Modern gaming isn’t short of open worlds, in fact, there was a time when the size of a game’s world almost automatically made it a “must-play” title.
However, over the years gamers have seemingly developed open-world fatigue, probably due to the fact we’ve all gotten older, have way more responsibilities in life, and simply don’t have the time to traverse an entire in-game continent for a side quest.
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While I still love a good open-world game from time to time, I never find myself lingering in one for very long. I’ll have a look around, travel off the beaten path to get to my objective and take in the sights along the way, but once I’m done with the story and side content, I very rarely look back.
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The exception to the rule is Shadow Of The Colossus, a game so good it was released three times, first for the PlayStation 2, then the PlayStation 3 with some cleaned-up visuals, and finally making its home on the PlayStation 5 with a gorgeous HD remaster. It’s currently available on PlayStation Plus, which is how I’ve been playing it, and I still believe it’s got one of the greatest open worlds ever made in a video game.
That may come as a surprise especially if you’ve played the game, as you’ll undoubtedly know that there’s hardly anything in it, but I think its simplicity is one of its greatest strengths.
To briefly summarise the story, you play a boy called Wander, who hardly looks over 16, who travels to a place known as The Forbidden Lands with his horse Aggro and a deceased girl whose relation to Wander is never revealed. Wander arrives at a temple and communicates with a powerful deity, who promises to bring the girl back to life if Wander can defeat 16 colossi. With a sacred sword, a bow, and Aggro, Wander embarks on his dangerous journey, riding through the Forbidden Lands to slay each Colossus, one after the other.
The reason I love the Forbidden Lands is because there’s no explanation as to why it’s forbidden in the first place. To say somewhere is forbidden would imply a danger or consequence to go there, and while there are dangers, the Colossi, the lands themselves are actually quite tranquil and harmonious, you could even call it a paradise.
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Sprawling the lands are green fields, lush woodlands, crystal clear lakes, sandy beaches and even a golden desert. There are birds in the sky, lizards scuttling across rocks and insects buzzing around the various flora. There are even massive fruits growing on trees, which Wander can shoot down with his bow and eat to expand his health.
Even the Colossi themselves aren’t really that threatening. They mostly keep to themselves in their own enclosed arenas, and most of them don’t even bother attacking you until you give them a reason to.
Every time you slay a Colossus, you’re transported back to the temple, where you’re told of you’re next target and set off once again, meaning the majority of the game is riding through the various biomes of the world and scaling the odd ruin to get to your objective, meaning you see a lot of what it has to offer, and what it has to offer is nothing. There’s basically no side content in Shadow Of The Colossus. There’s fruit and lizards to hunt down to expand your health and stamina, and the PS4 remaster added some collectable coins, but for the most part, the only reason you’d explore is out of sheer curiosity, and it’s glorious.
The lack of context of the world you’re exploring makes almost everything you can see a point of interest. There are hints of civilisation everywhere, in the form of bridges, buildings, tunnels, arenas and more, all carved out of ancient stone. There’s even a metal ventilation shaft in one area of the game, which looks completely out of place but only serves to make you more curious about the people who lived there before it became forbidden. The Colossi themselves are part of the world too, with basically every one of them having armour or weapons fashioned out of the same material as the buildings. They are living, because they have flesh and fur, but their equipment looks as if it was either built by humans or used by humans to learn greater construction skills.
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It’s the epitome of show don’t tell, and every time I play through it I discover something new, yet always feel like there’s even more left to find.
The pièce de résistance actually lies at the top of the temple you start in. By heading to one of the temple’s exterior walls, you’ll find that it’s actually climbable, allowing you to scale it to get to two secret areas. The prerequisites are you need an enormous amount of stamina, so it could take you a few repeated playthroughs of finding lizard tails till you have enough to make the journey.
As you make the climb, the first stop will be the Secret Garden, a gorgeous place that hides a special kind of fruit that permanently debuffs your health and stamina. Climb even higher, and you’ll make your way to the bridge Wander rode across in the opening cutscene. You can cross the bridge in its entirety until you reach the exit/entrance to the Forbidden Lands, where you’ll find absolutely nothing, except an invisible force preventing you from leaving.
What Shadow Of The Colossus does, in my opinion, is use its world to engage your imagination, and while there’s rarely a prize to be found in its nooks and crannies, it’s ultimately about the journey you took to get there than what you got in the end.
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While games that were released after it have had their fair share of beautifully crafted worlds, most notably Red Dead Redemption 2, Elden Ring and Horizon: Forbidden West, I still think Shadow Of The Colossus is one of the greatest open worlds ever created, purely for its mysteries and simplicity.
Shadow Of The Colossus is currently available on PlayStation Plus for any subscribers on the Extra and Premium tiers.
Featured Image Credit: Sony Interactive EntertainmentTopics: PlayStation, Playstation Plus, Sony