ICO and Shadow of the Colossus (SotC) Collection Catch-All

Just picked the double set up after much enabling from this thread and others. SotC doesn't seem very hard, but the difficulty is very frustrating. I find myself yelling things like 'Turn left!' It's pretty, atmospheric, and I actually watched several of the cutscenes, a rare occurrence. I can really see why people like it so much.

But the difficulty isn't legitimate. It's hard because every now and then Wander falls through a colossus, or throws himself face first into dirt from thirty stories. Some of that is countered by the steady health regen, some by really good tone. It's a better story then game.

I'm weak and grabbed this as I was paying off my Dark Souls pre-order. Man, PS3 is getting a lot of love from me lately.

Not sure if anyone posted this, but Eurogamer did a comparison with the old game, and discussed a lot of the changes made in the HD update. Pretty interesting read, and comparisons between the possible graphics settings and modes you can choose on PS3.

Stele wrote:

Not sure if anyone posted this, but Eurogamer did a comparison with the old game, and discussed a lot of the changes made in the HD update. Pretty interesting read, and comparisons between the possible graphics settings and modes you can choose on PS3.

Thank you so much for sharing this!

Wow. Shadow of the Colossus looks so much better. It's amazing. I can't wait to go through these games again.

I kind of prefer the "foggy" look of the PS2 Ico, though. I don't know, it just kind of seems to add to the atmosphere.

Finally bought my PS3, along with Batman:AA, God of War 3, Darksiders, and my brother lent me FF13, God of War collection, Dragon Age:2. I finally have a pile.

But my love for SotC is so great, that finally I caved in today, and got it. Now all other games are left incomplete, and I've downed 5 Colossi already. Such a great game.

Going to bed now, but tomorrow will be a difficult choice...continue killing colossi? finally start ICO? Or continue co-op DLC from Portal 2? Dun, dun DUN!!!!

Picked this up from Best Buy last night, despite owning both original games. I have never had a chance to play them before, so this is a treat - looking forward to a weekend of digging in, when not studying.

Tried a few minutes of the first battle in SotC after getting home. The aesthetic here is awesome. Got trounced by the colossus, though it never felt cheaply done. Like some of the posts before have said, there is something refreshing about a game that allows you to find out about its expectations slowly, rather than throwing prompts and tutorials in your face.

kexx wrote:

Going to bed now, but tomorrow will be a difficult choice...continue killing colossi? finally start ICO? Or continue co-op DLC from Portal 2? Dun, dun DUN!!!!

Given the unique controls and pacing, I'd stick with SotC so you don't have to keep remapping your brain.

beeporama wrote:
kexx wrote:

Going to bed now, but tomorrow will be a difficult choice...continue killing colossi? finally start ICO? Or continue co-op DLC from Portal 2? Dun, dun DUN!!!!

Given the unique controls and pacing, I'd stick with SotC so you don't have to keep remapping your brain.

Yeh, I had to put it down since last weekend, and yesterday it took me a solid ten minutes to get my head wrapped around it again.

Also, I just killed Colossus 12 or so.

Spoiler:

I just saw the cut-scene of some dudes riding on horses after I killed the colossus, so I think that's twelve. Also, I swear that after I killed one of them Wanda got Anakin Skywalker-style evil eyes for a second. And his face is getting torn up a bit.

Okay, I think 14 are dead.

Spoiler:

I thought that the bull-type one was a bit too similar to the dog-thing

El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Okay, I think 14 are dead.

Spoiler:

I thought that the bull-type one was a bit too similar to the dog-thing

But the process was completely different for each.

One was an environmental puzzle, the other was an attack mechanic. At least, IMO.

Duoae wrote:
El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Okay, I think 14 are dead.

Spoiler:

I thought that the bull-type one was a bit too similar to the dog-thing

But the process was completely different for each.

One was an environmental puzzle, the other was an attack mechanic. At least, IMO.

I suppose, though I felt that the way in which you

Spoiler:

chipped off each's shell

felt similar. And it was more a complaint about their visual similarity.

So I played Shadow of the Colossus in 3D by hooking up my PS3 to my mum's new TV. It was pretty amazing, I think it's a game that really benefits from 3D, the Colossi just seem that much bigger in perspective, I found myself ducking and weaving as I ran beneath the big guys. I think even a 3D hating luddite would be impressed by the implementation here.

I was using those alternating shutter glasses and my eyes got tired after a while though, so definitely not something I'd consider doing for large periods of time, but I think it's certainly worth a shot for anyone who has the opportunity.

Okay, I finished Shadow.

Spoiler:

The general gist of the ending was pretty much what I'd come to expect- it turned out that killing the Colossi was to have negative impact on the world, and Wanda's quest was not as heroic as expected. While I felt like the 'actually you were releasing a demon' thing worked, I feel like they could have done it in a cooler way, I was silently hoping for an I Am Legend-style finale. I also thought that the credits-onward stuff was a bit lame, I think the story would've been more powerful if the girl didn't come to life, and if Wanda and Argo stayed dead. It felt like the gravitas of the revelation was cheapened by it turning out to be a pretty reversible mistake. Though it would probably have been too grim, I'd have liked to see the Dark God released for good, and the world paying the price for its actions.

El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Okay, I finished Shadow.

