Hey guys, this will be the first one I join in with, always wanted to play this game and seems like now is the perfect time. Hope you've got room for one more?
I'm surprised I've never played SOTC, it's always seemed like something I would love.
Played for about an hour now and managed to defeat three colossi. Overall impression so far is that the game is really good. It's always so exciting and intense when you're climbing the colossi. But in all honesty, I haven't noticed any improvements in terms of the controls and mechanics. They still feel as wonky as in the original when you climb the colossi. For example, I tried jumping from a ledge on the third one and the protagonist just let go and fell (and yes, I still had stamina left). The reason for why I'm doing better this time around is probably because I've already played the game once on PS3, so it's not completely new for me.
One very positive addition I've noticed in this version though is a hint system. I don't remember if it was there in the original. But anyway, as I was fighting the third colossus, I couldn't remember how to climb him. Obviously when he slams down the pillar, you're supposed to jump on it but then you're not able to progress. So I decided to walk around on the ground and noticed that there was a circular platform in the middle. Then one of the gods started speaking to me and told me that I needed to wear down its armour. And then I remembered, I needed it to slam down the pillar on this platform for his armour to shatter and then I could climb it. I vividly remember getting stuck on this colossus in the original game, so I'm glad to see that they've at least added some hints for new players.
Some tips for others who are playing: 1) you aim and shoot the bow with R1. I'm fairly certain the game didn't tell me this, it only told me that you could switch between weapons by pressing either left or right on the d-pad. 2) I may have misinterpreted what the game told me, but when riding the horse, you don't need to spam press the triangle button to make him go faster. You just hold it (and push forward on the left stick as well I think).
@LtSarge Dormin gives you hints if the game thinks you're taking too long to figure out a solution in the original as well. Never liked that. In the PS4 remake, you can actually disable them in the settings menu, though.
The control mappings are actually slightly changed up on PS4, but the feel of the game is very much in line with the original. Took me some time to readjust to.
For Agro (the horse), yes, just hold the button when you're at the speed you want to be at, and she'll basically stay on cruise control. You don't need to push forward on the stick, although you will need to 'aim' her in the right direction.
Gotcha. Well it's nice at least that they made it optional in the PS4 version.
Out of curiosity, I remember the lizards were a collectible in this game. Do they give you anything in particular or are they just there for fun?
Every time you collect a lizard's tail, it VERY SLIGHTLY increases your stamina. You get bigger boosts to your health stat by eating fruit from trees. Both stats increase slightly every time you defeat a colossus as well.
@Ralizah so far I really love this game. Just beat the second Colossus. The art style, atmosphere and setting is great. It's fun bringing down giant creatures, makes for an interesting mix of climbing, puzzle solving and action.
Thanks for the warning about the hints too. I had one on the second Colossus and it annoyed me, as I already knew what to do was just trying to execute it. If I'm stuck I'd like to figure it out for myself But off to a great start.
Out of interest, how much does the PS4 version differ from the original? Is the gameplay the same but the graphics remastered?
Edit: just to add, beat the third Colossus (the hard way apparently as I got a gold trophy) and a couple of negatives I've noticed are; the camera can be awful at times as it seems to just get stuck easily. The other is jumping can be very hit and miss, especially when jumping away from a ledge/structure to behind you. However I'm thinking the second point is just my lack of skill!
Well that's six colossi down and I have to say, this game is such a great palate cleanser after having played two long games for several weeks. Really enjoying it so far even though there have been some frustrating moments, just like with the original game.
The game is just absolutely gorgeous and I've found myself leaving the horse and just walking around and taking in the view. I've also managed to find tons of fruit this way, five of them so far and they do indeed increase your health by quite a large amount.
The battles are just exhilarating and I think my favourite colossus so far is the fifth one. When it charges at you and you climb it, it just gives you such a rush!
That said, I think my biggest issue with the game besides it being wonky is that I hate how long it can sometimes take to climb back up a colossus when you've fallen off one. Some of the them just take way too long before they give you another opening.
@NedStarksGhost Jumping is absolutely an issue, no doubt. I was climbing one of the colossi, I decided to do a short skip over an obstacle on their back and my character literally flew to the moon. Not to mention when you sometimes jump and the character just decides that he wants to fall lol. Like he climbs up, and then he lets go.
Hey @nessisonett just want to check with you, as this is the first time I'm taking part, how game club works? I seen you started this thread originally so thought I'd check with you. Do we play up to a certain point each week and then wait until the next week so we all progress through the game together? It seemed that was the way you had it at the start of the thread when you played Bioshock
@NedStarksGhost Back in the Bioshock days, we all tried to stay in the same area but we branched out to play more games that didn’t have that same kind of linear progression. Plus not everyone can get the same amount of game time in each week. As long as everyone just checks in every so often then play at your own pace! Each game is roughly a month, give or take a week or two each way depending on the length of the game. Considering there are 16 colossi, I’d say that’s at least an easy split. So doing 4 each week would work!
@nessisonett okay that's great thanks for clarifying!
Personally think that's the better way to go about it, allows you to be flexible with the time you put in and stuff. Looking forward to joining in this month!
@NedStarksGhost To answer your question, as far as I can remember, the gameplay is very consistent with the original. It’s been a while, but I believe the Colossi are all essentially the same with the ‘puzzle-like’ elements of each battle mostly consistent; and the controls are nuanced in some ways to be slightly modernized (believe it or not) but mostly loyal to the original, jank and all.
