Shadow of The Colossus Makes Me Angry...but I Love It

Hey future Caleb. It's time again I speak to you in the future about some gaming dilemma I'm having because of course in the future you've got it all figured out, the world is a logical plane of existence devoid of all mystery and you like it that way. So I'm playing Shadow of the Colossus and I'm a bit angry. Though you future Caleb have it all figured out here in the present I'm playing Shadow of the Colossus and I, like many of its players, have questions about the game's theme, its purpose, its mystery. But lacking answers to those questions doesn't make me love the game any less. It's a beautiful work of art. I'm captivated by it. That's what great art does it captivates us and being captive says anyone concerned by the etymological ancestry of the word is a bad thing. To be captive means to be held against one's will, but being captivated by art is a good thing right? This apparent conflict reveals a necessary mystery with art the audience actually enjoys not being in full control not truly knowing why they are drawn to a work of art why they are captivated by it the willingness to submit to and actually enjoy being captive seems strange this concept fights with my logical brain all the time I yearn to know the answers to things but knowing the answers presupposes that I want to eradicate mystery which if my earlier logic is correct means part of what makes me love a work of art is at risk when I try too hard to solve its mysteries do I have to choose between loving a mystery or loving an answered question probably not most media is pretty clever in that it provides the facade of mystery while answering the narrative questions often using well-worn tropes we've seen the trope that the character in fiction who knows everything the wise old lady the village savant the homeless old lady who teaches Kevin the importance of family at home alone to the Oracle in the Matrix franchise literally called the Oracle not really going for subtlety there are we watch house keys these people are there to answer the question at the risk of some of the audience preferring to maintain the mystery or perhaps more egotistical II feel like they've solved the mystery themselves though it must we said that even without the wise old lady trope home loan two's narrative isn't one built on mystery in fact most mass-market media for gos mystery movie producers cater to the lowest common denominator because it's a much safer financial investment and this brings me all the way back to Shadow of the Colossus it's not lowest common denominator it caters to those who like mystery more than answered questions so why is it successful i here's where video games and other forms of media diverge and Shadow of the Colossus is a perfect conduit for this exploration first let's start with a couple of quotes from members of Team eco the creative team behind Shadow of the Colossus when asked about the protagonists relationship to the game's damsel producer Kenji Kaito says I want to leave it to the users imagination okay when asked about the significance of horns in his games director and lead designer finito Deus says I like to leave that to the players imagination okay I have trouble believing that there aren't actual answers to these questions if a work is created in a vacuum for example a single painter and her painting then sure I can believe that the artist might not fully understand the vision a single artist working in a medium like paint one that allows a certain level of spontaneity is going to naturally allow more exploration but when you've got a team of people working on a single project that takes years to complete I have difficulty trusting that such questions go unanswered to align an entire group of people around a director's goal seems to demand a comprehensive understanding of that single project but then again maybe some animators and some devs just need a paycheck and don't really care much about the project I mean I doubt gaffers on the set of home alone to cared whether or not the wise old lady stayed in the final cut but video games invite the player to solve their mysteries by giving the player tools to do so this implies that there is a solution even among a game full of mysteries passive mediums don't give viewers such tools so the audience is more willing to be satisfied with an unsolved mystery more comfortable accepting that the very intent behind the work of art is to make the audience guess now I personally think this is a bit of a cop-out but it's still an oft cited motivation so I'll let it slide so the very presence of interactive tools a controller with buttons and associated actions means any presented mystery should be solvable but what about game mechanics can mechanics alone make a game yes but when the creators introduce narrative those creators are indicating that mechanics alone are not making this particular game casting aside the idea that narrative is inherent in any scenario involving conflict whether explicitly stated or not I mean consider that Tetris a game that superficially avoids even the hint of narrative is being made into a feature like film so games perhaps are unique and that their reasons for being is to be solved there's a loose condition movies books plays paintings these things don't have a loose condition maybe it's as simple as this maybe that's what separates a good narrative game from a bad one good ones have mysteries that have specific solutions bad ones have mysteries that don't have specific solutions and even in the case of good ones where creators refuse to answer questions that's the creator saying there are answers there but they want you the player to find out for yourself the applicable term here I suppose as world-building good devs use world-building to answer those narrative questions without doing so overtly but still no matter how much I rationalize myself away from frustration it is frustrating to me knowing there's a team of developers behind a videogame that knows the answers to any question when game creators refuse to answer questions forums filled with fan theories then become ignorant playgrounds full of guessing it's like being a detective you know the killer knows everything but he refuses to tell you so you spin your wheels you spend months away from your family trying to piece together a mystery that isn't really a mystery so yes I'm saying that game devs our serial killers but I must admit playing in the ignorant playground is fun that's kind of what I'm doing right now really perhaps Kaito and who daya know this is more important than a solved mystery and I just have to remind myself of that and you present viewer just need to subscribe to this channel and share with your friends and comment below do you get frustrated when game developers refuse to answer questions about a game's mystery or should President Caleb just shut up and enjoy the freakin game I'd love to be able to do that I would I can't because I think like this and then I forced you to watch it sorry that's me I'm horrible but I love you