Shadow of the Colossus — Subtlety in the Narrative of Worldbuilding

You look around… and you learn a lot

The times of the ps2 were great because it was before I had to take responsibility and deeply consider my life choices. Because that’s what high school is about. But that was before high school as to how I remember it because high school was about PC games, at least to me. But I continued playing the ps2 halfway into high school before it got old, got lost and got replaced by a ps3 sometime after graduation. Near the end of it, I discovered this game called Shadow of the Colossus, and damn I wish I had found out about it when I was younger.

Shadow of the Colossus is often considered the most notable example of the “video games that are also art” genre, and that’s not farfetched. This game relies on minimalist storytelling, desaturated colours, distinct environment/creature design, and one heck of an orchestra to deliver one of the most oddly satisfying experiences on the consoles of the sixth generation. The story vaguely tells of a young man who may or may not be named Wander (claims are that the protagonist is nameless, so I’m not sure which it is). His horse Agro and his endeavours at resurrecting a young woman, whose relation to the protagonist is uncertain (no one knows if she’s his lover or sister or anything else). At a barren land, he is told by a god-like figure that he must slay 16 colossi to achieve his goals. So the player goes around killing these colossi, which is one brilliant journey. I enjoyed this game so much that it made me sad that I’m not doing this in real life because that would be even cooler.

So you can tell that this is one of those games that have you decide the plot for yourself. I’m not one to bandwagon after other people and their bullshit, but this bandwagon is justified. But the game stands out in how it talks to you, barely giving you any context to what’s going on, almost like watching a performance by Marcel Marceau. You could almost say that it’s the “Language of Silence”.

I should probably say that the characters speak gibberish

So first off, it should be noted that the characters in the game do speak. However, that language might never be apparent since the protagonist speaks in an apparent Japanese accent but not the Japanese language. From what I understood, the “language” spoken is Japanese-sounding gibberish, so there’s no point in trying to discern what they’re saying.

But that doesn’t matter, the story is spoken in the environment and every time Wander travels to a new location. You slowly build up an understanding of what’s going on, but at the same time, you still don’t understand what’s going on. And even though you constantly question the protagonist’s actions, you are never entirely told why you are doing this, but you are doing it regardless because the game requires you to do so. By the end of the game, you are left with a desire for more because the story was so beautiful and so well told, even though you never quite understood what was going on in the first place. If you manage to get that impression from the game, then you realise why this game is considered art, and that is because it speaks to you without using words.

And that’s also probably why this game is very much beloved; because its “story” can be universally understood by anyone, regardless of what language they speak. The best stories can be understood without words, and Shadow of the Colossus proves just that. But at the same time, it leaves room for so much more… and how do you tell those stories?

What’s the story again?

The whole “silent story” shtick is nice, and I sincerely mean that. But it kind of falls short when it comes to creating a franchise. Because looking around at the environment as you ride on your black horse to your next victim (who is a hundred times your size), you can tell that the barren land was once a populated environment. However, the story never tells you what happened here and most likely will never tell you. And it kind of piques your curiosity when you realise that there will never be an answer to that question.

It’s too late today to say that there will be a sequel for Shadow of the Colossus, but if the developers knew what to do with their IP, how would they expand on the story? I suppose that from the beginning, they never knew the answer to that because they just drew some stuff on concept papers and said, “this looks good so let’s go with it”. By the looks of things, it doesn’t seem like they knew what the story was themselves.

And it’s weird how you can tell a story without even knowing what it’s about. The game is stunning, but should developers really be taken seriously if they don’t know what’s happening in their own story? Because there’s a lot to explore with this game, but unfortunately, no context will ever be given as to why Wander needed to slay the colossi.

What’s your take on this vaguely-told story?

I liked this game, and you probably do too… I assume because everyone likes this game. Though I wish I knew more about what the hell was going on with that game, I suppose you also have an opinion about it. Be sure to give your word as to what you think, whether you do or don’t.

In Conclusion…

Shadow of the Colossus is an amazing game, and you should play it if you hadn’t so already. I can’t promise that everyone will like it since not everyone likes art games, but you should give this one a chance even if you don’t like art games.

Silence instead of verbal speech in games is a fantastic idea and should be used more as a game mechanic in the future. But it does present the problem of what will be in the franchise’s future. Even A Quiet Place 2 had more dialogue than its predecessor because silence can only speak so many words.

I’ll talk more about this movie next article since I’m already waiting for the third movie.