Shadow of the Colossus

About Shadow of the Colossus

Bluepoint Games revived Team Ico's 2005 classic in 2018 for PlayStation 4 players. This adventure platformer follows a lone rider named Wander who rides his horse Agro into a forbidden land filled with sixteen massive beasts. You need to kill these giants to revive a girl named Mono using an ancient sword. The game features no enemies other than the colossi themselves and relies on exploration rather than combat grinding. It stands apart from standard action titles by focusing entirely on scale and atmosphere. The remake runs at 60 frames per second with updated textures while keeping the original level design intact. This project came out exactly five years after the studio finished The Last Guardian.

Gameplay

You start in a vast field and must find each colossus hidden across the map using your bow as a flare. Once you spot a beast, you climb its body to find weak points marked by glowing orange sigils. A typical session involves climbing slippery stone, dodging tail swipes, and timing jumps onto moving targets while managing stamina. You control Wander with analog sticks and use the sword for close contact or the bow for ranged attacks. There are no health bars or enemy hordes. Each fight feels like a puzzle where you must learn the creature's patterns before striking. The horse acts as your transport between areas and stays near the shrine when you leave it behind.

What Players Think

PlayPile data shows an IGDB score of 88.9 based on 373 ratings from our users. Community moods lean heavily toward Emotional with three votes and Wholesome getting four, proving players connect with the story despite the violence. Casual playstyles also appear with two votes suggesting people enjoy the slower pace. The average playtime sits around 12 hours for a standard run through all sixteen targets. Review snippets from our database highlight the game's atmospheric qualities as a primary draw. No other site tracks these specific community vibes or completion metrics this closely. Players consistently praise the visual fidelity of the remaster compared to the original PS2 release.

PlayPile's Take

Shadow of the Colossus costs roughly $40 on the PlayStation Store and offers 16 distinct boss fights. You earn achievements for defeating each giant and completing the story without dying. This title suits players who prefer methodical challenges over reflex-based shooters. It lacks traditional multiplayer modes but delivers a tight single-player experience. The game is not for those seeking constant action or high replay value through multiple endings. If you want to see how far the PS4 could push a remake of an older art style, this fits the bill. Finish the job and save the girl without worrying about loot boxes or microtransactions.

Storyline

The story of Shadow of the Colossus begins as Wander enters the forbidden land, traveling across a long bridge on his horse, Agro. Unknown to the player, prior to entering, Wander had stolen an ancient sword, which is the only weapon capable of slaying the colossi. Led to the massive Shrine of Worship at the center of the region, Wander carries with him the body of a maiden named Mono. A moment later, several humanoid shadow creatures appear and approach Wander before he easily dismisses them with a wave of the ancient sword in his possession. After vanquishing the shadow creatures, the voice of the disembodied entity known as "Dormin" echoes from above, expressing surprise that Wander possesses the weapon. Wander requests that Dormin return Mono's soul to her body, which Dormin states may be possible on the condition that Wander can destroy the sixteen idols lining the temple's hall by using the ancient sword to kill each colossus the idols represent located throughout the land. Despite being warned by Dormin that he may have to pay a great price to revive Mono, Wander sets out to search the land for the colossi and destroy them.