Number 54: Shadow of the Colossus, SCEA 2005
Intro:
Very quiet and deliberate. Very beautiful and melancholy. Everything is slow and reverant, as if everything about the journey is holy and meditative.
Getting Going:
The story's exposition is only brief, but the attitude of the main character and the ambiguous guidance of the ambiguous Dormin suggest a lot of underlying, unsaid qualities that give the game an unusual amount of depth right from the start. Even the horse is given personality from the start. The controls are explained gradually, allowing the player just enough time to get used to it.
Fun:
This game gives the player a lot to enjoy, but a lot of it is its own reward. For example, exploring the world rewards the player with beautiful locations, views, and interesting things to try. You don't get any extra health for exploring, or a better sword, just personal satisfaction. The colossus fights are a different matter entirely: you are clearly both rewarded and punished for each defeat, in that you may have progressed, but at the same time you can't go back and explore the colossus again. The most exciting part of this game is the reward of getting to explore and discover each colossus, one at a time. It's an intellectual excercise as much as one for the player's reflexes, and the expressive nature of each one means the experience taps all the major pleasure centers: i'm satisfied intellectually, viscerally, and emotionally by each defeat. I'll take that over a mindless boss who gives you a slightly better weapon any day.
Visuals:
I've never played Far Cry, but this draw distance is unbelievable. I can see everything. And if the camera moves fast enough, there's motion blur. The realism is incredible. Is this really on a Playstation 2? I've never been so ready to believe mythical monsters existed in the distant corners of the world. On top of the slick visuals, the stylistic choice to wash everything out not only gives the game a more magical air (as Dormin is represented only as the light pouring into the temple) but the coloration makes it feel like an ancient story book whose pages have been yellowed by time.
Intelligence:
Since there aren't classic waves of enemies, this is very different than most games. Each colossus makes a valiant effort to shake the player from them, and reacts appropriately to where the player is climbing. Each also changes its attack pattern and panics, appropriately to the situation. Their behaviors are varied in that regard, but their struggle never seems terribly intellegent, nor do their attempts to fight back if the player falls to the ground.
Immersion:
Between the fantastic realism in the visuals and the tactile controls, the atmosphere of the game is desperately real and engaging. The only issue may be with younger players looking for action, and instead finding serene beauty in their seemingly aimless search for the next colossus. For an older gamer like myself, this game is all about stopping to smell the roses, and it executes that very well.
Cameras:
The camera is the only major issue I've seen. The developers saw it fit to decide every angle the player sees at every moment. Most of the time, they made the right choice, and its visually stunning all the time. Once in a while, however, I want the camera to move a certain way to help me play more effectively, and while I can swing it over to where I want it, the moment I let go of the right analog stick the camera glides back to where the developers put it.
Control:
This game has strange controls. Playing with others, they always want to change the controls to more recognizable adventure game controls. Each time, they've set them back to the default controls. The controls feel very, very awkward at the start, but after a couple fights, they play like natural, and I've forgotten about the controller in my hand many, many times.
Ideas:
By making each colossus a huge event, instead of sending hundreds of mindless clones to their death against the player, they each have the capacity to mean so much more to the player. The sword as a hint system was also a great idea, keeping the player from having to hear repetitive clues from Dormin if they decide to take some time off to explore. The player can take their sweet time, and get to the next colossus when they want to. The horse is also a great tool: the player can cross great distances with a ride that won't let the player fly off of a cliff, abandon it when it's unable to continue forward, and use it as a leg up in certain situations. On top of that, it's a little finnicky. Attention to detail is a wonderful thing.
Memory:
A stunning victory for games with mature meaning and glorious ambiguity. This is on emotional, intellectual, visual, and visceral levels, the finest game I've played. Despite the camera being so frustrating, everything else is so perfectly tuned I can let that go. This game will always be in my hear and on my "Games people must see" list. Utterly incredible.
Very quiet and deliberate. Very beautiful and melancholy. Everything is slow and reverant, as if everything about the journey is holy and meditative.
Getting Going:
The story's exposition is only brief, but the attitude of the main character and the ambiguous guidance of the ambiguous Dormin suggest a lot of underlying, unsaid qualities that give the game an unusual amount of depth right from the start. Even the horse is given personality from the start. The controls are explained gradually, allowing the player just enough time to get used to it.
Fun:
This game gives the player a lot to enjoy, but a lot of it is its own reward. For example, exploring the world rewards the player with beautiful locations, views, and interesting things to try. You don't get any extra health for exploring, or a better sword, just personal satisfaction. The colossus fights are a different matter entirely: you are clearly both rewarded and punished for each defeat, in that you may have progressed, but at the same time you can't go back and explore the colossus again. The most exciting part of this game is the reward of getting to explore and discover each colossus, one at a time. It's an intellectual excercise as much as one for the player's reflexes, and the expressive nature of each one means the experience taps all the major pleasure centers: i'm satisfied intellectually, viscerally, and emotionally by each defeat. I'll take that over a mindless boss who gives you a slightly better weapon any day.
Visuals:
I've never played Far Cry, but this draw distance is unbelievable. I can see everything. And if the camera moves fast enough, there's motion blur. The realism is incredible. Is this really on a Playstation 2? I've never been so ready to believe mythical monsters existed in the distant corners of the world. On top of the slick visuals, the stylistic choice to wash everything out not only gives the game a more magical air (as Dormin is represented only as the light pouring into the temple) but the coloration makes it feel like an ancient story book whose pages have been yellowed by time.
Intelligence:
Since there aren't classic waves of enemies, this is very different than most games. Each colossus makes a valiant effort to shake the player from them, and reacts appropriately to where the player is climbing. Each also changes its attack pattern and panics, appropriately to the situation. Their behaviors are varied in that regard, but their struggle never seems terribly intellegent, nor do their attempts to fight back if the player falls to the ground.
Immersion:
Between the fantastic realism in the visuals and the tactile controls, the atmosphere of the game is desperately real and engaging. The only issue may be with younger players looking for action, and instead finding serene beauty in their seemingly aimless search for the next colossus. For an older gamer like myself, this game is all about stopping to smell the roses, and it executes that very well.
Cameras:
The camera is the only major issue I've seen. The developers saw it fit to decide every angle the player sees at every moment. Most of the time, they made the right choice, and its visually stunning all the time. Once in a while, however, I want the camera to move a certain way to help me play more effectively, and while I can swing it over to where I want it, the moment I let go of the right analog stick the camera glides back to where the developers put it.
Control:
This game has strange controls. Playing with others, they always want to change the controls to more recognizable adventure game controls. Each time, they've set them back to the default controls. The controls feel very, very awkward at the start, but after a couple fights, they play like natural, and I've forgotten about the controller in my hand many, many times.
Ideas:
By making each colossus a huge event, instead of sending hundreds of mindless clones to their death against the player, they each have the capacity to mean so much more to the player. The sword as a hint system was also a great idea, keeping the player from having to hear repetitive clues from Dormin if they decide to take some time off to explore. The player can take their sweet time, and get to the next colossus when they want to. The horse is also a great tool: the player can cross great distances with a ride that won't let the player fly off of a cliff, abandon it when it's unable to continue forward, and use it as a leg up in certain situations. On top of that, it's a little finnicky. Attention to detail is a wonderful thing.
Memory:
A stunning victory for games with mature meaning and glorious ambiguity. This is on emotional, intellectual, visual, and visceral levels, the finest game I've played. Despite the camera being so frustrating, everything else is so perfectly tuned I can let that go. This game will always be in my hear and on my "Games people must see" list. Utterly incredible.