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Shadow of the Colossus

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Shadow of the Colossus
Front box art of the North American edition of the game.
Front box art of the North American edition of the game.
Developer(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)Fumito Ueda
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseNorth America October 18, 2005
Japan October 27, 2005
Australia February 16, 2006
PAL February 17, 2006
Genre(s)action / adventure / puzzle
Mode(s)Single player

Shadow of the Colossus (Japanese: ワンダと巨像, Wanda to Kyozou; Chinese: Wangda yu Juxiang; translated Wander and the Colossus), is a video game 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."

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

Template:Spoiler

The story of Shadow of the Colossus begins with a young man, known only as "Wander," traveling by horseback along a massive stone bridge suspended on arched pillars. The bridge leads him into a vast, desolate landscape, finally terminating at the entrance to a great temple, the Shrine of Worship.

File:Monowander.jpg
Wander carrying Mono.

Once inside the shrine, Wander accesses a great hall lined with sixteen large stone idols. A circular aperture allows sunlight to stream in through the ceiling just 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. Wander's objective is revealed in a sudden flashback, the recounting of a legend that comes with a warning: one may be able to bring back the souls of the dead in these lands, but traveling here is strictly forbidden.

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 souls of the dead. He then asks Dormin to return the maiden's soul, revealing that she was sacrificed because she had "a cursed fate." At first, Dormin laughs mockingly, saying "Souls that are once lost cannot be reclaimed..." and then asks "Is that not the law of mortals?" However, Dormin then states that it may be possible to revive her, and explains that Wander must destroy all sixteen idols lining the hall of the shrine, and that the only way for a mortal to destroy the idols is to slay the colossi—the living incarnations of each statue—with the ancient sword. Dormin then warns him that in doing this he may pay a heavy price, but Wander ominously says that it doesn't matter and begins his journey through the forbidden lands.

Characters

Template:Spoiler 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. Dormin warns Wander that his quest will exact a heavy price, but 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

Template:Spoiler There are sixteen colossi in Shadow of the Colossus, each progressively more challenging:

File:Knight3.jpg
Gaius, the third colossus.
# Representation Designation Proper Name Latin Name
1 Minotaur Minotaur Colossus Valus Minotaurus colossus
2 Bull Taurus Major Quadratus Taurus magnus
3 Knight Earth Knight Gaius Terrestris veritas
4 Horse Elite War Horse Phaedra Equus bellator apex
5 Bird Bird of Prey Avion Avis praeda
6 Bearded Giant Great Beast Barba Belua maximus
7 Electric eel Sea Dragon Hydrus Draco marinus
8 Lizard Wall Shadow Kuromori Parietinae umbra
9 Tortoise Storm Echo Basaran Nimbus recanto
10 Sand Worm Sand Tiger Dirge Harena tigris
11 Tiger Flame Guardian Celosia Ignis excubitor
12 Sea Monster Great Sea Monster Pelagia Permagnus pistrix
13 Flying Serpent Air Sailer Phalanx Aeris velivolus
14 Lion Destruction Luster Cenobia Clades candor
15 Warrior Vigilant Sentinel Argus Praesidium vigilo
16 Sorcerer Grand Superior Malus Grandis supernus

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.

  • Reminiscence mode—The player can challenge a colossus again and again, either for practice or to showcase his talents to onlookers, simply by approaching its corpse and praying beside it.
  • Hard mode—After completion of the game on the default settings, a more difficult scenario is presented in which the Colossi have more health and/or more vital spots.
  • Time attack—After completing the game on either difficulty, the player can face each colossus in a timed challenge by praying in front of its statue in the Shrine of Worship. This mode is perhaps the most "unlockable" of the extras: defeating any two colossi provides Wander with items and weapons above and beyond his bow and sword. The items differ slightly between normal and hard modes, but they all grant Wander additional power or information. Time attack is also the most challenging of the extra modes, often requiring alternate and unconventional methods of slaying the colossi in order to finish under the time limit. Items acquired in this mode can only be used during normal gameplay and are unavailable during the time attack. Additionally, items do not carry over from one difficulty mode to another, making it impossible to collect every item in a single game.
  • Brown or white horse—By completing time attack modes, the player can change Agro's color from black to either brown or white.
  • Agro's markings—If the player's memory card contains an Ico saved file, the design on black Agro's forehead is a stylized serif I instead of a diamond.
  • Fruit and lizards—A few of the lifeforms in the forbidden land are of assistance to Wander. Eating fruit increases his health, and eating the white tails of certain lizards increases his stamina. Items acquired from the time attack mode are useful in locating these, but they can also be found through exploration.
  • Climbing the shrine—It is possible, though difficult and complex, to climb the Shrine of Worship and so gain access to the large bridge leading to and from the forbidden land, as well as other areas of the shrine revealed only during the game's ending.

