Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 144: Shadow of the Colossus

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Todays game is Shadow of the Colossus. How would you rate the story on a scale from 1-10?

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Previous Results:
Planescape: Torment - 9.83 (12 votes)
Higurashi When They Cry - 9.69 (8 votes)
Omori - 9.67 (6 votes)
Outer Wilds - 9.61 (22 votes)
Silent Hill 2 - 9.5 (20 votes)
Deus Ex - 9.33 (10 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 9.17 (33 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - 9.16 (18 votes)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 9.1 (14 votes)
The House in Fata Morgana - 9.1 (10 votes)
Yakuza 0 - 9.03 (13 votes)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9 (8 votes)
Steins;Gate - 8.94 (9 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - 8.91 (30 votes)
Umineko When They Cry - 8.88 (13 votes)
Grim Fandango - 8.88 (13 votes)
Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward - 8.88 (20 votes)
Return of the Obra Dinn - 8.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 4: The Room - 8.83 (6 votes)
Suikoden II - 8.8 (11 votes)
Persona 3 - 8.75 (21 votes)
Xenogears - 8.71 (23 votes)
Tales of Berseria - 8.69 (14 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.67 (31 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics - 8.67 (27 votes)
Metal Gear Solid - 8.67 (27 votes)
Dragon Quest V - 8.64 (14 votes)
Pyre - 8.64 (7 votes)
Bastion - 8.63 (12 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - 8.56 (27 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.56 (16 votes)
Undertale - 8.45 (42 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 8.42 (12 votes)
What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.4 (5 votes)
Chrono Trigger - 8.39 (40 votes)
Mass Effect 2 - 8.38 (28 votes)
South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8.38 (17 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 8.37 (15 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.31 (56 votes)
Final Fantasy VII - 8.28 (37 votes)
Dragon Quest XI - 8.27 (16 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 8.21 (19 votes)
Final Fantasy VI - 8.19 (43 votes)
The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8.17 (21 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 8.17 (15 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.15 (41 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.13 (35 votes)
Horizon: Zero Dawn - 8.06 (18 votes)
Silent Hill - 8.04 (14 votes)
The Wolf Among Us - 8.04 (14 votes)
Hades - 8.03 (18 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.94 (27 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 7.94 (16 votes)
Spec Ops: The Line - 7.9 (17 votes)
Bloodborne - 7.88 (20 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.85 (31 votes)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 7.75 (6 votes)
The Sexy Brutale - 7.7 (5 votes)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 7.69 (31 votes)
Bioshock - 7.64 (23 votes)
Doki Doki Literature Club - 7.64 (27 votes)
Celeste - 7.62 (25 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.54 (14 votes)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.5 (30 votes)
The Last Story - 7.47 (6 votes)
Mortal Kombat (2011) - 7.46 (13 votes)
Mass Effect - 7.35 (28 votes)
Tales of Symphonia - 7.34 (28 votes)
Earthbound - 7.33 (19 votes)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 7.26 (29 votes)
Tales of the Abyss - 7.25 (29 votes)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - 7.25 (12 votes)
Red Dead Redemption - 7.23 (11 votes)
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - 7.17 (25 votes)
Mass Effect 3 - 7.16 (21 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - 7.11 (23 votes)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 7.1 (30 votes)
To the Moon - 7.07 (7 votes)
Super Paper Mario - 7.04 (23 votes)
Assassins Creed II - 7.04 (13 votes)
Final Fantasy VIII - 7.01 (31 votes)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 7 (5 votes)
Hollow Knight - 6.98 (21 votes)
INSIDE - 6.93 (15 votes)
Gone Home - 6.91 (17 votes)
Bioshock Infinite - 6.87 (19 votes)
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood - 6.83 (6 votes)
The World Ends With You - 6.79 (24 votes)
Death Stranding - 6.73 (13 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All - 6.68 (32 votes)
Firewatch - 6.65 (10 votes)
Dark Souls - 6.62 (20 votes)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - 6.61 (29 votes)
Chrono Cross - 6.53 (18 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles - 6.5 (16 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 6.5 (13 votes)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - 6.45 (10 votes)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 6.38 (12 votes)
Final Fantasy V - 6.37 (26 votes)
Grand Theft Auto V - 6.36 (11 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 6.34 (35 votes)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 6.15 (15 votes)
DOOM (2016) - 6.15 (13 votes)
Tales of Vesperia - 6.13 (23 votes)
Star Fox 64 - 5.8 (25 votes)
Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception - 5.8 (24 votes)
Assassins Creed III - 5.94 (8 votes)
Final Fantasy IV - 5.76 (32 votes)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 5.72 (9 votes)
Tales of Xillia - 5.71 (12 votes)
Metroid Prime - 5.67 (24 votes)
Dishonored - 5.67 (9 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - 5.63 (13 votes)
Kingdom Hearts - 5.51 (31 votes)
The Wonderful 101 - 5.5 (4 votes)
Final Fantasy XIII-2 - 5.46 (12 votes)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - 5.43 (14 votes)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box - 5.3 (10 votes)
Grand Theft Auto IV - 5.27 (13 votes)
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune - 5.26 (28 votes)
Far Cry 3 - 5.21 (8 votes)
Fable - 5 (12 votes)
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - 4.93 (24 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 4.85 (13 votes)
Final Fantasy XIII - 4.79 (29 votes)
Final Fantasy X-2 - 4.79 (19 votes)
Final Fantasy XV - 4.79 (19 votes)
Fallout 3 - 4.76 (17 votes)
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty - 4.72 (9 votes)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 4.64 (40 votes)
Fallout 4 - 4.43 (15 votes)
Final Fantasy - 4.23 (20 votes)
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls - 3.94 (9 votes)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - 3.89 (9 votes)
Resident Evil 6 - 3.74 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - 3.69 (13 votes)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope - 3.43 (15 votes)
Starcraft II (overall) - 3.4 (5 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3.31 (16 votes)
Dissidia: Final Fantasy - 3.29 (12 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates (overall) - 3.29 (12 votes)
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void - 2.83 (6 votes)
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) - 2.66 (16 votes)
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm - 2.57 (7 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation - 2.4 (10 votes)
Tales of Zestiria - 2.38 (8 votes)

