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[Audioboxer]

They implemented the European version of the controls, which are supposed to be more difficult but just end up being much more frustrating - Wander has very small windows of opportunity to attack while holding on. Consequently you get first timers not really interested in sticking it out because the controls aren't up to snuff. Speaking of which...

If this is true, they don't really need to own up or confess to anything then do they? :/

I mean if the EU PS2 version is the same, it's really just a case of tough luck Americans is it not?

From all the talk about the grip meter prior to now I was under the impression that they had broke it, not simply implemented a regions style that the majority on GAF aren't familiar with.

 

[Koroviev]

They implemented the European version of the controls, which are supposed to be more difficult but just end up being much more frustrating - Wander has very small windows of opportunity to attack while holding on. Consequently you get first timers not really interested in sticking it out because the controls aren't up to snuff. Speaking of which...



Stick it out to five - that's probably the second best one in the game. Then you're definitely in a position to say yay or nay, but until then the colossi have been fairly standard.. they get quite interesting after that point.

And let me know

I'm fine with the controls. I just prefer Ico's puzzles to SotC's action.

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

If this is true, they don't really need to own up or confess to anything then do they? :/

I mean if the EU PS2 version is the same, it's really just a case of tough luck Americans is it not?

From all the talk about the grip meter prior to now I was under the impression that they had broke it, not simply implemented a regions style that the majority on GAF aren't familiar with.

Well, not only are the European controls worse than the American ones, but the HD port ones are worse than both.

 

[leroidys]

Holy shitballs fuckdamn. Colossus 15 on hard mode in the collection is unspeakably terrible.

 

[vazel]

PS+ says it downloaded a patch for this game overnight. Does anyone know what it does? It's at version 1.01.

Edit: After Googling around it looks like it's a Remote Play patch.

 

[teiresias]

I've had this for a while and played through ICO immediately upon getting it, but let SoTC languish. I've started playing it (pretty much one colossi a night) and I just came on here specifically to post out of frustration after taking about half an hour to finish #3 (on normal). I was like, am I just worse at this game than I was six years ago, or is something wrong?

Then I read a page back and realize that it wasn't just me. Wander loses his grip far too easily, and I'm not even meaning how long his grip meter lasts, I mean his ability to keep himself steady and "grounded" while a colossus he's climbing moves is completely different and annoying from how I remember the original US PS2 game. If this really is the EU controls, A) what moron in the EU originally thought these were good changes, and B) what moron thought implementing them in the HD version of the game was a good idea? It's completely ridiculous.

Also, I have yet to see even a single lizard with a glowing tail in this game. I remember running around stocking up on those things right at the beginning of the game on the PS2 (once I realized what they did), so is the absolute dearrth of any glowing-tail lizards another EU-based change? If so, another misstep.

 

[leroidys]

I've had this for a while and played through ICO immediately upon getting it, but let SoTC languish. I've started playing it (pretty much one colossi a night) and I just came on here specifically to post out of frustration after taking about half an hour to finish #3 (on normal). I was like, am I just worse at this game than I was six years ago, or is something wrong?

Then I read a page back and realize that it wasn't just me. Wander loses his grip far too easily, and I'm not even meaning how long his grip meter lasts, I mean his ability to keep himself steady and "grounded" while a colossus he's climbing moves is completely different and annoying from how I remember the original US PS2 game. If this really is the EU controls, A) what moron in the EU originally thought these were good changes, and B) what moron thought implementing them in the HD version of the game was a good idea? It's completely ridiculous.

Also, I have yet to see even a single lizard with a glowing tail in this game. I remember running around stocking up on those things right at the beginning of the game on the PS2 (once I realized what they did), so is the absolute dearrth of any glowing-tail lizards another EU-based change? If so, another misstep.

I think they have the same placement. You'll find most of them around save temples.

 

[krYlon]

I played the eu ps2 version and don't remember any problems. Haven't played the port so can't compare.

Also I thought the eu version was the same as the japanese and only na was different. Or am I getting mixed up with ico?

