Now the fourth, fifth, and sixth, battles in Shadow of Colossus is where things start to get more interesting. Same rules apply: climb around the Colossi and stab it in its weak points to kill it. But now the strategies to defeat them are becoming more difficult. You need to take the surrounding land and obstacles into consideration, as they are the only way you can get past these much more crafty beasts.
Difficulty is increasing, and the strategies change a little every time you fight, so it's pretty hard to lose interest in this game. Unfortunately, there is almost no character or story development. It's simply kill a Colossi, find a new one, learn how to climb it, then kill it. Repeat until everyone's dead. Despite this predictable plot, it's still lots of fun to do all of those processes. What really makes this a good game is a combination of variety, where every battle is different, and the idea of conquering such an impossible task. It's great that you never need to get bothered with all of the little things when all you really want is the big showdown, and it's just awesome to play David in the role of taking down all of these Goliaths.
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Shadow of the Colossus is a game that stands out in the action/adventure/puzzle type genres. While most action games pride themselves in throwing wave after wave of enemies at you, Shadow of the Colossus has but 16 enemies to fight. You beat 16 guys, you win. What's crazy about this is that every single enemy you face is the equivalent of a boss in most adventure games. You are pitted against enemies thousands of times your size and are expected to come out victorious. Sounds a little tough to me, but I think our hero can pull it off.
Why fight such ferocious beasts? Well, our unnamed hero must take on this task in order to recover the lost soul of a mysterious girl. Don't really know who she is at this point, but I'm guessing she's pretty important if the hero is willing to risk his life for her. Not only that, but the gods who have put him on this quest mention that the price he pays for defeating all of these Colossi could be severe. With that in mind, our hero heads off to the first beast. Not a very in-depth story, but I don't believe that to be the point of the game.
The first three fights weren't too bad, as they help you get used to the style of the game. The controls are a little... different, but you get used to them after a little bit. Where the game really shines is in the battles themselves. Just looking at these monsters gives you an immediate feeling of hopelessness. I knew the game was designed to allow you to beat them, but I felt like it was still impossible. Then you have to find a weak spot, get the Colossi to hesitate, and then start climbing its fur to get to the weak spot. Once you get to the weak spot, you plunge your sword in there a couple of times, and the deed is done. But it has to be done quickly, or you'll lose your grasp and be shaken off. Overall, I think the system is well done, and will only get more intriguing and challenging as the game progresses.
I really like this game so far, and the battles are amazing to take place in. It does get a little frustrating when you're constantly falling off a Colossi or can't find out how to beat it, but if you keep trying, you will figure things out eventually. It's also a little disappointing to find out that there aren't any smaller enemies to face, nor are there any extra skills or moves to learn, but the real fun is just in developing new strategies for each battle.
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