June Modern Community Playthrough - Shadow of the Colossus

[Duke.Togo]

I just had to share a quote from Singlebanana in a private chat.

Whew #7 down. That guy was hard to mount at first

[Boshamp]

I am always sketchy using that word on this thread for this game, but that is exactly what we do to the colossi, and I will have to expect some snickering. ha ha ha

[wildbil52]

Does the game bring up the extras? I wasn't aware of anything like that when I defeated the first two colossi. I would love some collectables to make this longer.

Nope, the game tells you nothing.  If you shoot white tailed lizards and eat the tail (circle button) your stamina meter grows slightly.  If you shoot fruit off a tree and eat it, your health bar grows.  If you re visit the battle site of a previously defeated Colossi you can fight it again with a "replay" filter where the screen looks like an old film reel.  If you pray in front of a crumbled statue of a defeated colossi in the main temple, you can face that colossus in a time attack mode to earn powered up weapons, different costumes, lizards marked on your map, etc.  

The game leaves all of this to discover,  No menus or instructions.

Thoughts on the first colossus: Valus

Spoiler (hover to show)

He is relatively easy to find, directly south of the main temple, and the game does something rather clever.  It teaches you how to climb, jump, grab ledges, and roll right before you face the first beast.  I like that Valus is walking away from you when you approach, it gives you time to appreciate just what a task you have in front of you.  It's relatively easy to just run up behind him and jump on his back leg but if you are going for time attack, it helps to shoot an arrow at him so that he stops walking away or turns towards you.  He is also a great colossus to practice crawl jumping on.  When you are crawling up the grassy/furry areas of a colossus, try hitting triangle to cover a larger distance than just crawling.  Once you get to the top, it's pretty straight forward, stab the glowy bit.

I don't know if the game does it on purpose but when I take a colossus down and he falls slowly and the sad music starts playing, I can't help but feel bad about what I've done.

Spoiler (hover to show)

 I think that Wander thinks that the voice in the temple is testing him, seeing if he is worthy of the power to bring the girl back to life.  I like to think that Wander takes no joy in bringing the beasts down.

[singlebanana]

I just had to share a quote from Singlebanana in a private chat.

Whew #7 down. That guy was hard to mount at first

It appears that I owe someone some negative karma...

[Boshamp]

Well, It took me MUCH longer than the first two, but I finally figured out the secret behind the third one and defeated him...I only fell off the ramp five times and the colossi like 12...ha ha. Embarrassing. Calling it good for this one for tonight.

Edit: Oh yeah did it ever take longer. 28 minutes to beat the first two, then 1:19 at the save from the third. ha ha

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Had to switch the controls to "normal" right off the bat. I hate that reverse control BS.

[Fleach]

Had to switch the controls to "normal" right off the bat. I hate that reverse control BS.

I had to do that too. Moving the stick to the left to pan the camera right and vice versa hurt my brain.

While defeating each Colossi I feel like I'm committing deicide and Wander has been duped into killing these idols by a malicious god. When you beat a Colossus and come back to the temple I've noticed an increasing number of shadowy figures standing around Wander.

Spoiler (hover to show)

Could these be the idols he's sent to kill?

Does anyone have any theories as to what happens to Wander when he faints after each fight and how he is returned to the temple?

[wildbil52]

Having already finished the game, I know what they are so I will tell you what I thought the first time I played.

Spoiler (hover to show)

 I thought that each colossus was imprisoning  the soul of a person and by defeating the colossus, I was releasing their hold on this person's soul.  Then the black streams take you after each fight, I thought that that was the soul giving you some of it's power and taking you back to the temple so that you can save the other souls imprisoned by the other colossi.

[Crabmaster2000]

Had a little more time last night to play. Finished the 6th Colossus. Really enjoy the 5th one. There is one I'm really waiting to show up again, but I can't remember which number it is. Snapped up a couple white tailed lizards right before the last Colossi. Still feeling sad about taking these beasts down.

[Fleach]

I'm thinking something totally different.

Think anti-hero. That's all I'm willing to say for fear of spoilers.

[singlebanana]

So what it the purpose of the lizards and the fruit? Do only some lizards have a white tail, or do all of them?

[wildbil52]

So what it the purpose of the lizards and the fruit? Do only some lizards have a white tail, or do all of them?

Only the lizards with white tails have white tails.  You can find them on most save temples. Eating the tail of a white tailed lizard increases the size of your stamina meter, eating fruit increases the size of your health meter.

[singlebanana]

Thanks. So only the PS3 version tracks these items for trophies, right?

[wildbil52]

Thanks. So only the PS3 version tracks these items for trophies, right?

Yeppers

[wildbil52]

I'm thinking something totally different.

Think anti-hero. That's all I'm willing to say for fear of spoilers.

Can't be a spoiler if it's a guess.  Throw it behind a spoiler tag.