Needs more votes:
Torment: Tides of Numenera

You can still rate previous days games if you missed them, just write <game name><rating>. If you want to change your rating you can just specify that you are changing your rating. Nominations for future days are also welcome, nominate as many games as you like and I will get to all of them.

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Hmm...

6.5/10

I like the understated way it tells the story.

Also Agro is the true hero of this game

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2.5

Agro sucks
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7

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4/10

Good execution of a bad idea. Minimalism in the context of storytelling is an artistically bankrupt philosophy imo.

Might be a bit weird that I nominated it given that take, but I am curious what others think
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pyresword posted...

Minimalism in the context of storytelling is an artistically bankrupt philosophy imo.

I'm not a gigantic fan of SotC but this take is absurd.

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Minimalism can certainly be used to make a compelling story, or to have the player interpret one out of what's given to them, quite a few indie games and early gen titles like Metroid do this very well.

I can see this not being everyone's favorite thing though, but 'artistically bankrupt' is pretty out there.

Can't say much about SotC because I've never had the chance to play it unfortunately


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I love it when games tell stories in a minimalist way, but I'm clearly in the minority considering the low scores most of them have gotten thus far.

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I would give Super Metroid a much higher score than this.
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3/10

A good game, but the story isn't great

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5/10 it's fine, and has some touching moments.
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9.5

I think the most interesting part of the story is how clear the game makes it that Wander knows what he's doing is wrong. Dormin even tells him so point-blank at the very start of the game and he responds with "I don't care." He is just that incapable of moving on from the loss of his lover. Dormin for his part doesn't trick Wander so much as tempt him: everything happens exactly as Dormin says it will: Mono really does come back to life, but at great cost to Wander (and everyone else, who has to clean up their mess.) The Elder's admonition to Wander/the player at the end of the game is more "You should have known better" than anything else.

