is that a young man (called Wander, though we never hear his name in-game) has come to a forbidden land with the body of a young woman who is clearly very important to him - maybe a love, maybe a sister, maybe just an important friend - and his faithful steed Agro. He comes to a temple in the center of this forbidden land where a disembodied spirit known as Dormin is said to be able to retrieve the souls of the dead.

Dormin, speaking as a chorus of voices (suggesting perhaps that it is both multiple entities and one) tells Wander that he will revive the woman if Wander destroys the sixteen idols in the temple. But the idols are indestructible unless the Colossus that corresponds to each of them is slain.

Thus, Dormin sends Wander out into the forbidden land to hunt down each of the sixteen colossi and slay them. Wander is just a normal human, and the Colossi are some of the largest video game bosses you'll ever see. They shake the earth with their strides, and indeed many fights begin with the colossus not even aware of your presence, you're so small in comparison.

The game is thus a kind of puzzle-platformer. You have to figure out how to get up onto these massive creatures and stab your magic sword into glowing rules that seem to seal their lifeforce. Meanwhile, they will try to shake you off and you need to hold on for dear life or you'll be thrown aside or crushed beneath them.

Despite being, effectively, a bit of environmental exploration and just sixteen fights, Shadow of the Colossus feels like a massive game - perhaps just in how well it pulls the premise off.

As a remake, I have little to note other than that it looks totally gorgeous. It feels much the same, though I believe the controls have been slightly changed.

It's fun to jump back into it, but at the same time, you can never play a game for the first time again. The original left such an impact on me that I remember most of the fight strategies, and the puzzle-like nature to the game means that this makes the fights somewhat less intimidating. Take, for example, the bird colossus, which is the one I have next. There was something thrilling and terrifying when I first realized I would have to let it swoop at me and jump onto its wing at the last second. But I already know that's what I have to do.

Still, a classic like this deserves this sort of graphical update - even though I have heard some arguments that preserving the original's look is also worthwhile, arguing for example that the original Star Wars trilogy had a certain charm with its muppets and miniatures that got kind of adulterated with Lucas' special editions in the 90s.