Shadow of the Colossus and Earthbound
TPA is over. I can go on with my life. And I am doing that with a look back on the last two games I've completed: Shadow of the Colossus and Earthbound.
There will most likely be unintentional spoilers.
So Shadow of the Colossus is becoming one of those games that people who are trying to hold of merits of the craft constantly hold up for display. It's one of those games that is becoming a "you have to play this." It's becoming part of our cannon. I'm not opposed to that. I certainly enjoyed the game, there was a lot of emotions I had going into it. I especially like the size of it all: the world is really big, the scale of everything is just massive, and the Colossi are larger then life. And you... you're so very small. You're like an ant to the rest of the world. It really gave everything perspective, and really drove home the idea that what I was trying to do was impossible and unforgivable in a way.
I think my greatest disappointment with the game was probably the ending, but not because it was a bad ending, I just felt like there was a missed opportunity there. One of the great things about the way that the story of Colossus is constructed is there is almost no story. You have a basic outline (girl is dead, you want to save girl, you travel to a forbidden land to talk to an evil god about resurrecting her, and then you set out on this basically unwinnable quest to kill 16 giants in the earth to bring her back) but there really isn't that much dialogue. The girl is dead before the game starts, there is no dialogue between the characters. The god speaks to you, but you don't really talk back. Other characters show up much later to give a little more context to the situation, but for the most part a) we never find out what the relationship between the main character and this girl is, and b) we never find out exactly how she died.
Up until the ending I think that was actually working in the game's favor. I filled in my own backstory for the two since I figured I was never going to get one. I figured since Wanderer was going to such great lengths to save her, but was also willing to kill obviously sentient and possibly harmless creatures to do it, he wasn't that great of a guy. I thought that maybe this was some sort of penance quest, like he was somehow responsible for Mono's death, and he was willing to do anything to correct that mistake. To me, it never really felt like a "love" thing, even though I realize that's what most interpret it as. Call me cynical, but I wouldn't go out and kill 16 giants to bring Ziggy back from the dead. Especially after the 1st one gave off pretty strong vibes that it was going to slowly kill me in the process (I generally give up on things that are trying to demonically possess me after the 1st attempt). Wanderer had to have known that he wasn't going to live through this experience. That goes beyond love. Love is selfish. He was willing to die to bring her back. That's redemption.
Anyway I won't go into the ending in great detail because it'll spoil it for those who haven't played, but the ending seemed to be working towards my interpretation of the relationship up until the very end, and then I was really disappointed in what ended up happening to Wanderer in the end. It didn't mesh with my *shudder* headcannon. And I do think it's to the game's detriment, I feel like the ending should have been more open ended given how the game progressed until that point.
Ah well, it's still a good game, even if I didn't like the ending.
Earthbound I ended up playing on accident. I've never owned a Super Nintendo, and I don't think I'll ever have that luxury. I normally NEVER play emulators of games unless I legally own the game and can no longer play it (I replaced my Golden Sun game 3 times before I just stopped buying new ones and got an emulator for it). Anyway, I was discussing emulators with my brother and he was asking me how to get them set up on the computer, so I went ahead and downloaded the Earthbound one (since that's what he wanted to play) to show him. I ended up giving it a shot.
I honestly didn't know that this game costs so damn much. I looked online, cartridges are going for like $70 used on a good day. That's before even getting a Super Nintendo. I normally feel like there is never a good reason to do stuff like this, but Earthbound has changed my mind. Always pay when you can, support developers at all costs, but if ebay scalpers are going to make the cost of something arbitrarily inflated, pirate that shit. The publishers aren't getting the money either way, sadly.
Sooo... The only thing I knew about this game before I played it was the ending. I guess the ending is really infamous. Now that I've played it I can see why, there is a serious tonal shift towards the end that went so fast it gave me whiplash. For the most part it was this really lighthearted adventure story. I was pretty down with it. I knew the tonal shift was going to happen but I wasn't sure how it was going to factor in.
I actually really like everything that came after the tonal shift. Once you collect the final Maguffin for the game, Ness is put into a coma and has to travel through his mind to work out his inner demons. The weaknesses and insecurities he has, the anxiety he feels, and the fear that he has about facing what could potentially be his doom. I thought it was a really neat thing, especially because Ness is like... 10. He's 10 and being sent off to his potential death at the hands of an unholy alien abomination. That's a lot of pressure to put on a 10 year old. I felt like the game handled the idea of Ness's fear really well, and everything that came after that level was just icing. And there's about 2 hours of gameplay after that. It's not a perfect ending, but it was certainly a thought provoking one.
I will say though, at 2 in the morning, the idea of Ness and his friends having to give up their physical bodies in order to kill Giygas (which is a thing that happens in the game) was horrifying. I was all weepy and stupid when they were laid out on the operation table, having their souls put into robots. I get way too attached to fictional kids.
Anyway, that's all I have to say really. I'd say more but I think I'd ruin it for anyone who hasn't played it. It's worth checking out if you can, and I'd say it's fairly easy to complete. I finished in 2-3 weeks with no problems.
