Shadow of the Colossus: Difference between revisions
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'''''Shadow of the Colossus''''', the [[Spiritual Successor|prequel]] to ''[[Ico]]'', is an action adventure game about hunting monsters which does away with conventional video game formulas to create an aesthetically breathtaking experience. It features a deliberately simplistic (and largely unexplained) story, where the intention is to have the player form their own story based on their own experiences. Because of this, the game is an interesting combination of minimalist storytelling and lush graphics, making it a celebrated example of [[Doing It for the Art]].
A young man known as Wander enters a forbidden land, carrying with him the corpse of a girl
Wander is greeted by the disembodied voice of Dormin, who confirms that his wish ''can'' be granted, but also warns that Wander would pay a terrible price in return. With that, Dormin tasks him with seeking out and slaying the sixteen Colossi that are to found throughout the forbidden land. When all sixteen of these giants have fallen, Mono will be resurrected.
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Wander navigates the vast, empty land on his horse [[Loyal Animal Companion|Agro]]. But before he can eliminate each Colossus, he must first locate them. All that aids him in accomplishing this task is his magic sword, which he can hold up to the light, resulting in a beam that points in the direction of the next battle. However, the light beam becomes increasingly less helpful as the game progresses, due to the fact that reaching the Colossi tends to involve taking long detours through shadowy mountain paths and dark valleys.
When the player engages in battle with a Colossus, he must defeat them by literally climbing up their fur and stone-covered bodies and finding their weak points. Reaching the weak points can be difficult, as the Colossi usually do everything in their power to shake the player off. Once a Colossus is defeated, the player is automatically transported back to the Shrine of Worship, and the process repeats itself
Or, [[Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer|you can just spend the first ten+ hours exploring]] ''[[Wide Open Sandbox|everything]]''.
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{{tropelist}}
* [[After Boss Recovery]]: After defeating each
* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]:
** From Emon's perspective. Note how Emon prays for his atonement if he survived.
** Most of the Colossi aren't in any position to come attack you; they mostly just react to your attacks and your invasion of their personal space. So it's understandable that each and every one has a slow-motion (
* [[All There in the Script]]: His name is Wander, and her name is Mono, we only know this because of the credits. He does say her name {{spoiler|after his vision of Mono's awakening}} though, albeit very quietly.
* [[Ambiguously Evil]]: Everyone
* [[Ambiguous Situation]]: As with [[Alternative Character Interpretation]], there is just so much left out of the plot that it's anybody's guess what is really going on. Hence the YMMV page.
* [[Annoying Arrows]]: Although arrows are useful in attacking a weak point or getting their attention, the sword is the only thing that can kill the Colossi. Justified in that, well, they're ''really big'', they're partly [[Made of Iron|made of rock and stone]], and (according to [[Unreliable Narrator|Dormin, at least]]), [[Because Destiny Says So|destiny says]] the [[Cool Sword]] is the only thing that can hurt them. {{spoiler|Averted, however, once Wander's the one getting shot at. Even after transforming, he still drags his left leg
* [[Armor Is Useless]]: Most definitely averted. Wander can't penetrate any part of a
* [[Art Major Physics]]: The concept of the
** Considering that they literally collapse into dust and dirt when you kill them, it's pretty much confirmed supernatural.
* [[Beautiful Void]]: The minimalist design of the game combined with its emphasis on exploring creates a world that is not only large, but almost completely void of life.
* [[Benevolent Architecture]]: Sometimes the geometrical arrangement of the geography seems a little too convenient for reaching certain colossi. A [[Justified Trope]], however, since the location is one big ruin, so these structures had a purpose once. What exactly that purpose was, however, is another matter.
** Actually, the
* [[Best Boss Ever]]: Phalanx, pictured above, is practically the fan favorite. Other highlights include [[Blade Run|Gaius]], [[Big Badass Bird of Prey|Avion]], and [[Cool Horse|Phaedra]].
** And [[Final Boss|Malus]].
* [[Big Badass Bird of Prey]]: One that seems to follow you at random times during your adventure. If you time it right, you can even catch a ride with it. There is also Avion, a Colossus designed like a large bird.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: One interpretation of the ending:
* [[Black Magic]]
* [[The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In]]: And embeds itself into a floor made of stone.