 

[SxP]

I played the eu ps2 version and don't remember any problems. Haven't played the port so can't compare.

I played both (EU PS2 and Collection) and the Collection has different physics/whatever. The Collection is the EU version in terms of content (different Ico ending, some content changes in SotC). But definitely not the physics. I even played the (EU) PS2 version directly after playing the Collection and it's definitely not the same.

 

[krYlon]

I played both (EU PS2 and Collection) and the Collection has different physics/whatever. The Collection is the EU version in terms of content (different Ico ending, some content changes in SotC). But definitely not the physics. I even played the (EU) PS2 version directly after playing the Collection and it's definitely not the same.

That's a real shame, this is supposed to be the definitive collection. It makes me sad that people playing this for the first time are experiencing a broken version.

 

[Jarmel]

So is the Ico and Shadows Collection off PSN? I can't buy it.

 

[The Awesomest]

I just finished ICO yesterday. Enjoyed it greatly. Playing Last Story before I start SoTC.

But what I really wanted to talk about was this Peter Eliot character. I tried reading his plot analysis but I got lost in his writing. If I looked really hard, I could see some good points but they were buried under mountains of pointless rambles that had nothing to do with what he was arguing. Am I the only one who wanted to yell at him to shut up and get on with whatever his point was?

 

[teiresias]

I just turned SoTC off in complete frustration at the last Colossus. It's one of three where the head-based vital is completely broken because of the new physics/trip threshold (or whatever it is they changed) of this collection (literally the first time I've thrown a controller since I was like 8 years old). The collection has officially soured me on SoTC forever and I doubt I'll ever go back and play it - which is a real shame because the original (at least the US version since we seem unclear on whether this is just broken Collection physics or an implementation of one of the regional changes) is a real classic.

I'll keep the collection at this point just for ICO, but as soon as I power through the last Colossus just to say I'm done I'm never revisiting this game again. Shame on the developer of this collection for ruining a great game in this manner.

 

[jett]

It's really too bad about the broken physics/grip/balance in SotC HD. I had another go at hard mode last night and it literally took me 30 minutes to beat Colossus #3(where it takes 5 minutes on the PS2), and 20 minutes on #6. This is retarded, and it's infuriating that Bluepoint ignores all my emails.

The changed controls or whatever it is doesn't make the game harder, it just makes it an unmanageable piece of shit.

 

[ScOULaris]

It's really too bad about the broken physics/grip/balance in SotC HD. I had another go at hard mode last night and it literally took me 30 minutes to beat Colossus #3(where it takes 5 minutes on the PS2), and 20 minutes on #6. This is retarded, and it's infuriating that Bluepoint ignores all my emails.

The changed controls or whatever it is doesn't make the game harder, it just makes it an unmanageable piece of shit.

While the slippery grip issue never bothered me as much as it did most others, I've always been irritated by BluePoint's complete refusal to explain how this issue came about. Pretty much everyone who played the originals notices the difference, and I know for a fact that people have emailed BluePoint about it numerous times, including myself.

Was it an unforeseen consequence of the more stable framerate? Was the physics code not ported over in a completely faithful manner? All we can do is speculate, and that's frustrating.

 

[Marco1]

I have an issue in the UK were the 1.0 update resets my ps3.
Anyone else having this issue?

 

[SxP]

I have an issue in the UK were the 1.0 update resets my ps3.
Anyone else having this issue?

Not with this game, but two other games did this while patching yesterday as well. And both these games never had a problem patching on my old (now dead) PS3. If you have Plus, just let it background download the patch. If not, I don't know.

 

[Marco1]

Not with this game, but two other games did this while patching yesterday as well. And both these games never had a problem patching on my old (now dead) PS3. If you have Plus, just let it background download the patch. If not, I don't know.

Is this a firmware or super slim ps3 problem?

 

[SxP]

Is this a firmware or super slim ps3 problem?

I can't tell you for sure. It never happened with my old fatty, but I updated a few other games just fine on my super slim 4.31.

