Review Y8 Game: Shadow of the Colossus

A lonely young man carries the lifeless body of his beloved to the distant forbidden lands. The stolen sacred sword opens the way for him to where a man's foot has not set foot for a long time. Having achieved his goal, the young man turns to an incorporeal spirit imprisoned in a long-abandoned castle: he is ready for anything to make the girl come back to life. An ominous voice demands to destroy 16 stone giants, each of which corresponds to a colossus roaming these desolate lands.

The young man is emphatically weak, clumsy. He stumbles constantly, waving his arms ridiculously. When he pulls on the string, the scope trembles perceptibly. The sacred sword, which he brought with him, shows him where to look for the colossus, and also highlights vulnerable spots on their huge bodies, "Achilles heels", blows into which are capable of slaying even indestructible giants. The hero, however, still has to get to these points - and here the duel with the giant turns into a whole level with puzzle and platforming.

Colossi on the path of the hero will meet different. One will walk, resting the crown of his head in the sky, the other will fly, the third will swim, the fourth will climb walls, the fifth will turn out to be quite small - perhaps the size of an elephant - but very ferocious and aggressive. Each of them is unique, and we have to learn their habits and character in order to take their lives. Each of them is felt as a truly living creature: they scream in pain, crawl from side to side, trying to shake off the annoying pest, but in vain - the sword will find its goal, the colossus will fall, and the young man will silently go for the next one.

Shadow of the Colossus does not sing about these murders, does not revel in them - she realizes that everything that happens in the game is extremely tragic. But she does not speak about it directly: the game creates its melancholic mood by more subtle methods. Enchantingly beautiful music. Intriguing setting. A narrative that gives exactly the very minimum so that the player understands what's what, but he can think out some details on his own.

It is exponentially minimalist, and everything in it works towards the central idea of ​​the game, to create the feeling conceived by its creator. So, each of the colossi lives in its own corner of the vast world, and first of all, you need to find a way to it. No one will meet on the way - this world is empty. However, it is shrouded in an aura of mystery, which is completely deprived of all the habitable locations of most video games with "openworld". It is cold, unfriendly, it is inhabited only by insects, lizards and birds, and only numerous ruins and a mysterious castle in the center of a huge plateau hint that someone lived here in the past. It is not for nothing that these lands are called cursed, forbidden.

Back in 2005 on PS2, I rode for hours through deserts and mountain trails, rocky coastlines and forest paths, fascinated by the elusive appeal of these lands.

On PS4, this world literally took on a new life, filled with the smallest, but therefore even more wonderful details.

Cracks in the rocks, mud on the rippled surface of the lake, rays of light penetrating through the thicket of the forest - all this can be viewed for hours.

And then a series of colossi comes. None of them has changed beyond recognition, but they have become prettier passion - especially their eyes and hair, along which the hero climbs. Shadow of the Colossus was a feast for the eyes in 2005 on PS2, and now, in 2018, it feels just as beautiful again.

And the player himself can become an accomplice in the creation of something beautiful: the new version of Colossi has a photo mode! Pause the game at any time (even in the middle of a cutscene), adjust the angle, adjust the effects - and voila! From screenshots of Shadow of the Colossus (2018), you can compose entire galleries (which we will do in the near future).

The only thing that began to look worse is the hero's face. And I also can't help but complain about the lack of a 3D mode, which was in Ico and Shadow of the Colossus: The Collection for PS3: it helped to deeply feel the unity with the conqueror of giants, to feel their gigantic dimensions. When the hero climbed a tower-high colossus, 3D glasses made it possible to believe in this terrifying distance to the ground, and the impressions of flying on winged monsters cannot be described in words.

However, the best PS4 version is not only beautiful, but also easy to operate. On PS2 and PS3, Shadow of the Colossus suffered from not the best camera and not the most responsive controls - so "not very" that it could alienate someone. On PS4, the hero sometimes turns out to be even more dexterous than one would expect from him. This is not to say that it has become absolutely perfect: it happens that the horse will balk and turn the wrong way; it happens that the camera will not understand from which side to approach the hero, climbing the armpit of the colossus. But these are little things - in general, playing Shadow of the Colossus has become much more enjoyable.

Shadow of the Colossus is a timeless classic that lacked minor cosmetic enhancements to keep it modern and relevant in 2018. She received these improvements, and the release of this remake is a great excuse to get acquainted with this masterpiece for everyone who has not yet done it.