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5

Thought it was fantastic my first time around, but when I revisited it I got super bored.

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5

Classic game which is a one of its kind and the PS4 remake is absolutely gorgeous but I can't in good conscience give this more than a 5 despite how much the game has meant to me over the course of more than a decade now.

The twist and ending is hauntingly beautiful which is what gets the 5 from me. I'd say this game is mostly about the setting and the 16 Colossi than the story.

LeonhartFour posted...

I love it when games tell stories in a minimalist way, but I'm clearly in the minority considering the low scores most of them have gotten thus far.

FromSoftware games have incredible stories told in the most minimalist way but a lot of it flies over your head if you don't go out of your way to do some research. Which is why I don't blame the generally low scores for those games in this topic.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Agro sucks

You'd have to be a soulless husk to not feel anything when Agro fake dies

Lightning Strikes posted...

Hades - 8.03 (18 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.94 (27 votes)

Lightning Strikes posted...

What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.4 (5 votes)

Lightning Strikes posted...

Celeste - 7.62 (25 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.54 (14 votes)

Lightning Strikes posted...

Hollow Knight - 6.98 (21 votes)

Dark Souls - 6.62 (20 votes)

I rest my case

Let's say... 6.

I'd appreciate a little more than we got. I feel like it's this weird place where it actually gives just enough that I'd appreciate a few more breadcrumbs. Basically the whole outside country thing. If that wasn't there I think the minimalism is fine but they give you that piece and it puts it in this weird spot where if they're gonna give you that bit I wish they gave a tiny bit more, I feel.

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I wouldnt say its impossible for minimalism to tell a great story in games but Ive never seen it - and maybe not even a good story. Not here, not in Ico, not in Journey, not in Super Metroid, and not in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I love the latter two and I like SotC but no.

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6.5

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Mac Arrowny posted...

2.5

Agro sucks

YOU suck.

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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

I rest my case

your case is "these games got higher scores than other games I like"

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I do think the results demonstrate a general trend where B8 loves text and dialog-heavy games and tends to be (imo undeservingly) harsh on more minimalist and visual forms of storytelling. If I go over the list, I actually share some of Axl's frustration when I see that games like Dark Souls, SotC now, and even Earthbound (which is text-heavy but conveys its most important feelings and points with minimal dialog,) are so far below games like Metal Gear Solid (which I think should be docked a few points for Kojima's extreme over-reliance on expository dialog,) or The Last of Us (which feels to me more like it's trying to be a movie rather than using the opportunities for storytelling that come from being a video game.)

I'd say Pyresword's idea regarding minimalism is the opposite of the truth. In any medium, good writing is being able to convey more meaning with fewer words. Video games in particular should convey their ideas through visuals and gameplay - otherwise why not tell your story with a book or a TV show? MGS risks drowning its meaning in endless text, but its redeeming characteristic is that Kojima ultimately is creative at coming up with ways to convey story through game mechanics. Kingdom Hearts and The Last of Us fail because they don't know how to convey feelings or ideas by any other means than dialog, and because they don't consider how the game mechanics impact the story (i.e. enemies ignoring Ellie when Joel's protectiveness of her is so essential to the themes, or Donald and Goofy being nearly irrelevant to strategy in a game based around teamwork and friendship.)

The battle against Mother Brain in Super Metroid is a perfect example of a great story moment in a video game, because every aspect of the gameplay, the visuals, and the music come together to help the player experience what Samus feels - and it conveys a wide range of emotions from shock to helplessness to fury through those things. It's both more impressive and more effective than if it had tried to sell those feelings through narration, which is why Other M's rendition of the fight (or my description of it) is so limp in comparison.

SotC knows how to do that too, and I think the feeling that comes from a moment like the player desperately trying to run to Mono as he is sucked into the pool by the sealing sword is worth a hundred codec calls.

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eh 5/10

pyresword posted...

Minimalism in the context of storytelling is an artistically bankrupt philosophy imo.

