| Shadow Of The Colossus |
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''Shadow of the Colossus'' ( for the PlayStation 2 . It was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment International Production Studio 1 (sometimes called "Team Ico"), most of whom were also responsible for the Cult-hit '' Ico ''. The game is published internationally by Sony; it was released in North America and Japan in October, 2005, and was later released in Europe in February, 2006. The game's official tagline is, ''"Some mountains are scaled; others are slain."'' DESCRIPTION ''Shadow of the Colossus'' is an unusual adventure in that there are no towns or dungeons to explore, no characters with which to interact, and no enemies to defeat—other than the game's sixteen colossi. The lands are vast and nearly lifeless—much time is spent traveling across the expanses on horseback, finding and killing each colossus, in the hopes of resurrecting a dead woman. These unusual elements, as well as the use of a Fictional Language , give it an atmosphere similar to ''Ico'' even though their gameplay elements are different. Very little story is revealed to the player at the beginning of the game, and little more is known even after the credits roll. The main character (Wander) is to "save the girl," (Mono) but no identity or background information is given concerning either person, and the "cursed fate" to which Mono was doomed before her death by sacrifice is not detailed. The colossi are enormous, armored creatures that seem invincible, but each has its hidden weaknesses and habits. They each have remarkably different anatomies and affinities, ranging from simple giant humanoids to fierce predatory animals, and each is located in a unique lair. Wander is equipped with only a faithful horse, a bow and arrows, and a magic sword. Due largely to this limited arsenal, and because interaction with the environmental elements is often necessary for success, ''Shadow of the Colossus'' is regarded as both an Action-adventure Game and a Puzzle game. STORY The story of ''Shadow of the Colossus'' begins with a young man known as "Wander" traveling by horseback along a massive stone bridge supported by arched pillars. The bridge leads him into a vast, desolate landscape, finally terminating at the entrance to a great temple, the Shrine of Worship. Once inside the shrine, Wander accesses a long hall lined with sixteen large stone Idols . A circular aperture allows sunlight to stream in through the ceiling before a stone altar. Wander leads his horse, Agro, to the foot of these steps and it is then revealed that Wander carries with him a body wrapped in a cloak. He lays the body upon the altar and removes the cloak, unveiling the body of a maiden named Mono dressed in a white gown. A voice—which speaks with a male and female duality—booms down from the aperture above, noting that Wander has the "Ancient Sword." Wander correctly assumes the voice to belong to a being known as "Dormin," and says he has heard that Dormin can restore the Soul s of the dead. He then asks Dormin to return the maiden's soul, revealing that she was Sacrifice d because she had "a cursed fate." Dormin states that it may be possible to revive her, and explains that Wander must destroy all sixteen idols lining the hall of the shrine. The Dormin further explain that the only way for a mortal to destroy the idols is to slay the living Incarnation s of each statue—16 colossi that reside somewhere in this land—with the ancient sword. Dormin then warns him that in performing this task he may pay a heavy price, but Wander declares that it doesn't matter and begins his journey through the forbidden lands. Guided by the ancient sword, Wander hunts down each colossus and defeats it. Each success grants greater strength to Wander, a side effect of tendrils of dark energy that spew forth from the slain colossi and enter Wander's own body. While his physical strength and endurance increases, his appearance deteriorates, causing him to gradually form a cadaver-like appearance. When Wander kills the eighth colossus, before he awakens in the Shrine of Worship, he dreams of Mono awakening, and it is here that his gradual change becomes most apparent. After the death of the twelfth colossus, it is revealed that Wander is being pursued by a group of warriors led by a shaman they refer to as "Lord Emon." Urged to hurry with his task by Dormin, Wander defeats the last colossus (though not without injury: Agro, Wander's horse, plummets hundreds of feet into a gorge immediately preceding the final colossus) even as Lord Emon's entourage arrives in the Shrine of Worship. Wander returns to the temple a moment later, his body now fully bearing the appearance of a corpse, as well as two small horns protruding from his head. As he staggers toward Mono, Lord Emon orders Wander's death, claiming that Wander is now cursed and possessed by the dead; he further claims that Wander was being used by Dormin. One of Lord Emon's warriors stabs Wander through his heart, and after struggling a moment longer despite his wound, he finally succumbs, black blood gouting from his wounds and darkness veiling his fallen body—a death identical to those suffered by the colossi. At last it is made clear why these lands and this ritual are forbidden: Dormin's consciousness enters Wander's fallen body, and it grows into a shadowy giant that speaks of its body having been separated in order to seal away its power. Wander provided a means by which the Dormin's separated essences could be reunited, killing each colossus and freeing part of Dormin, with each piece then taking up residence inside Wander's body. Lord Emon and his warriors retreat from the attacking Dormin, taking with them the ancient sword. Lord Emon then casts a spell with the sword, sucking both Dormin and Wander into a pool with a whirlwind of light. As the spell takes effect, Lord Emon and his men quickly evacuate, speeding across the crumbling remains of the bridge that lead into the forbidden lands. As Lord Emon and his men reach the exit to the outside world, he expresses the hope that—if he has survived—Wander may atone for the sins Emon feels he has committed. In the now silent temple, Mono awakens, for the Dormin honored Wander's request. Mono is then led by an injured, limping Agro to the pool where Wander and the Dormin were pulled by Lord Emon's spell, finding a male infant with tiny horns on his head. She carries the child with her, following the horse to higher levels of the shrine, coming at last into a garden that is home to several animals. This indicates that life can, indeed, thrive in this land. CHARACTERS Wander — voiced by Kenji Nojima . Wander, or The Wanderer, is the protagonist of ''Shadow of the Colossus''. He brings Mono, wrapped in a cloak, to the Shrine of Worship with the hope of resurrecting her. His horse, Agro, is his only companion. He is a determined warrior armed with only a bow and a magic sword; so determined is he that he agrees to perform Dormin's task even though it tells him the price he pays for the granting of his wish will be heavy indeed. Mono — voiced by Hitomi Nabatame . Mono is the woman Wander seeks to revive by going to the Shrine of Worship. Little is known of her except that, in Wander's own words, she was sacrificed because her fate was cursed. Her relationship to Wander is uncertain, but because his determination and actions of extreme self-sacrifice, she is presumed to be his lover. Her faint voice can be heard while Wander is being transported back to the Shine of Worship after defeating a colossus. Her voice gets louder and clearer each time, but no subtitles are given for her speech, and even at best it is still barely audible. Agro Agro is Wander's horse, and as such his means of transportation. Agro is very loyal to Wander; he generally stays as close as possible. He even returns to the Shrine of Worship every time Wander defeats a colossus, and is there to greet him when he awakens from his ordeal. Agro proves to be a key asset in beating several colossi, particularly Dirge (the tenth colossus) and Phalanx (the thirteenth). Dormin — voiced by Kazuhiro Nakata (male voice) and Kyoko Hikami (female voice). Dormin is the mysterious, disembodied entity that resides in the Shrine of Worship. Dormin refers to itself as "We" and speaks with two voices at once, one male and one female; however, the male voice is the more prominent of the two. It agrees to revive Mono if Wander can slay the sixteen colossi. The colossi contain fragments of Dormin's essence; slaying the colossi releases these pieces, allowing them to join each other: an event Lord Emon hopes to prevent, and about which Wander does not know or care. Dormin is a very ambiguous character with an obvious dual nature—good and evil, light and dark, male and female—seemingly represented all at the same time. Curiously, Dormin warns Wander that his quest will exact a heavy price; that price is later revealed to be Dormin's revival. Also curiously, it does keep its promise of bringing Mono back to life. Emon — voiced by Naoki Bando . Lord Emon narrates the vision in the game's introduction, but is not seen in person until the Cutscene that plays after the defeat of the twelfth colossus. He wears a mask; his face is not revealed until the end of the game. He has a small group of soldiers at his command. Emon is pursuing Wander in order to prevent the use of "the forbidden spell" which, though it will resurrect Mono, will also release Dormin from bondage to the sixteen colossi. He seems to be ambivalent toward Wander. On one hand, he orders his death after seeing what has happened to Wander, and casts a spell that traps both Dormin and Wander in the shrine. In the end, however, he expresses hope that Wander can atone for what he has done, if he is alive in any shape or form at all. COLOSSI There are sixteen colossi in ''Shadow of the Colossus''. Although unnamed in-game, the Japanese preorder "making of" CD lists them as such: SAVE TEMPLES There are many small temples found throughout the land that are used to save gameplay progress. To save using one of these temples, simply pray (using the circle button) in front of the glyph-covered stone slab. White-tailed lizards commonly make these save temples their homes, and can usually be seen crawling on top. EXTRAS ''Shadow of the Colossus'' features several gameplay secrets, extras, and unlockable modes. Most are available only after at least one completion of the game, but some can be accomplished at almost any time.
Undocumented controls The game features quite a few maneuvers not described in the manual.
THEMES Connections to ''Ico'' A review of the game by Tim Rogers says, :"What Ueda wanted to do with his second game, ''Shadow of the Colossus'', was evoke an emotion. That emotion was to be the same emotion ''Ico'' evoked. According to Ueda, it's impossible for him to go out and declare which emotion that is. It differs from player to player. Whatever made you feel, ''Shadow of the Colossus'' will make you feel the same thing. If you claim it makes you feel something different, then, Ueda says, you must have grown up a little bit since you played ''Ico''." [http://www.insertcredit.com/reviews/wanda/ Fumito Ueda considers ''Shadow of the Colossus'' as both nature, intending for each player to decide the truth for himself. Later, during an interview with Wired News (March, 2006), Ueda revealed, specifically, that the connection exists: the world of the two games is the same, with ''Shadow of the Colossus'' taking place an unspecified time before [http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70286-0.html?tw=rss.culture A few in-game features solidify the connection:
In ICO, immediately after releasing Yorda from her cage, you come to a a long bridge with a statue at the nearest end. The statue is of a man with horns (one is broken off), who is wearing a tunic and has a hair-cut similar to Wander's. One could speculate that this is a statue of Wander after he had grown up a second time. Large and small Throughout the game, objects evoke themes of contrast between large and small:
EUROPEAN VERSION The European version of the game, in limited edition packaging, was released on February 16 and 17 2006 depending on the market. The disc came in a cardboard sleeve displaying various pieces of artwork from the game, and includes four art cards. In addition to this, from the main menu it is possible to view various pieces of bonus material:
Concurrent with the release, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe also published a reprint of ''Ico'', both to promote the game through ''Ico'''s reputation, and to allow players who did not buy ''Ico'' during its original limited release to complete their collections. Wander versus Wanda Some confusion has arisen in the European version of the game concerning the official name of the protagonist, due primarily to the manual's usage of "Wanda" while the game itself keeps to "Wander." This mistake in the proper translation has plagued the game from the moment it was first announced for release in the English-speaking market. The confusion results from a failure to account for the Japanese language lacking an "er" sound. A common compromise is to use an "ah" syllable instead, in an effort to simulate "er" when transliterating foreign words into Japanese. The fact that "Wanda" is a female name in English-speaking countries is merely a coincidence, hence the importance of its Romaji representation as "Wander," which, while not used commonly as a Proper Noun , is at least not instantly perceived as a female name. JAPANESE PACKAGING |
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