The game is a true remake though, rather than a remaster, since the world is rebuilt from the ground up. The original had a darker vibe to the Forbidden Land, with a lot more browns and greys. The remake is beautiful, more vibrant, and colorful. The large awesome vistas and canyons weren’t present to this degree, iirc. The Colossi, although with similar art design and behavior, were not nearly as detailed, but if I’m not mistaken, are pretty much the same as to where the weak spots are and the where the fur is, etc.
Draw distance, frame rate, pixel counts, all that is obviously better. But in the true skill and genius of BluePoint, they changed just enough to make it modern and eye-catching, but kept the DNA of the original game intact. Which is great, because the game is timeless in its gameplay approach, setting, concepts, and message.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution thanks for answering that. Glad to hear it's basically like playing the original just with modernised graphics, with some small QOL improvements. BluePoint truly are excellent at what they do.
The environment, scenery, and general art style I absolutely love, so from my eyes they've done well to improve on the original style. The environments and colossi look stunning!
@NedStarksGhost I'd totally agree with what @Th3solution has said there. The controls were one of the things that I think people hoped they really would update, the camera specifically, but they left them more or less as they were.
There's this short video they made at the time which is worth a watch although might contain some mild spoilers depending on where you are in the game...
@render yeah I can see why people who played the original would want that. From a newcomer perspective it's actually quite interesting to have the gameplay more or less the same.
Thanks for sharing that, I'll add it to my library and watch it when I've finished the game!
@NedStarksGhost It's extremely similar to the PS2 original. Aside from the graphics and slightly mixed up controls, it's almost identical.
And yes, the jumping, camera, and grabbing onto things are extremely sketchy at times in terms of their reliability in a tough fight. Really wish they would have updated the controls and in-game physics a bit. It still feels quite janky.
Just finished Shadow of the Colossus and I'll just come out and say it: even after playing it for a second time, I still don't like this game. Every time I find myself enjoying it, there will come a colossus that just ruins my mood completely and make me hate the game so much. I just don't get it, like in one moment I like this game and in another I just hate it completely. It actually reminds me of my experience with Jak 3, that game had lots of great moments but also a lot of bad ones and overall I didn't like it either.
The majority of the colossi are brilliant, but there are still 3-4 that are painstakingly annoying. If the developers had simply removed these ones the game would be perfect in my opinion. But they are frustrating enough that I just can't find myself liking this game. And it doesn't help either that the controls and mechanics are basically the same as the original game. That's one of the problems with creating a faithful remake: you bring along all of the flaws that the original had.
So overall, it was interesting revisiting this game to see what has changed since the original and to give it another go in hopes that I would change my mind about it. Sadly, my opinion remains the same and this will be last time I'll ever play it.
I got some final tips for people who are still playing: 1) At every shrine, there will be a silver-tailed lizard somewhere nearby that gives you a larger increase in stamina compared to regular lizards. 2) When riding the horse, if you hold down the triangle button in narrow paths, the horse will automatically navigate through them without you needing to control him with the control stick.
Also, apparently I got the trophy for completing the game without dying once, which surprised me! I didn't think it was a hard game at all, just a frustrating one from time to time. Considering only 1.7% of the players got this trophy, I'm kinda proud of myself lol!
I found Colossus 4 (the horse one) surprisingly difficult, took me ages to get to a point I could even hurt it. Didn't find it quite as intuitive, anybody else have the same issue?
@LtSarge Ah man, sorry that it didn’t quite click for you. I do recall the different Colossi having variable levels of difficulty. I didn’t ever get too pulled out of my enjoyment though. Although, to be fair, I’m not sure ‘enjoy’ is the right emotion that I have had when I played it (have played through it twice) although some of the puzzling of the different Colossi is fun, but there was a deeper emotion that seemed to resonate with me for it. Like a satisfaction maybe, or just a feeling of awe and wonder. Very few games have made me feel as awe inspired as SotC. Then the message and the ending and the interpretation of it all really struck me.
So I guess all that made the frustrating parts less annoying. It’s honestly the same way I felt with The Last Guardian, but a little closer to what you’re feeling now with — SotC. The moments of frustration with dealing with Trico’s AI and getting her to do what I needed her to was enough to pull me out of the moment and somewhat spoil the otherwise stellar experience. So of the two, I prefer SotC. Although TLG is a really deep and moving game too.
@NedStarksGhost I don’t remember struggling mightily with it, but it’s been a while. Some of the Colossi are pretty tough to suss out though. I hope you still are liking your time with the game though.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@NedStarksGhost Yep, colossus 4 was one that I didn't enjoy at all. The first time I played the game, I had zero clue on how to even get on top of it. Had to look up a guide and then I realised what to do. Surprisingly, I remembered what to do on my second run but the execution part was still difficult because it's easy to fall off and it takes so long to get back up again.
@Th3solution I was actually thinking of your experience with The Last Guardian while I was playing this game. I remember you didn't like it because you had issues with controlling Trico, while I had no issues at all and I absolutely enjoyed playing the game. Now it's the complete opposite, apparently you liked SotC but I completely dislike it! Just goes to show how divisive the Japan Studio games can be for certain people.
The thing is I experienced the same feelings of awe when I was fighting most of the colossi, especially the ones where you're riding the horse and they're chasing you, or you have to leap off the horse's back onto the wings of the colossus, or when the bird charges at you and you jump onto its wings. The battles are unlike anything I've ever experienced in games, which makes me even more upset that several of them had to ruin my overall experience. Because like I said, if those were removed, this game would be perfect! There were tons of genuinely great battles.
Forums
Topic: Push Square Game Club Spooktacular: Resident Evil 4
Posts 1,521 to 1,540 of 1,811
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic