
Keep an eye out for safe places where you can stand and avoid dying in order to replenish your stamina, and always have an exit strategy to get to them. Stamina replenishes relatively quickly when Wander isn’t holding onto stuff, but you’ll need to remember to let go periodically. If that happens at the wrong moment, at best it means you have to climb all the way back up to where you were - and at worst, it can kill you. Hold on too long and Wander will slip free. Most of Shadow of the Colossus comes down to managing stamina. That yellow circle in the bottom-right corner of your screen is Wander’s stamina - it shows you how long he can hold on to the side of a wall or a shaking colossus before he falls off. Try hitting any point on the colossus that isn’t gray or brow with an arrow from your bow and see what happens. Every colossus is different and has its own quirks, so look for what stands out.

That will almost always trigger its threatening state and turn its eyes red - often, the colossus’ attack against you will expose a weakness that you can attack at the same time. If ever you’re wondering what you need to do to get a colossus to come after you or expose a weakness that you can attack, try tagging it with an arrow. You can tell the difference because the colossus’ blue eyes will turn red. Colossi have two behavior states: Their normal state, in which they just cruise around doing whatever they do, and their threatening state, in which they come after you, attack, or otherwise act differently.

Sometimes, in order to get atop a colossus, you need to exploit its behavior to create an opening for you to hop on. Everything happens for a reason: Are there high points you can climb to, or underground warrens to hide inside? You will need to use them somehow to win the fight. The trick is to observe the colossus, as well as your surroundings. If you’re having trouble figuring out a colossus, you can count on Dormin, the entity in the Shrine of Worship, to give you clues. Most don’t have an easy way for you to climb up their legs and attack them, so you’ll have to watch them to figure out how you can trip them up, knock them over, or get to higher ground so you can jump on their backs. Each colossus has different traits and features.
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Fighting colossi in Shadow of the Colossus is less about being a good warrior with fast reflexes, and more about figuring how to get aboard them so you can find their weaknesses. The stabbing isn’t especially challenging - it’s finding and reaching those spots where you’ll struggle. To kill each Colossus, Wander, the protagonist, must stab specific, well-marked weak points on its body using his magic sword. You’ll often find yourself darting around colossi in battle, so you’ll need to keep an eye on them, and that’s nearly impossible to do by wrestling with the camera on the right analog stick. One other button to get good and used to is the colossus camera button (on the Modern scheme, it’s L2). Snagging handholds when you jump, climbing the colossi’s hairy hides, and catching ledges when you start to fall is all done with this button, and you want hitting it to be second nature - otherwise, you’ll find yourself falling at key moments and starting your colossi battles basically from square one.

This is probably the most important button in the game, because you’ll use it all the time when climbing and fighting colossi. In particular, no matter what your control scheme, get familiar with the button that makes you grab, crouch, and walk slowly (on the Modern scheme, it defaults to R2). The game’s original controls were a bit disorienting, and while they’ve been remapped with a new “Modern” configuration, you’ll still want to spend some time getting used to them. Find your control schemeĮven with the remake’s overhaul, the Shadow of the Colossus controls can take a minute to master. Here’s what you need to know to be an effective giant-killer, even if you’re new to the game. To get you started on your colossus-slaying journey, we’ve put together a few tips and strategies that will help you along the way. It also means that a few people might be stepping into the Forbidden Lands and have no idea what they’re doing.

Even though Shadow has been out for 13 years, the PlayStation 4 remake means a whole new generation of players will get to learn firsthand what makes the game a classic. Shadow of the Colossus has now been released three times, making it one of the most enduring modern games.
