Damm, I never expected anyone to say that Celosia and Cenobia are amazing. And I'm one of those people who hate Cenobia it's infact the Colossus I hate the most even though I find your Reasoning pretty good.
I actually find it far easier to fight Basaran without using Agro at all. His bad AI makes it way easier to manipulate him in foot. I also find that I've changed my mind about which Colossi I like based on which items i have from time attack. I put Argus and Gaius a lot higher, personally. I can't really understand your ranking of Celosia at all, though. I kind of hate that battle. Size doesn't factor into it. I just think once you know the solution, that fight is just tedious and boring. I used to love Phalanx, but once you have the Queen's Sword or Sword of Dormin, his fight is actually too easy. Also, he intentionally rammed me a couple of times in my first Hard Mode Time Attack, so he does rarely actually attack. I'd rank them: 16. Phaedra 15. Quadratus 14. Celosia 13. Malus 12. Basaran 11. Barba 10. Valus 9. Kuromori 8. Dirge 7. Pelagia 6. Cenobia 5. Hydrus 4. Phalanx 3. Argus 2. Avion 1. Gaius
Liked the video the second you started defending Cenobia. I refuse to stand for Cenobia/Celosia hate because "theyre too small for a colossi". Their small size is easily their best feature! What other colossi makes you genuinely run and dodge in terror? Also, W take with phalanx being number 1. Literally the most awe inspiring and breath taking fights in video game history.
This feels like a ranking I would make. The "I love them all but also like making lists" mentality, the ranking things based on impression and theming, and of course the random meme-y bits. Good job making the ranking I wish I was decided enough to make. I do have one minor complaint: I don't like Celosia, but only because of its design and its knockdown. The design has catlike claws, which is awesome, but it also has these horns, which everyone says means it's a bull. And I really don't see it. For one thing, the horns are pointed down and out, and the face looks like a sad cube, which is all but a perfect contradiction to the terror and ferocity you cited. The knockdown is just annoying as hell, especially when you get knocked into the flat wall and he just keeps on knocking you down over and over. Sure, you can get up and pause his onslaught by making him knock into the fire pyramids, but this doesn't save you for very long. Does this make it different to Cenobia? Yes. Does the implementation of a stun on Cenobia make him a lot more bearable and way more fun to me? Also yes. That being said, though, the points you cited are VERY convincing. As someone who recently forgave Basaran and Phaedra and started to like them (I hated those two for a burning passion with a very long time) maybe this video can make me do the same for Celosia. I wouldn't complain.
sorry for not responding that quick , I just love rereading these big comments a few times before formulating a response haha . yeah I can understand your disagreements about celosia , I will admit I have sort of a weird and biased taste since I don’t really play games . more than gameplay , I am about how conceptually cool they are . and while celosia is very frustrating in practice , he is very interesting to me conceptually . I love the helplessness of being bullied by him , it makes me feel real fear during my experience haha . but once again this is likely because I just don’t ever play games and a better gamer would probably just become frustrated . I know the entire game’s handling gets made fun of a lot but I love how clunky it feels , makes it have a weighty and awkward realism to it .
