Strongest Man Alive

When Shadow of the Colossus came out in the fall of 2005 I had started my freshman year of college and knew little to nothing about it much less heard of it's predecessor Ico. My friend described SotC as a game "where you go around and kill these giant statues, and when they die it happens dramatically with sad music. I think you're supposed to sympathize with them.", while that is a rough paraphrase the "die to sad music" part was definitely the words used to describe it. Around this time was the beginning of my foray into games that were claimed to be "missed by the crowd". In the following months I would pick up Beyond Good and Evil, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Panzer Dragoon Orta, as well as Ico and SotC among others. As fate would have it, since my friend purchased SotC immediately I opted to try out the previous title Ico so that we could exchange impressions of both and possibly swap in the future. This write up is about Shadow so I will reserve my thoughts on Ico, but needless to say I was awestruck and hooked. There was no way I could wait till winter break to possibly borrow SotC, I purchased it immediately after.

warning, there be spoils abound

The Setup

A haunting melody plays during the intro scene as Wander carries his incapacitated/dead lady friend into the forbidden land, this perfectly prefaces the journey you are about to partake in telling you that it will be a solemn and isolated affair. The forbidden land is inhabited by very little wildlife, the only creatures encountered are lizards and birds in the vast expanse of the peninsula. Anyways, this piece isn't so much a review of the game as it is my personal testament to how much I love the story and the character of Wander. This man, desperate to revive a woman that he obviously cares about having broken his people's laws and stolen a sacred sword and trespassed onto forbidden grounds, convenes with a powerful being (Dormin) and regardless of the possible consequences makes a pact with an imprisoned spirit whose intentions are completely ambiguous. In his blind devotion and determination to aid his lady he agrees to fell 16 colossi that can be found throughout the land in exchange of "bringing Mono (the girl) back to life". At no point does Wander question the ordeal that lies before him or what may become of him, neither does he specify exactly what "bringing her back to life" entails. Even while you begin to go about your task in the forbidden land your elders are pursuing you to reclaim the sword and hopefully stop you from doing anything you may regret.

The Trials

Wander seeks out sixteen behemoths in the lands, each located in their own habitat/area of the peninsula. Your arrival being the only provocation for a break in their eternal slumber. Most of the colossi don't even want to bother with you until you provoke them with arrows or run at them with sword drawn, Only then do they try to protect what lies sealed within them. The sudden end to each of these confrontations as the life animating the stone, earth, and grass is perfectly portrayed. Each of these seals broken, Wander unknowingly releasing each part of Dormin in order to uphold his end of the bargain for the future of this girl. Every fallen colossus releases a part of Dormin, and every time that dark spirit forces it's way into Wander's body. Each adversary is met with the same determination and ultimate victory no matter the cost. Wander is one determined guy, and with almost no support he endures. Defying his people and his society by being in the sacred land he experiences what can only be the most trying of trials in hopes that this girl can be given another chance at life.

The Friend

While practically a solo act, Wander does have one companion. Agro the horse is quite possibly one of the best supporting characters I have seen in a game ever. The development is so subtle and it can only go so far as it is just his horse, but it is so much more. Not only is this journey only possible because of Agro being there, but in this desolate land Agro is the only thing Wander has keeping him company besides his determination. This horse follows you without fear wherever you may go, rides on without complaint and carries it's master to the next destination. He isn't even taken back to the temple like Wander is whenever a colossus is felled, he runs back on his own out of devotion. When Wander is scaling a colossus Agro trots about neighing as if a worried friend is pacing out of anxiety for a loved one. Helping you in the conflicts that he can he is there for Wander at every point in the game when possible, and his ultimate sacrifice (which we find out is not as grave as it seems at the time, but still just as shocking the first time you see it) before the final colossus left me utterly silent in shock. Best horse, nay a friend, ever!

The Sacrifice

As the game progresses and he defeats more colossi the ritual begins to take it's toll. It physically manifests itself in his skin becoming paler, his hair loses it's red hue favoring black, his eyes losing their color, and ultimately having horns protrude from his forehead. That's right, the fine print of the pact Wander did not know involved his body being used as a vessel for Dormin as the seals are broken. Ever so slowly his soul is being eroded away from his body as Dormin's spirit overtakes it. While it is open to interpretation, I think Dormin takes advantage of Wander in even another way. The initial confrontation with Dormin reveals his voice has a dual nature to it, voiced by a male and female, and as the game progresses (the girl is closer to being "revived") the female voice has less of a presence. The way I see it, he was not only taking over Wander's body but is actually placing the female part of his spirit in Mono's body as his soul is re-assembled from the various parts sealed in the colossi. The final sequence of events is gut-wrenching as Lord Emon, the priest from your village that pursued you, points out just what you have done as the physical changes on Wander's body are finally more evident. In a desperate gambit for both sides Lord Emon orders his men to slay Wander, once this proves impossible they begin to flee the temple. At this point Dormin's true shape, a grotesque shade, surges from Wander's body and attempts to slay his would-be killers. As Lord Emon is the last member out of the temple he casts one final seal before leaving. Casting away the sacred sword which Wander had stolen the seal imprisons all the shadows within the temple, the user is given control of Wander's now disembodied shade as he desperately tries to reach Mono's side. It is absolutely devastating to witness his futile attempts to reach her side and is finally consumed into the vacuum, left at the epicenter of the spell is the first child that bears the curse of this sin, a horned child. Now after all the chaos Mono awakes to find Agro limping into the temple and they find the child and proceed to the garden on the roof of the temple (you can reach the garden shown during the end credits by climbing a great deal up the side of the temple, I've done it and it takes a decent amount of time of just scaling walls). This ending sets up, how I interpret the game, the premise of the previous game Ico. So in my eyes SotC is the prequel to Ico, it is the start of the affair and the reason why there is a cursed child at all.

This game is fantastic, I can not speak enough about my love of it. Wander is one of the best characters I have ever had the delight of playing in a game before. The visuals are jawdropping, the music is BEYOND perfect (I bought the soundtrack and it's fantastic), the controls are tight and intuitive. I'm not sure where I heard that people had issues with controls but honestly I don't understand why you would. The mapping of buttons and rather simple mechanics are very logical, the difficulty comes from how disorienting it would be to be tossed about while climbing a large object. All I can say is Wander is a hell of a man, and simplified this game goes to show how utterly ridiculous one's willingness to do things for a woman can be. Damn those women!


*If there was an actual room with just a set of stairs and "Rave On" playing like in Killer 7, I would totally want to pass through it multiple times every day.*