 

[Ezi0]

This collection is phenomenal, picked it up a few weeks ago. I had the PS2 version of ICO which I never played, and I only got to the 8th colossus on Shadow back in the day.

Managed to platinum Shadow earlier. Loved everything besides the fucking hard time attacks. HTA 3 was so bullshit.

I'll try and go for the trophy for completing ICO in under 2 hours tomorrow.

 

[leroidys]

This collection is phenomenal, picked it up a few weeks ago. I had the PS2 version of ICO which I never played, and I only got to the 8th colossus on Shadow back in the day.

Managed to platinum Shadow earlier. Loved everything besides the fucking hard time attacks. HTA 3 was so bullshit.

I'll try and go for the trophy for completing ICO in under 2 hours tomorrow.

Glad you enjoyed them. The last several LttP threads I've seen have not been positive. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, but opinions like those make me lose all faith in humanity.

 

[Ezi0]

Glad you enjoyed them. The last several LttP threads I've seen have not been positive. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, but opinions like those make me lose all faith in humanity.

I'll avoid those if I ever come across them lol.

Just finished 'Castle Guide' on ICO. Cut it too close for comfort, but it's done. Ridiculous that you can't skip the ending/credits.

 

[Dantis]

This reminds me that I still need to play Ico.

Finished SotC last year. Overall impression was positive, though not consistent. I was loving it, and I felt like the game peaked when you get to the underwater one. Completely blew my mind, and it was the first and only time that I've felt intimidated by a videogame. I think it went downhill from there though, with the boar being a particular low point.

Really looking forward to playing Ico, I just keep forgetting to.

 

[SxP]

Ridiculous that you can't skip the ending/credits.

Same with SotC, though not having a time limit makes it less infuriating. But when you're just replaying the game trying to get your grip and health maxed the unskippable final cutscene is pretty damn annoying. And long as well.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Playing Ico for the first time. It's a love-hate relationship a few hours in

Love: minimal HUD/gamey elements. You figure out a lot of things on your own, and in this generation I apperciate that.

HATE: The combat. Just absolutely horrible combat. Clunky, clumsy, challenge-free, and goes on FOOOOREEEEVVEEEER. Right after that first bomb puzzle, it's just this parade of Shadows, and it's some of the most tedium gameplay I've done in awhile.

Love: The atmosphere: Hand and hand with the minimalness, you're mostly alone in that giant castle, but if you look around you you get a greater sense of things. There's a nice feeling of discovery here, you really have no idea what the next room is gonna look like

HATE: Yorda's AI. I know it's 2001 when this was released, but holy hell did her AI not hold up. There are times where I'm standing there going "OPA!" "OPA!" and Yorda will spin around in circles, walk a few paces, look at her arm, basically do everything except get the fuck over here. It's getting irritating.

It's an interesting experiment, I'm enjoying parts of it, glad it exists, but some of it's game mechanics hold me back from fully embracing it as truly great.

 

[ScOULaris]

HATE: The combat. Just absolutely horrible combat. Clunky, clumsy, challenge-free, and goes on FOOOOREEEEVVEEEER. Right after that first bomb puzzle, it's just this parade of Shadows, and it's some of the most tedium gameplay I've done in awhile.

The combat never bothered me, since it is supposed to feel clumsy and a bit desperate, but you can skip most combat sections by dragging Yorda over to the nearest set of door idols. She will activate them, and the resultant electricity will vaporize any shadow enemies nearby.

 

[Hackbert]

thanks PS+. Finally i can enjoy these gems in HD. Have them both for the PS2, but my sister keeps them these days hehe.

 

[velociraptor]

So I'm playing SoTC for the first time ever.

Man this game is hard.

The control scheme is so convoluted. I'm trying to fight the third colossus and I keep on falling.

 

[badcrumble]

The combat never bothered me, since it is supposed to feel clumsy and a bit desperate, but you can skip most combat sections by dragging Yorda over to the nearest set of door idols. She will activate them, and the resultant electricity will vaporize any shadow enemies nearby.

Yeah, I think there are only a very very few combat encounters where this is impossible. It's pretty much 100% necessary to do it this way if you're trying to get the speed run trophy.

