Tarantino

I sure wish this game was for the XBox...

= J

Brooklyn

Count me as one of those who find the game ridiculously short.

At around 3 hours and change I'm already on my way to the
12th Colossus, with the only one so far that took more than a
few minutes of thought to figure out the trick to getting atop it
being the 10th. Do they last 4 or 5 Colossi have trickier means
of keeping you off them?

I'm enjoying the actual climb and kill, and absolutely love the
character/level design, but aside from that the game is basically
the same thing over and over again; hold up sword to point the
way, ride horse to colossi, solve a rudimentary puzzle to get onto
it, climb (hold on when it shakes) and stab/kill. The only variety
is in the colossi design and puzzle (if you can even call it that)
needed to be solved to initially get on each one.

Someone mentioned modes in one of the earlier posts, are there
more that open once the game has been beaten?

The Franchise

Are you using an FAQ or something? Some of the Colossi took me 20 minutes just to find and then took me 2-3 tries just to beat. The 2nd last one I think took me over an hour to beat because I couldn't figure out how to do it. If you aren't using an FAQ then I suggest applying for a Mensa membership. I clocked in at 11 hours I think, but then again I enjoyed screwing around the game world a bit too (shooting my horse with arrows etc).

Brooklyn

Nope, no faqs (I write videogame guides for a living so I stay away from
them to avoid any possible conflict of interest).

The tenth killed me twice (man does he dish out a lot of damage), but other
than that none have really come all that close, even with major falls just
before revealing or fighting them as was the case with me for #'s 6, 8 and 11.
I'm also finding that the trick almost always (at least up through the 12th)
involves the odd element in the area.

I think a few things may have added to the length of the game;
the removal of the sword's ability to direct you (and in that remove the
demand of finding the Colossi in a set order) and just allow the player to
explore and stumble upon them. Get rid of, or at least give the player the
option of shutting them off via the game settings, the clues it tells you
(Colossi #12 may have taken me longer had it not given the clue about
higher ground).

outer-edge

I think random wandering in this world would have been too tedious, but I agree the clues should be stripped. The initial information in from the voic typically gave a subtle hint, and that was enough for me. Having the voice constantly tell me the same clue, when I already know but having been falling or some such, just got annoying.

I think more colossi should have been harder to find, like a few are, and still have the sword give a straight line. The ones that took some digging into the world were the most fun to find.

But, I still LOVED this game, even if short, and will definately play again in the future.

Outlaw

I found this game at GR preowned and with the 25% off PO I couldn't help but pick it up and have been trying to finish it in anticipation for Mario Kart DS and Dragon Quest VIII later this week.

Not much needs to be said other than whats already been said. I knew the game was good going off reviews and the opinions here, but it even surpassed my expectations from that. Simply one of the most gorgeous and breathtaking games I've ever played. I played it for 2 and a half hours straight, on the 7th colossus right now. The idea for this game is also impressive, they didn't go with another straight puzzle platformer, instead they went off in a completely different direction but retained some of the core aspects and charm that people loved about ICO. Also the music is amazing, there are few games where you get so drawn in that it feels like you are playing in some sort of movie and have complete control over it, this is one of them.

Brooklyn

After beating the game this evening I found that a few different modes do
open up, so there is some initial replay value to be had. I was also thinking
that maybe instead of random wandering, the developers might have given
weather effects some thought. I realize there are cloudy areas, but they're
stationary. Perhaps traveling storms would have added to the fun in that
you couldn't always rely on your sword. As I mentioned above I'd have gone
the random route, with perhaps a giant footprint here and there that would
let you know something was nearby

Great game, though short (that ending took longer than most, if not all
the battles), it's one that I'm glad to have in my collection, and as others
have mentioned, one that will definately be taken out for a spin from time
to time.

Aside from my hopes for what they could have/should have done, one thing
they really need to do is work on their camera system before their next game.
Between this and Ico, which I played through just before this) the camera
was ultimately my worst enemy (followed closely by Shadow's damn horse .

Possible spoiler about the sword's potential

Ravenous

Just beat this bitch... it took 21 hours total. I know it sounds like I must have sucked, but I really only died ONCE on about 3 Colossi. I just kicked back and made myself enjoy. And I only played one or two a night. What I did to make it "longer'

enjoy the scenery. Didnt run through everything, I wanted to see what the programmers did.

practice the dudes moves and master horse riding. I shot a bird out of the sky! Fuck yea!

DIDNT use the sword to show the Colossi's weak points. I just jumped on and stapped all over, shot him up with arrows and climbed around looking for the sweet spot.

Anyway, its the best game Ive ever played and I have NO compalints. The only time I had a bit of trouble was the last colossi as the camera never seemed to be in the right place. Also, I jumped from his second hand to his chest. Thats how I beat him, I never used my bow! Go figure. He was still a bitch.

What would have made the game better? A clock. It would have been great to fight these bastards at night. More weather and local. The only thing missing was a mountain top in the snow, that would have been sweeeeet!

