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Shadow of the Colossus |OT| On the Shoulders of Giants
- Thread starter Agram
- Start date
Alright just tried both modes on my 1080p plasma. The graphics and IQ in Performance mode are already fantastic, there must be a decent AA solution going on already because the shimmering isn't that bad. The locked 60fps is smooth as silk, this is the output I've been looking for since buying a Pro. The added fidelity of Cinematic mode doesn't even come close to being worth giving up 60fps, at least if you're just downsampling back to 1080. I mean if base PS4 are getting the same visuals as Performance mode at locked 30fps that's a great result too.
Alright, for my easy mode run through, I pulled out my PS3 version of the game to play them side by side just for the heck of it. Mirror mode is really tripping me up, surprisingly, and using the vivid filter at its maximum contrast feels a lot closer to the original game to me. Given that I'm going to be playing through this quite a few times, I'll probably get a chance to try all of the filters out.
I got an Email from Sony with this great gif!
That is awesome.
A person that has never played it before will probably use 8+ hours to complete it. That is only for finding the colossi and for figuring out how to down them.
A person that has played the PS2 and/or PS3 versions will be able to complete it in much less time. Took me 5 hours 40 min. on normal, and I collected a decent amount of lizard tails and fruits. So around 5 hours if you know what you are doing, and even much faster if you are a veteran.
Really depends on whether you get stuck on a colossus. 8-10 hours first time?or double that.
Would it be better to just start on hard mode (I've played the game before) get loads of stamina and health and replay it again for the speedrun trophy on hard after I've beat all the time trials on hard and normal too (time trials get unlocked for finishing hard mode the first time I think)?
I don't really wanna rush through it first time through but still wanna play on hard to unlock the trials. But was wondering seeing as you have to go through it multiple times anyway I'll just soeedrun it after my hard playthrough and after getting the items from the trials which will help make the speedrun easier as well.
My rental copy isn't coming this weekend because of huge demand, and I'm on vacation next week. A store around the corner is selling it for £23.99 and I could have it in like 5 minutes...tempting. Can always finish it and sell it before I go on vacation. Just wanna play the fucking thing.
The vastness of the world and atmosphere has been greatly enhanced here as well.
You feel just overwhelmed by the World coz it looks spectacular.
I got an Email from Sony with this great gif!
Love it!
First play through roughly 8 to 12 hours. 2nd probably 2 to 4 hours. Suggest playing normal then play hard because doing hatd before normal just feels way too simple.
So for the steelcase version, what Colossi did everyone else get on the front cover of it? I noticed the back of it has the numbers 1-16 and the front of mine has the third colossi on it and the number "3" is circled. So I presume that meant there are other variants of the steelcase with all other colossi on them? I wonder if any are particularly more rare than others. I'm glad I got 3, it's a pretty iconic colossi, but Phalanx was always my favorite.
I don't know if its an issue with TV or calibration. The reason I mentioned is that for some reason this looks *too* muted compared to other HDR games I've tested on the same TV like Horizon and AC Origins. SoTC looks less muted and more washed out with a light yellow tint on everything for me.
Yeah I love how vast the world is. More open world games need more vast expanses of emptiness I think. I can see how that it could not be very fun but whatever. Something awe inspiring about it.
I played it for the first time on PS3 and I think I spent 10 hours. That was taking my time and doing a moderate amount of exploring.
What I loved about the open-world is how the exploration is there for it's own sake, not to accommodate and endless sea of side missions and collectibles. I first played it in 2011 in the middle of a whole host of open-world games and it was a breath of fresh air.
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I've no idea whats in it and I can guarantee it isn't worth the money.
Yeah it likes to auto snap sometimes so I end up fighting it.
This is how I personally did it: normal -> normal NG+ with time trials -> hard speedrun -> hard NG+ with time trials.
My feelings thus far in my playthrough are in line with yours.
Pros
- The atmosphere is actually more preserved than I had anticipated despite the different lighting
- Both cinematic and performance modes look stellar in terms of image quality and detail
- Some of the added graphical flourishes during Colossi battles are really nice (especially water surface disturbances)
- The Colossi and Agro all look fantastic. Very faithful adaptations with increased detail.
- Controls feel nice and responsive thanks to the consistent framerate across both display modes
Cons
- Wander is just as bad as I had feared. I'm constantly being distracted by how bad his model looks and how expressionless he is during gameplay. This will never stop bothering me.
- Some of the new sound design changes were for the worse, IMO. I don't see why the old sound effects had to go. Were they low bitrate or something? Some Colossi sound so much more muted and less distinct now.
- I hate Wander's revised animations. His stature is all wrong now, and he has lost all of his personality. The old Ueda animations for Wander did a much better job conveying his youth, inexperience, determination, and exhaustion.
