This game has moved me to the very core. Taking down every single colossus has been plain fun.
The game gives you very little information or story. It sends you through two long introductory clips where you are just given a glimpse at your character and goal. The whole point is to defeat the colossi to save the life of a girl. Who is the girl? Why do you want to save her so desperately? I was puzzled all the way through the game. Why do the colossi need to be defeated? Anyways, after you get a little intro to the story, you're on your own, while the game leads you to your first enemy and gives a little tutorial on the way.
The controls are fairly easy, the only thing I ended up struggling with was the camera, as it rotated fairly often and I was having some trouble to keep it in optimal position to play the game. It wasn’t much of a nuisance after I figured out to just keep my thumb on L2 for a time. Other controls make it easy to complete various climbing and running puzzles, and really save for the nuisance. The grip system really made it harder in defeating the colossi (I don't want to spoil it for people who didn't play it so you'll see). The sword attacks and the bow shots are easy to control and aim with just one button.
Now that the controls are figured out lets get to the game play itself. There are little previews to each boss, as you have to get to them, which is a pretty simple mechanic. You just shine your sword into the light and it shows you the way with a concentrated beam. Then you ride your horsey to get to the battlefield. And then you go speechless as the enemy approaches you. These boys are huge, some of the biggest enemies you ever faced in a video game. Every colossus requires you to think of a way to defeated as in many cases you'll have to be climbing them and stabbing them in various weak spots. Now it might sounds easy, but the colossi constantly move and will try to shake you off as you start stabbing them with your sword (this is where your grip system comes into place, hold R1). Also they're huge, so climbing will take some time. But every enemy battle is so captivating that you'll find yourself amazed as you battle every one of them. The only thing that wasn't really good for this game, is when you're knocked of from a colossus' head for example and plunder to the ground (its a huge fall, believe me), you will only loose minimal health, but other then that the other aspects are well done.
Now I've gone soft over the course of this game, as I’ve drawn accustomed to the colossi and started to feel bad for them at some point. Mostly for the fact that none of them attacked me right away. They treated me with curiosity rather then violence, and once they fell dead I was feeling the burden of wrongdoing. So much so that I wanted to plunge my sword at the supernatural being in the temple, for making me feel so selfish.
The design of the world is just amazing, as you travel toward each enemy through the empty world, you'll look around and feel a little touched. Although we did see smoother surroundings and heroes. The game uses colors and focus so well that you will notice yourself forgetting all about the games that looked better then this. Plus the colossi are well done, and since you spend most your time in the game either looking at them or climbing them, you'll still feel short of breath every time. The world is well detailed; it goes from deserts, lakes, and forests. You'll find yourself feeing captivated from location to location. The characters are done well. The already mentioned colossi are different in their appearance but not so much that to still realize the same origin that they posses. Your character will also sometimes fall after a long jump, or swing on the colossus' fur during the long walk. He might also awkward grab the edge of a cliff and hang there on one hand. Your horse also deserves praise, as it behaves and walks like a horse, unmistakably making the game a little more realistic. There were some visual minor problems like the slow frame rate at places, but the motion blur takes away the problem and makes the game more movie like.
The music is well chosen for the game, as well as all the sounds. When you explore the world, you'll be accompanied by nothing but the sounds of nature, which makes it, feel even more enchanting as the sounds put you deeper into the experience. Once you encounter an enemy you'll here somewhat of a tense tone to the music, or a peaceful type of score. This depends on what the colossus is more interested in, crushing you with its feet or just discovering what you are. Once you start the ascent on the beast though, you'll hear the sound that is fully appropriately chose for the situation. Also the fictional language was great to add to the story and the whole experience.
The whole game is fairly short, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. Although, you'll be able to finish off the colossi fairly easy as you figure out how to get to their vital points, it still doesn't take away the whole captivating experience of the ascent. The replay value is somewhat moderate as you can go back and defeat every individual colossus time after time. It will wear old after a while, but you'll feel amazed taking them on again as they are so huge, its just amazing to take them down. I think that this game is pretty amazing for the PS2. It's innovative and creative, and to be honest I’ve never seen anything like it.