Brooklyn

After beating it I completed the normal time attack. Doing this gives you a
few items that inspire you to travel around the world, so I did.

Night would have been cool, especially with the sun sword. Imagine it pitch
dark and you having a hand held spotlight

Working my way through hard time attack now (that opens once you beat
hard mode), and compiling a list of my times along with some tips on possible
time shaving methods. 7 more to Colossi to go, with a few that have time limits
that'll definately up the replayability (and not in a good way

outer-edge

Honestly, I think almost every 3rd-person game gets slapped by someone for having a bad camera, or at least a camera that needs work. I don't program games, but I assume, since these games have been made for so long, that camera work can be hard to do.

That said, I actually think the developers did a good job here. While not perfect, and having some frsutrating angles, it could have been so much worse. For what you do in the game -- climbing all around and in every nook and cranny of giant creatures, scaling walls, cliffs, etc. -- I thought the camera tracked well most of the time. Except for horse riding, I rarely had to adjust the camera myself.

I do remember a couple camera cussing moments, but those were definately not the norm.

sureAV421

some colossus prototypes that didn't make the final cut:

outer-edge

Weird. I was thinking a colossos styled after a scorpion/crab/spider would have been interesting.

Brooklyn

Gotta say I disagree. While I understand that creating a good camera system
probably isn't the easiest thing in the world, the camera here is pretty bad.

A simple camera lock feature (not the one they have whereby you hold the
button and it focuses on the Colossi's head) where the camera would stay
where you adjusted it to instead of the constant rotation that it does, could
have made all the difference. Even simple things like riding Agro needed
constant camera adjusting, as I'd position the camera so I could see more of
the terrain in front of me (as you know Agro is very picky about what he
will and will not gallop next to) and as soon as I let go of the analog stick it'd
revert back to looking at the horizon. And then there's Colossi 8, 10, 12 and
13, where you need to swing the camera quite frequently to see where they
are/you're going/aim. ...Or any where you're hanging from and they shake.
I had more than enough instances where they'd shake and the camera would
scroll/rotate so that I'd end up fighting the camera just so that I could keep
track of the character.

Still, in the end I loved the game and have played through it three times
(normal, normal time attack and hard), without picking up another game (save
for taking a peek at DQ VIII), and am working my way through a fourth (hard
time attack) so it's all good

For the record, I thought Ico's camera system was pretty bad as well.

The Franchise

I found that the "look at colussus" button helped quite a lot when you wanted to run around but still keep the beast in view. There were a few instances when the camera and clipping issues did become bothersome. Still considering the scale differences they did a pretty good job all told.

maingon

played the demo today that i got in the mail saturday. Games really pretty gotta pick it up

Outlaw

There's quite a bit of stuff that wasn't completed for the demo version that is in the full title, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and immediately notice some of the differences (when they happen) .

joshd2012

Finally got a chance to beat the game yesterday, and I have to say that I wouldn't rate it as high as some have. I was litterally trying to finish the game so I could trade it in for some cash - until the ending. The controls suck, and the horse sucks even more. The camera I can deal with well enough, though it was frusterating some times.

I really enjoyed the last colossus - it was probably my favorite of the bunch. The searching for colossus got old quick, especially when following your sword led you to a dark area that ended at a valley you couldn't cross, and no way to tell which direction you needed to go. Don't get me wrong - it is a good game, just not a great game. If I would have rated it, it would have been in the 70's.

My thoughts on the ending:


I think I may keep this title in my permanent collection now. Really, just because of the ending.

Outlaw

I finally finished the game today, my final time was around 8 hours, but it was totally worth it. Unbelievable huge final boss. The whole game was incredible, beautiful visuals and music. Almost any scene from the game is jawdropping. I thought the gameplay was ok and responsive too, pretty much the same thing as ICO. This game is a real testament that its not the hardware, but the developers that bring out the best in games that they are able to crank out stuff this quality.

The ending was pretty unexpected to me. I did sorta notice

Between this and Resident Evil 4 is my GOTY. I'll definitely play through it again.

Gil Jawetz

I just picked this up and just killed the first Colossus. I feel bad! He wasn't doing anything except chilling by himself and I killed him. At least if he were a hooker who had some cash I could steal...

discostu1337

Thought you guys may like to know that this game will also appear on the Playstation3...I'm holding off until then.

Ralph Wiggum

Huh?

sureAV421

yeah, because PS3 will be backwards-compatible. Its not being remade for PS3.

discostu1337

It's most definitely being remade on the PS3 as of right now....of course, anything could change. I know that you have no reason to believe me, then again I have no reason to lie Let's just say that living in San Diego and working in the gaming industry have introduced to me to many people...some of which could be working on/testing various PS3 projects.

Outlaw

I thought that the ICO team was working on a whole new project for the PS3, not an existing game?

discostu1337

Perhaps Sony has someone else porting it? I really don't know too much else.