Shadow of the Colossus: The Last Big Secret (The Short Version)



Before arbsorbing shadows/fruits

    One thing that's always nagged my mind about Shadow of the Colossus is the fact everyone KNEW you could climb the tower at one point.  How would that be considered a secret?

     It was one of my immediate goals when playing the first time back on PS2.  I spotted the moss trail after circling the Shrine of Worship immediately and knew there had to be a way to scale it.  It was an accessible location. So I figure there'd also be a reason to climb it.  After many playthroughs and eating an absurd amount of fruits and magical shining lizard tails.  You have to put forth a massive amount of EFFORT and WORK to get enough stamina to ascend the Shrine of Worship.  So why would the fruit in the "Secret Garden" return all that work to base level?

  Why would the game's creators make it possible, I'd say- inevitable, to allow players to gain enough power from the Forbidden Lands to scale the tower just to return you back to human?

     So here's a bit of backup for my thoughts on the speculated "Last Big Secret" of Shadow of the Colossus.
From a 1UP interview:

1UP: Are there any secrets in the game that still haven't been found?

Fumita Ueda: I wonder about that, but there seem to be many enthusiastic players so I believe all of the secrets have been found already.

1UP: Why does the fruit in the secret garden take away your stamina? Is there any specific reason for this in the story, or is it just a way to reset your stamina meter?

Fumito Ueda: The fruit in the ancient land was set to get you closer to non-human existence. The [secret garden's] fruit was set to return you to a human one.

From an IGN interview:

Kyle Shubel: Hmmm…I dunno, that sounds like an exclusive. Hmmm…well, everyone is talking about the secret garden. That is pretty much the most popular secret in the game that everybody gravitates towards because you have to do a certain level of time investment to be able to get strong enough to get there and, yes, that was there for the ending movie. They left it in the game for a reason.

After the shadows/fruits

     Well- What exactly is the purpose of returning the character IN GAME to human status???  What is the reason for the garden and what is the true purpose of the fruits???  If I wanted to do that I'd simply start a new game.  Besides which fruits are the forbiddon ones?  The garden's or the land's?  Who forbids it?  Dormin or the Priests?
 
     What if there is something you can ONLY do as a "human." Something that only people untainted by Dormin's power can do.  So it would be something later in the game, but necessarily without the increased health or power. For instance, the Shrine of Worship's front doors seem to only open under specific conditions, is it because the users are merely mortal. 
     Are the fruits designed to lessen or subvert the powers of Dormin?  They purposely deprive you of stamina and health to the lowest level- a regular human- ridding the player of Dormin's influence and that of the land itself.  Kind of like a preventative measure to keep the powers of Dormin from escaping the lands? 
     I really wonder why they would include this feature with the fruits.  Is there something still not noticed in the secret garden itself that requires an untainted human to occur. 

     One important thing, at least to me, is to notice that only "humans" are able to come and go from the Forbidden Lands.  Once you have built your health and stamina gauges to the maximum superhuman level is the first real time you can make it back to the Forbidden Land's front gates again.  Now I'm not saying that it'll become possible to leave, but it is an idea, and I don't know if anyone has tried. Eat the fruit of the garden, then try doing things.  Try exiting the Forbidden Land after the fruit.  Try the Shrine of Worship's front door after the fruit.

     One person suggested the parachute was necessary for the last secret.  I have no clue where that idea came from but - what if?  What if you need the parachute to safely reach the ground again after becoming human again to do something?  Try parachuting through the big hole in the garden after eating the fruit.

     Has anyone tried to beat Malus after eating the fruit?  Is it even possible?  While it is extremely doubtful a different ending could happen, would it be under this type of condition that it might exist?  One where the Wanderer doesn't contain enough shadow material to manifest Dormin himself during the ending.

