An ambitious exercise in atmospheric gaming and one of the best from 2005.
Epic adventure stripped down to it's barest essence, SOTC puts you in the role of Wander, a mysterious figure that arrives at a temple on horseback and is instructed to destroy sixteen giant beasts constructed of stone relics, fur, armor and the like. Only then will their statues break and the motionless girl you've placed on the temple altar be revived. You're given minimal tools to complete the task - a sword that reflects light like a compass along with a bow and arrow. You ride across the lonely landscapes on your horse in search of the Colossi, which once found, act as gargantuan boss puzzles that can take as short as five minutes or upwards of half an hour to bring down. There are no enemies along the way, no people to converse with. The focus is strictly on the task at hand, and while more things to do would certainly have lengthened the game I'm not so sure it would have added much as the atmosphere benefits greatly from the design the developers came up with.
While the longer and more convoluted treks can grow tiresome (as my friend observed, "this game is boring! Boring! Nothing is happening!") it gives the battles themselves such a sharp contrast that the solitude adds to the overall experience. And the battles truly are fantastic, some of the grandest, most awe inspiring boss encounters I've come across in games. The variety of Colossi are somewhat predictable - you have your flyers, your swimmers, your twenty story giant with a big ol' sword - but they are all unique, interesting and undeniably fun to figure out and take down. Some attack relentlessly, others seem almost timid and you will even feel for the beasts as they howl and shake, black oil spewing from your stab wounds. The combination of mysterious plot, peaceful exploration and frantic boss encounters is what SOTC is all about, it does all three of those things very well and doesn't throw in other activities to break the mood, for better or worse.
The world of SOTC is breathtaking. The deserts, lakes, caves, forests and ruins that you come across are beautiful and the Colossi themselves are artistic masterpieces. Pop-up during travel and slowdown during battle are unfortunate because otherwise this is as good as graphics are likely to get on the PS2. From the animations of Wander and his horse to the sunlight streaming through the trees, I was continually impressed.
Gameplay is simple yet satisfying. You have a single gauge for your grip and underwater breathing that grows as you progress, as well as a life meter. Basic platforming is used to traverse the environments and taking down Colossi consists of locating their weak points, reaching them and stabbing. The sound is also well done, with horse gallops and howling winds setting the mood as you ride and grand orchestral cues as you climb and fight the Colossi. Sometimes the cues become repetitive, especially if you find yourself having to repeat the steps of a fight and hear the same swells over and over, right on cue.
SOTC alternates between serene and visceral moments, but it's also short and to the point. It's not very hard and is by no means perfect or value packed, but it will have a lasting impact if you let it suck you in. While I had no desire to replay after I finished, I was left with the warm feeling of watching a classic film, one that forgoes needless dialogue and lets the images do the talking. It's a game that will be in some kind of museum at some point, if gamers eventually get up for that sort of thing. Unless you're solely about twitch gameplay, get your hands on this one and give in to it's charms. If you're concerned about the product not being worth the price, SOTC can easily be beaten as a rental and makes for a damn good one.