Few games remain icons for years after their release likeShadow of the Colossushas. Team Ico’s 2005 PlayStation 2 action-adventure game is often cited as one of the earliest examples of video games as an art form, much like its prior workIco.Shadow of the Colossusleft an impact on the video game industry, as seen when the game continues to inspire groundbreaking projects today, such asThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildandElden Ring.
This put the weight of the world on developer Bluepoint Games, a studio only previously known for remaster projects such asMetal Gear Solid HD CollectionandUncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, when it was tasked with remakingShadow of the Colossusfrom the ground up for PlayStation 4. While the studio had intimate experience with the game through developingThe Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, entirely remaking a game so beloved for its artistry and design was no small task. Thankfully, even five years later,Shadow of the Colossusremains one of the greatest remakeson the market.
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The Impact of Shadow of the Colossus
The originalShadow of the Colossuswas an immediate smash success upon its release in 2005. Like all of director Fumito Ueda’s games,Shadow of the Colossussurvived a hectic and unpredictable development cycle, where the game was originally conceived as a co-operative prequel toIcotitledNico.Nicowould allow four players to take down giant creatures together similar to Capcom’sMonster Hunterseries, but this idea was scrapped after it was deemed too difficult to create the game while also implementing online multiplayer onthe PlayStation 2. This led Team Ico to take elements such as the giant creatures and the game’s large world and blend them into a single player game, which would go on to shapeShadow of the Colossus.
Shadow of the Colossuswas met with critical acclaim at launch, becoming one of the highest rated PlayStation 2 games thanks to its advancements in video game animation and visual storytelling, its unique and memorable puzzle bosses, and the reenforcement of its narrative themes through its game design, which it is still held in high regard for today. The game even achieved mainstream success, withfilmmaker Guillermo del Torociting the game as a piece of inspiration for his work, and the 2007 filmReign Over Meusing the game as a pivotal piece of its narrative.
Since its release,Shadow of the Colossushas been commonly referred to as one of the greatest video games of all time, redefining emergent storytelling in the video game industry and inspiring many more groundbreaking titles to follow it. While the game was remastered forPlayStation 3in 2011 by Bluepoint Games, many elements of the game were still relatively unpolished thanks to hardware limitations at the time of its release. This inspired Bluepoint Games to propose a full remake of the game to Sony, which would release in 2018 for PlayStation 4.
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How Bluepoint Honored And Preserved Shadow of the Colossus
When remakingShadow of the Colossus, Bluepoint Games wanted to deliver fans the experience it remembered from 2005, while not drifting too far from the creative intent thatTeam Icostrived for with the original PlayStation 2 game. This gave the studio the difficult task of recreating the game’s visual style and feel from the original game while also appropriately modernizing it. Thankfully, through Japan Studio’s involvement, Bluepoint had full access to the development archives at Sony, including original art assets created for the PS2 game.
Importantly, Bluepoint lifted the original game’s code for the remake. While the remake is built on Bluepoint’s own internal engine – later used for itsDemon’s Soulsremake– Bluepoint blended elements ofShadow of the Colossus' code with its modern engine to retain elements such as the intricate behavior patterns of the Colossi. That’s why they move and react incredibly similarly to their PS2 counterparts. This extends to Wander, the game’s protagonist, whose animation is blended between the engines, with Bluepoint’s engine rendering elements such as his poncho for better physics.
TheShadow of the Colossusremake has been criticized for retaining the tricky controls of the original game, which are a staple inTeam Ico and GenDesign’s gamesdue to their emphasis on key-frame animation. Bluepoint rightfully maintained that this was a crucial element ofShadow of the Colossus. The controls are a necessary element of the game’s design, so instead of changing the game’s controls and physics entirely, it tightened up elements of Wander’s control scheme such as how he reacts to ledges and the responsiveness of the gripping mechanic.
Shadow of the Colossushas built a reputation for being an especially mystifying and elusive game. The game is packed to the brim with secrets and mysteries that continue to elude fans to this day, creating its own brand of lore and immersive world-building that has gone on to inspire games likeDark SoulsandElden Ring. With that in mind, Bluepoint Games needed to honor this and its legacy, and in doing so the developers actually consulted fan websites such as Nomad’s Blog, a website dedicated entirely to unpackingShadow of the Colossus' code and examining various connected elements and secrets. InShadow of the Colossus,the amount of birds surrounding Mono represent the amount of defeated Colossi, and portals open in the sky where defeated Colossi rested before the player defeated them, reemphasizing the weight of the player’s actions on the game’s world.
Bluepoint even managed to leave its own mark onShadow of the Colossuswhile continuing to honor Team Ico and Japan Studio’s work. It introduces a reference toThe Last Guardian, the most recent game by director Fumito Ueda and his studio GenDesign, which is composed of many ex-Team Ico staff members. In the game’s world, players can find some of the barrels the player uses tofeed Trico inThe Last Guardian. This retroactively helps further connectShadow of the ColossustoThe Last Guardian, which aids a popular theory that all of director Fumito Ueda’s games are connected.
In an industry currently obsessed with remakes and remasters, Bluepoint Games’Shadow of the Colossusremains the gold standardfor how to recreate a beloved and iconic title without straying too far from the original creators' intent. The only changes the game makes from the original are quality of life improvements that finely tune the game for modern audiences. Bluepoint retains the experience fans cherished on the PlayStation 2, keeping the game relevant and preserving it for future generations.
