Recently I wrote about moving on from gaming experiences that I just wasn’t feeling. Monster Hunter World was one of those games that was surrounded by hype and many people were enjoying so I took a risk and bought it for full price. Apparently the game isn’t for everyone though, as I ended up not really caring for it. As such, I traded it in at Gamestop and picked up copies of two older games that have been remastered on the PS4: Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy and Shadow of the Colossus. In both cases I have already played through a bit and can report that I’m thoroughly enjoying these titles much more than the game I traded in. The former title is nothing like MHW, though the latter could draw some comparisons, only because you are hunting down Colossi, which are still much larger than the “monsters” I saw in MHW. Either way, I’m a happy camper with this decision, and wanted to share my thoughts on these games.
I already mentioned that I had prior history with both of these games, but I hadn’t completed any of them. I only played the original Crash Bandicoot sparsely, and never touched the sequels and I only personally played the PS3 remastered version of Shadow of the Colossus. Crash is instantly recognizable, and I love the intro loading screen that shows the original Crash use a machine to turn from his low-poly form to his newly updated version. I distinctly remember levels off of the original and they look much better with the updated visuals. The core gameplay remains the same, it’s a unique platformer (for the time) that uses varying points of view that would later become trivial in game design but was something new during the era. Details that I maybe didn’t take in on my first try during the PSOne days are clearly visible, and there is room for replay given the differing collections and unlockable areas. It clearly was the Playstation’s answer to Mario and Sonic, and to a degree I think it was a great series and definitely provided new challenges for the genre. The only think I think would make this collection even better is if they were to remaster Crash Team Racing. I would literally play the shit out of some CTR particularly if you could have online functionality for the racing and the battle mode! Was my favorite game of the series (and one of my favorite PSOne games of all time!).
Shadow of the Colossus is similar to the above title in that it is a remaster, but it’s also a game that has been remastered twice. Originally released for the Playstation 2, it became a cult classic. This is the same game, only much better looking. I have seen the original in action as I used to watch my old roommate play it when we lived together. I recognize and understand how to beat some of the early colossi because I’ve seen it done. I also purchased the first remaster of the game for PS3, and though I think it did look better than the PS2 version (at the time my memory of the two would have been more recent) this new remaster takes the cake. Having already paid for the last remaster (that should only count as upping the resolution because it’s still night and day different), playing through this game should count as clearing something else from the backlog. For those of you who already purchased this the last time and didn’t ever complete it I’d say you should pick it up as well, and if you’ve never played one of the other versions definitely give this a whirl.
The story is simple enough: You are trying to bring a loved one back to life, so you travel to this temple and place her on an altar. You are met by a celestial voice that says that you can bring her back to life if you are to defeat the 15 colossi in this land, but that it will come at great cost to you. After that it’s not much dialogue, you’ll use your special sword to use the reflection of the sun to direct you to your prey. From there you’ll open up new areas and find more to take down. Fighting the colossi is interesting and varied. Typically there will be some sort of weak point that you can damage to bring the beast down and then you’ll climb onto it and stab at another weak point (or more) to kill the beast. You have a stamina gauge when climbing however, so you have to do things quickly and wisely to finish the task at hand. There’s a pretty awesome photo mode included where you can get some awesome screen shots and I appreciate that as a blogger. Each time you kill a colossi, you’re filled with this black smoke/goo that is shooting out of their weak points and then teleported back to the original temple. Your body will lie there until you gain consciousness, you’ll be surrounded by dark figures that I assume represent those that you killed, and the idol of the slain colossus will crumble. I have a feeling those dark souls are part of the “great cost” I’ll be paying to bring my loved one back to life. At this point I’ve taken down the first three colossi and discovered the fourth.
I’ll report back once I’ve struck these games from the list.
Me Vs. Myself and I 