The Space Between Spaces: Breath of the Wild and Shadow of the Colossus

A few weeks ago, I went out and bought the Shadow of the Colossus remake for the PS4. It’s still a great game, with nothing out there quite like it in tone or scale. That’s not to say that it did not inspire other stuff: namely, I’ve been thinking a lot about Shadow of the Colossus’ relation to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — a game, interestingly enough, that is also unmatched, even amongst the tired inundation of games with open world spaces in recent years. Setting aside Breath of the Wild’s implementation of Shadow of the Colossus’ climbing mechanics and grip meter (which was also seen in Fujibayashi’s previous Skyward Sword), as well as Link’s clambering atop larger enemies — Breath of the Wild takes Shadow of the Colossus’ particular brand of open world and completely re-purposes it to a different end, revitalising the Zelda franchise in the process. <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:875/1*NOYFPYfdgPqhjLKwgHhaUQ.jpeg" style="height:394px; width:700px" /> Shadow of the Colossus (2018) It’s ironic that borrowing from Ueda’s work was what ended up saving Zelda, considering the core design principles of the former — Shadow of the Colossus is an exercise in taking a pre-established work and flipping it on its head. Shadow of the Colossus is a Zelda game. <a href="https://medium.com/@pizzasheets/the-space-between-spaces-breath-of-the-wild-and-shadow-of-the-colossus-7a1182f0f502">Website</a>