Despite all the magic that Fumito Ueda has instilled in his work, one aspect was sorely lacking in Shadow of the Colossus when it was released in 2005: his technique. Beyond the visual canons of the time (angular contours, fuzzy and poorly detailed textures), the game suffered above all from a hiccuping frame-rate, which could at times harm the video game experience. But the title rejecting the precepts of the video game by depriving itself of everything superfluous to focus on the ingenuity and intensity of the game design, the whole world has gladly agreed to ignore the technological weaknesses. We had to wait until 2011 for the game to come back in a remastered version, with 16/9 display, HD resolution, smoothing of textures, reduction of aliasing and above all appreciable fluidity. This recovery work had already been entrusted to Bluepoint Games, an independent studio of course but which works almost exclusively with Sony, and which is already responsible for numerous remasters such as God of War Collection, Flower, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Gravity Rush Remastered . Suffice to say that when it comes to catering, Texan developers no longer have much to prove. For 2018, Sony Interactive Entertainment has offered them a – new – major challenge: to completely redo Shadow of the Colossus to finally give it the setting it so deserves. When you launch the game, you will also have the choice between two graphic modes: "Performance" which is equivalent to 1080p 60fps or "Cinematic", which is none other than 4K 30fps. We don't really have a preference to suggest to you, the game sublimating itself in each of these proposed modes. Between the 4K graphics which make the game even crazier than it already is, and the 60fps (constant) which favors exemplary fluidity, it is difficult to make a clear choice. Still, this final rendering will have required a little more than two years of work, and the result of which is simply astounding.
WONDER WANDER
Stunning, incredible, majestic, surreal, adjectives abound when it comes to evoking the visual rendering offered by this PS4 remake of a game released 13 years ago. The work of Bluepoint Games is so remarkable that several minutes are needed to recover from the graphic slap that we have just eaten, but also to realize how the title has changed, giving the feeling of dealing with a game totally different. It is enough to take a look at the video comparison that Sony has put online to see the major changes made to the original work. Shadow of the Colossus on PS4 is unrecognizable, but in a good way. Everything has been reworked from scratch to be sublimated and finally give all the letters of nobility to the disastrous epic of Wander, this reckless but cursed hero who has only one wish: to bring the one he loves back to life. Yet at the time, Shadow of the Colossus was already able to arouse incredible feelings at the mere sight of its varied landscapes and its open world, yet quite empty with hindsight. With this rather prodigious restoration work, each element of the decor has gained in relief and now exudes life; a paradoxical notion when we know that these lands on which our warrior ventures have long been cursed by men. But no matter, riding on the back of Agro, Wander's faithful horse, is priceless today. The previously dreary plains now take on another dimension, with grass as far as the eye can see, merging in the distance with these mountains made of rocks. Nature appears less hostile there it is true (walks in the few forests become almost bucolic), but there is always - and even more now - this feeling of being alone in the world in a universe surrounded by water, and in which one is ready to explore and get lost.
In 2005, Shadow of the Colossus was already an invitation to travel, to exploration, it is even more so in 2018, with the addition of Trophies and other Easter Eggs. Moreover, by snooping on the side of the forest located northeast of the main tower, it is possible to come across a luminous barrel, a direct reference to The Last Guardian since it is the main food of Trico. Finishing Shadow of the Colossus again, and with this Easter Egg not being added for free, it's obvious that all three Fumito Ueda games share the same extended universe, with this following timeline: The Last Guardian -> Shadow of the Colossus -> ICO. [ATTENTION SPOIL] The outfit of Wander (and the men who hunt him down at the end of the game) harkens back directly to that of the soldiers in The Last Guardian, as does the water fountain in the main tower which is reminiscent of where Trico is chained up at the very beginning. adventure. Fontaine who also finds himself dried up at the end of Shadow of the Colossus and which reveals the existence of a young baby with horns, referring to the hero of ICO. In short, you will have understood, the interconnections between the universes of these three games are multiple, and this whatever our analyzes and our interpretation of the facts.
MELANCHOLY MECHANICS
Let's go back to our sheep and the fact that this remake of Shadow of the Colossus has gained in immersion. Because beyond the graphic prowess, made possible thanks to almost photorealistic textures (everything related to stone gives the impression of being real), the title also enjoys quite striking light management. It suffices, for example, to stand near the altar where the sweetheart of Wander lies to be amazed. Forests are also good places to take advantage of the rays of light that perforate the foliage of trees, and walking through these places then takes on a whole new dimension. The sensation of gigantism, already present in the original game, is taken to the extreme in this PS4 adaptation. It must be said that the camera has been programmed to know how to play on the angles of view, capable of favoring fantastic rides by placing itself on the side and near the ground to accentuate the dynamism of the shots, as well as being more intimate, to focus on the essentials. Real intelligence. This is all the more true when our warrior (armed just with his sword and his bow) climbs on the back of the colossi, also magnified to make them impressive, majestic and frightening creatures.
