Sometimes Behemoths Need a Little TLC
The U.S.release date for the Playstation 2 game, Final Fantasy XII, is only a few months away and I am looking forward to getting my hands on it, all over it. Before real life started to happen to me (i.e. college and love life) I was a reclusive girl gamer. Now, however, my gaming days have been reduced to a few hours of RPG or Action Adventure; the only two genres I can tolerate.
Calvin, over at the unfinished Cappycom, is an experienced and wellstudied gamer for all consoles and games. Some time ago, he brought Shadow of the Colossus over to a gathering and played some of it on the PS2. I wasn’t familiar with the title or the premise but after seeing the graphics and gameplay my interest was piqued. According to Calvin’s synopsis, the player is a hero who travels through strange lands and battles enormous beasts in order to revive his love from death. While the colossus appear menancing enough, the bizarre creatures lumber along at a depressingly slow pace and rarely defends itself against attacks (watch a clip of the game here). Even the purpose of 
killing these strange monsters is shrouded in mystery until the near end of the game. The creators of Shadow of the Colossus put forth an unbelievable effort in creating a sense of breathless awe of being in the shadow of these towering behemoths and I was completely blown away by how successful they developed proportion in a game. Strangely enough, watching Calvin whack away at the head of a colossus (much like a tiny flea on an elephant) incited an overwhelming sense of sympathy for the monsters. Do you really have to kill them, I wondered.
While I have yet to finish the game, I tried to put things into perspective. Could I kill all the puppies in the world in order to revive my boyfriend from death?
No. No, probably not.
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:45 am
That game looked raw, but I don’t have a PS2… XBox baby! Well GameCube too. Final Fantasy was my shit growing up… Chrono Trigger was hot too. A girl gamer? Mega-cool points!
February 4th, 2006 at 5:18 am
Well, i didn’t own a PS2 but i really want to paly this game, look so good in any way.
February 5th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
I know, I cannot wait until Final Fantasy 12 comes out! I played the 30 min demo from the Dragon Quest 8 game and it was breath taking. However, I don’t like how new and shiny final fantasy games are becoming. In 12, you run and slash at your enemies, instead of the battle song comensing and you line up and take turns using the battle menu. I think its kinda taking away from the Final Fantasy feel. If you ask me, nothing can beat Final Fantasy VIII. Best game ever, I couldn’t kill all the puppies either, but its ok, because it prolly wont come down to that.