- Wander's visual changes over time are too subdued now.
- The default modern control scheme is just weird, IMO. There's no action button. Classic is way better IMO, but at least it's a choice.
So, yeah. Personally I'd still always recommend that a newcomer play the PS3 version before all others because it's the original with better performance and visual clarity. The grip issue was never enough of a problem for me to rescind that remaster's "definitive" status. It's something that really only negatively effects Hard Time Attack for Colossi 3 and 15 in my experience. It's a small blemish on what is otherwise the best way to experience Ueda's original vision for SotC.
That being said, most of my beefs with this remake are perceived downgrades from the original, so I suspect that most new players would greatly enjoy it for all of its enhancements without noticing any of the differences from the original. In that regard, this remake gains as much as it loses for new players. It's more likely than the PS3 remaster to impress new players visually and immerse them in the world, but it's also missing a bunch of little touches that helped make the original an all-time great for so many fans.
Basically, I'd comfortably recommend playing this remake over the original to new players who only own a PS4. Its flaws (other than Wander) are nitpicky for sure, and otherwise it's a stellar remake.
One (if not THE one) of the most influential community guys for the game..
read his blogs (there are spoilers here)
http://nomads-sotc-blog.blogspot.com/
watch his videos.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Nomad0168
he does some amazing work... and he has the best theories..!
I just got PTSD from this...
Holy fuck that belly vital on Gaius was rage inducing.
I literally just watched Wander's feet slip while the time slipped away.
Only reason I don't have the platinum for the remaster.
Also, can someone explain to an idiot like myself how exactly the Speed King trophy works?
I beat the game on Hard, chose "Continue" on the main menu which started a new game on Hard+, proceeded to beat the Time Attack, ignored the 8 items in the pool, went to the main menu and started a New Game+ on Normal and beat the Time Attack there...
I still don't have the trophy.
How do I make a continuous Hard>Hard+>Normal+ save to have all items unlocked at once?
So the game looks amazing on base ps4 but i got a doubt, while playing on normal mode, it does look bright and crispy, but on HDR mode the game looks muted and not as colorful as before... so is this how is supposed to be? i thought it was the other way around, i mean i guess it does look more natural but i don't know...
i tried all kinds of calibrations but the result is the same, so i actually came with a little solution while playing with HDR on i applied a little bit of vivid filter to the game, so now it does look better, but i don't think that's how HDR in this game was supposed to be handled. Does anyone here have the same sensation?
(My tv is a Sony Bravia 4k xbr-55x850c) played horizon on HDR mode before and it looked great.
i tried all kinds of calibrations but the result is the same, so i actually came with a little solution while playing with HDR on i applied a little bit of vivid filter to the game, so now it does look better, but i don't think that's how HDR in this game was supposed to be handled. Does anyone here have the same sensation?
(My tv is a Sony Bravia 4k xbr-55x850c) played horizon on HDR mode before and it looked great.
why do you ignore the items in the pool? just pick them up.. and equip them. Press the touchpad (to go to the map) and triangle to see the items, then equip them..
Same. One of the few time i ragequitted. I wanted to platinum a game that i loved so much but I couldn't. So frustrating
I inherently despise the third colossus now because of the damn HTA on the PS3. One of the most rage inducing moments of my gaming career, and I used to play HTA over and over again on the PS2 purely for fun.
As for the items, I think you need to pick them up before moving on to the next time attack mode.
It feels so weird to say it but I forgot how much of this game I.... forgot. I'm playing on Hard and I can't for the life of me remember where half the vital spots are, or what's around the next bend when I'm exploring. I remember it like a dream - pieces here and there but not how it all fits together.
Just beat Hard mode in 4:33h with 16 lizard tails.
This release is way more buggy than the original (PAL) release. On the 2nd coloss I bugged from it's tail to the front *lol*
And they seem to have changed Celosia? I played through this game more than 10 times and never died on this one. It was completely agressive and stomped on me without pause even in the corner of the fire. I couldn't really stand up and dies because of this 3 times. After landing on his back I couldn't do anything because it was just a wild beast without any chance of doing a single stab on him in minutes. WTF?
Still a great game, a shame
This release is way more buggy than the original (PAL) release. On the 2nd coloss I bugged from it's tail to the front *lol*
And they seem to have changed Celosia? I played through this game more than 10 times and never died on this one. It was completely agressive and stomped on me without pause even in the corner of the fire. I couldn't really stand up and dies because of this 3 times. After landing on his back I couldn't do anything because it was just a wild beast without any chance of doing a single stab on him in minutes. WTF?
Still a great game, a shame
that Wanda's face looked great in the end sequences, but it wasn't any soiled before that like in the original.
nope.. you unlock a trophy and the fight is fought with a grainy effect..