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* [[Boss Game]]: There are no wild monsters to get in the way or slow you down. Just you, sixteen Colossi scattered across miles and miles of [[Scenery Porn]], and a sword which points in their general direction.
* [[Boss Room]]: A few Colossi can't be escaped from once they're engaged.
* [[Boss Rush]]: Well... yeah. That's what the game ''is
* [[Bragging Rights Reward]]: Beat the game once or twice and collect enough silver lizard tails to improve your grip, and you can climb to a secret garden on top of Dormin's tower {{spoiler|as seen in the ending
** There's also the Sword of the Sun, which produces a beam even when in a dark area. Sounds useful, but it can only be unlocked on hard mode, which can only be unlocked by beating the whole game on normal mode first. So you can only obtain this sword that helps you find the
* [[Call Receival Area]]: The Forbidden Lands. Wander was forbidden to go there by Emon, and [[Forbidden Fruit|when he does go there]], Dormin gives him the quest that makes up the entire game.
* [[Came for The X Stayed For The Y]]: Came for the colossus battles, while the plot, music
* [[Camera Lock On]]
* [[Camera Screw]]: Happens whenever a solid object, like the wall or a Colossus' thrashing limb, is behind Wander and won't let you see what's going on.
* [[Colossus Climb]]: The [[Trope Namer]]. Part of the challenge involves getting a
* [[Concealment Equals Cover]]: Against any Colossi that can use projectiles, cover of any sort is acceptable. Since the setting is mostly stone, it's reasonable.
** Except against the twelfth
* [[Continuity Nod]]: A few listed below.
** At the end of the game, {{spoiler|a child is born with two horns}}.
** If you ride along the south-western coast, you can end up on
** One of the bonus weapons from the time attacks
** Some of the ruins resemble those found around the Castle In The Mist.
** Shadowy human-shaped creatures, like those fought in ''
** [[Word of God]] also confirms the fictional language spoken is the same one from ''
* [[Controllable Helplessness]]: Twice during the ending sequence. The second one theoretically could be escaped from, but there are invisible walls at the edge and no apparent outside.
** The player also retains control of Wander in the brief moment between slaying a
* [[Cruelty Is the Only Option]]: You have to murder each Colossus to proceed, [[My God, What Have I Done?|and then cry out in pain]].
* [[Cutscene Drop]]: After striking the final blow into a
* [[Damage Discrimination]]: Arrow shots that were [[Damage Sponge Boss|eating away at the Colossus' health bar]] will suddenly cease being effective, requiring you to go in there with your sword and finish the job.
* [[Deconstruction Game]]: This game's main focus is [[Boss Battle|Boss Battles]], presented in a way that will make you feel not triumphant, but [[My God, What Have I Done?|upset]], about your "victory" over these giants. For example, remember all those video games that play victorious music as you happily defeat a boss? Compare that to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4rKOFU8-RY the music that plays when you defeat a
* [[Downer Ending]]: Another possible interpretation of the ending: {{spoiler|
* [[Dummied Out]]: The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvpcwR7Omdg "dam"]. No one knows why it's there or what it would have been for. In its present form, it doesn't even have collision data (meaning you can't stand on it), and it's only accessible through hacking and a lot of patience.
** And for that matter, the entire east section of the map, that will remain covered by clouds. There is a bridge over the 12th
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6JMCBiUDHo&feature=related This video] shows that at one time, the area above the secret garden was intended to be accessible.
* [[Empty Room Psych]]: Pretty much completely averted, since none of the bonus items or powerups are found by wandering around (rather by beating specific challenges) or other plot related NPC's or items anywhere in the game. Essentially, the whole game is a love letter to [[Scenery Porn]]. There is the secret garden, which is very hard to reach and at first glance appears to contain nothing but poisonous fruit. If you search long and hard, though, you discover that {{spoiler|it really does contain nothing else}}.
** Some players, desperate to find ''something'' new, will invoke this trope on themselves simply by getting hyped up over finding a particularly interesting rock formation or an out-of-the-way cliff ledge. Needless to say, there's never anything there.