     Another possibility is the Shrine of Worship's pool.  It seems to act as a gateway throughout the game.  A doorway to somewhere or something otherworldly.  It's the place all the bestowed weapons and items appear after the challenges as well as the gateway that drags Dormin into after Emon's spell and magical sword are cast into.
    Maybe there's a prayer to activate something in the pool.  Although the argument against the pool idea is that you start as a human next to it and nothing has been found to happen yet.  A potential portal waiting to be opened.  Once again, I'm not saying there would be something huge.  But maybe, just maybe...

     I personally would like to find maybe a small room or niche that houses a portion, or whole remains, of Dormin's previous encasement.  I would absolutely LOVE to find a skeleton of Dormin's previous incarnation on a throne.  Perhaps even parts of his ancient self strewn about the land in it's crumbling state.  Even a view of it reflected in the pool while praying would be great.  But, alas, it is just wishful thinking.
     I'd like to leave fellow Shadow of the Colossus players, and "last big secret" searchers, with the question I stated earlier-

  Why would the game's creators make it possible, I'd say- inevitable, to allow players to gain enough power from the Forbidden Lands to scale the tower just to return you back to human?

Shadow of the Colossus: The Last Big Secret (The Long Version)

     With all the Last Guardian hubbub going around I've been replaying these games(Ico and Shadow of the Colossus) over the last couple months.  Both games are short and emotionally moving, they can be beaten quickly then replayed for simply for the joy of a beautiful game.  I like just wandering around looking at parts of the castle in Ico and roaming the Forbidden Land in Shadow.  A wonderful experience.
     So I've been looking around for secrets in Shadow of the Colossus.  Little things that I may have missed.  Along the way I stumbled across a "Last Big Secret" theory that there is something that no one has found in the game yet. 

-WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT THE LAST SECRET-

     I don't know how the rumors of a last big secret started, as I couldn't find an interview explicitly stating it.  But there seems to be a large following of secret believers.  After lots of searching I was coming across many theories on the internet, including a MASSIVE theory about hidden map symbols leading to a possible secret doorway.  I've seen mentions of a 17th colossi (which I doubt considerably), notes about the only other item given to you in a battle (the stick that you light on fire to fight Celosia), and a bunch of other theories and ideas.  A great read even if a lot of the ideas are a bit far out there.  Kind of akin to a conspiracy theory for the game. 

http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/Shadow-of-the-Colossus-PS2/Quest-for-the-Last-Big-Secret-Mysteries-of-SotC/td-p/20178777 

     After reading a bunch of those pages I would guess that it isn't something in the right direction if there is still one big remaining secret in the game.  While a bunch of these ideas are absolutely brilliant, I would hesitate to believe them because of the game itself.  Mr. Ueda likes the simplicity of gaming, not a giant super-secret that needs to be deciphered through ludicrous little clues like The Da Vinci Code.  It seems highly preposterous to have such a complicated "secret" in this game.

     This next link is to me much more plausible:

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5533646&bId=8882265

      I could believe that point with the view of the blurry mountains on the bridge possibly being a view to the "possible Ico castle."  Which might be possible if the "Ico Beach" is a truthful location to connect the games.  It could be true because, I don't know for sure, but they might line up. (see map and images below)  I haven't located it myself so I don't know if they actually line up or not.  Although I do think it is a great find on it's own, as no other lands seem to be visible from within the Forbidden Lands while playing.  (With the notable exception of the intro video and the flying hawk clips)  It would be neat if, story wise, the blurry mountains/castle was coming into being as the culmination of Shadow was occurring.

Map from videogamesblogger.com



Burry mountains/possible castle



Ico (Queen's castle)



Mountains and blurred castle compared.



     Ueda likes "simple" games.  Think of the secrets in Ico.  The hidden mace and lightsaber weapons are in a hidden room.  It's visually set off by one wall being a different color.  While the key to the room's puzzle is a bit further in the next area- hit a tree with whatever weapon you're holding and an orb falls out.  Once you find the room with the visual clue, you must search for the object to solve the puzzle.  Simple and effective.  No extra music tracks needed.  No extra bosses or enemies.  Just a small room with a little extra something.

