I wish I came earlier in the discussion, but oh well. I do want to give a "analytical" approach to it, an interpretation taht I've hear before which I thought was brililant. But first, some debate;
The Fat Captain said:
Art consists of more than being pretty. Someone mentioned that the character gets dirtier and paler the further you go, and that this represents his corruption. Why is he becoming corrupted? Well because he's killing innocent gigantic monsters, of course! But again, why? Oh right, he's killing them to save his lover. Who is his lover? Um . . . Why does he think murder will bring her back? Let's see. . . Why the hell does everyone love that bloody horse so much? He doesn't really do anything except transport you from one meaningless fight to another, there is no other interaction with him. Is everyone except me secretly a horse fetishist? There is no reason for any of these things. They just happen.
Actually, a lot of that was explained in the first cutscene of the game. Wander makes a deal with Dormin, a spirit that resides in the forbiden land that he went in. Dormin says that if he slays all 16 collosi that Mono will be revived, but there is a bigger price on that, and that price is Wander's own corruption and eventual death. Dormin is sort of a Lawful Evil [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LawfulEvil] in that at the end he posesses Wander (and the player takes control of him) but Mono is still revived.
As for the horse, Argo/Agro, he is one of the
only beings that interacts with you. Throughout the game it's just you, your sword, your bow, and your horse. Nothing else. Your horse becomes more than just a transport, he becomes your best friend. He comes to you when you call him, he is a bit stubborn when you want to move him like a real horse, and he always sticks by your side. When he finally falls to his death (supposedly), it's the loss of your only friend through thick and thin.
Same with the scenery. People go on and on about how deep and isolated and meaningful the broken world is. But what does the broken world represent? Why is it broken? It represents itself, and it's broken because it is. That's all. Same with the monsters, they're just monsters, nothing more.
The setting is exactly that, isolated and broken. It shows age, it shows that before it was full of life but now it's dead. The monsters could either have destroyed the cities or could have always lived on the land, but they to show age. They crumble, they creak and break down, until eventually you kill them.
This is because nothing in the game symbolises anything that's outside the scope of the game. Real art reflects reality, it shows us what's wrong, or what's good, or even just what the artist feels, about the world around us and ourselves as people, alternatively, it can takes our reality and show it to us in a different light. SotC symbolises only things that are in SotC, and it's pointless because of it. And don't tell me that art is subjective and that you can say whatever you want is art, because that's stupid and you are wrong but is a entirely different discussion.
You can't possibly tell anyone what "real" art symoblizes or if it has to symbolize anything at all. As much as it pains you that I'm saying it, art
is subjective. That isn't to say that you aren't allowed to not enjoy the game, by all means you can hate it, but there's a fine line between saying "I don't think it's art, but other people probably do" and "I don't think it's art, therefore it isn't!" Anybody can make any analysis and claim that something is art (which pretty much invalidates my next part, but I still want to post it anyway), doesn't mean that it can't be.
Anyway, I want to post an analysis of SotC anyway, so here goes. I don't take complete credit for this, a lot of this is from other analysis that I've read, but anyway;
(Spoilers obviously)
I personally loved Shadow of the Collosus. It's one of the few games that made me cry and made me genuinely care for the characters involved in it, mainly Wander. It's a story about tragedy, almost like a Greek Tragedy with the hero's Tragic Flaw.
At the start of the game, Wander goes to a forbidden land, which right away shows his commitment. He goes inside an old temple where he meets the spirit Dormin, an old being that probably has been in the land as long as the land has lived. Wander makes a deal with Dormin, saying that he will do whatever it takes to revive the dead girl, supposedly his love depending on your interpretation. Dormin at first warns him of the risks, even saying "Isn't it against human law to revive the dead?" and Wander just says "It doesn't matter." So Dormin agrees to the deal, stating that Wander must slay 16 Collosi that roam the land and the girl will be revived, but there will be a higher price to pay on top of that.
So, Wander, and his horse Argo/Agro, go along to the first Collosus. Here is where Wander's tragic flaw comes into place; his inability to
let go. From the first Collosus to the last Collosus, Wander never lets go and in turn the player never lets go either. The game teaches you to hold R1 for dear life, only letting go when you absolutely have to. Let go and you will fall. Let go and you will fail. Let go and you have to start over. Basically,
never let go. This fits in with human nature, people just don't want to let go, they want to hold on as long as they can.
As the game goes on, and Wander is still stubborn, he becomes more and more corrupted. After every slaying of the Collosus, dark stringy things come out and merge with Wander. No matter what you do, after every Collosus those thing will come after you, and every time Wander is a little more curropted. By the end of the game Wander transformed from a firm, moderately healthy looking man to a sickly, deranged monster. Many of the Collosi aren't even agressive, even after you attack them. They do everything they can to shake you off, and occasionally try to crush you, but other than that they just continue on their merry way trying to ignore you. And yet you still
murder them, all for your "supposed" love.
Finally, at the end of it all, Wander's stubbornness as well as the player's is what ultimately leads to his downfall. Wander can't let go of Mono, he loves her to much (depending on your interpretation) and as a result of that the player wants what's best for him to. But at the end, people from Wander's tribe come in and attempt to kill him, but he has essentially become a Collosus himself (he starts bleeding the same inky blood the Collosi have), and then Dormin posseses him. You'd think that this would be it, right? You are finally the huge creature that you have slain, you are supposed to be this all powerful being that no mortal can slay! And yet, when you take control it's nothing like that. You are in the eyes of all the Collosus that you've slain, everything is blurry, the controls are all mixed and matched, and the tribesman easily outrun you. You try to kill them but no matter what they escape.
Finally, as the (supposed) priest of the group makes a magical portal in the small well in the shrine, Wander turns back to his normal self. And this is the part where the game did it for me. In the last scene of the game, the player is still in control of Wander, but the vortex is sucking him in at the same time. Now, the player can still control Wander. The player can still hold R1 to the little cracks in the floor and on the walls. The player can even walk up to the bottom of the steps up to the altar where Mono rests. But not any further. The player, and Wander, could theoretically stay in that room indefinitely. But eventually you have to give. Eventually, both Wander and the Player have to
let go. Nothing you ever do will revive Mono, she will still be dead and you will be sucked into the vortex.
You have to let go.
And so finally, the player releases R1, and Wander lets go of his stubbornness and learns to let go. As he's sucked into the vortex, Mono still lies on the altar as she was in the beginning; Dead. Nothing you could have ever done would have changed that, and Wander's reluctance to let go and move on with life caused his ultimate downfall.
A bittersweet ending for sure, but wait there's more! At the end of the credits, Dormin had kept his promise (lawful evil) and Mono is revived, dazed and confused. She finds a baby with horns (like in ICO but I haven't played that yet) in the well of the shrine, supposedly Wander symbolizing his second chance at purity. Again, a bittersweet moment but still.
Anyway, that's one analysis that you can go with. I'm not providing a TL;DR version because if you can't have the patience to read my whole post then don't bother. But I personally loved Shadow of the Collosus regardless what people think of it. I just wanted to share this one interpretation that some people have done already.
Thanks for reading!
Not everyone will like it.
