Shadow of the Colossus Easter Eggs

Easter eggs, apart from a chocolate treat at Easter, are items hidden within games. SotC contains many easter eggs all of which I have tried to list here and instructions on how you can find them.

Ico - If you’ve completed Ico and the save game file is on the same memory card as your SotC game file then Agro will display a small ‘i’ on his for-head instead of a diamond shape.

Doves - Every time a Colossus is defeated an extra white dove appears around the alter in the temple.

Petting - If you pat Agro by pressing the circle button with no weapon equipped (you can do this either standing next to her or sat astride) your stamina is replenished twice as fast.

White Agro - When SotC has been completed on the hard mode more than 4 times a white Agro will be granted to you permanently.

Climb Trees - The trees dotted around the landscape can be scaled by climbing up the green moss on the trunks.

Fruit - The trees contain fruit which can be dislodged with an arrow and eaten. This increases your health.

Crouch - Your health replenishes twice as quick when Wander crouches.

Food of the Dead - The fruit in the trees of the secret garden is poisonous and takes life instead of giving it, reducing your health.

Obscured - When your stamina reaches such a large level the gauge becomes ghosted to prevent it from obscuring the screen.

Zorro - To make Agro rear up and gallop from a stand still, pull sharply down on the left stick when tapping X.

Wild Riding - It is possible to grab the wildlife such as the doves in the temple, the eagles on the plains and the fish in the water by holding down R1.

White Tailed Lizards - White tailed lizards can be found on every save point and their tails increase your stamina when collected. You can either kill the lizard to collect the tails or for an even harder challenge, shoot the tails off the lizard with an arrow without killing the lizard.

White tailed lizards are not only found on save points. They can also be found along cliff walls hidden within crevices. They are sometimes hard to find and patience is required to locate them. Agro actually scares them away but you can make Agro run away by aiming your Bow and Arrow at her(don’t shoot her, it’s cruel).

The Secret Garden - The secret garden can only be accessed via the vines of the south eastern wall. You will need a lot of stamina to be able to get to the top beyond the gate located at the top of the spiral walkway at the end of the hall of the temple. I wouldn’t recommend attempting this until you have the cloth of desperation as a high fall will kill Wander.

Reminiscence Mode - Defeated Colossi can be re-defeated in a mode called Reminiscence Mode. Simply find the ‘corpse’ which will be located wherever the Colossus was slain and prey at the foot of the corpse. This will replay the Colossus from the moment it was found, but with all your ‘powers’ reset making the challenge harder. It also provides a nice ‘memory’ effect where everything is sketchy, like an old film.

Circus Tricks - Wander can perform great feats on Agro. Press and hold R1 and X while galloping and he will stand up on the sadle. Agro can be steered but not stopped while performing this acrobatic.

Quick Turn - Agro can perform a quick 180 degree turn. When galloping, simultaneously, and sharply, press down on the left analog stick twice and the X button twice. Agro will stop and turn around to run the other way.

Emergency Stop - Agro can also stop quickly while galloping. Simultaneously press down on the left analog stick and the X button.

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The Devil is in the Details

SotC is an amazing game. Few games can compare to the mood, story, animation, or characters encountered in this game. Personally it is the details which contribute to making this game special. Here is a list of those details in no particular order, and the reasons why I think they are important.

1. Agro – she is the most amazing character I have encountered in a game. Possessing more personality than any other game character I have ever seen in my 20 years of playing games. I love the way she moves, the animation of this horse is like nothing else. Having played Assassins Creed and riding a horse in that game, despite the additional processing power of the X-Box 360, Agro’s fluid motion on the Playstation2 is a marvel of programming and attention to detail which surpasses any other.

2. Wander – as an avatar I sympathise with his position immediately. The love he shares for the maiden is a love which has taken him to the end of the world to do battle with giant un-godly creatures and risk his own life to restore hers. At every point he displays emotion from the way he stares at his love, to the way he rides Agro. Everything about him is so full of meaning a thought that few avatars have ever come close.

3. Colossi – The stars of the game. The Colossi are quite simply one of the most amazing things ever seen in a video game. The way they move, the way they stare at you, to the way they react when injured. Towering above you with complete dominance they create an air of mystery and fear.

4. The Landscape – The Forbidden Land is vast, but this size is necessary to making you feel small and alone. There are areas of the map which feel so well accomplished that they make you feel you are part of something very special and change your mood accordingly such as the rocky waterfall paths, the dark forests and the huge open dessert complete with sandy ruins and dunes.

5. The Wildlife – Lizards, doves, eagles, fish and even tortoises. The lizards are quite hard to catch. On my first run through SotC I wasn’t even aware they existed. It was only after I managed to obtain the Lizard Detection Stone that I realised they were there and that they played an important role by increasing ones stamina. I love the way they react to Wanders presence and try to hide.

The doves appear around the alter in the temple every time a colossi is defeated and the eagles track your journey across the landscape. At the time of writing this I am yet to find a use for the tortoises, they are just there. The same goes for the fish, though I suppose a pond wouldn’t be complete without them.