 

[krae_man]

I've platinum this game for a while but my original PS3 YLOD'd and I lost all my progress and I haven't got back to it for a while.

I finally got back on the horse(I see what you did there). Finished normal mode and all the normal time trials. Man I forgot how much of an uncooperative asshole some of these Colossi can be sometimes.

Like the third Colossi

Spoiler

He would just try and step on me instead of backing up so he could swing his sword and break it

Then the 15th Colossi

Spoiler

You think I could get to his hand? grrr

Then the final one

Spoiler

No matter how quickly I was able to climb him, He'd never keep his head still enough to get a stab in. I also kept getting hit diving from wall to wall

Then there was the problem of forgetting to save after I get frustrated and quit and having to replay some again.

Hard mode time trial is going to be controller throwing rage educing I just know it.

Side question regarding the last Colossi

Spoiler

He did something I've never seen him do before when I finally beat him in time trial mode. On PS2 what I used to do once I got onto his right hand is stand on his hand then as he turned it I would run across the top of his hand, jump and I'd be able to grab the ledge just below his neck. I wasn't able to duplicate that so what I did instead is quickly pull out my bow while his hand is still for a brief second and shoot an arrow at his shoulder which he would scratch allowing me to get onto his shoulders.

Anyway, while in time attack mode he did something where he held his one wrist with his other hand and held that position for an extended period of time. I'm assuming that's what you're supposed to do to make shooting an arrow at his shoulder easier to do but I've never seen him do that before. How do you trigger that?

 

[RPGCrazied]

I got lucky and got this for $8.99 new today. Newegg gave me a $10 coupon, and I used it towards this. It was $18.99 new.

Been ages since I played these.

 

[Grinchy]

I finally got around to trying out this HD version of SOTC. After a slightly clunky start, I finally got used to the controls again. I was pretty decent at the game on PS2, so I was a bit surprised by having some difficulty on the first boss. But I took it down, and had no trouble with the second one.

Then I got to the third one and I couldn't believe how broken it felt. When I was in the middle section of his body, I could not hold on for long enough to get a good hit in on the weak point. I would just be flailing around like an idiot while the colossus was barely even moving, and then when he'd start to move, I'd flail around even harder. At no point could I get a hit in. This was going on for minutes at a time.

I ended up just having to get like 15 tiny little jabs in over and over again until I completely took out that middle weak point and I could climb up to the next one. And in general, when climbing, I feel like the character gets flustered more often than the PS2 version and freaks out over nothing. I did a google search and found out other people have thought the same thing about this HD version. I'm going to keep playing it but the 3rd colossus was frustrating (and I could beat it on the PS2 version in my sleep). If any more of them are this frustrating, I may just not have the time for this game.

 

[jett]

I finally got around to trying out this HD version of SOTC. After a slightly clunky start, I finally got used to the controls again. I was pretty decent at the game on PS2, so I was a bit surprised by having some difficulty on the first boss. But I took it down, and had no trouble with the second one.

Then I got to the third one and I couldn't believe how broken it felt. When I was in the middle section of his body, I could not hold on for long enough to get a good hit in on the weak point. I would just be flailing around like an idiot while the colossus was barely even moving, and then when he'd start to move, I'd flail around even harder. At no point could I get a hit in. This was going on for minutes at a time.

I ended up just having to get like 15 tiny little jabs in over and over again until I completely took out that middle weak point and I could climb up to the next one. And in general, when climbing, I feel like the character gets flustered more often than the PS2 version and freaks out over nothing. I did a google search and found out other people have thought the same thing about this HD version. I'm going to keep playing it but the 3rd colossus was frustrating (and I could beat it on the PS2 version in my sleep). If any more of them are this frustrating, I may just not have the time for this game.

Yeah, SotC HD is just messed up. Imagine it on hard mode now. It's so frustrating it becomes unplayable. Bluepoint has ignored any emails I've sent them. Fuck 'em.

