Wanda to kyozô

There are only a few things to say about this game. It is one of the most interesting, well done, fun and challenging games ever made ...hands down. A solid 10.

Play it!

No longer are video games the time-killers numbing the minds of our world's adolescents. Shadow of the Colossus (the English-language release title; the translation of the Japanese would be roughly "Wander and the Colossi") has used beautiful imagery and innovative puzzles on the backs of giants to tell a story worthy of the religious mythologies of an ancient civilization. The technical game-play is stunning in its simplicity, and has truly moved video games to the status of an art form. Fumito Ueda's previous endeavor Ico (to which Shadow of the Colossus is a prequel) is also told in a way that does what was done with comic books in the 1980s; using an unappreciated, stigmatized medium to tell a story that, if told in a cinematic or literary form, would leave the viewing and reading populous speechless. To those of you who do play video games, you simply must play this game. To those of you who don't play video games or have teenage children who play them, buy them a copy and at least watch them play. Most of important to you all, open your minds or you'll most certainly miss out.

This is such a wonderful game! I found myself in total amazement as I wandered through this massive world. The music is perfect, grand epic themes, yet always somewhat sad and wistful too. Just right for the death of an age. You are on a quest to resurrect a strange and nameless girl who has been sacrificed. The resurrection can only happen in the Forbidden Land at the edge of the earth,and only if an ancient power is restored through a deadly ritual that calls for the blood of the sixteen titans that walk this forsaken place. Your only companion is a massive war-horse, Agro, and an ancient black sword that points the way to terror and glory. I fell in love with this game as soon as it started. There are very few games out there that can come close to this one is sheer grandeur, and I have found none that equal the sense of pure loneliness and isolation in a land of crumbling splendor. I would almost never tell someone to buy an entire console for the sake of one game, but this would be the exception. This one is worth it!

This is the most epic game I've ever played, with the possible exception of Half-Life 2. You are a young man who climbs atop the backs of giants and has to bring them down by use of your sword and/or bow & arrow. The first giant is beaten simply by climbing onto him and stabbing marked areas of his body, but other enemies are beaten by interacting with the environment around you, which by the way is one of the most jaw-dropping visual features of this game by far. You ride your horse through grassy fields, barren deserts, vast mountain ranges with waterfalls, you name it. The world is enormous and something you totally would not expect a PS2 to be able to handle (I'm guessing it's pulled off due to the fact that there is no interaction with other characters or enemies at all).

Understandable is the criticism it's received for being, in essence, nothing but a bunch of boss battles. There's no real interaction with anybody else in the game. But most would probably agree that what it lacks in terms of rich gameplay it more than makes up for with the freakin' pretty landscapes and jaw dropping cinematic display.

The 16 giants are something you might see in a Lord of the Rings movie. By land, by air or by sea, you find yourself doing pretty much everything. Grip onto the back of a Boeing-sized Pterodactyl of sorts. Cling to an enormous electric eel as it swims under the water. Ride your horse alongside an enormous galloping bull. Every gamer on the planet needs to at the very least RENT this game. See it before you die or you just might not make it into gaming-heaven. I'm pleading with you here, I don't want anybody at all to miss this.

Oh, and as a music person I must stress the superb soundtrack.

So the premise is that you play as a character that goes around and attempts to defeat these sixteen colossi in order to save a girl. And that's all he does? Nothing else? Sounds simple, and yet, there is much substance to be found in Shadow of the Colossus. I know this game is older now, but I just got around to playing it about a month ago. I can safely say that this is the best game that I have played all year and the only one that has made me sit down for up to five or six straight hours. Time absolutely flew out the window, that's how captivated and intrigued I was.

You play as Wander, and with your faithful companion and horse Agro, you traverse a vast and beautiful landscape, which is rich with almost every kind of landscape you can think of, and buildings that are marvels of architecture. There are times when all you do is ride for about ten to fifteen minutes, just trying to get to one place. Sounds boring, and believe me, I thought it would be, but it isn't one bit. You'll find yourself just looking around as the scenery changes and even stopping a few times to take a good look around at the marvelous land.

But like I said, the whole objective is seeking out and defeating these sixteen colossi, and that is where the true fun begins. Some are giants (and by giant, I mean like you can barely see their head if you're looking up), some take to the air and some to the sea. No matter the shape and size of the magnificent beast, each one of the battles is breathtaking, and I found myself fighting some of them for an excess of a half hour. It brings the term 'battle' to a whole new level that a video game rarely sees. And because of the story, you'll actually find yourself feeling bad for some of these colossi.

All in all, like I said, the game is incredible. To paraphrase something that another user said, 'if you're a video game fan, you absolutely have to play this game. and if you don't play games, you should still play this game.' It's just an experience that you may not find in a game for a long time.