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[Galactic Fork]

Having loved Ico, I tried this out last night, and while I can appreciate why some people love it, my biggest problem was that the Colossi themselves are creatures of awe and beauty, the last thing I wanted to do was stab it and watch black stuff spray out of it. For me it's a fundamental flaw and I wish I hadn't played it now. I do however now want to play through Ico again

Heh that's kind of the point. Most of the Colossi are minding their own business. You're just some jerk with a sword coming to poke them... The things you do for love! The small ones deserve to die though... Cheap bastards!

 

[Oblivion]

Game is pretty fun but its not the PRISTINE PIECE OF BEAUTIFUL ART that people make it out to be.

Pretty much, yeah.

The art style is great, but graphically it's hindered by the PS2's weak hardware.

Oh, and awesome music by the by.

 

[Finaika]

It's been a long time since I've turned a game off out of sheer frustration and/or boredom, but this game did it today.

I've now killed 6 colossi, but am having trouble finding the 7th. World travel is SO FUCKING BORING IN THIS GAME. The land just stretches on and on and you have to find this exact pathway to your next encounter, and tough cookies for you if you look around for 30 minutes and find nothing. I barely even care about the battles right now, despite the largeness of the colossi. (the air battle was pretty cool, but why the heck do I have to swim around in water for a minute before I get another crack at trying to jump on the guy's wings again?...this game is almost TOO spacious) Blah. Just annoyed. I really want to like this game a lot more than I am right now. I feel that it's much better the second time around, or maybe it's one of those rare occurences where it's more fun with a strategy guide. This endless world travel bullshit is just bad design. It's not engaging, it's not artsy, it's not refreshing, it doesn't create tension, it doesn't add to the atmosphere...it just frustrates the piss out of you! Arrrrgh. Think I'll give it a break for today.

I can understand your frustration. When I was showing off the game to my friend who wants to see the various colossus, finding them was such a frustrating ordeal. They also made that the sword's beam won't shine in dark areas... Wow that's very realistic!!!... but very frustrating too.

Also controlling Agros is frustrating... Wow such an innovative way of controlling a horse!... but very frustrating... Especially in the jungle area where Agros hits a tree and suddenly stops... Agros goes "Weehehehe!"... Wanda shouts "Hya! Hya! Hya!" and slams his legs into Agros' fat tummy...

I too gave up on the 9th colossus because I dunno how the heck to defeat it... Weeks later I finally picked it up again and figured it out... Beat the game in 2 days... Yeah it was a nice game but really it has some really frustrating problems

 

[Fess]

New times games journalism: 10/10

+ It's like art, so beautiful
+ Amazing soundtrack
+ Innovative
+ The horse, it is basically alive, it's like riding a real horse
+ Big beautiful game world, it's so beautiful, you could just wander around for hours doing nothing but looking at the pretty scenery
+ Almost no enemies and puzzles and it's so refreshing, you can just wander around and look at the so so beautiful scenery, you don't have to to kill a bunch of meaningless and ugly enemies or do some boring puzzles etc, it's like art, amazing
+ If you don't like this game you're dead inside. Seriously. Get some Prozac or something.

- Somewhat bad controls and framerate but if you have feelings you'll fall in love with the game and forget about everything else




Old times games journalism: 6/10

+ Nice graphics and animation
+ Cool boss battles

- The camera
- The controls
- The framerate
- The horse, it basically has a life on it own, please kill it
- Big and empty game world, it feels like the game isn't ready yet, like they haven't added the enemies and puzzles yet, I don't get it
- Repetitive and frustrating
- Extremely boring between the boss battles, you just ride with that stupid horse for minutes in this completely empty and boring game world and there is nothing else to do, I don't get it, this is barely a game, it's like some kind of art or something, totally weird
- If you like this game you're not interested in games. Seriously. Rent a movie instead.

 

[jarosh]

yeah, we get it people. WE GET IT! some of you think it's hopelessly overrated and others think it's a piece of art. we already had 42 (forty-two) pages of discussion in the official thread.

die, thread, die!

 

[thetrin]

yeah, we get it people. WE GET IT! some of you think it's hopelessly overrated and others think it's a piece of art. we already had 42 (forty-two) pages of discussion in the official thread.

die, thread, die!

No wait, I have to chime in again!