Spoiler:

The general gist of the ending was pretty much what I'd come to expect- it turned out that killing the Colossi was to have negative impact on the world, and Wanda's quest was not as heroic as expected. While I felt like the 'actually you were releasing a demon' thing worked, I feel like they could have done it in a cooler way, I was silently hoping for an I Am Legend-style finale. I also thought that the credits-onward stuff was a bit lame, I think the story would've been more powerful if the girl didn't come to life, and if Wanda and Argo stayed dead. It felt like the gravitas of the revelation was cheapened by it turning out to be a pretty reversible mistake. Though it would probably have been too grim, I'd have liked to see the Dark God released for good, and the world paying the price for its actions.

Spoiler:

You realise that the events in ICO are after the result of the Dark God's power being released and then caged again? So, you kind of get what you wanted... just not exactly. Instead of him and his power being locked away for good by tossing a sword into the well, which, actually, i don't think is what happens.

Duoae wrote:
El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Okay, I finished Shadow.

Spoiler:

The general gist of the ending was pretty much what I'd come to expect- it turned out that killing the Colossi was to have negative impact on the world, and Wanda's quest was not as heroic as expected. While I felt like the 'actually you were releasing a demon' thing worked, I feel like they could have done it in a cooler way, I was silently hoping for an I Am Legend-style finale. I also thought that the credits-onward stuff was a bit lame, I think the story would've been more powerful if the girl didn't come to life, and if Wanda and Argo stayed dead. It felt like the gravitas of the revelation was cheapened by it turning out to be a pretty reversible mistake. Though it would probably have been too grim, I'd have liked to see the Dark God released for good, and the world paying the price for its actions.

Spoiler:

You realise that the events in ICO are after the result of the Dark God's power being released and then caged again? So, you kind of get what you wanted... just not exactly. Instead of him and his power being locked away for good by tossing a sword into the well, which, actually, i don't think is what happens.

Oh man, I guess I should've waited until I played Ico to comment

El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Oh man, I guess I should've waited until I played Ico to comment :P

While Shadow is the prequel to Ico, I really think that playing Ico first will give much more meaning to Shadow's ending.

Spoiler:

To me, the realization of who the girl was not only made Shadow more awesome, but made Ico an even more powerful game to me.

Woah what? These games are directly connected? I had no idea. Now I NEED to steal a PS3 and try these out.

Dreaded Gazebo wrote:
El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Oh man, I guess I should've waited until I played Ico to comment :P

While Shadow is the prequel to Ico, I really think that playing Ico first will give much more meaning to Shadow's ending.

Spoiler:

To me, the realization of who the girl was not only made Shadow more awesome, but made Ico an even more powerful game to me.

Damn, I was told there was no connection between the two other than studio, so I did Shadow first. Well, I guess I start Ico today then.

My copy of these will be arriving soon (PS2, baby :cool:). I take it they should be played in release order instead of Shadow of the Colossus first?

ClockworkHouse wrote:

My copy of these will be arriving soon (PS2, baby :cool:). I take it they should be played in release order instead of Shadow of the Colossus first?

Yup, I just found that out the hard way

El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Damn, I was told there was no connection between the two other than studio, so I did Shadow first. Well, I guess I start Ico today then.

Research, research, research... or ask the goojer-base!

brokenclavicle wrote:
El-Taco-the-Rogue wrote:

Damn, I was told there was no connection between the two other than studio, so I did Shadow first. Well, I guess I start Ico today then.

Research, research, research... or ask the goojer-base!

I did! They said there was no recommended order! THEY LIED TO ME.

Well, there is no recommended order. This time around I played SotC first since it is a sorta, kinda, maybe a prequel to Ico. Maybe. Sorta.

Yeah, don't play one and think "oh--I'll find out what everyone was talking about when I play the other." Everyone is just giving their interpretations. From the Wiki:

For several months during and after the game's release, the game's director and lead designer, Fumito Ueda, maintained that the game's status as a prequel was simply his personal take on the game and not necessarily its canon nature, as he largely intended for players to decide the specifics of the story for themselves. However, during an interview in March 2006, Ueda revealed that a specific connection between the two games exists:
Spoiler:

the world featured in the two is the same, with Shadow of the Colossus taking place at an unspecified time before Ico. He revealed that Wander sires the line of horned boys of which Ico's protagonist is a descendant. Moreover, the shadowy figures which appear in the Shrine of Worship are connected to the shadows which the player must fight in Ico.

edit: Another really interesting quote:

Spoiler:

"If conversation had been possible, the player would wish to control Yorda via conversation. I thought that taking one's hand was more meaningful since conversation would be difficult to implement. Therefore, the game is not about good versus evil. Ico has his own reasoning and the queen has hers, too. I wanted to leave the decision whether what Ico did was right or wrong to the player."

That last line is quite a shocker.

Do you have a link to that 2006 interview?

I'll have my "Analyse This" of SOTC up on the weekend... so some thoughts about how they're connected and how the story goes.

No, just found the blurb about it it on the Wiki.

edit: found the interview (lots of spoilers including gameplay video) on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPLF...

Okay, I started Ico. Man, right from the start it felt dated, a real jolt after the relative modernity of Shadow.

Well, it was originally a PS1 game that was up-fitted to a PS2 game when development ran long. Looks pretty good considering.