* [[Everything Fades]]: Averted with the Colossi. Once you've killed them, their bodies will turn to stone and lie exactly where they fell for the rest of the game. If you're curious, or have a lot of time on your hands, you can go back to their arenas and take a look at the remains. Played straight with the arrows
* [[Evil Is Not a Toy]]: The price Wander pays for going against Emon and Dormin's warnings is [[Demonic Possession]]. Both Dormin and Emon warned that bad things would happen if he insisted on going through with the forbidden spell to revive Mono. That said, it might have been less [[Evil Is Not a Toy]] and more The Forbidden Power Of Reviving A Dead Person By Killing Ancient Hallowed Creatures And Harnessing Their Spirits Is Not A Toy, especially when you remember that the mysterious entity helping you ends up possessing you as a side effect.
** On the flipside, both Wander and Dormin were also in danger at that time. Wander was being killed by Emon, and Dormin was at risk of losing Their human vessel, so maybe the [[Demonic Possession]] was a ''necessary'' stepping in to prevent Emon from ruining everything. In any case, They said They were "borrowing" Wander's body. They didn't say it was permanent, and who knows what might have happened next if Emon hadn't dropped the sword in the pool and had Dormin's spirit sucked in.
* [[Fictionary]]: The language spoken in the game is said to be composed by some amalgam of Backwards Japanese, English and Latin.
* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: Wander wants to harness Dormin's ability to resurrect the dead by killing each and every
* [[Gotta Kill Em All]]
* [[Grey and Grey Morality]]: No one's morality can really be defined as good or evil in this game.
* [[Heart Container]]: The fruit and white lizard tails which you can gather/hunt for, which increase your life and your stamina, respectively. Finding them ''without'' [[Guide Dang It|a guide]]
* [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]:
* [[Insurmountable Waist High Fence]]: There are occasionally ledges which, by rights, Wander should physically be able to jump onto or climb, but for some reason he can't do so.
* [[Invisible Wall]]: Even if it is a bit more subtle than an outright wall. If you manage to climb the shrine, you can actually walk the bridge that links it to the mainland. When you get at the other side, you find an open exit, try to proceed… and are pushed back by a strong wind coming from outside. This may be [[Justified Trope|justified]] if this is Dormin's doing (if They don't want Wander to go before having slayed all the colossi), but it's really just a way to say "sorry, but the map stops here, what did you expect?".
* [[Ironic Echo]]: That song that plays when a Colossus dies? {{spoiler|It plays when Wander is sucked into Emon's spell
* [[Lead the Target]]: A useful tactic when fighting the Colossi is to aim your arrows slightly ahead of where the target is going to be.
* [[Light'Em Up]]: Aside from literally leading Wander to the
* [[Luck-Based Mission]]: The Time Attack as a whole can fall into this. While fighting each Colossus the second time is not too difficult (give or take your own personal [[Goddamned Boss]]), doing it against a timer may force you to abandon an otherwise workable, if time-consuming, strategy in favour of a quicker one, hence a lot of trial and error and hoping that the Colossus will get into the right position quickly. Unfortunately, the Colossus [[A Is]] won't always do what you want them to do, leading to a lot of time lost and [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|much frustration]].
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Every character. Dormin's is described below and is also close to dormir, the French/Spanish/Portuguese word for being asleep. Wander's name is obvious. Mono comes from the prefix meaning "single" or "alone", {{spoiler|meaningful when you consider the ending
** {{spoiler|Dormin is also Nimrod backwards. Nimrod killed a bull and wore its horns on his head in order to strike fear into his enemies, and he was also murdered and cut into several pieces. Both of which tie into the story of Dormin
* [[Menu Time Lockout]]: After beating Time Attack Mode, you get goodies which an be accessed in the pause menu. At any point during the game, you can switch between them instantly.
* [[Minimalism]]: Both in storytelling and game design.
* [[Moe Anthropomorphism]]: [[media:colossalgirls1.jpg|Colossal]] [[media:colossalgirls2.jpg|Girls]].
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: [http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/6/8/ This] ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' commentary describes most poetically the ''"emotional ravaging"'' that this game will put you through.
* [[No Arc in Archery]]: Wander's arrows do fly in an arch, but only if they're rapidly fired without properly tensing the bow. Holding down the aim button will straighten the trajectory so that the arrow aims for the crosshairs the player can see onscreen.
* [[Not the Fall That Kills You]]: Doesn't matter what height Wander falls from, if he can grab a ledge or a vine on the way down, he'll be perfectly fine. In fact, even if he doesn't grab something, he'll still take less damage than a [[One-Hit Kill|real fall would've done]]. This reaches its peak
** Er... you ''do'' die if you fall from too high up without grabbing any ledges
* [[Offscreen Teleportation]]: Defeat a Colossus, and [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality|you won't have to worry about walking all the way back to the Shrine of Worship]]
* [[One-Hit Kill]]: Some Colossus attacks become this in Hard Mode.
