SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
What’s the worst thing that you can call an open world game’s map? Empty. Desolate. Devoid of things to do. People say that about Shadow of the Colossus all the time- and yet it’s hardly ever criticism. Shadow of the Colossus makes that emptiness, that desolation the whole point of the experience. There is nothing to do but go from point a to point b, nothing to do in the interim but sit on your horse and ride forward, and no combat to engage in outside of 16 spectacularly designed boss fights (which are more about movement and mini-puzzle solving than they are about combat itself). Shadow of the Colossus is, to this day, considered one of the best and most unique games ever created, and we doubt we will ever play a game that will take our breath away like this classic did.