If we easily manage to recognize each of the 16 giants to be slaughtered, they have gained considerably in detail and texture play. Mean by that that we manage to distinguish much better the elements that compose them: skin, fur, stone. Each of these aspects becomes here more marked, more natural.
If we easily manage to recognize each of the 16 giants to be slaughtered, they have gained considerably in detail and texture play. Mean by that that we manage to distinguish much better the elements that compose them: skin, fur, stone. Each of these aspects becomes here more marked, more natural. It is enough to trigger the “Photos” mode, one of the main novelties of this remake, to see how the developers of Bluepoint Games have not been idle. Special mentions to the work provided on the fur, in which our hero can completely disappear when it is well provided. Likewise, seeing him move among the innumerable hairs of the colossi is a fairly hallucinatory moment of realism. A real titanic taff, pun placed willingly. In this desire to shake up the established bases, Bluepoint Games had the excellent idea of offering 4 different gameplays, which can be modified at any time by going to the Game Options. he original work, we find the classic controls, those which were a little difficult to handle at the time, we remember. Between the jump affiliated with the Triangle button, the absence of real aiming replaced by a camera zoom, there was something to bang your head against a wall, especially when the random inertia of Agro's movements came in addition mix. Suddenly, today, we have the right to a revisited Classic version, which does not change much, except to place the Jump button on the X key and to switch the Input with the Zoom camera. Fortunately, two other types of commands (Modern and Modern Revisited) allow you to enjoy a more contemporary gameplay closer to what is usually done in more classic action games. We strongly suggest that you opt for one of the last two.
NOTHING HAS CHANGED, BUT EVERYTHING IS SUBLIMATED
It's not just the grip that has been reviewed and corrected, since the movements of Agro the horse have also benefited from welcome changes. Capricious in its surprising changes of direction, it is this time more tamed and steers with much more precision. Some wanderings in maneuverability remain, especially in the steepest places, but the developers still had the good idea to prevent Agro from galloping during certain passages which could have caused a lot of problems. In the forests, for example, his movements will be limited to trotting, while if you leave Agro in automatic management (he is ordered to gallop, then you can let him follow his path on his own), he is able to go around on his own. the sides of the cliffs, without necessarily making it pitch up. Its already well-developed pathfinding in the PS2 version has been improved for more enjoyable gaming comfort. Another detail of Agro which is a pleasure to see is its range of movements, or rather of animations, which has been greatly improved. 13 years ago, Agro was already an example of fluidity and naturalness in his movements, he seems today to have been full motion-captured when we see him moving on PS4. Here too, the devs from Bluepoint Games have done an excellent job, which proves how attached they are to the work of Fumito Ueda. The only element where they allowed themselves to intervene and change what was done for the worse: Wander's face. Previously sad and melancholy, our hero has inherited an expressionless gaze, closer to the inert wax doll than to the savage warrior driven by this desire to bring his beloved back to life. In this regard, it is never too late to propose an update afterwards. Bluepoint guys, if you're reading...
It's not just the grip that has been reviewed and corrected, since the movements of Agro the horse have also benefited from welcome changes. Capricious in its surprising changes of direction, it is this time more tamed and steers with much more precision.
Being without a doubt early fans of the work of the Japanese game designer, the Bluepoint team has in no way retouched Shadow of the Colossus. It is neither more nor less than the same game, down to the smallest detail, with the difference that today we can enjoy an achievement finally worthy of the aura, of the presence that such a monument of the video game. As I wrote to you above, apart from the presence of new types of commands (in addition to the original ones), the "Photo" mode, the introduction of Trophies, New Game+ and a few Easter Eggs, everything has remained the same . From how to approach the game, to kill the colossi, the possibility of facing them again in Reminiscence mode, the addition of the Time Attack once the main adventure has been completed, nothing has changed. And reliving this incredible adventure 13 years after initially playing them is an experience that I invite you to discover with all your senses. Shadow of the Colossus was already a masterpiece in 2005, today it is one of those rare monuments capable of marking a player's life forever. And that is to say the least.
