Shadow of the Colossus is one of the best games on the Playstation and is one of the most artistic game of the 5th generation. Although, when the game came to it's release, people were enraged because of how empty and lonesome the game really was. Most of the players came around while others still called this game an empty disaster. Hello Wandering Traveler and welcome to this little tip to devs and designers.
Although, the game is actually empty and the only thing you would fight are the Colossi you encounter, but this is what gives off the greatness of the game. Since each Colossus is only shown in a small scale statue when you are ordered to kill them and hardly any detail on how big they are and what they look like, this gives the player a sense of mystery and wonder. And gives the player the most time to think about what they might fight and how will they overcome their power and strength. The empty landscape is such a great feature in the game because you can have time to relax and contemplate on why you are in this temple and why are these Colossi are here and what is their purpose.
It is very hard to make this feature a good one in any game, since most can be predictable or plain stupid to be honest. There are many games you can play that has this awesome feature, Ocarina of time marks it's beautiful landscape with some mystery and wonder while Dishonored gives off an unexplained beauty as you travel Dunwall and Fallout makes you want to piece together the lifestyle of the past, before the bombs fell. There isn't a name for this Mystery Method as far as I know, but I would like to call it The Colossus Method
Many people can label each other, but in terms of what devs do in different countries, I would say that the Europeans design their games with creativity and imagination, while the Americas design their games independently, but the Japanese love the hard work put in a creative game. Japan makes some of the best and bizarre game you can buy and most of them won't weird you out. Because of how imaginative they are and how hard working they can be in their jobs is amazing in my standards. If you look at it, most of the Japanese Developed games have done the Colossus Method. Final Fantasy has done it, Persona has done this, and even the Souls series has given some mystery and emptiness. They have given us some of the greatest games we could find and we have been thrown into the same type of theme without knowing.
Mostly the method isn't just based on mystery, it also can be enhanced with a large beauty around it, it can even be an ugly type of beauty. If you have ever played a game with a large variety of pretty architecture and beautiful landscape, you tend to wonder how this was all made and who did such a beautiful thing. The scale of what you see and what you are told makes the player think and want to know more, and if sent into a purposeful confusion, the player will want to demand more from the developer or writer who sculpted such a story and landscape. If you are about to fight a Colossus, you are both amazes and intimidates you because of how they were designed and built.
What do you think of this method? Would this be a great method to use in the next game? Well, I would love to here, but 'til next time...
Play More Games!