Idle Forums Game Club 2 - Shadow of the Colossus edition

[syntheticgerbil]

See the awkwardness of the controls you are speaking of when I'm trying to ride Argo and rotate the camera to my side to look is way too much to deal with and it seems even though I'm holding a direction, it's camera dependent, so I start turning like crazy even though I'm trying to keep a constant circular path around the boss.

[youmeyou]

9 spoiler:

It sort of worked when I road in at a 45˚ angle toward Basaran from a good distance away. That way I had hopefully got both arrows before running into him. I think a few other times I just pulled back on the reigns, stopped Agro right in front of Basaran, shot the feet then galloped away. It wasn't ideal but it was a hell of a lot better than trying to do it on foot.

[Erkki]

So I kind of went ahead and finished the game (for the first time, as I now remember that I didn't finish it last time), but here are my thoughts on 8 and 9:

 

#8

This was fun even just because it was somewhat different. I didn't find it too difficult (I remembered the fight from last time), but it was fun.

 

#9

I think this was one of the more frustrating ones. The ones where you have to get the colossus to specific spots are the worst, IMHO. It took a while to beat him. It did feel quite epic, though.

 

After the 9th one I didn't feel much frustration any more (except some small bits) and the game suddenly got much better for me. Maybe I just got used to it, or it was because I played from there to the end of the game in only two sessions, but I did find all the rest of the colossi more exciting (although the flying ones from earlier are still some of my favourites).

 

#10

This one was cool because you could fight from horseback most of the time and Agro could manage this area pretty well. Took me a while to figure out what to do, though. At first I was thinking it would be some kind of Tremors-like scenario.

 

Also I remember now that the first time I played this game, #10 was the last one I saw. Don't remember if I beat it then or got stuck.

[elmuerte]

crap... I'm slipping again. I was already one behind, and then I went on a ski trip.

[syntheticgerbil]

Hahaha, now that I'm caught up I'm displeased with how long everyone is taking. SO DISPLEASED.

[elmuerte]

oh, shut up. This game is really tedious.

[tegan]

Ninth Colossus (Basaran) thoughts:

That was actually much less frustrating than usual.I always hated how finnicky those stupid geysers were, but I managed to get him right on top of one twice in a row. I fell off the first time, but it was my own fault. Smooth sailing on the second one. A word of advice for dealing with Basaran: skip the horse. You'll have less time to get around to his stomach, but Agro's not maneuverable enough to really be of much help. It's better to just roll-dodge his ranged attack. Also, I totally had Basaran stop altogether between animations at one point. It was weird and really took me out of the game.

One thing of note: the cutscene before this one (marking the halfway point of the game) is the first time I remember really noticing that Wander is sick. He and Mono each have several character models that they switch to after each colossus. Wander gets increasingly pale, his cheeks become sunken, his hair looks greasier, etc. as the colossi take more and more of his humanity away. Mono gets increasingly healthy as she grows closer to being revived, though.

Next time (by which I mean in about twenty minutes because I'm doing this in one sitting to catch up): Best Wander/Agro team effort collosus!

[miffy495]

I have from Friday until Tuesday the 2nd off school! I'm gonna kill SOOOO many things and get caught up! Just you wait and see!

[tegan]

Tenth Colossus (Dirge) thoughts:

Dirge is, to me, the best example of working together with Agro; a theme that's much stronger in the second half of the game than the first. In fact, this one is probably the best demonstration of the mechanical elements that make the game so enjoyable and so memorable to me. A very cinematic scenario, pragmatic strategic thinking that actually makes sense, using the environment to your advantage... All pitch-perfect in this fight. Too bad Dirge is sandwiched between two of the worst colossi in the game.

Also, this is the first time I ever thought to hold the sword up after defeating the colossus. It shone bright blue and pointed at the shadowy tendrils that hung in the air.

 

Oh, mood-killer note: I happened to be in the same spot as the colossus' rear section after the "crashing into wall" cutscene stopped and Agro totally flipped completely upside down, legs sticking straight up. Fortunately I deliberately threw myself off.

Nest time: no I take it back actually this one is the worst colossus!

[syntheticgerbil]

How do I roll dodge? I already forgot. (Or did I ever learn?)

 

One thing of note: the cutscene before this one (marking the halfway point of the game) is the first time I remember really noticing that Wander is sick. He and Mono each have several character models that they switch to after each colossus. Wander gets increasingly pale, his cheeks become sunken, his hair looks greasier, etc. as the colossi take more and more of his humanity away. Mono gets increasingly healthy as she grows closer to being revived, though.