     The next secret is the watermelon ending.  On the second playthrough after the credits if you just wander the beach you can find watermelons.  The only real thing you can do with them, besides smashing them is walk one down to where Yorda is at.
     These are simple things that lead to the secrets.  Not some huge mystery to be deciphered leading to an intersecting point on a map.  If Shadow of the Colossus still has a hidden something there it'll be hidden in plain sight.  Not something to be glitched into like that Pikol fellow's videos.  Although they are quite interesting, it's VERY doubtful whatever possible "secrets" remain would be found only through glitches.  Especially since the entire "I" column on the map is unused due to the game being shortened for release.  (I would also like to note the fact there are PSN trophies for the hidden things in ICO, and no unknown trophies for Shadow)   
     I also doubt the game's creators would be trolling millions of fans. 

-MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE LAST SECRET-

     One thing that's always nagged my mind about Shadow is the fact everyone KNEW you could climb the tower at one point.  It was one of my immediate goals when playing the first time back on PS2.  I spotted the moss trail after circling the Shrine of Worship immediately and knew there had to be a way to scale it.  It was an accessible location.  So I figure there'd also be a  reason to climb it.  After many playthroughs and eating an absurd amount of fruits and magical shining lizard tails.  You have to put forth a massive amount of EFFORT and WORK to get enough stamina to ascend the Shrine of Worship.  So why would the fruit in the "Secret Garden" return all that work to base level?

  Why would the game's creators make it possible, I'd say inevitable, to allow players to gain enough power from the Forbidden Lands to scale the tower just to return you back to human?

       So here's a bit of backup for my thoughts on the speculated "Last Big Secret" of Shadow of the Colossus.
From a 1UP interview:

1UP: Are there any secrets in the game that still haven't been found? 

Fumita Ueda:  I wonder about that, but there seem to be many enthusiastic players so I believe all of the secrets have been found already.

1UP: Why does the fruit in the secret garden take away your stamina? Is there any specific reason for this in the story, or is it just a way to reset your stamina meter?

Fumito Ueda: The fruit in the ancient land was set to get you closer to non-human existence. The [secret garden's] fruit was set to return you to a human one.

From an IGN interview:

Kyle Shubel: Hmmm…I dunno, that sounds like an exclusive. Hmmm…well, everyone is talking about the secret garden. That is pretty much the most popular secret in the game that everybody gravitates towards because you have to do a certain level of time investment to be able to get strong enough to get there and, yes, that was there for the ending movie. They left it in the game for a reason.

     Well- What exactly is the purpose of returning the character IN GAME to human status???  If I wanted to do that I'd simply start a new game.  What if there is something you can ONLY do as a "human."  Something that only people untainted by Dormin's power can do.  So it would be something later in the game, but necessarily without the increased health or power.  For instance, the Shrine of Worship's front doors seem to only open under specific conditions, is it because the users are merely mortal.  Are the fruits designed to lessen or subvert the powers of Dormin?  Kind of like a preventative measure to keep the powers of Dormin from escaping the lands? 
     One important thing, at least to me, is to notice that only "humans" are able to come and go from the Forbidden Lands.  Once you have built your health and stamina gauges to the maximum superhuman level is the first real time you can make it back to the Forbidden Land's front gates again.  Now I'm not saying that it'll become possible to leave, but it is an idea, and I don't know if anyone has tried.  Eat the fruit of the garden, then try doing things.  Try exiting the Forbidden Land after the fruit.  Try the Shrine of Worship's front door after the fruit.  
     One person suggested the parachute was necessary for the last secret.  I have no clue where that idea came from but - what if?  What if you need the parachute to safely reach the ground again after becoming human again to do something?  Try parachuting through the big hole in the garden after eating the fruit.

     Has anyone tried to beat Malus after eating the fruit?  Is it even possible?  While it is extremely doubtful a different ending could happen, would it be under this type of condition that it might exist?  One where the Wanderer doesn't contain enough shadow material to manifest Dormin himself during the ending.