 

[Oblivion]

New times games journalism: 10/10

+ It's like art, so beautiful
+ Amazing soundtrack
+ Innovative
+ The horse, it is basically alive, it's like riding a real horse
+ Big beautiful game world, it's so beautiful, you could just wander around for hours doing nothing but looking at the pretty scenery
+ Almost no enemies and puzzles and it's so refreshing, you can just wander around and look at the so so beautiful scenery, you don't have to to kill a bunch of meaningless and ugly enemies or do some boring puzzles etc, it's like art, amazing
+ If you don't like this game you're dead inside. Seriously. Get some Prozac or something.

- Somewhat bad controls and framerate but if you have feelings you'll fall in love with the game and forget about everything else




Old times games journalism: 6/10

+ Nice graphics and animation
+ Cool boss battles

- The camera
- The controls
- The framerate
- The horse, it basically has a life on it own, please kill it
- Big and empty game world, it feels like the game isn't ready yet, like they haven't added the enemies and puzzles yet, I don't get it
- Repetitive and frustrating
- Extremely boring between the boss battles, you just ride with that stupid horse for minutes in this completely empty and boring game world and there is nothing else to do, I don't get it, this is barely a game, it's like some kind of art or something, totally weird
- If you like this game you're not interested in games. Seriously. Rent a movie instead.

:lol :lol

 

[R0nn]

New times games journalism: 10/10

+ It's like art, so beautiful
+ Amazing soundtrack
+ Innovative
+ The horse, it is basically alive, it's like riding a real horse
+ Big beautiful game world, it's so beautiful, you could just wander around for hours doing nothing but looking at the pretty scenery
+ Almost no enemies and puzzles and it's so refreshing, you can just wander around and look at the so so beautiful scenery, you don't have to to kill a bunch of meaningless and ugly enemies or do some boring puzzles etc, it's like art, amazing
+ If you don't like this game you're dead inside. Seriously. Get some Prozac or something.

- Somewhat bad controls and framerate but if you have feelings you'll fall in love with the game and forget about everything else




Old times games journalism: 6/10

+ Nice graphics and animation
+ Cool boss battles

- The camera
- The controls
- The framerate
- The horse, it basically has a life on it own, please kill it
- Big and empty game world, it feels like the game isn't ready yet, like they haven't added the enemies and puzzles yet, I don't get it
- Repetitive and frustrating
- Extremely boring between the boss battles, you just ride with that stupid horse for minutes in this completely empty and boring game world and there is nothing else to do, I don't get it, this is barely a game, it's like some kind of art or something, totally weird
- If you like this game you're not interested in games. Seriously. Rent a movie instead.

Yeeaaah, that pretty much sums it all up. :lol

I agree with the new times version.

Spoiler

seriously, some ppl are just too set in their ways imo

 

[thetrin]

Yeeaaah, that pretty much sums it all up. :lol

I agree with the new times version.

Spoiler

seriously, some ppl are just too set in their ways imo

I fucking love the game, but I can't explain why, honestly. When I look at the gameplay on paper, it sounds dead and boring, but there was something simply amazing about the game when I played it. *shrug*

 

[R0nn]

I fucking love the game, but I can't explain why, honestly. When I look at the gameplay on paper, it sounds dead and boring, but there was something simply amazing about the game when I played it. *shrug*

Exactly. It was just the entire atmosphere of a vast, barren land, riding around on horseback with an eerie sky, hardly any life around and the wind howling all over the place and then all of a sudden you would run into this epic boss battle against a huge creature. It totally grasped me. One of the best experiences I had in gaming.

Only thing that REALLY frustrated me, were the camera and overcomplicated controls. All the other design choices they made appealed to me 100%. I really hope Zelda: TP gets just as a vast area as SotC (only with more things to visit and discover of course).

 

[jarosh]

No wait, I have to chime in again!

I fucking love the game, but I can't explain why, honestly. When I look at the gameplay on paper, it sounds dead and boring, but there was something simply amazing about the game when I played it. *shrug*

thanks for keeping it real.

 

[thetrin]

thanks for keeping it real.

It's why I'm here.

 

[CeruleanSilver]

The small ones deserve to die though... Cheap bastards!

Seriously! Once they knock you down they just keep doing the same thing with no way for you to get up. Sure, occasionally you can break free, but a very frustrating experience.