Next time (by which I mean in about twenty minutes because I'm doing this in one sitting to catch up): Best Wander/Agro team effort collosus!

 

This is really cool, I love when subtleties creep into games like this. When I do another playthrough, I'm going to really pay attention to this.

[tegan]

How do I roll dodge? I already forgot. (Or did I ever learn?)

 

Jump while crouching. It's essential for the later parts of the game, but they only make you do it once in the little tutorial segment.

[darthbator]

So I just finished #10. That's actually the first time I have died in this play through! Am I current? If so maybe I can finally post some impressions tomorrow? If not I guess I'll use that time to kill yet another one. I think I'm getting much worse at video games as I age. I don't remember it taking me so long to kill these years ago!

[Erkki]

Yes I think we are on #10, at least 2 of us have posted about it already

[darthbator]

I was just making sure we weren't all behind and supposed to be on 11. 

[tegan]

Forgot to mention: on my way to Dirge, I did something that I've always had trouble pulling off: I shot a white lizard's tail with an arrow and pinned it to the ground. It's great, because the tail stays behind as a consumable, but the lizard gets away and can come back with another white tail (which it did! I ended up killing that one though).

[tegan]

Eleventh Colossus (Celosia) thoughts:

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(actually I found the "sweet spot" where the colossus absolutely can't shake you off and you can get a full sword charge, but not until after I had ridden Celosia all the way around the environment and only managed to take a sliver of its health off)

Next time: Most obtuse colossus!

[tegan]

So did everyone just give up because Celosia is such a butt, or what?

 

Twelfth Colossus (Pelagia) thoughts:

I always disliked this one, because Pelagia hinges on a mechanic that's never used anywhere else in the entire game: hitting its stupid head rocks to make it move in the direction you want like it was that dumb sea monster in Super Mario 64. Equally frustrating when I first played the game was just figuring out how to get it to expose its weak point. It's entirely possible (though very difficult) to swim around to its back and climb up to its head without first figuring out that you can make it rear up, which is exactly what I did the first time I played the game. I think maybe this one was designed when the game was still meant to be co-operative; one player could draw Pelagia's attention while the other climbed up its back or something.

Next time: most peaceful colossus!

[twmac]

I hate that Colossus. It was the only one I had to resort to a walkthrough for.

[elmuerte]

Oh man. I suck, I haven't continued for weeks now. Maybe this weekend I'll catch up a bit.

[darthbator]

I got throw off by GDC and then Bioshock Infinite. Hopefully I get back on track with 11 and 12 today. I'm sure I can post some impressions once we finish or something =P I always mean to come back here and contribute and something always seems to get in the way.

[youmeyou]

Holy crap the 10th and 11th colossi were the hardest and most frustrating fights I've played yet. Felt like throwing my controller during the 11th as Wander kept taking a million years to get up only to be knocked down again. ffffffff

[tegan]

woop, I forgot to do my writeup

 

Thirteenth Colossus (Phalanx) thoughts:

I feel bad about killing Phalanx the same way I feel bad about killing Avion. Phalanx is the only colossus that does absolutely nothing to harm you. Literally the only way to hurt yourself is to fall off of it. And it's just so majestic to see, peacefully gliding around its home. Poor Phalanx.

It seems appropriate that I found it nearly impossible to kill this time around. I had so much trouble with this one. Lots of missing the jump onto its flipper wing dealie, lots of sucking at climbing, lots of falling off, or Phalanx diving at inappropriate times, or closing its flap thingies just as I'm about to stab it. Worst.

Next time: most environmentally-interesting colossus!

[miffy495]

I jumped back in for the first time in about a month today, so I'm pretty far behind. That said, I just finished the 8th one, so now I can start getting some momentum perhaps. I'm now into the colossi that I've never seen before, so that should help. I'm done my practicum on Tuesday, so I'll be trying to catch up over the next week or so. Back into it!

[miffy495]

Really though, anyone else still doing this? I kicked some ass tonight and beat 9 through 12 in a sitting. I did a bit of wandering too. I think that, despite all the epic moments in this game so far, my favourite thing has been discovering a small turtle pond in the middle of nowhere. I just climbed a tree and sat there looking at it a while. So good. I also actually quite liked number twelve, contrary to popular opinion.

Getting to his head and hitting the horns out of desperation, followed by a breathy "Holy shit I'm steering this thing..."

has been a game defining moment for me. All four of these colossi were brand new for me, and man have they made me feel like a chump for giving up at 8 in 2006. 

[darthbator]

I'm through 13 now. I have a note in evernote with general thoughts about the game I plan on organizing into something post able at some point. Where are we supposed to be at now?