     Another possibility is the Shrine of Worship's pool.  It seems to act as a gateway throughout the game.  A doorway to somewhere or something otherworldly.  It's the place all the bestowed weapons and items appear after the challenges as well as the gateway that drags Dormin into after Emon's spell and magical sword are cast into.

     Maybe there's a prayer to activate something in the pool.  Although the argument against the pool idea is that you start as a human next to it and nothing has been found to happen yet.  A potential portal waiting to be opened.  Once again, I'm not saying there would be something huge.  But maybe, just maybe... 

     I personally would like to find maybe a small room or niche that houses a portion, or whole remains, of Dormin's previous encasement.  I would absolutely LOVE to find a skeleton of Dormin's previous incarnation on a throne.  Perhaps even parts of his ancient self strewn about the land in it's crumbling state.  Even a nice view of it reflected in the pool while praying would be great.  But, alas, it is just wishful thinking.

     I'd like to leave fellow Shadow of the Colossus players, and "last big secret" searchers, with the question I stated earlier-

     Why would the game's creators make it possible, I'd say inevitable, to allow players to gain enough power from the Forbidden Lands to scale the tower just to return you back to human?

Borderlands 2: New-U Stations

     This post is about a question that's bothered me since playing the first Borderlands game.  The New-U stations exist to recover you from death as a respawn point.  Once you die the stations take your genetic make up to reconstruct your body after death. 
 

New-U Station



"It stores a character's DNA against the possibility of "accidental death or dismemberment" and can create an entirely new body to replace the recently deceased one." (from the Borderlands wiki)

     With the New-U stations being located all over the place, why hasn't anyone hacked them to use for devious means.  Trick the system into believing they're is dead and printing an army of themselves.  I posted something like this on the Gearbox: Borderlands 2 Forums and a fellow over there gave a brilliant answer-

"It's not a loophole at all. It's also been tried before. Why do you think that the bandits who all appear to be identical clones of each other (in their respective categories at least) are batshit crazy? Because they tried to use the New-U system to create an army. The problem is that part of what happens is that your consciousness gets transferred to the new body. If you have two bodies that are supposed to have the same consciousness at the same time, it gets fragmented. Up to about 4 clones of the same person, and you're still pretty safe (hence why you can have 4 of the same vault hunter). Too many more than that and the fragmentation is too much, and insanity sets in."   -Lollybomb

     While a great idea, I'd think it would be more like printing movies or video games.  All the consciousnesses are duplicated in the process of creating the new being.  The information is fully recorded and produced, not a single consciousness spread out over multiple bodies.  I mean none of the psychos seem to get any smarter after killing 1,000 of them.  So the consciousness isn't spreading or condensing.



Handsome Jack has Heterochromia?

      In Borderlands 2 Handsome Jack is now in charge of Hyperion and is what one might consider a MASSIVE ego maniac. Hyperion is the owner and producer of the New-U stations so why not make use of this great potential?

     If anyone would want to make an entire planet love him it would be Handsome Jack- and a whole Pandora of Handsome Jack's would certainly love itself. 
...Or would it hate itself and all the Jacks would end up fighting each other to be the greatest Handsome Jack ever?  Moxxie could sell a billion tickets to that show.

     Unfortunately for us, the Hyperion corporation has found a wonderful way of keeping their employees alive even after the worst case scenarios have played out.  Which also means Handsome Jack may survive death with "Infinite Continues," so to say.  They could also use it as a horrible torture device- torturing people to death, resurrecting them and starting all over. 
     They could also possibly track people's movement with the New-U post activations.  There are tons of possibilities.  So many uses.

     The good part of this New-U system is all the DNA samples could prevent extinction.  The bad part is that beasts like Skagzilla, the Rakk Hive, and Crawmerax the Invincible have all clearly been part of this as they all return repeatedly.

     Well, just some food for thought while waiting through the next month until the game is released.  I am so excited for this game.  Happy hunting for all of you fellow Vault hunters.

