Shadow of the Colossus script
INTRODUCTION
Today I will be talking about the game Shadow of the Colossus and why it was so influential
for its time. Shadow of the Colossus is a PlayStation exclusive about a boy named Wander
who trespasses upon a forbidden land in order to bring a girl named Mono back from the
dead, but to do this he needs the help of a godly entity named Dormin who has been
imprisoned in this land. Before Dormin can resurrect Mono, he needs Wander to destroy 16
statues (or Idols as they are referred to as in the game) which are connected to and
represent the 16 Colossi that you must defeat as Wander. (approx. 40 seconds)
BRIEF HISTORY AND KEY PEOPLE
Shadow of the colossus’s first release was for the ps2 in October 2005. It was developed by
Team Ico and was published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game would later be re-
released for the ps3 in a ‘classics HD’ bundle alongside Ico (Ico being the first game made by
team Ico and the first game in the series). Developers Bluepoint games and publishers Sony
Interactive Entertainment would later release a complete remaster of the game for the ps4
in February 2018, which to this day stands as my favourite video game. (approx. 30
seconds)
Both the ps2 and ps3 releases of the game were directed by Fumito Ueda. He is best known
for leading Team Ico at Japan Studio. Ueda joined Sony Computer Entertainment’s Japan
Studio as a first party developer in 1997. Where he began to work on Ico. He also acted as
both the main director and designer of Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian
during their productions. Ueda would end up leaving Sony in 2011 and would form a new
studio named GenDesign. (approx. 30 seconds)
IMPROVEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY
The ps4 remaster in 2018 not only upgraded the graphics and the lighting by a drastic
amount, but it also brought along many new features with it that weren’t present in both
the ps2 and ps3 releases. These new features mainly included new psychics and new
environmental effects that wouldn’t have been possible to include in its release for the ps2.
One change that was added in this remaster is that your UI is now always hidden and only
becomes visible when you are engaging with a colossus. Although this was such a small and
simple change, it made such a massive difference to the way the game played as it made
the experience of the game feel so much more immersive, almost as if you were watching a
movie. One of the biggest examples of the new physics that were added to the game is
present in the fight with avion. Now when they swoop down to attack you, large waves
form underneath them as they begin to get lower to the ground. This detail adds a lot to
this colossus as it conveys how much force the colossi have, and it added a whole new level
of realism. The new environmental effects also radically changed the visual aspects on
many of the colossi. Especially malus. He now looked as if he had fire wrapped round his
arms instead of just beaming light. The improved weather effects also enhanced the fight
with Malus as the environment around him was now much darker and the rain looked a lot
more authentic and crisper. You could now also see the water from the storm running off
his body and from the stones in his arena. These changes made him seem way more
menacing and powerful, especially for him being the final colossus. (approx. 1 minute 30)
WHY IT WAS INFLUENTIAL
So why was Shadow of the colossus so influential. These influences can be seen in a lot of
screen-based media that have come out since shadow of the colossus’s initial release in
2005, whether they be directly or indirectly influenced by it. Perhaps one of the most
noticeable things that it influenced was the fight with Cronos in God of War 3 that released
5 years later in 2010. In this fight you were pitted against a giant monster covered in stones
and in order to defeat them you had to climb along their body to get to their head. Sound
familiar? This fight was extremely similar to Shadow of the colossus, gameplay and visual
wise. But personally, the fight still didn’t compare to the ones in Shadow of the colossus.
And this mainly comes from the fact that in Shadow of the colossus you are gaming at scale
in REAL TIME and the colossi that you fight act AS THE LEVEL. Whereas in that fight with
Cronos you are walking on a still platform designed to look like the monster’s body. This
gaming at scale in real time is another thing that makes the game so influential as even
though team ico was capable of doing it in 2005 it’s something that not a lot of other games
have been able to recreate. Perhaps the most noticeable colossus for gaming at scale in real
time is the battle with Phalanx as you are practically walking along a creature that’s the
same length as a skyscraper while also soaring through the air. And all of this is happening
in live time. The most direct influence that Shadow of the colossus has to another game is
Praey for the gods, released in 2021. The developers ‘No Matter’ have openly stated many
times that the game was greatly inspired by Shadow of the colossus, gameplay, and design
wise. This similarity in monster design becomes apparent when looking at the satyr god
side by side with Gaius. As you can see their head shapes look extremely alike and they
both have rectangular stones jutting out from parts of their bodies. (approx. 1 minute 40)
KEY TECHNIQUES
Going back to monster design, one of the main techniques that makes Shadow of the
colossus feel so special is its magnificent and unique creature designs. All of the colossi look
as organic as they do architectural, which is a style that I haven’t seen represented as well
in other types of media as it was in Shadow of the colossus. And this ultimately comes
down to the abundance of concept art they made for the game. And when looking at this
concept art you can really tell how much effort was put into making the colossi look cool.
(https://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-09/sotc-colossus25.html)
Here is some concept art of already existing colossi (Hydrus, Cenobia, Celosia,
Kuromori, Dirge, Malus)
Here is some concept art of colossi that didn’t make it into the full game (pig, ape,
imp, gryphon)
MASTERING THAT TECHNIQUE
Here is my attempt at designing my own colossus. I wanted my design to be based off of a
shark as I feel like they really missed out on a big window of opportunity by not having one
like that. I also chose to do a shark because I really like the fight with Hydrus as you are
underwater, but I’m not really the biggest fan of their overall design. This colossus would be
called Maelstra.
INTERVIEW
Here is an interview where I asked my animation lecturer questions about shadow of the
colossus. (Trevor speaking)
CONCLUSION
So overall was Shadow of the colossus really that Influential for the gaming industry? I still
stand by my original statement in saying yes it was. There is still a vast number of influences
that I didn’t cover during this documentary that are just as important as the ones that I did
go into detail on. An example of a few of these influences include the games beautiful and
isolated landscapes that influenced games like Journey and Breath of the wild and the
games minimalistic but impactful Narrative that influenced games like Inside and the Little
Nightmares series. But not only was shadow of the colossus influential to the gaming
industry as a whole but it was influential to me as a person. Shadow of the colossus and
other pieces of screen-based media are what really got me into drawing and are why I love
monsters and the fantasy genre so much. Which is why to this day Shadow of the colossus
is a topic that I am deeply passionate about. Thank you for watching. (approx. 50 seconds)