Undocumented controls

The game features quite a few maneuvers not described in the manual.

  • Pray—By pressing the circle button in certain places, Wander will pray: in front of the stone carved with glyphs at the Shrine of Worship or at any minor temple (save point), in front of the colossus statues to start a time attack challenge, and beside the corpse of a slain colossus to engage reminiscence mode.
  • Jumping stab—While in the air during a jump, press R1 and the square button at the same time to deliver a full-power strike without the normal charge-up time.
  • Loose in the saddle—Hold R1 while riding, then press the triangle button. Directing the left analog stick to the right or left causes Wander to hang from Agro's flank without dismounting.
  • Jump from the saddle—While standing on Agro's back, press the triangle button to make Wander jump higher than normal.
  • Good boy—If Wander is not holding a weapon, press the circle button while mounted on (or standing near) Agro: Wander will give the horse a pat on the neck. This increases HP and Stamina regeration for a brief moment.
  • Dive—When jumping over water, press X to make Wander dive.
  • Quick start/stop—While Agro is standing still, pull down on the left analog stick and pressing X simultaneously: Agro will rear on his hind legs, then gallop. While galloping, the same command will make Agro stop in his tracks.
  • Quick reverse turn—While galloping, pull down on the left analog stick and press X three times. Agro will perform a quick 180° turn.

Themes

Dormin's character

The character of Dormin was apparently inspired by the biblical character Nimrod. The primary connection made between the two is that Dormin is an anagram of Nimrod. Certain legends attribute the construction of the Tower of Babel to Nimrod. The Shrine of Worship could be seen as a representation of the Tower of Babel: it is the largest structure, by far, in the entire area, and is easily visible from almost every location, a visual that is consistent with popular interpretations of the tower legend. Furthermore, both Dormin and Nimrod were dismembered, and their pieces spread throughout the land. After Nimrod's death, his wife Semiramis claimed that Nimrod had become the Sun God. When Dormin speaks to Wander in the shrine, its voice seems to issue from a large hole in the ceiling where sunlight streams in. Also, it is said that Nimrod wore the horns of a bull he killed with his bare hands as a trophy, Dormin's final form also has horns.

Connections to Ico

Template:Spoiler Fumito Ueda himself has stated that he considers Shadow of the Colossus to be a prequel to Ico [1], but he also maintains that this is simply his personal take on the games and not their canon nature, instead intending for each individual player to decide the truth for himself. A review of the game by Tim Rogers [2] 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 Ico 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."

A few in-game features lend credence to the connection.

  • Both games feature a fictional language spoken by the voice actors, and accompanied by subtitles in most instances.
  • Clothing, and designs on those clothes, seem to be of a similar style.
  • Architectural similarities exist between the two games, in that both prominently feature castles, statues, and ruins.
  • A distant structure, visible to the east from the midpoint of the arched bridge (see Climbing the shrine in the Extras section), appears to be the giant castle in which Ico is played out. [3]
  • At the end of Shadow of the Colossus, Wander/Dormin is shown to have become a baby with horns.
  • The shadowy figures that surround Wander after he defeats a colossus are of a similar design to certain ghosts that rise to challenge Ico.

Large and small

It has been noted by players that many game elements have a large and a small counterpart. In general, the theme seems to be that if something becomes too big, it also becomes evil or twisted.

  • Agro and Phaedra both have an equine configuration.
  • The birds and Avion are both flying creatures, and both can carry Wander through the air.
  • The fish and Hydrus are both aquatic animals, and both can drag Wander around underwater.
  • The lizards and Kuromori are both reptilian in nature, and both land on their backs and struggle to right themselves when dislodged from walls.
  • The tortoises and Basaran also share physiologies.
  • Wander has many counterparts among the colossi: Valus, Gaius, Barba, Argus, and Malus are all humanoid. Valus, Gaius, and Argus all carry weapons in their right hands.
  • Just south of Dirge's cave is a mesa featuring a dead tree the size of a colossus: a stark contrast to the smaller fruit-bearing trees found throughout the land.
  • The save points around the world are miniature versions of the Shrine of Worship.