My pet snapping turtle.

Today was a sad day.  I brought my turtle back to where I found him.  Sending him home to the river as he is all grown up now.

Turtle when I first got him.

Well, after a year, he's gotten a bit large for my tank, and fish to feed him costs an ass load- so goodbye friend.  Hopefully you'll fair better in your natural habitat.  May you find many delicious fish to eat.

Turtle today.

After releasing him into the river, his first order of business was to chase after a huge pile of these frogs.  I taught him well.  Only the best wishes for turtle on his journeys.

Ermahgerd: Borderlands 2

This is how excited for Borderlands 2 I am.

Not even kidding.  This is EXACTLY how I feel about it.

Game of Thrones + Jersey Shore = ...

A Game of Thrones + Jersey Shore = ...
A Game of Shores?  Jersey Thrones?
And this would be... Jersey Drogo?  Maybe Khal Guido?  I have no idea.
The Dothraki Khal has gained a new style, and Khaleesi Daennerys is flabbergasted!  No worries, as Ser Jorah Mormont explains it!



This came from my immediate response to seeing the first image(Ricardo Fort?) someone posted in a Facebook party that a friend of mine is throwing.  A "Douchebag Party." 

Sooooo... I made this for whoever stumbles across this blog.

Batman: Arkham City: Easter Egg Humor

     After spending ludicrous amounts of time searching for eggs in game and on various forums I made these to add a bit of humor to the search for anyone that swings by here. 

     First- a fake Easter egg secret that I've been wondering about during the endless city searches.  Has anyone watched the skies for anything out of the ordinary?  Man-bat shadows perhaps?  Or what about watching farther out on the waters, maybe something could be floating around- I mean one of the Scarecrow things mentioned in game was that he might have escaped to sea on a Titan container.  Possibly after the also-mentioned Killer Croc attack on him in the sewers.  Just a couple thoughts.

     And one about a joke I made like 2 years ago on twitter.

      Once again, thanks to all the forums and gaming community members in the search for the last remaining Arkham City secrets.  It's been a fun time- quite nice to see entire groups working together to find things in a game.







Game of Thrones: My Favorite Quote

     This small clip holds my favorite quote from the 2 seasons so far.  There are a ton of good characters and wonderful lines, but this one takes the cake for me. 

     It's the last thing that Ygritte (Rose Leslie) says to Jon Snow (Kit Harington), mimicing his voice- it's just so perfect!  For some reason every time I hear it I laugh.  Enjoy.

     "...But then he said, 'Turn back around.'"

Batman: Arkham City: Potential New Secrets



Catwoman.  Just a pic.

     The "3 or 4 Easter Eggs left" is really driving me bonkers.  I have personally found the hidden Scarecrow radio stations(didn't bother translating or decode), the Killer Croc button(but couldn't get him to appear- I tried both too early and too late), and the Harley Quinn pregnancy test. 

Although I would've NEVER found the Scarecrow barge without looking it up.

     So these last few are really nagging me.  While I love the game, I want to move on to other things.
   

      Anyways, there has been a petition on the forums to have Rocksteady games just come out and release the Easter Eggs now.  It's in the Forums: Spoilers! area.

http://community.batmanarkhamcity.com/forums/

Also a bunch of decent ideas on the Gamefaqs forums(PS3):

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/981375-batman-arkham-city

     While I don't think they should outright tell us, hints or Riddler riddles to nudge us in the right direction would be very nice.  I mean nobody has any idea if it's something small like the Pregnancy test, or something big like all the Scarecrow stuff.  Maybe even barely findable like Arkham Asylum's hidden office.  Who could've found that without hints!?!?
     Seriously, I am not wasting all that time foaming and exploding every damn wall around to find a room with a hint at the next game.  Or using every other gadget in the arsenal to locate what may be something just mundane. 

HINTS WOULD BE EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL RIGHT NOW!!!