lmao I know thats a pretty common opinion, maybe it’s just because I like the story telling aspect more than the gameplay but Ive always loved celosia despite its shortcomings
The way I see it, the reason why Celosia and Cenobia rubbed so many people off the wrong way is because its one of the few cases where SOTC's design and mechanics don't work together. Wander stumbles easily and can only hang on while being thrashed around. He even loses his footing if your in an awkward spot on a colossus. In any other game this would be irreconcilable, but it works because a.) the goal of the developers was to put the player into these sort of david and goliath situations. and b.) the developers keep said mechanics in mind as they made the world and colossi. It builds onto the design rather than taking away. That is until you get to Celosia and Cenobia. For other colosai, you are allowed a lot of time to get where you need to go or fix wanders position if he is in a weird spot. But the two cats are unrelenting in their movements and the window of opportunity is hard to get down even for those with experience. If your foot keeps slipping, or your stuck somewhere you can't stabilize, your essentially trapped by your own unwillingness to let go and try again. There is a more consistent way to get hits in by making them tackle into walls and pillars to force them down for a stab or maybe two. But to do so only replaces frustration with tedium since you'll have to hop off to do it again and again. Making it so both options leave you glad the fight is just over with. What's sad is that both have perfectly fine ideas. Using Celosia's fear of fire is something ripped out of a greek epic. And Cenobia's arena being a mini platformer should have been a breath of fresh air. But even this goes wrong. The devs neglected to add torch models to the stands, which deprives the player of what would be a very helpful yet subtle indicator of what to do. It would make perfect sense for them to be there too, and its not in your face in any real way. In addition, this mechanic never comes back. At no point throughout the entire game do you have to use a new tool against another colossus, or pick anything else up during a fight. What was intended to add variety instead sticks out like a sore thumb. Maybe they could have built more on this mechanic if they had the time, but today its like the arms of a trex. Then you have Cenobia's arena. The immediate issue is that there are too many pillars. By the time the 3rd one is down you have already seen the bulk of what the level has to offer, and god forbid if you die and have to reset. It wouldn't be nearly as bad if they changed out the later ones for something else. maybe a long tunnel the player has to run through as the colossus is banging its roof. I think we can agree that would add a thrill. But then we have a different issue I don't see many point out. Its yet another mechanic that is being used in a way that it was not intended to. Its the bow, which was clearly not meant to shoot at things below you. Its really easy to hit the pillar your standing on even if it looks like you have a clean shot. If they had more time the devs could have fixed this. But there is an even easier solution to this problem. If the devs made the pillars only need one hit to fall, it would kill two birds with one stone. As it stands, you have to turn around, aim the bow, wait for the colossus to back off otherwise you will not be able to hit it, and then finally shoot it. You then wait even more for it to get into position, and then hit the pillar for the second time to move to the next. Seconds become full minutes as you rinse and repeat. Not only would this be solved, but it would have added onto the fear of Cenobia's attack. Imagine, rushing up the pillar to get to a safe space only for it to be toppled over while your half way up. You can't deny it would add even more to the tension of the battle. TLDR; the mechanics were not made with small fast creatures in mind, and a few more oversights added on to make a storm of frustration for most. The player was given a hammer for a job for a lot of screws.
Here’s my ranking (Honestly the top 5 are going to be favourites) 16. Argus 15. Basaran 14. Celocia 13. Malus 12. Quadratus 11. Valus 10. Hydrus 9. Barba 8. Dirge 7. Phaedra 6. Gaius 5. Phalanx 4. Avion 3. Kuromori 2. Cenobia 1. Pelagia IDC if you disagree it’s my opinion.
Very good video! I feel like some of the colossi that were lower on the list could've been slightly better if they stuck with the strategies they originally had. Phaedra at one point had long fur dangling off the front and back of it. You would lead it over these weird looking cylinder hills and jump on the fur. Valus at one point had a bigger temple in its arena. You would hide there until it crouched down and then you would jump on its face. With this information you begin to realize that Barba is just a mashup of these 2 different strategies. Oh, and Basaran had grass/fur growing on its tail once. You would climb the tail to the head and hit the horns of the turtle to lead it over the geysers. Once it flips over you have access to the weak point on its stomach. Also it didn't have a weakness in its legs with this strategy. The weakness in the legs wasn't added until Spider got cut from the game. Avion is definitely one of the best in the game. But he was very different at one point. His long tail used to dip in the water and you would have to swim to it while avoiding the gusts of wind from its wings. When Roc was cut his strategy was slightly reworked for Avion.
Great rankings. I disagree with Celosia though. That fight is awful and not epic at all. On the PS2 version, picking up the torch was not straight forward at all. It looks like a regular stick on the ground and there's no indication that you can pick up weapons in the game. It's MUCH easier to tell on the PS4 version.
