Twenty years. It has been two full decades since a scrawny kid named Wander rode a horse into a forbidden wasteland to cut a deal with a disembodied voice. In the time since Shadow of the Colossus first graced the PlayStation 2, the industry has shifted toward massive open worlds, live-service ecosystems, and map markers that treat the player like a toddler. Yet, Fumito Ueda’s masterpiece remains the gold standard for atmospheric storytelling. It’s lonely. It’s quiet. Honestly, it’s kind of a bummer. But that’s exactly why we can’t stop talking about it.
Most games want you to feel like a god. They give you power-ups, skill trees, and a sense of righteous purpose. Shadow of the Colossus does the opposite. You feel small. You feel like a trespasser. When Wander grips the fur of the first Colossus, Valus, and the music swells from a low hum to a thundering orchestral roar, you aren't just playing a boss fight. You’re committing a sin.
The Minimalist Lie: Why Less is Way More
People always talk about the "empty" world of the Forbidden Lands. Critics back in 2005 occasionally knocked the game for having nothing to do between the bosses. No side quests. No NPCs. No shops. Just a boy, his horse Agro, and a lot of wind. But that emptiness is the point. If there were villages to save or gold to collect, the weight of Wander’s isolation would evaporate.
The world is a graveyard.
You’re basically a grave robber with a magic sword. By stripping away the traditional "fun" elements of an action-adventure game, Team ICO forced us to focus on the scale of our targets. Think about the third Colossus, Gaius. He’s a literal skyscraper made of stone and moss. To reach his weak point, you have to bait him into slamming a massive stone pillar onto a metallic plate, vibrating his arm enough to let you climb. It’s tactile. It’s messy. You can almost feel the grit under Wander’s fingernails as his stamina bar—that ticking clock of desperation—slowly drains.
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The Technical Wizardry of 2005
It is easy to forget how much Shadow of the Colossus pushed the hardware of the PS2. The console was screaming. Frame rates would often dip into the teens because the engine was calculating real-time inverse kinematics for Wander’s limbs while handling "fur shading" that shouldn't have been possible on that tech.
Ueda and his team used a trick called "LOD" (Level of Detail) management that was light-years ahead of its peers. The game rendered the entire world as a single, seamless map. No loading screens between the shrine and the boss fights. That sense of physical space is what makes the journey feel real. When you see a mountain in the distance, you know you’ll eventually have to climb it.
The 2018 Bluepoint Games remake for PS4 took these bones and draped them in modern fidelity, but the soul remained the same. It’s the same animation data. The same clunky, intentional physics. Wander still stumbles when he lands. He still looks like a kid who has no business wielding a sword.
The Tragedy of the Win
In almost any other game, killing a boss is a moment of triumph. You get loot. You get a "Victory" screen. In Shadow of the Colossus, the music dies. A mournful cello takes over. Black tendrils erupt from the fallen giant and pierce Wander’s chest, knocking him unconscious. It feels like an assault.
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The game is gaslighting you into thinking you’re the hero. Dormin, the entity you’re working for, speaks in a dual-toned voice that should be a massive red flag. But because we are trained by decades of gaming to follow the objective, we do what we're told. We kill the peaceful ones. We kill the ones that are just sleeping.
Consider Avion, the fifth Colossus. He’s a giant bird perched on a pillar in a lake. He doesn't attack you first. You have to shoot him with an arrow to get his attention. He’s just existing, a relic of a forgotten age, and you’re there to end him because you’re sad about a girl you barely know. The narrative isn't told through dialogue; it’s told through the darkening of Wander’s skin and the growing shadows in his eyes.
Why the Controls Drive People Crazy
Let’s be real: the controls are divisive. Wander moves like he’s waist-deep in molasses sometimes. Agro, the horse, has a mind of her own. If you try to steer Agro like a car in Grand Theft Auto, you’re going to have a bad time.
That’s because Agro isn't a vehicle. She’s an animal.
You don't "control" her; you give her commands. If you let go of the analog stick, she will follow the path naturally. This design choice creates a bond. By the time you reach the final stretch of the game—the bridge to the sixteenth Colossus—that bond is the only thing the player has left. When the bridge collapses and Agro sacrifices herself to throw Wander to safety, it hits harder than almost any scripted death in gaming history. It’s not a cutscene. It’s a consequence of twenty hours of partnership.
The Legacy of the Giants
You can see the DNA of this game everywhere now. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took massive inspiration from the climbing mechanics and the "go anywhere" philosophy. Elden Ring captures that same sense of lonely majesty. Even indie hits like Praey for the Gods are direct love letters to the Colossi.
But nothing quite captures the specific melancholy of the original. There is a purity to it. It’s a game about the cost of selfishness. Wander isn't trying to save the world; he’s trying to undo death, and the game spends every second telling him he shouldn't.
Hidden Secrets and the "Great Seventy-Ninth"
For years, fans scoured the map for a seventeenth Colossus. They looked for hidden endings, secret items, and ways to climb the massive Shrine of Worship to reach the "Secret Garden." Most of it was myth, but the community’s dedication was so intense that Bluepoint Games actually added a new secret in the remake: 79 hidden coins that unlock the Sword of Dormin.
This obsession stems from the world's design. It feels like it holds secrets because it refuses to explain itself. Why are there lizard tails that increase stamina? What is the significance of the fruit? Why is the bridge so long? The game doesn't care if you know. It just exists.
How to Experience Shadow of the Colossus Today
If you've never played it, or if you're returning after a decade, there are a few things you should do to actually "get" the experience.
- Turn off the HUD. The game is beautiful, and you don't need a constant reminder of your health. Use the sword's light to guide you.
- Listen to the silence. Don't put on a podcast. The sound design—the wind whistling through the canyons, the hoofbeats on stone—is 50% of the storytelling.
- Pay attention to the Colossi’s eyes. They change color. They show emotion. Notice how they look at you before they die.
- Experiment with the physics. You can stand on Agro’s back. You can jump from the horse onto a Colossus's leg. The game is more of a systemic physics playground than it first appears.
The ending of Shadow of the Colossus is one of the most debated "conclusions" in media. It links back to Ico in ways that are both subtle and heartbreaking. It suggests a cycle of karma that spans generations. It’s a reminder that every action has a price, and sometimes, the price is your very humanity.
To truly appreciate the game, start by finding the first Colossus in the southern canyon. Don't rush. Walk Agro through the woods. Watch the way the light filters through the trees. The "fun" isn't in the killing; it's in the realization of what you're losing with every victory. Spend time exploring the northern deserts and the misty fallen cities. There are no rewards there except the view, and in a game this beautiful, that is more than enough. Once you've defeated all sixteen, take a moment to sit in the Shrine of Worship and look at the idols you've shattered. The silence that follows is the real ending.
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Next Steps for Players
- For Newcomers: Start with the PS4 Remake for the best visual experience, but set the controls to "Classic" if you want to feel the original's intended weight.
- For Veterans: Attempt a Hard Mode Time Attack run. It forces you to find "shortcuts" on the Colossi bodies, like jumping from the arm to the head, which reveals how deep the climbing physics actually go.
- For Lore Hunters: Compare the map coordinates of the Forbidden Lands with the world of The Last Guardian. The architectural similarities in the white stone ruins suggest a shared history that Fumito Ueda has only ever hinted at in interviews.