INSIDE says hello

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9

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A little surprised at the low scores here honestly.

7

I was never uninterested and I love the ending.

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Shadow of the Colossus - 8
Deus Ex - 9.5

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It's worth 100 MGS4 Codec calls, maybe.

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7.5/10

Simple, yet mysterious and emotional.

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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Dark Souls - 6.62 (20 votes)

I rest my case

yes, but hollow knight is a game for poor people as we all know

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6

What's there is good but it was always MUCH more about the atmosphere and colossi

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@UltimaterializerX this is your topic

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Nanis23 posted...

@UltimaterializerX this is your topic

There goes bracket

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I didn't vote in the Hades one and I'm struggling here too. Wonderful games but this is Story ratings, not Overall ratings...

7

(probably overly-generous but damn)

(literally a 9 or 9.5/10 game)

Evillordexdeath posted...

In any medium, good writing is being able to convey more meaning with fewer words.

I don't really agree with this for the record. A good writer is going to be able to do this, but I don't view this as an identifier of good writing--in particular because to me the "more meaning" half is so much more important than the "fewer words" half that the intended point behind the statement just doesn't matter to me.

I think the problem is that stories even in their distilled form still feel somewhat bulky to me, so I don't think the minimalistic approach accomplishes much as compared to a medium like (visual) art or music, and it just amounts to cutting out the meat of the story instead.
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It's more being able to convey meaning and emotion without having to actually spell it out. Text heavy games can do this, too (Ace Attorney is great at it, for instance), but SotC accomplishes it as well.

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The battle against Mother Brain in Super Metroid is a perfect example of a great story moment in a video game, because every aspect of the gameplay, the visuals, and the music come together to help the player experience what Samus feels - and it conveys a wide range of emotions from shock to helplessness to fury through those things. It's both more impressive and more effective than if it had tried to sell those feelings through narration, which is why Other M's rendition of the fight (or my description of it) is so limp in comparison.

This is all pretty much correct and does add to the game (whereas more text-heavy storytelling probably wouldn't do much for it) but "story moment" is the thing. Outside the beginning, end, and the boss fights and some of the buildup to them, there's very little else. Nothing I've played that takes this route is able to supply the quality and quantity of content to amount to much of a substantial story. And if someone's asking to be recommended a game with a great story, I really hope you're not gonna suggest Super Metroid or Shadow of the Colossus.

I've thought it over though, and...yeah, I'd still take Shadow of the Colossus and its artsy-fartsy pretentiousness over an overly generic, average story with average execution..

6/10

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Yeah, I wouldn't recommend playing it for the story, which is why I can't give it a top level score, but I think it does enhance the experience where it shows up, like it does in Super Metroid or Sonic 3 & Knuckles, where those are perhaps the most memorable moments of the game.

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2

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Tales of Symphonia - 8

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8

what are these scores

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Nominate Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Go Benjamin!

UltimaterializerX posted...

Not only is there no plot, there is intentionally no plot

blatantly false

you may not like the plot but the story the game tries to tell is pretty clear

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if that was all the plot was, you would be correct

but you can't be rational about this game so there's really no point in having this conversation

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I mean comparing it to possibly the best TV episode of the year with 15 years of advancement in storytelling and animation is not going to work for it.

8.

The game works on an emotional level and thats all you can ask. It is simple but interesting and had me close to tears by the end of the story.

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I mean I would say there's effectively no plot. We don't know anything about the main character beyond what's baked into the premise; we don't know anything about the girl; we don't know anything about the world they inhabit. We know exceptionally little about the allegedly Faustian bargain the main character has made, why it's a problem, and why these other people (whom we also know nothing about) are trying to stop him. There's not really anything we do know something substantive about that I'm aware of.

The assertion of the game--of course--is that none of this matters, which I have already stated that I think is complete nonsense.
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I will say that if I were rating this in terms of how much I personally got out of the story then I would have given this a 1 or maybe a 2. It is clear there's some sort of coherent artistic vision here though which I figured should count for something in a thread like this.
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