Phaedra is the sole reason I studied a basic SOTC speedrun video. I just wanted desperately a better way to defeat it, and yes, the speedrun way is a million times more enjoyable than the intended way.
@@moonwatcher4047 Speedrunners jump off Agro to grab its hind legs, from their a few careful jumps can get you on its back. It's much more thrilling and fun than the normal slow paced way, though it can take some practice.
I agree with this list, except the fact he doesn’t attack you ruins the fight for me. For the largest colossus in the game and being super late in the game it is a little underwhelming for me. The fight just drags on for to long and can become kind of boring and repetitive super quickly. Phalanx should probably be in the first 10 colossi and I think he is a little overrated. And because of that, I put him at number 2, and put kuromori on number 1. (I put hydrus on number three). The only other thing I would disagree on is that quadratus and basaran are at where they are, I think they should be swapped. I agree with the rest of your list though. But yeah, that’s all.
him not fighting is my favorite part :(( it just makes the whole affair sadder and more relevant to the themes . I can see how it could come across as less fun though
I wish Argus was higher on the list but I guess he can’t be everyone’s favorite! 😆 I agree with you on Malus, I think his fight was pretty underwhelming for the last encounter. Visually stunning, but disappointing in terms of gameplay. I never liked Celosia or Cenobia but I never thought they were the worst colossi encounters in the game. I can understand people complaining about Cenobia’s A.I. but complaining about the torch mechanic in Celosia’s fight is pretty silly admittedly. 😆 Speaking of worst colossi, I also didn’t like Phaedra! The design is cool but like you said, the A.I. is insufferable at times. Overall, good list! I may not agree with all of your rankings, but I can still respect them.
Sorry I’m late to the party, and you may have heard this before, but DAMN you’re underrated! This is some top tier, high quality, gourmet shit. 10/10 video on a 10/10 game.
Maybe its just cause i was pissed about Argo falling to her "death" but i did not like the final Colossus. I did not like Argus because of the gimmick. I had to look it up too.
thanks for defending senobi and celosia I agree there both excellent. The fact that there both fast and really want to kill you makes it incredibly engaging boss fight. Your right also on 1 as well
I am a fan of this game since it came out on Ps2. I like Celosia design, reminds me of a sabre cat while Cenobia to me looks like a lion with the way it growls and roars.
thank you so much, you have no idea how much that means to me. creating videos as a small youtube channel can be very discouraging and it’s comments like these that literally make my day!
Do your part! If a channel is below 100 subs and clearly puts effort into their videos, I feel like you GOTTA sub! I'm a huge fan of this game, and it only hurts to know that it doesn't do the best numbers since it's largely gone from the pop culture zeitgeist
I'm glad to see someone who recognice how good Celosia is, the battle is so clever adding this torch to scare him. This puzzle is WAY better than Cenobia, that fight is only jump here, jump there, jump a little more and done, puzzle solved 😑
It felt a little punishing , but in such a short game failing a few times can be excused imo . it just forces you to try your absolute best to avoid getting stuck in that damage loop , sorta makes them more scary to me . I can understand how that same feeling can be interpreted as tedious and unforgiving but thats just how I imagine fighting them in real life would be lmao
I don't think any other game can move me emotionally as much as Shadow of the Colossus did. Shadow of the Colossus will always have a place in my heart. Just listening to the soundtrack brings me goosebumps and brings me to tears. It's such a masterpiece and it's so sad that not everyone played it.
honestly, i like the fact that argus is a big monkey guy. for quite some time youve been fighting very unique colossi, so bringing something back thats very iconic gives a sort of penultimate boss vibe, like its testing you on what youve learnt.
okay but the Colossi can see the beams of light created when you kill them , so if they see all their brothers dying and then some weird kid roll up on you it’s fair to immediately engage . Also what about animals ? a tiger or hippo would maul the hell out of you in real life but it’s normal to feel sad for them if they were killed . and also they were made to protect the forbidden lands which isnt evil in and of itself