6. The Save Points – Games rarely incorporate save points into a game with such thought. Usually they either crop up without warning or they are a sub menu in the pause screen. SotC makes them a part of the landscape and they work them into the game with meaning by allowing Wander to ‘pray’ whenever saving a game. When a game is loaded Wander is found dozing with his head in his arms giving the impression that little time has passed but while you were away he had a well deserved rest.

7. The Sword – Wanders arsenal of swords help him in different ways. The default sword lights his way to the next colossi as well as helping him take it down by lighting up the vitals on a colossi. The sword can also be used to kill various wildlife for Wander to eat and the un-lockable swords, such as the sword of the sun can help light Wanders way in darkened caves.

8. The Bow and Arrow – My favourite weapon in the game. The Bow and Arrow help Wander grab the attention of the colossi so he can goad them into a certain position or location. They also allow him to capture the elusive lizards, shoot birds, fruit from trees and fish from the water. Shoot an arrow into a pond and it behaves realistically by diving, then re-emerging on the surface and floating about. If you already have the bow drawn with an arrow and you don’t want to take the shot it can be cancelled by pressing the circle button whilst aiming. Wander replaces the bow into its holster.

9. The Wind – Without the windy weather I doubt SotC would carry the same atmosphere (excuse the pun). Constantly tearing at the clothes and hair of the duo and making a wonderfully earthly noise, the wind makes me feel so lost in the wilderness and somehow makes the landscape seem much larger and older than it appears.

10. The Map – As the forbidden land is vast and mysterious it would be a shame if the map was too helpful. Fortunately it isn’t. Mostly covered in cloud until explored it simply acts as a guide and does not show you exactly where to go, only where you’ve been. The map is quite vague in parts and cannot be relied upon which, in my opinion is the way it should be.

These are simply a drop in the ocean of what SotC has in terms of details and accomplished design. No other game has come close as far as I’m aware and it is a shame that developers don’t replicate Team ICO’s design ethic to create games with such flair, feeling and thought as SotC has.

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Cut Colossi

This is a video of the Colossi that didn't make it into the final game. Some of them, particularly the huge dragon look amazing. It's a shame that they will never be seen again. I'd love to battle a dragon...

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The First Encounter of a Massive Kind

After watching the intro movie (it helps set the scene in any game) and thinking how beautiful the game world looked with it’s tall structures and watercolour palette, Wander and I set of on our trusty steed toward the light as ordered by the voice in the sky.


Getting outside for the first time I witnessed a huge area of grassland framed by tall cliffs on all sides. Holding aloft my sword in the sunshine I saw a beam of light piercing from the blade heading straight ahead. Crossing the plain toward the light I came across a cliff wall. Looking up I could see a path up the cliff so I jumped down of my horse whose name I had learnt was 'Agro,' and proceeded to scale the vines upon the cliff.

After a few acrobatics I reached the top at which point a cut-scene played showing the colossus walking past, shaking the ground and the trees. I was in awe at the sight of this giant of rock and fur and my mind wondered at how I was going to kill such a beast.

I scrambled up the rest of the cliff and walked slowly toward the colossus which had his back to me in the distant mist, plagued by a flock of birds. He started to turn. His eyes looked on me and I felt fear as I engaged the colossus for the first time.


Running toward his feet while looking up at the huge towering beast, his club came down, smashing the ground and causing me to lose my balance. Then his foot landed just short of my head and I was thrown about the ground causing myself injury.

I got to my feet and looked about his. Surely I must scale this giant to take it down? Jumping at his heels I finally managed to grab his thick hair and was tossed onto his calf. I stood there for a moment before his leg swung violently, flinging me off onto the ground again.

I quickly composed my self and again headed for his heels being careful not to get trod on. Eventually I managed to get onto his calf again and this time I noticed a gash on his leg. I raised my sword and brought it down into the giants ‘flesh.’ He roared with pain. I did it again, this time with more aggression and the giant fell to his knees.

I continued climbing the giant using his fur to scale his legs toward a small platform I found on his back. Up further still I climbed, all the while the colossus writhed about, trying to get me off himself.

I finally reached his head where I found a glowing patch of white skin. He wasn’t happy I was there and flung his head about violently trying to remove me. I prevailed and raised my sword to bring it down into his skull. He roared with pain as black magic spewed from the wound. I raised my weapon again and drove it into his head several more times, each time the dark gas spewed forth until finally he fell to the ground, tossing me off his head.

I got back to my feet and looked at the slain beast. He was completely still and silent, like a statue. He was being enveloped by a dark layer of mist along the length of his body until he was entirely consumed. I hadn’t notice that at the same time thick black spines were whirling about the sky. They sought me out and impaled my fragile body through the heart at which point I collapsed into the dust beneath my feet.

The world became serene and I faded out into a tunnel of light.

I awoke back at the temple, my horse had returned and as I tried to make sense of it all I heard a deafening noise behind me as one of the statues was pierced with white light and came apart into a thousand pieces.

I then heard the voice in the sky telling me ‘thy next foe is…’

I was terrified, but I couldn't wait to see the next!

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