 

[leesmapman]

Best thing in most games is the boss battles, the SotC team knew that and cut it down to the basics: 16 amazing boss battles.

 

[Alucard]

Best thing in most games is the boss battles, the SotC team knew that and cut it down to the basics: 16 amazing boss battles.

AND THE BORING HORSIE RIDES TO GET TO THEM.

 

[fallengorn]

AND THE BORING HORSIE RIDES TO GET TO THEM.

If there were a "subsistance" version they should get rid of the stupid horse and all 16 colossi should be waiting outside the temple. Bull colossi constantly raping you FTW!

Spoiler

I liked the horse for the most part... except in the desert when I kept running into rocks trying to launch onto the colossi.

 

[Alucard]

Alright, so I decided to give the game another shot last night and played 'til 4am, completing the adventure. I've been a bit harsh on the game in this thread, but some of my criticisms still stand. The land is extremely barren. Yes, it adds to the scope of the adventure and the feeling of isolation, but it also means travelling for minutes at a time with nothing in front of you but mountains, grass, and dirt. As a cinematic experience, the world travel is great, but as a game, it's empty.

The colossi battles were pretty sweet, for the most part. The final battle was particularly badass. I also did feel kind of bad when

Spoiler

Agro fell. I felt even greater sympathy and pity when he comes limping back in at the end.

The story? Vague. Very vague. Still, the ending was pretty cool. I did get a little tired of the whole "Thy next foe is..." spiel each time you're back at the shrine after a battle though. Thank you start button. On a random note, the music does indeed rock.

Anyways, this game is quite addictive. I already started a new game and have downed 9 colossi. As I figured, it is better the second time through and is a lot more fun once you know what's going on. I've completed 10 time attacks, and will try to take on the hard mode in the future. First, I'm going to finish the game on normal again, completing all of the time attacks, and then I'm going to finally dive into Ico, which has been sitting by my PS2 for the better part of the past 2 years.

 

[R0nn]

The story? Vague. Very vague.

Spoiler

You'll probably understand it a bit better after you've played ICO.

Great that you gave the game another try and that you're now actually enjoying it.

 

[R0nn]

Ico is not better than Shadow of the Colossus to me. Shadow offers so much more: gameplay, story, music, replay incentive. It's a really great game that reminds me of the old days, where I could play a game over and over, not because there was so much to do, but because it was fun as hell to do so.

Yeah well, ICO is an entirely different game altogether anyway. I don't think they are easily comparable. It's all about personal preference (which you mentioned for a bit already).

 

[[Nintex]]

One of the awesome things of this game are the controls:

Spoiler

each time you kill a collusus you're hit by some weird black substance, Your character looks fucked up after a couple of collusus. But your controls also become less responsive. I also love the ending of this game but its just like the prime games you have the people who love the graphics but just hate the gameplay. And you have the crowd that totally loves it. After playing this game on a PS2 at one of my friends I thought.... damn that innovation right there , way better then "innovation" on the gamecube

 

[jarrod]

Aesthetic trumps mechanics yet again! Welcome to the real future of non-gaming...

 

[Alucard]

I was enjoying it well enough before, but had more fun once I had a better idea of what I was doing and where I was supposed to go. (used gamefaqs 3-4 times for location and/or colossus strategy)

This whole "OMG I FEEL SO BAD KILLING THEM" mentality is kind of pretentious, don't ya think? The creatures are definitely beautifully designed (minus that stupid pitbull-looking thing), but I didn't feel particularly horrible for downing them...just triumphant.

It's definitely a different kind of game. I think it would be fair to say that those who praise it probably praise it a little too much ("GAME IS ART! PIXELS HAVE FEELINGS!"), while those who bad mouth it, go a little too far as well. ("NO GAMEPLAY WHATSOEVER IN THIS PRETENTIOUS ARTSY GRAPHIC ADVENTURE!")

But yeah, I'm digging it.

 

[jarosh]

Aesthetic trumps mechanics yet again! Welcome to the real future of non-gaming...

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Aesthetic trumps mechanics yet again! Welcome to the real future of non-gaming...

You try to hard.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

One of the awesome things of this game are the controls:

Spoiler

each time you kill a collusus you're hit by some weird black substance, Your character looks fucked up after a couple of collusus. But your controls also become less responsive.

Never noticed any of that.


Hmm, now I think of it. I noticed part of it.