Next up: Mother 3, The World Ends With You replay, and Half Life.
There will most likely be unintentional spoilers.
So Shadow of the Colossus is becoming one of those games that people who are trying to hold of merits of the craft constantly hold up for display. It's one of those games that is becoming a "you have to play this." It's becoming part of our cannon. I'm not opposed to that. I certainly enjoyed the game, there was a lot of emotions I had going into it. I especially like the size of it all: the world is really big, the scale of everything is just massive, and the Colossi are larger then life. And you... you're so very small. You're like an ant to the rest of the world. It really gave everything perspective, and really drove home the idea that what I was trying to do was impossible and unforgivable in a way.
I think my greatest disappointment with the game was probably the ending, but not because it was a bad ending, I just felt like there was a missed opportunity there. One of the great things about the way that the story of Colossus is constructed is there is almost no story. You have a basic outline (girl is dead, you want to save girl, you travel to a forbidden land to talk to an evil god about resurrecting her, and then you set out on this basically unwinnable quest to kill 16 giants in the earth to bring her back) but there really isn't that much dialogue. The girl is dead before the game starts, there is no dialogue between the characters. The god speaks to you, but you don't really talk back. Other characters show up much later to give a little more context to the situation, but for the most part a) we never find out what the relationship between the main character and this girl is, and b) we never find out exactly how she died.
Up until the ending I think that was actually working in the game's favor. I filled in my own backstory for the two since I figured I was never going to get one. I figured since Wanderer was going to such great lengths to save her, but was also willing to kill obviously sentient and possibly harmless creatures to do it, he wasn't that great of a guy. I thought that maybe this was some sort of penance quest, like he was somehow responsible for Mono's death, and he was willing to do anything to correct that mistake. To me, it never really felt like a "love" thing, even though I realize that's what most interpret it as. Call me cynical, but I wouldn't go out and kill 16 giants to bring Ziggy back from the dead. Especially after the 1st one gave off pretty strong vibes that it was going to slowly kill me in the process (I generally give up on things that are trying to demonically possess me after the 1st attempt). Wanderer had to have known that he wasn't going to live through this experience. That goes beyond love. Love is selfish. He was willing to die to bring her back. That's redemption.
Anyway I won't go into the ending in great detail because it'll spoil it for those who haven't played, but the ending seemed to be working towards my interpretation of the relationship up until the very end, and then I was really disappointed in what ended up happening to Wanderer in the end. It didn't mesh with my *shudder* headcannon. And I do think it's to the game's detriment, I feel like the ending should have been more open ended given how the game progressed until that point.
Ah well, it's still a good game, even if I didn't like the ending.
Earthbound I ended up playing on accident. I've never owned a Super Nintendo, and I don't think I'll ever have that luxury. I normally NEVER play emulators of games unless I legally own the game and can no longer play it (I replaced my Golden Sun game 3 times before I just stopped buying new ones and got an emulator for it). Anyway, I was discussing emulators with my brother and he was asking me how to get them set up on the computer, so I went ahead and downloaded the Earthbound one (since that's what he wanted to play) to show him. I ended up giving it a shot.
I honestly didn't know that this game costs so damn much. I looked online, cartridges are going for like $70 used on a good day. That's before even getting a Super Nintendo. I normally feel like there is never a good reason to do stuff like this, but Earthbound has changed my mind. Always pay when you can, support developers at all costs, but if ebay scalpers are going to make the cost of something arbitrarily inflated, pirate that shit. The publishers aren't getting the money either way, sadly.
Sooo... The only thing I knew about this game before I played it was the ending. I guess the ending is really infamous. Now that I've played it I can see why, there is a serious tonal shift towards the end that went so fast it gave me whiplash. For the most part it was this really lighthearted adventure story. I was pretty down with it. I knew the tonal shift was going to happen but I wasn't sure how it was going to factor in.
I actually really like everything that came after the tonal shift. Once you collect the final Maguffin for the game, Ness is put into a coma and has to travel through his mind to work out his inner demons. The weaknesses and insecurities he has, the anxiety he feels, and the fear that he has about facing what could potentially be his doom. I thought it was a really neat thing, especially because Ness is like... 10. He's 10 and being sent off to his potential death at the hands of an unholy alien abomination. That's a lot of pressure to put on a 10 year old. I felt like the game handled the idea of Ness's fear really well, and everything that came after that level was just icing. And there's about 2 hours of gameplay after that. It's not a perfect ending, but it was certainly a thought provoking one.
I will say though, at 2 in the morning, the idea of Ness and his friends having to give up their physical bodies in order to kill Giygas (which is a thing that happens in the game) was horrifying. I was all weepy and stupid when they were laid out on the operation table, having their souls put into robots. I get way too attached to fictional kids.
Anyway, that's all I have to say really. I'd say more but I think I'd ruin it for anyone who hasn't played it. It's worth checking out if you can, and I'd say it's fairly easy to complete. I finished in 2-3 weeks with no problems.
Next up: Mother 3, The World Ends With You replay, and Half Life.