RESPONSE UPON RELEASE/COMMUNITY

There were many people in the gaming community that were aware of the Civilization series before the 5th game came out, but the release of this game was the high point in the series which gained the most attraction of any of the previous games made.

CORE LOOP

The core loop of Civilization V is:

Unit Orders → Purchase Units → Choose Production → Adopt Policy

MAIN MECHANICS

The main mechanics of Civilization V is giving unit actions, purchasing units, choosing production, and social policies.

Unit orders are the main point of actions in the game, each round you may be able to move any units that are currently not performing actions in order to build structures, attack other cities, create cities, and many other things. Some things that units can build are; roads, farms, factories, landmarks, or even cities can increase resource production.

Purchasing units is also a large part of the game in order to increase your army/production with many types of units. The main units in the game are; workers, settlers, religious units, trade units, great people, and many of the combat units.

Choosing your production in Civilization V is the procedure you use to increase the technology for your cities and attempt to be in front of other cities in terms of trade/culture/fire power which is the three ways you can achieve victory. Each chosen technology can help you assist with a current, or future option you think can help you win the game.

Social policies are helpful to increase the chance of you winning depending on which path you wish to take on the road to victory, there are some social policies that can favor the different ways of achieving a victory. You choose one option out of many in a skill tree-like menu which gives you better statistics depending on which strategy you wish to take.

INFLUENCES

The Civilization series has influenced many games, such as;

Endless Legend

Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars

Endless Space

CONCLUSION

RESPONSE UPON RELEASE

Shadow of the Colossus was highly praised upon the release of the remake. People thought that the story and the game still held up even to today’s standards, the original game was less praised upon its release and steadily rose in player base - but the community loved the remake when it came out for PS4.

CORE LOOP

The core loop of Shadow of the Colossus is:

Get Instructions from Spirit → Kill Colossi → Gain power → Return to Spirit

MAIN MECHANICS

The main mechanics of Shadow of the Colossus is movement, combat, and climbing the Colossi.

The movement in this game is a very important aspect - as it crosses over with the climbing, but more importantly is used for avoiding getting hurt by the giant Colossi as they swing to kill you. Having your horse as a companion to help you get around is not only helpful mechanically for faster movement - but also creates a bond between the two characters in the story.

The combat is also crossing over with the climbing mechanic, as you need to climb on top of the Colossi to strike them in their weak spot - which is similar to some aspects of Zelda.

The climbing of the Colossi is a very unique main mechanic of this game, one which little games have explored - and one which is starting to inspire other games to explore. The climbing is difficult to achieve on purpose to create more of a sense of importance and tension, and to represent the character’s abilities as a young boy.

Most of the mechanics are both narrative inspired, and also to make the game feel better and more fun to play.

INFLUENCES

Shadow of the Colossus has influenced a few games in their themes or even mechanics such as;

Praey for the Gods

Lost Pisces

The Last Guardian

COMMUNITY

The community around Shadow of the Colossus is not particularly large, but is a very passionate community about the game. There are many people who have created various art pieces and even cosplay or videos to display their interest towards the game.

CONCLUSION