Shadow of the Colossus
W00t! Shadow of the Colossus (from the creators of Ico, if that helps explain my enthusiasm) is coming out on the 18th!
Like Ico, it’s a simple enough game. In this case: in exchange for the revival of his fallen love, the hero must ride onto a plain beyond the edge of the world and battle immense creatures in order to free their souls.
Of course, when I say immense, I mean tens of stories high. Armed with only a sword, a bow and arrow, and accompanied only by your horse, the deed will require some ingenuity.
It is, on the face of it, a very different sort of game from Ico, but appears to share its same basic strengths (relative to my tastes, anyway): a very simple game - minimalist, even - that blends action with puzzle-solving, and an immensely poignant fantasy story told in a poetic way that teeters ever just so on the edge of horror.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to it. Ico was, so far, the only game I’ve played that has made a sunny meadow convincingly scary, or let me get so emotionally invested in the protagonists, while spending so very few words or time in cutscenes. I wanna see what these folks have come up with this time around…
[ n.b. both games are for the PS2 ]