Shadow of the colossus

Developer: Team Ico

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

You play the game as Wander and arrive on horseback carrying a women  at vast land with a huge temple in the middle. The cut-scene at the beginning gives you the sense the character has travelled far to this land. The focus of the game is to defeat 16 beasts (colossi) to bring the girl back to life. There is little else in the way of dialogue that explains the narrative of the game instead it is open to interpretation and shown aesthetically, for example the landscape you are in is vast with no other characters around apart from the god-like entity that speaks to you from the temple but is not seen. This gives you a great sense that the place is old and sacred, and the emotional feeling of loneliness. Other emotions felt while playing the game is love, Wander has travelled far to this land and challenges await him to restore this girls life and you are compelled to be emotionally attached to her, also Wanders horse argo, through certain challenges while defeating colossi where it would be impossible with out his help you feel a bond with your companion and enhanced by his AI that makes him feel more like a living creature than a vehicle, you form an emotional tie (friendship). The giant colossi that you have to defeat are made of the environment around you, stone, earth and grass and feel as though that are part of this land. Most encounters they don't even seem to notice you there and you question yourself while playing whether slaying these beasts to restore the life of one person is right? While fighting the colossi in battles that can take up to an hour the music play a key part in the aesthetic, as you scale the colossi the music picks up and you have a heightened feeling of drama and when the colossi is slain the music changes to a sad hymn and again you question yourself whether you are doing the right thing. Which is something you would not normally think about when playing other games, you wouldn't sit back and question why you just killed that last boss. But this is something Shadow Of The Colossus makes you feel. All these emotions are communicated well throughout the game and I believe it is artistic expression.

References

Image: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/images/colossus2.jpg