Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Hyper mew mew, best HD collection ever!

Woke up early to rush out and get this before I had to go to work.



I seldom get excited for HD remasters as companies seem to rarely, if ever put any real effort into remastering the game. Today's HD version of Resident Evil Code Veronica X is kind of the epitome of why I'm generally cynical toward the idea.

Mostly because it seems only Sony and Nintendo take the idea of remasters seriously., most everyone else is just content to rescale to 720 or 1080p and leave it at that.

Here we have something that is more like the remaster of a classic record, picking up all the detail that you might not have been able to see in the PS2 version due to hardware limitations, though there are added textures and other flourishes to enjoy as well.

Here's a rundown of what's in the game:

- EU version of Ico, which inclunes some areas NAs didn't encounter.
- The special ending for a second completion that the NA version didn't have either.
- There is an option for Player 2 to control Yorda, though she's restricted in what she can do
- Moar save point stone couches!
- See it all in the seldom-used 1080p resolution! Yay, my TV is happy.
- Stereoscopic 3D option, so basically the only person on FFXIO that will enjoy this will be Icemage.
- 7.1 surround sound
- Developer Interview footage, early video concepts and a preview of The Last Guardian
- Two pretty dynamic themes for your XMB
- Reversable box art cover, which includes the original JP box art and not the fugly US cover.




Yes, 100% less of this:



Go away, you bastard child of the NES Mega Man box art!



- And yes, trophy support.

[Raydeus]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

I may not be getting a P3 HD, but at least there are some good news in gaming other than the ZOE collection.

Now with 3D support for when I get my HMZ-T1 display.

[Icemage]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

I just picked this up this afternoon along with Child of Eden (which also surprised me by having another absolutely drop-dead gorgeous reversible cover).

Haven't had a chance to play it yet (still grinding out Cross Edge trophies and if I stop now I'll never finish...) but still looking forward to playing these classics in HD.


Icemage

[Feba]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Here's a rundown of what's in the game:

You seem to have forgotten the other game.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Ico is still my favorite PS2 game to this day, so I was glad they were doing this collection before The Last Guardian came out. I didn't get around to SotC until about 2 years ago and I have to admit I found the concept less appealing than Ico, but when I finally played it I found it had some of the same charm.

Ico was also the first game that made the PS2 finally worth it for me, considering that 2001 was pretty dry before it and Devil May Cry came out (which Ico unfortunately got overshadowed by at the time). But at the time, there was nothing to distract me from taking everything in on Ico. I kinda wish Sony would add more people to Team Ico so they'd get games out faster, but the slowness might just be Ueda's doing.

I'm at least hoping SE puts this kind of effort into the HD version of FFX. I'm actually pretty sure they will, I just can't put it past many other third parties to make the kind of effort Sony and Nintendo have with remasters.

I'm not as critical of RE4 HD as Code Veronica because RE4 has aged incredibly well and its just one of those games you can always come back to. CV was nicefor its time, but just didn't age well and its a shame Capcom didn't really bother to upgrade it, so I'll be passing on that download.

May still get BG&E HD, even though its no-frills otherwise.

You seem to have forgotten the other game.

SotC didn't really have any new features aside from the 3D and updated graphics that were worthy of note. We didn't really get shorted anything on the US version when it came out as we did with Ico.

It looks a hell of a lot better than before, though. And it looked great before. Now it puts some current-gen games to shame.

[Kailea]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

This is out now, cool, now to just wait for my Silent Hill HD collection *rubs hands together* ^.^

I never played SoC or ICO, but now that this is out, I plan on buying it and adding it to my "never sale again" collection

[ShepardG]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Lol, picked up an original NA copy of Ico in huntsville alabama mall, back in 2007. Paid 7 bucks for it. great condition, orginal sticker from actually sale still on it. lol.

Lost my orignial SotC when my bunker burnt down in iraq. But bought another one when i got back to the states, because it was so good. Glad I saw this thread so i can go buy it ^^

[Nandito]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Ugh, the times I wish I had a PS3... *slams head on desk*

[Takelli]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Never played this game, nor even heard of it until now.

I'll take a look into it and see if it might be worth investing some money and time into it.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

I will say is a pair of games not everyone might "get" but if you grew up on Zelda, Metroid, Out of this World/Another World (which just got a iOS remake released this week), Flashback, Oddworld or classic Prince of Persia then this game will probably connect with you better.

Its not something where you're spoonfed the story, though there are bits a pieces given to you much of the rest is left for the player to figure out on their own. The only way I can really describe Ico without spoiling it would be is that there are a lot of feeling I got out of the original Metroid Trilogy that got rolled up into that one game. There are these ah-ha moments, basically, but more elegant than how M. Night Shamaylan does it.

Shadow has that quality, but where Ico is more about defense and platforming, to say it was a series of escort missions would be doing it a disservice. You'll actually care about who you're helping, unlike something like RE4 where you hope the villagers take Ashley and keep her.

SotC is about climbing up these monstrosities and stabbing them, sometimes in the head. We're talking David and Goliath X 16 here. And these colossi could have Goliath for a snack. There's also some Ico-qualities here as well.

They are both fairly unique in how they play out, I only reference the classics I have as they're the sort of stuff that would condition you to appreciate games of this type. Some like Ico more than SotC, others SotC more than Ico. I like them both quite a bit as they're really the only games put out by a Sony first party that felt timeless.

Simply put, people will forget Uncharted and God of War, but these? Not likely.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

A bit of good news regarding the collection, its swiftly knocked Gears of War 3 off the top of Amazon charts in every territory.

Nice to know that a platform/puzzler with no guns, swearing, overwrought narrative or multiplayer can do that today.

[Neverslip]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Never played either game. I remember seeing trailers for SotC back in college and wanting to play it but not having a PS2

Bought it last night. Played a little bit of Ico and got through 3 colossi. Climbing controls in SotC are a bit frustrating so far... maybe I am missing something though. Camera in Ico is tricky to work with since I've become accustomed to modern games. Still think I"ll enjoy them though. Gonna take it slow I think.

[Takelli]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

ok BBQ.

I literally grew up on video games, but never was able to buy them when I wanted to play a new one. Always had to play used video games. I was literally a Nintendo Baby.

It does seem like it might be worth the time.

[Cheezeman3000]

Re: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Climbing controls in SotC are a bit frustrating so far... maybe I am missing something though. Camera in Ico is tricky to work with since I've become accustomed to modern games. Still think I"ll enjoy them though. Gonna take it slow I think.

Good point, I had forgotten about those climbing controls, really annoying, but you will eventually be very thankful that they allow you to "grip" and "hold on" at certain times. I won't spoil anything but yes, you will eventually like them.

Definitely a good idea to take these games slow. I'd suggest beating Ico first; SotC has slight references to it that you will miss otherwise.