For many years I have been totally uninformed about this game, only last year I had the opportunity to finally get to know the game. A friend of mine told me it was one of the best that he had played for the playstation. After one year, I bought the game on its release date (a remaster for the PS4) and I absolutely loved the experience. I passed the game after 5 days of having it because the style of it was just addictive.
Few days before I bought this game I finished The Last Guardian and I was a bit disappointed - fortunately Shadow of the Colossus made me realize the potential of the Team Ico.
Story:
The game starts with Wander, the protagonist who wants to revive a young lady. He begs to the spirits of the land to make her alive again and with this the spirits tell him that he needs to complete some tasks before they can accomplish his wish. The tasks involve him killing the colossus or the idols of that place.
After Wander defeats all the colossus he proves to the spirits that he's the strongest in that area, so he becomes the last colossus. All the other colossus were previously people who tried to compete for a certain wish, being the last colossus the last person who defeated the latest colossus and so on.
Wander's fight seemed to be meaningless at the end - he ended up being used, transformed into a colossi and then losing the girl he wanted to "save". The girl, however, revived but it's not known what she did after she revived (we understand that she doesn't feel the presence of Wander and we never understand the relationship between them). In other words, a life was exchanged for another.
Just like in our dimension asking to revive a body is considered a taboo and Wander just paid his price.
In terms of story I thought this one was simpler than in The Last Guardian but the other proportions of the game made it better and something amazing to play.
Technical dimension:
I was a bit afraid that this game would be difficult to handle in terms of the technical gameplay due to it being so old. I believe that the people behind it really tried to fill the previous gaps so it could be played in the rightest form on the playstation 4. But actually, my fear was for nothing because in terms of fluidity and movement, etc. this game was way better than The Last Guardian. The battle gameplay was amazing and so unique. I loved to battle the different colossi in the many different settings.
One of the gaps I could state right now is the horse's movement (besides it, I didn't find many more problems during the game). In order to keep running with it, you need to press triangle over and over again or the horse will stop or walk slowly. Also, when you're not controlling the horse while it's running you'll end up crushing into walls. Although the horse could make the turns he couldn't dodge walls. That could be a little bit frustrating when you wanted to speed up.
Art:
This game didn't strike me as hard as The Last Guardian in terms of art. The settings were really cool and well done but I didn't get amazed with the design of the colossus. They all looked like rock parts with a face. The language though was better than in TLG, at least it seemed more complex.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack is okay, it's not really memorable besides the main theme. I prefer this type of soundtrack than the really outstanding ones. The tracks are quite calm and will make you somehow relaxed, however I think my favorite track from the list is "Final Battle". I also liked a lot "The Sunlit Earth" and "Swift Horse".
Overall:
This is a game to keep playing, even after passing it. I won't say it's one of the best games like people say but it was very good. After passing the entire game, you automatically unlock a new mode.
Ranking: 8,5
Few days before I bought this game I finished The Last Guardian and I was a bit disappointed - fortunately Shadow of the Colossus made me realize the potential of the Team Ico.
Story:
The game starts with Wander, the protagonist who wants to revive a young lady. He begs to the spirits of the land to make her alive again and with this the spirits tell him that he needs to complete some tasks before they can accomplish his wish. The tasks involve him killing the colossus or the idols of that place.
After Wander defeats all the colossus he proves to the spirits that he's the strongest in that area, so he becomes the last colossus. All the other colossus were previously people who tried to compete for a certain wish, being the last colossus the last person who defeated the latest colossus and so on.
Wander's fight seemed to be meaningless at the end - he ended up being used, transformed into a colossi and then losing the girl he wanted to "save". The girl, however, revived but it's not known what she did after she revived (we understand that she doesn't feel the presence of Wander and we never understand the relationship between them). In other words, a life was exchanged for another.
Just like in our dimension asking to revive a body is considered a taboo and Wander just paid his price.
In terms of story I thought this one was simpler than in The Last Guardian but the other proportions of the game made it better and something amazing to play.
Technical dimension:
I was a bit afraid that this game would be difficult to handle in terms of the technical gameplay due to it being so old. I believe that the people behind it really tried to fill the previous gaps so it could be played in the rightest form on the playstation 4. But actually, my fear was for nothing because in terms of fluidity and movement, etc. this game was way better than The Last Guardian. The battle gameplay was amazing and so unique. I loved to battle the different colossi in the many different settings.
One of the gaps I could state right now is the horse's movement (besides it, I didn't find many more problems during the game). In order to keep running with it, you need to press triangle over and over again or the horse will stop or walk slowly. Also, when you're not controlling the horse while it's running you'll end up crushing into walls. Although the horse could make the turns he couldn't dodge walls. That could be a little bit frustrating when you wanted to speed up.
Art:
This game didn't strike me as hard as The Last Guardian in terms of art. The settings were really cool and well done but I didn't get amazed with the design of the colossus. They all looked like rock parts with a face. The language though was better than in TLG, at least it seemed more complex.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack is okay, it's not really memorable besides the main theme. I prefer this type of soundtrack than the really outstanding ones. The tracks are quite calm and will make you somehow relaxed, however I think my favorite track from the list is "Final Battle". I also liked a lot "The Sunlit Earth" and "Swift Horse".
Overall:
This is a game to keep playing, even after passing it. I won't say it's one of the best games like people say but it was very good. After passing the entire game, you automatically unlock a new mode.
Ranking: 8,5