5 Days A Stranger - Full walkthrough

5 Days a Stranger is a horror/mystery point and click adventure game and the first in the John DeFoe game series. The series was created by Ben 'Yahtzee' Crowshaw and can all be downloaded for free from the developer’s website, accessible here. In 5 Days a Stranger we follow gentlemen cat burglar Trilby as he breaks into a supposedly abandoned manor house with the intention of looting it for all its worth. However, upon entry Trilby finds himself not only unable to leave again but trapped in with four other people. As people begin to be murdered Trilby must solve the mysteries the DeFoe manor house and, most importantly, stop the killer before he himself is killed.

For this walkthrough I will be giving very limited information about what is happening in the plot so as to avoid you reading any unwanted spoilers. Items you can pick up will be highlighted in orange. I hope you enjoy this brilliant little point and click game and, don't forget, there's plenty more in the series if you did enjoy it. If you'd like you can also read my full review of '5 Days a Stranger' by clicking here. 

This game is primarily controlled by using the mouse and there's generally very little keyboard input except for saving the game and the hotkeys. You select the actions you want to perform by utilisizing the bar at the bottom of the screen which consists of four icons; footsteps, used for moving about, an eyeball, used for examining things more closely, a hand, used to pick up or use objects and finally a speech bubble, used for talking to people. You can further switch between these actions by using F1, F2, F3 and F4 as hotkeys. Lastly, whenever you move your cursor over an object the name of that object will be displayed.

Day 1 

After the cutscene, open the window. 
Use the door 
Walk along the corridor and go down the stairs. 
Walk all the way to the right and through all the doors. 
After the cutscene go back upstairs to the hallway. 
Walk to the right and talk to the woman beside the door. 
Go back downstairs and this time through the doors on the left until you are outside. 
Use the tree beside the wall. 
Talk to the tree. 
Go back through the house, all the way to the right until reaching the lounge. 
Talk to everybody about everything 
Once you’ve thoroughly interrogated everybody the game will move onto Day 2.

Day 2

Walk to the left until you find Jim.
Talk to Jim about everything then head outside into the garden.
Walk all the way to the right, beyond the pipeline, until you see Phillip.
Talk to Phillip, ask him 'Was it you who...', 'What are you doing with that...', 'How do you know the...' then finally, 'Can I borrow..,'
Go back to the house and go upstairs.
Open the nearest door, it has a broken lock, to enter the library.
Talk to Simone about everything
Locate the third shelf of the lefthand bookcase and take the yellow book to receive a plan of the DeFoe Manor.
Examine the plan then return to the garden.
Give the plan to Phillip to receive the metal detector.
Walk to the left and use the metal detector with the pipeline
Follow the pipline and use the pile of dirt it leads you to.
Use the newlt exposed panel.
Walk left to where the swimming pool is.
Climb down the ladder.

Day 3

Read the article that Phil gave you earlier
Enter the downstairs foyer and pick up the newspaper that's near the front door.
Read the newspaper.
Head outside for a surprise
Use your car to obtain lockpicks
Use the lockpicks with the shed door 
Open the door and enter the shed 
Pick up the saw and pickaxe
Head out of the shed then go to the library 
Pick up the blue book on the bottom-left shelf to obtain the Defoe Family History book.
Talk to Jim, ask him what he’s doing then invite him along Go back outside and use the saw on the tree 
Jim will help Trilby, once finished, go inside the house. 
Go upstairs and use the lockpicks on the door that’s second from the right. 
Open the wardrobe and pick up the green diary, read it.
Open the window and climb outside 
Use your grolly (umbrella) on the loose tile overhead. 
Use the window. 
Pick up the teddy bear. 
Open the nightstand and pick up the diary. 
Exit the room via the door and go back to the library.
Pick up a black occult book from the right shelf and read it. 
Go back downstairs and into the lounge 
Pick up the television cord.
Go back outside and pick up the stick. 
Go into the kitchen and open the middle cupboard 
Pick up the salt. 
Combine the television cord with the teddy bear, then this combination with the stick. 
Use the bear/stick with the salt. 
Go back upstairs and open the third door from the right. 
Use the salty bear/stick with the bed before looking at it. 
Go to the kitchen and look at the plan. 
Use the pickaxe on the wall to the very left of the room. 
Go through the hole. 
Look at the salty bear/stick and follow the directions until it points downwards. 
Use the area it’s pointing at. 
Go upstairs and walk all the way to the right. 
Pick up the idol on the floor. 

