We all from time to time like to dust off our ancient consoles and plunge back into gaming of the early 00s. Whether its Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda, we all have our favourite classics we love to dive back into after a couple of years of stagnation. Team Icos 2005 release of Shadow of the Colossus is such a game. Playing as Wander, a young man determined to resurrect the maiden Mono by evoking the power of an omnipotent power named Dormin who can return Monos spirit to her body, he enters a bargain with Dormin who agrees to resurrect Mono only if Wander can defeat the 16 Colossi littering the land. Besides Dormins disembodied bellow during the games introduction, there is virtually no dialogue whatsoever and no other characters to interact with apart from the Colossi (but theyre not really the chatty type). Wander has a task to do so he gets on with it, no complaining, no whining and no faffing about - he's the blank-slate character we all project ourselves onto the easiest. Wander therefore traverses across a beautiful landscape to defeat each colossus in turn with nothing but a beam of light from his sword guiding him to each location. As an action/adventure, Shadow of the Colossus comes across almost like a puzzle game. There are no Colossi-killing tutorials or aid when taking down the behemoths, you watch, you learn, you clamber up top and stab your sword through their brains. Simple. Variety is a key aspect in fantasy games without a doubt. But with modern titles having inventories full of weapons, armour, loot, potions, crafting materials and quest items weighing you down, it is a breath of fresh air to cut the ancillary elements for a change. And thats exactly what Shadow of the Colossus does, it trims the fat and leaves the juicy meat of the game left for players to enjoy.
