The “Less is More” in Shadow of the Colossus

There’s something about the phrase “less is more.” And while it makes total sense in design, you don’t want to overwhelm or confuse people with too much, it always felt harder to see that really working in a video game.

I mean, as a designer, it’s easier to apply. You want clarity, structure, and just enough to make things feel right. You don’t want your user to feel lost or stressed trying to figure out what’s in front of them. Or, if you want to sound more academic about it:

“People will perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images as the simplest form(s) possible.”
- Law of Prägnanz, from the Laws of UX.

But in a game? I mean, you want as much action as possible, as much reward as possible, or just to be entertained as much as possible. It’s the opposite. Or is it?

Shadow of the Colossus, being a game, really takes that idea and runs with it. Like… all the way.

The Game

Shadow of the Colossus was created by Fumito Ueda, also the mind behind Ico and later The Last Guardian. Both great games in their own way, but SotC just hits different.

The setup is simple. You play a quiet guy named Wander. He travels to a strange place called the Forbidden Lands, hoping to bring a girl named Mono back to life. She’s unconscious in your arms at the beginning. You place her on an altar and this eerie god-like voice says, “Sure, I can help… but you’ll need to defeat sixteen colossi.” (Yes, colossi is the plural of colossus — No, I didn’t know that before.)

That’s it. Sixteen giant bosses. No other enemies. No villages, no shops, no complicated puzzles. Just you, your horse, your sword, and this haunting, empty world that somehow still feels alive or in this case abandoned.

My Experience (a.k.a. Childhood Trauma)

I played this game twice in my life. First time, I was too young and didn’t get past the third colossus. I had no clue what I was doing, but I still kept playing. I just rode around, exploring the landscape like it was some ancient dream.

The second time, I was older and finished it in one long sitting. It hit completely differently. The game isn’t hard exactly, but it has this quiet pressure to it. Every time you defeat a colossus, it doesn’t feel like a win. It feels heavy. Like, “Should I feel bad about this?” You’re doing all of this for a selfish reason, after all.

The gameplay is simple. Use your sword to find a colossus, climb its massive body, and stab the weak points. Once it falls, you move on. It’s repetitive in a deliberate, poetic way.

No One Does “Less” Like Ueda

Fumito Ueda really believes in “less is more,” and Shadow of the Colossus might be the clearest version of that idea. There’s barely anything to do in the traditional sense. No side quests, no crafting, no mini-games. But somehow, it tells one of the most emotional stories in gaming, without telling you much at all.

You feel the weight of your actions. The silence. The beauty. The isolation.

And you can tell it left a mark. Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator of Dark Souls and Elden Ring, has said SotC is one of his favorite games. You feel it too, in the giant boss fights, the mood, and how the story is told through atmosphere, not dialogue.

Why Is This Game So Special?

Because it knows exactly what it is, and it never loses that.

It doesn’t try to keep you playing forever. It doesn’t distract you with meaningless tasks. It’s focused, quiet, and honest. It respects your time and your brain.

It’s simple, but it sticks.

It’s quiet, but it stays with you.

It’s weird, beautiful, a little lonely, and that’s exactly why I still think about it years later.

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As always, this is simply my perspective, and I’m here to share it with you.