     In all my renewed excitement for the Batman: Arkham City- and the gaming community surrounding it- I must say, I'm HIGHLY impressed at the level of teamwork and cooperation people are giving to find and follow up on these last few Easter eggs!  Well done people!
     So at least one was "subtle" in the demo, which makes me think it's in only the first area of the game.  The Bowery and Park Row.  Then from there I'd guess in an outdoor area, so either Batman or Catwoman would have access.  But really, how would we narrow down what they consider an egg?  I hope it's something semi large at least.

     So while scouring the net and various forums I've come across a bunch of newer ideas and theories.  Maybe there are a few as Catwoman?  Doubtful, but still a possibility.
 
     I've personally noticed that there seems to be a bunch of various goons or henchmen that run off and hide nearby.  Anyone try to scan/interrogate them?  Maybe sequencer them(this one's a long shot- robotic people)? 

     Then the Maxie Zeus theory: being quoted as "he couldn't be far" from the nightclub.  Perhaps needing the Remote Electrical Charge gun to open or find it.  There are also multiple areas that distinctly "nightclub" music is playing.  So look all over, not in the club, but elsewhere- maybe triangulate the music hot spots or something.

     A few have speculated on Man-bat having a nest area in the church. 

     And I'm still kind of hoping for a bit more Scarecrow stuff.  There were multiple in game suggestions as to where he went.  One was that Killer Croc got him in the sewers, so maybe there is something down there-  Perhaps his syringe glove?  And another suggests he got to safety on a Titan container and went to sea.  Maybe he can be spotted on the horizon at some point sailing a Titan ship. 

     The Lost references- could there be a small island somewhere that only appears at a certain time during the main game? As I see it the eggs can be found at any point in the game, but does "during the game" constitute only until you beat the final battle? Does it include all the free roam afterwards?  What if... Scarecrow's fear gas makes something LOOK like a mysterious island...
     There is that small platform kind of behind and a bit south of the GCPD building.  Mr. Freeze's ice path to Nora passes it.  Actually there are a bunch of small island like things in that flooded area.
     Remember these are just ideas.  

     Also- I spotted a few of these around, this is from Croc's "lair" on the wall by his manacles on the bed, and I also saw one in the Wonder tower area.  Can't read what it says, but hmmmm...    

     If anyone has any more thoughts or ideas, let me know, I'm totally down for some secret hunting.

ICO - I Have Achieved Enlightenment

Enlightenment Stone

     August 1, 2012 at 7:32:33pm EDT I achieved enlightenment.  At least the Platinum trophy for Ico on Playstation 3. 
     I must say, whoever thought to have a speed run for this game deserves to be punched in the nards. 
    
     While the game is a beautiful experience, it was never meant for a speed run.  Especially because the biggest enemy in the game is Yorda, the lovely lady you are attempting to rescue from an evil queen in this massive castle.  She is a complete idiot at the most inopportune times.  I'm not the only one to think so.  Granted she is programmed to be sort of human like.  Disregarding things you want or need her to do.  Stubborn and outright refusing to do things that are NECESSARY to move along in the story. 
     I mean honestly, I wasted so much time trying to get her to stay put when I didn't want her to get captured and she'd wander off .  Need her to stay on a button to keep a door open?  Nope! Yorda would rather walk over to any other place on the map.  I could barely get her to sit on the couches which are required to save the game.  She'd just walk back and forth shaking her head!  GAH!
     The archaic controls(unbelievably clunky and unresponsive), Yorda's constant stupidity, and the ever devilish camera made this platinum attainment much more difficult than the platinum for Dark Souls.  -Dark Souls being touted as one of the most difficult games of all time.-  At least with that game you are almost certainly responsible for your own failings. Frustrating, sure, but also fair. This game is cruel for the speed run.  Kind of like shooting you in both legs and then making you run a marathon.  Borderline evil. 
     Well, I'll post a more positive blog about this game and it's partner, Shadow of the Colossus, the sequel/prequel later.