 

[Grinchy]

^That's such a shame. I almost bought the HD collection so many times, so I'm glad I got to find this out for free. I'll probably still play SOTC some more, and I'll definitely play ICO, but this is still disappointing.

The improvement in framerate alone for SOTC should make the entire game control better than the PS2 version, so it's a shame that there's something thrown in to take away some of the improvement.

 

[ScOULaris]

Despite the grip issue that was introduced in the HD version of SotC, I still think it's the definitive version. The grip problem only affects maybe 2 or 3 colossi battles negatively. I was even able to beat both Normal and Hard Time Attack modes in the HD version despite the more demanding grip mechanic.

It's all worth it to play it in HD with a stable framerate.

 

[Blader]

Sorry for the bump, but all the E3 non-talk about Last Guardian had me itching to play both of these games again. I really liked ICO and SotC was one of my top 10 of that gen, so I was wondering why I hadn't bought this collection already even though it came out 3 years ago.

Then I read the last couple pages of complaints and frustrations over the new grip controls and remembered what scared me off. :lol

So are the new controls really that bad? Did they ever get patched? I notice a lot of the issues seem to be for people playing on hard or doing the time attacks, which I have no real interest in myself. Would they still be a problem if I was only playing on normal?

I still have my PS2 copy and my PS3 has BC, so I'm basically wondering if it's still worth the purchase or should I just pop my old disc in.

(I don't own ICO though, so that'd be one benefit to picking this up)

 

[ScOULaris]

So are the new controls really that bad? Did they ever get patched? I notice a lot of the issues seem to be for people playing on hard or doing the time attacks, which I have no real interest in myself. Would they still be a problem if I was only playing on normal

Don't worry about the grip "issue." The HD Collection versions of both SotC and ICO are the definitive releases for each. They look and play so much better in HD with locked framerates, and the less forgiving grip physics in SotC will not mar your enjoyment whatsoever if you don't plan on doing the Hard Time Attack mode.

I was able to beat both Normal and Hard Time Attacks in the HD version with the harder grip physics, so it's really not that bad at all save for a couple of colossi. The controls haven't changed at all. It's just that Wander seems to lose his footing while gripping onto fur more easily in the HD version than he did on PS2. We never got an official explanation from BluePoint about this, but most seem to attribute the difference to the higher polling rate on the physics calculations due to the consistently higher framerate as compared to the original release.

BUY THIS COLLECTION and cherish it. It's one of the best fanservice releases I've ever seen, even if it's not 100% perfect.

 

[Blader]

^Thanks dude, think I'm going to grab this and the FFX/X-2 remaster off Amazon.

And maybe download Okami HD off PSN too, just make it a summer of throwbacks. :lol

 

[Blader]

I finished SotC last night and I have to say the last colossus was one of the worst gameplay experiences I've ever had. Holy fucking shit, talk about broken ass controls.

I can see what people are saying about the controls, and for the most part I thought most of the colossus fights still seemed fine (though Wander seemed to flail around and lose his stabbing motion WAY more often than I remember). Until the end, only the 3rd and 15th took me longer than I think they should have, and those were more tedious than anything. But the final one was one of the worst exercises in frustration I've ever played through in a game. I haven't felt so stressed about a game like that in a long, long time.

Aside from that very sour note to end on, the game was a (mostly) fun return to an adventure I absolutely loved two gens ago. And even though the controls really haven't aged well (never mind the instances where they just flat out didn't work), the game looks more beautiful than ever.

After replaying them for the first time in nearly a decade, I'm definitely more love/hate with ICO and SotC now than I was a couple gens ago. But if nothing else, the HD presentation for these titles is absolutely stunning and that alone was worth experiencing the games all over again.

 

[DarkFlame]

One of the most unique games of all time and a monumental to art.

The feeling when i first climbed into a Colossus was one of my best moments in gaming.And God does that soundtrack help the thrill of fighting a colossus

Games miss innovation nowadays.Wish I could see more games exploring this type of gameplay,immersive giant fighting bosses in vast landscapes

 

[silva1991]

hopefully we see TLG on the title if it ends up good