My hobbies of writing and music became my way of grappling the world. Using symbolic representations of real fears and situations is an effective way to think because it takes place within an environment entirely of your own creation. . . It is a controlled experiment. Continue reading Make the Jump & Write: Grappling Life
If there is one song which puts the stories of ICO, Shadow and Guardian into words, this is it. Continue reading Run Boy Run
“In that world, it is said that if one should wish it one can bring back the souls of the dead…But to trespass upon that land is strictly forbidden.” Continue reading Plot Explained: Shadow of the Colossus
“What if we talked about a young outcast boy who wears sandals, has a bandage around his head, and holds somebody’s hand?” — Micah Edmonds. Continue reading Design, Design, Design
She, the flute, tells all these things; a master of voice yet, no words sung. Continue reading Poet of the Wind
While he still has tremendous ambition to heal the sacrificed maiden, he now does so through courage, not selfish pride. Continue reading Is It Really So Bad?
Instead of ending the hero’s life, he is kept alive at a cost. By this players are made to feel just how weighty their decisions have become. Continue reading Degradation and Mortality
After witnessing dim visions, a boy wakes up within a grassy cave. “In my dream, I was flying. Flying through the darkness…” Continue reading Plot Explained: The Last Guardian
The music feels like you might have saved someone you love, but you couldn’t save everyone you loved.
— Ko Otani Continue reading Ōtani’s Requiem
Interspersed between scenes of danger are nooks of the landscape in which to find sanctuary. Enter a forest. Continue reading Enter a Forest
The most intriguing impression I gained from watching him find and kill these Colossi was how magnificent they were. They are too regal, too beautiful, to watch them fall and die. Continue reading Horned Vessels
Vane, a game by Friend & Foe is highly reminiscent of TeamICO games. Its simple design and lonely world make it so that it could have been released by Ueda himself. But something is missing. Continue reading Winged Reminiscence: A Look at ‘Vane’
I feel that to be a hero, you need some kind of partner… If the main character were by himself, it would be really sad, but the horse is there with him, and as they work together, a strong relationship develops between them. Continue reading The Design of Companionship
You know that the story in front of you is not your own, that you are merely being invited to see it as the main character did. But you still get the overwhelming feeling that the booming Deity is living and breathing and speaking to you. It makes you feel unsettled and, at times, desperate. These are the best moments in Ueda’s games. Continue reading When Thunder Comes
The Colossus then walked straight into a column of the great Bridge; it stopped, hesitated, and tried gingerly turning around. This beast wasn’t ferocious at all! But I had to kill it. Dismounting and drawing my bow, I ran up and stood right in front of its feet. Continue reading Giants Walk the Earth: A Look at ‘Shadow of the Colossus’
The audio has been remastered, additional strings and brass added, chorus re-balanced, and percussion brought forward. A new track “43 Medley: Prayer-Hope” was composed specially for this version. Continue reading A Majestic World: The Soundtracks of Fumito Ueda