Composer and soundtrack

Shadow of the Colossus's soundtrack is considered by some critics to be one of its strongest aspects (see Awards below). The soundtrack was composed by Kow Otani, whose previous work included the soundtracks to PS2 flight simulator Sky Odyssey as well as the PS1 shooter Philosoma. He has also worked on several of the 90s-era Gamera films, as well as a variety of animé movies.

The soundtrack was released in Japan (under the title Roar of the Earth) on December 7, 2005. There is currently no announced release of this soundtrack in the United States or Europe.

Track list

1. Prologue ~To the Ancient Land~ 15. Silence ~Battle Theme~ 29. Sanctuary
2. Prohibited Art 16. In Awe of the Power ~Battle Theme~ 30. Demise of the Ritual ~Battle Theme~
3. Commandment 17. Wander's Death 31. A Pursuer
4. Black Blood 18. The Farthest Land 32. Premonition of Revival
5. Resurrection 19. Creeping Shadow ~Battle Theme~ 33. Epilogue ~Those Who Remain~
6. Sign of the Colossus 20. A Messenger From Behind ~Battle Theme~ 34. Hope
7. Grotesque Figures ~Battle Theme~ 21. Counterattack ~Battle Theme~ 35. The Sunlit Earth
8. The Opened Way ~Battle Theme~ 22. Sky Burial 36. Memories *
9. The End of the Battle 23. A Closed-off City 37. Wilderness *
10. Idol Collapse 24. Liberated Guardian ~Battle Theme~ 38. Voice of the Earth *
11. Green Hills 25. A Despair-filled Farewell ~Battle Theme~ 39. Marshlands *
12. A Violent Encounter ~Battle Theme~ 26. Prayer 40. Anger *
13. Revived Power ~Battle Theme~ 27. Swift Horse 41. Final Battle *
14. Lakeside 28. Gate Watcher of the Castle Ruins ~Battle Theme~ 42. The Farthest Land (Reprise) *

* Tracks 36 through 42 are marked as bonus tracks not used for the game.

Awards

  • Wander took fourth place on GameInformer's Top 10 Heroes of 2005 list.
  • Shadow of the Colossus won Best Original Game and Best Art Design, and was ranked third overall in Playstation Magazine's 2005 Game of the Year Awards.
  • Shadow of the Colossus was a runner-up for 2005 PlayStation2 Game of the Year in Electronic Gaming Monthly; it also won the award for Mightiest Boss, in which the winner was listed as, "Anything from Shadow of the Colossus."
  • Shadow of the Colossus was nominated for Game of the Year by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
  • The musical score, released on compact disc under the title Roar of the Earth, was named Soundtrack of the Year (in 2005) by Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Early development as Nico

During development of Shadow of the Colossus, it was given the project name Nico and billed as a possible sequel to Ico. Indeed, a trailer for Nico depicted a group of horned horsemen, wearing masks, riding toward a creature that resembled a colossus. Japanese pre-orders of Wander and the Colossus included a bonus DVD with a trailer describing Nico's plot, and an introduction which the development team states they wanted to use in Shadow of the Colossus. The trailer can be viewed here.

Nico is a Japanese wordplay on ni ("two") and Ico. It can literally be translated as Ico 2.

Viral marketing campaign

In October 2005, a viral marketing campaign was launched to promote the game. A website called Giantology.net posted links to several websites claiming that, in different parts of the world, remains of five giants resembling certain colossi had been unearthed. These giants were:

Japanese packaging

European version

File:Palcolossus.jpg
The cover art for the European version of the game.

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:

  • "Making of" documentary
  • Ico trailer
  • Art gallery

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.

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.

Sources

  • Discussion with members of the North American localization team on the official US Playstation message boards (Parts 123)
  • Review of the game by Tim Rogers on InsertCredit.com. Rogers works for Sony in Japan and has direct contact with the game's designer, Fumito Ueda.
  • Nico DVD liner notes (Japanese pre-order bonus disc)
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