It's [[GreyAndGreyMorality very]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation tempting]] [[AmbiguousSituation to say]] "[[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible everything]]", but...

Beware unmarked spoilers.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Wander and his motives]]
* DesignatedHero: For the fans who find his quest less-than-noble.
* TheWoobie: With the amount of things the guy goes through for love, a few players just wanted to give him a hug.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Colossi]]
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Are they all just mindless beasts? Or are they aware of Wander's motives and actively attempting to stop him from releasing Dormin? Or are they, perhaps, attacking out of fear? (Celosia's behavior suggests that the Colossi are capable of feeling fear, as he backs away from a lit torch and may even sound a bit like he's whimpering.)
* AnticlimaxBoss: Malus can feel like this to some players expecting a more action-oriented finale. For one thing, Malus cannot harm you once you've passed the DeathCourse, almost qualifying as a ZeroEffortBoss at this stage were it not for the fact that he can shake you off like any other colossus can.
** Malus ''can'' shoot you, ''[[FridgeLogic somehow]]'', '''through his armor,''' but only when you're around his feet, and only sometimes after you try something pointless like shooting his ankle (as the arrows will just bounce off). There will also be the occasssional run where he'll put up one ''hell'' of a fight for his life to throw you off.
* BestBossEver: Phalanx, pictured in the main page image, is practically the fan favorite. Other highlights include [[BladeRun Gaius]], [[BigBadassBirdOfPrey Avion]], and [[CoolHorse Phaedra]].
** And [[FinalBoss Malus]].
* GoddamnedBoss: Considering that there are sixteen wildly variable boss battles to choose from, it's inevitable that some of them will end up as this. Occasionally, a Colossus is not tricky to defeat but it is a MarathonBoss and takes a long time to complete the strategy (Cenobia is a big offender here). The most notable ones, though, are:
** Pelagia. One of the trickier PuzzleBoss battles, since getting it to expose its weak point requires a complicated bit of planning and experiment. This is also while said boss is shooting balls of lightning at you every now and then, and you're swimming awkwardly through the water with it. Doesn't really help that it's {{Nightmare Fuel}}[=/=]{{Paranoia Fuel}} either.
** Dirge. Even if you realize quickly that you can shoot it [[spoiler: in the eyes]], doing it while sitting backwards on a horse is tricky. The target also might not appear before Dirge makes an aggressive dive, or Agro might have to make a turn and throw your aim off. Even worse if you're still struggling with Agro's controls by this stage.
** Basaran, (though see ThatOneBoss if you found it really hard). Unlike most other Colossi, the ColossusClimb is the easy bit. The really annoying bit is getting it to [[spoiler: stand above a geyser in time to get thrown over. Even if you get it in the right position, the geyser may stop just before you have time to shoot its ankles, and by the time the geyser fires again, Basaran has usually moved on. It doesn't help that Basaran would rather shoot you than move closer. Oh, and the geyser has to be in just the right place or it won't work, even when logically it should have an effect.]]
* NightmareFuel: Pelagia and Dirge.
* ParanoiaFuel
* ThatOneBoss: Basaran (if not GoddamnedBoss), for the same reasons as stated there. For extra fun, try fighting it in Time Attack Mode - wherein Agro starts out standing a good ten feet away. See also LuckBasedMission and GoddamnedBoss.
** Also Celosia. If you're really unlucky, the thing can back you in a corner and never let you get up properly, causing a game over and making you try again. Even if that doesn't happen, though, [[spoiler: the stick that you need to pick up to scare Celosia away sometimes doesn't want to let you pick it up, leaving you swinging your sword like a fool and a wide open target for the boss to charge at you.]] And that's not even taking into account how hard it is to dodge.
** Kuromori fires trios of energy blasts when provoked. The kicker is that the gas that remains actually hurts you. And beating it is no walk in the park, either; you have to [[spoiler: lure him up a wall, go to one of the few openings, VERY quickly shoot two legs, then jump from what is usually a high height to reach the bottom to attack him. It sounds challenging, but it's harder to execute.]]
* UncannyValley: All of the colossi might be imposing, but their moment is looking somewhat anatomically correct (Or as anatomically correct as you can when you're a friggin' enormous rock-monster), but with Pelagia, it has somewhat bobbing, unnatural movements, which doesn't really take away from it's [[NightmareFuel somewhat creepy]] nature.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Everything else]]
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The game gives you only the barest hints of story and leaves the vast majority up to the player.
* CameForTheXStayedForTheY: Came for the colossus battles, while the plot, music, and SceneryPorn just made those battles even more amazing.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: It's tempting to say "Any time you take down a Colossus," but taking down the ones that require real skill (particularly those that require horse riding skills, like Dirge or Phalanx) are the real crowners.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Pretty much every song in the game, but in particular the one [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69io0J2wOBQ first heard when climbing Valus.]]
** And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqVIJFvUraw Avion's theme]] is ''gorgeous''.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ungASYe3OF0&fmt=18 Revived Power]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm8vd9Yge_o&fmt=18 Prologue: To the Ancient Land]]
** [[http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=plpp&v=MQG90AqLvq4 Demise of the Ritual]] is a VERY dissonant track during the sixteenth colossi, but beautiful, even if the haunting choir seems to chastise you for everything you've done, even if it was in the name of love.
* CultClassic
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Agro, no pun intended. Almost every gamer can agree [[spoiler: that the biggest PlayerPunch in the game is the DisneyDeath Agro receives right before facing the sixteenth Colossus.]] There's also the fact that, as a horse, Agro is the lone character who isn't subject to AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: he's just a loyal steed doing as his master directs him.
* GoodBadBugs: Jumping upwards diagonally costs almost no grip meter, allowing you to reach the secret garden much earlier than intended, although jumping up ''the whole temple'' that way is quite a physical challenge in its own right. Was fixed in the remake, to many fans' dismay.
* JustHereForGodzilla: The moral ambiguity of the plot fascinates some, but others just play the game to battle the colossi.
* PlayerPunch: The death scene of each colossus is accompanied by the same melancholy tune, which more than once leaves players questioning whether all this killing is really worth it. A more unexpected one comes near the end when Agro [[spoiler:''falls into a ravine while throwing you to safety.'' Even though she survived, on a first playthrough no one could say for certain and for all any player knew, she could've been.]]
* SoCoolItsAwesome: Like all games made by TeamICO.
* ThatOneSidequest: Well, this is pretty much the only one but still, reaching the secret garden will take you a long time. Not that the climbing course is particularly difficult in itself, but you will have to make your grip gauge grow out of the screen if you don't want to fall to your death mid-way. Be prepared to make two or three playthroughs and hunt down ''a lot'' of lizards for that.
* VindicatedByHistory: While initial reviews were never bad, it was not the star game of the year, with multiple GOTY awards going instead to games like ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. Five years passed, and it has been rated the best game of the decade, second best game ever, and fourth greatest moment in gaming for its ending.
** It's on the shortlist of [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee's]] favorite games ever, if that means anything to you.
* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The vast open backdrop, through which you can make your lonely way; the soft lighting effects, as if you were looking at this world through a permanent [[TheDulcineaEffect Dulcinea Effect]]; the fluid animations of Agro and Wander, and of the colossi themselves. Pretty much the entirety of the visuals count. It's so awesome that others [[FollowTheLeader have attempted to replicate some effects to various degrees]]. The Colossi in particular are simply breathtaking in their detail and sheer scale.
** Special note that this was done ''before'' the era of HD Consoles at that!
[[/folder]]