Almost a full 2 years after it's UK release and i have finally defeated the final colossus; a huge towering fortress of a beast set against a stormy sky and a suitably epic soundtrack. It's not like i took particularly long to beat it, clocking in at just over 10 hours total playtime, but for some reason i kept stopping and coming back months later. This week then, i made it my goal to finish, and i am so very glad i did.
The colossus are interesting and varied, with some superb highlights such as the 10th, a sort of Sand Snake whose eye you must pierce with an arrow, whilst speeding away from it, horseback, or the 13th, a huge snake-like creature (pictured below) that flies through the air, onto which you must leap from your horse, indiana Jones style, and crawl to it's weakspot, hundreds of meters in the air; a fight that has become perhaps my favorite videogame moment in recent memory.
Of course, simply traversing the huge landmass to reach each of the creatures is a joy in itself, and often you must overcome obsticles and cliffaces that stand it your path. At first i was dubious that the art-like nature of the landscape that has been so often talked about could be achieved, but by the end i honestly found myself exploring the land, in awe of the incredible views, the geysers, waterfalls, and rock formations, all created with a drag colourset, which only went to support the feeling of isolation and loneliness that is presented to the player. It has been said before, but along with Rez and Okami, this game really shows that videogames can be genuine forms of art; better ones, I would say, than alot of the crap you see these days
Suffice to say, the game is far from perfect, even, at times, being extremely frustrating; for a great deal of the fights i wished i was in control of Altier rather than Wander, as he struggled to dive out of harms way for me, or annoyingly jumped the wrong way, often plummeting to the ground below rather than grabbing the beast's fur. As well as this, hardly anything was explained in the game, and it was only from browsing the internet that i figured out there was a 'reminiscence' mode; in which you could go back and replay beaten colossus, or that you could be badass and standup on your horse to then shoot arrows. Similarly it was down to fluke that i figure out the easier way to jump on your horse (jump and then hold r1 near), and i have read alot of reviews in which people apparently failed to find this feature, and noted how much of a hassle it was to get n the horse. Oh and did i mention the camera? Which, while often very nicely employed, I frequently had to wrestle with to have any use whatsoever.
But by the end my frustrations had been forgotten, as the ending few colossus, and the final set of cutscenes, were simply beautiful. The death of one of the characters in particular was probably the most moving scene in any game which i have played; which may seem odd to you if you know who i am refering to, and the ending of the game was suitibly stunning, if ambiguos and confusing, and the final playable sections were genuinely tragic. By the end of this wonderful exerience i am left wondering wether Shadow of the Colossus was not just the best game i never completed, but, quite simply, the best videogame i have ever played.