* [[One Hundred Percent Completion]]: The [[Updated Rerelease]] ''[[Ico]] and Shadow of the Colossus Collection'' for the [[Play Station 3]] has trophies that requires you to do ''[[Brick Joke|absolutely everything]]'' you can think of. This includes, but not limited to, climbing to the top of the tower, obtaining every item, and maxing out the health and grip bars.
* [[Oxygen Meter]]: Your stamina meter doubles as an oxygen meter. If it ran out, you would simply let go of whatever you were holding and return to the surface
* [[Platform Battle]]: Many [[Colossus Climb|Colossus Climbs]] cannot be initiated without taking advantage of the scenery in some way. Considering how huge the
* [[Real Is Brown]]: Quite possibly the [[Trope Codifier]]; although the brown and gray were fully aesthetic choices, rather than an attempt at being more "realistic".
* [[Ruins for Ruins Sake]]: It's never made clear what purpose exactly the ruins serve, or how they were built. All part of the "storytelling" in the game where they have left it [[Wild Mass Guessing|almost all up to the player]].
* [[Save Game Limits]]: On his quest, Wander can only save his progress by two methods. There are temples scattered across the land where he can pray
* [[Save the Princess]]: Massively deconstructed.
* [[Scenery Porn]]: The lush detail added to every canyon, every field, every forest and lake, can only be explained by [[Doing It for the Art]]. It has been described on this wiki as 'a love letter to [[Scenery Porn]]'. The remastered, high definition release is even ''more glorious''.
* [[Soft Water]]: Those of us enjoying the stunningly realistic animations of Wander might wince [[You Fail Physics Forever|whenever he falls from several stories into a pool of water and doesn't lose any life from it]]. While he does survive falls from several stories anyway, due to being either [[Badass Abnormal]] or otherwise [[Made of Iron]], at least he can lose health if he does fall onto a hard surface. [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality|Thankfully]], it does make fighting the third, fifth, seventh and twelfth
* [[Sound-Coded for Your Convenience]]: A Colossus generally has two types of music play during its boss fight
* [[Spikes of Villainy]]: On the back when Dormin manifests, though they also look kind of like tendrils.
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: To ''[[Ico]]''.
* [[Sword Sparks]]: They fly off when Wander uses his sword to strike a hard surface, such as a rock. [[Flat What|Or the side of his horse]].
* [[Take It to the Bridge]]: A ''two kilometers long'' bridge (at a guess). Without Agro, it takes a good ten minutes to cross it.
* [[Take Your Time]]: Ignore the fact that a [[Knight Templar]] is on his way to purge your demons or that you have to kill all the Colossi to revive Mono. You're not required to do these things right away. In fact, even if you tried, it would take [[Marathon Boss|ages just to do one battle
* [[Trick Arrow]]: If you play Time Attack Mode, you can get upgrades for your bow,
* [[Updated Rerelease]]: After seeing how the first two ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' games were getting a hi-def upgrade for a PlayStation 3 re-release, Team ICO hinted that they'd like to do the same for both ''
* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: Those white doves that appear around Mono, probably symbolizing her innocence and purity? You've shot those suckers dead haven't you? Just admit it.
* [[Walk It Off]]: Other than the save shrines, there's no real way to heal other than to wait as your lifebar slowly grows back. Standing still or crouching helps it speed up, but in battle, this also leaves you in danger if you hang about too long in the open.
* [[Wasted Song]]: In general, there are a lot of very nice songs on the soundtrack that are very short and only play about once in the entire game. Certain parts of certain songs are never heard in-game, and others like "Marshlands", "Roar of the Earth" (which is the subtitle of the Soundtrack)
* [[What the Hell, Player?]]: You're free to slash or shoot Agro. The poor horse will spook and run away from you, and is very likely to react like this for a long time afterwards whenever you draw your sword.
* [[Wide Open Sandbox]]: There's miles of beautiful territory and scenery, but there are only a few things to do:
** Find the
** Eat fruit to extend your life bar.
** Kill white-tailed geckos and eat their tails for more stamina.
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