Day 4

Talk to the window 
Ask ‘what makes you think…’, ‘I was possessed…’ ‘It possessed me just like…’ then ‘I’m delirious with…’ 
Pick up your tie 
Use the lockpick on the door 
Go into the house and upstairs to the hallway 
Save your game 
Enter the bathroom at the end of the corridor on the far right 
Wait until the killer is on the bathroom mat then use it, quickly 
If you die just reload your game 

Day 5 

Enter the room behind you and talk to Jim to receive an apron, mask and machete 
Enter the library and pick up another black occult book 
Go downstairs and into the lounge 
Pick up the scissors from the dresser 
Use the scissors with the apron 
Use the strip on the mask 
Use the mask/strip on the machete 
Go back to the kitchen and dip the mask/machete in salt 
Enter the basement and use this salty mask/machete with the manacles on the wall 
Exit the basement and go back to the bathroom 
Examine the salty mask/machete and follow its directions until reaching a specific point 
Use the scissors with the salty mask/machete to free up the machete 
Use the machete with the tiles 
Pick up the remains.
Go downstairs and into the hunting room, use the remains on the floor 
Use either the mask or apron on the remains 
Talk to Simone (in the lounge) and Jim (upstairs in Matthew’s room) and ask them both to meet you in the hunting room 
Head to the hunting room as well 
Give the teddy to Jim 
Pick up the rifle from above the fireplace and give it to Simone 
Use the occult book on yourself 
Enjoy the ending!

I hope you enjoyed this walkthrough for 5 Days a Stranger, for more walkthroughs you can check out the page here listing the ones I have written so far. Don't forget to +1, comment or share this guide if you found it helpful, happy gaming!

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Shadow of the Colossus - Secrets, Unlockables and Easter Eggs

There are a great many things in Shadow of the Colossus that can be done but which are not detailed about anywhere in-game. Unlockable weapons, maps, stamina and health boosts and Agro gymnastics are all very well hidden extras in this intriguing game. Below there is a compilation of all the extras that you need to know about in order to get the most out of Shadow of the Colossus.

My full review of the game can be found here.
Annnd my story explanation and various game theories can be found here.

Secrets:

Agro's adventures:

If you are idle at either the start screen of the game or during the opening cutscene, but not during gameplay, then you will see Agro as she explores the world alone and without Wander. Wander is usually shown at the place where you last saved; sleeping or resting by a shrine. Agro will venture far and wide and, the same as in cutscenes, you may control the camera.

The Secret Garden:

At the very top of the Shrine of Worship is the secret garden shown at the end of the storyline. In order to access the garden you need a great deal of staminia and so it is best to attempt the climb when you have maximum stamina. To start the climb go to the back of the Shrine and locate a large growth of vines, in the PS3 version of the game all rest points have been removed so you need to attempt the climb all in one go. The PS2 version of the game also used to have an exploit where you could skip a large portion of the climb but this has since been removed. Once you have finished with the climb you should turn to the left and go up the set of stairs in order to access the garden itself. Doing this will earn you a trophy on the PS3 edition.

White-tailed Lizards

Scattered across the land are two different kinds of lizard; white tailed lizards and regular, black lizards. Whilst the ordinary black lizards do absolutely nothing the white tailed variety can be killed and their tail eaten (press by the shining tail) for a permenant increase to your grip meter. There are 77 white tailed lizards in the game with one lizard for every save shrine you can find and some additional ones elsewhere. By completing the Normal/Hard Time Attacks you can unlock a map that shows you the location of the lizards, I've detailed more information about the map further below.

Fruit trees

As well as boosts to your stamina you can also boost your health by shooting fruit out of trees and picking them up ( whilst standing beside the fallen fruit). The fruit has a range of appearances from very pale skinned banana shaped fruit to darker, brown fruit. Below is a diagram of all varieties. In the game there are 33 fruit trees which range from very large ones to smaller, thinner trees. Quite often a tree will have more than one piece of fruit on it as, though there are only 33 fruit trees in the game, there are roughly 128 pieces of fruit overall. Eating the fruit provides a permenant increase to your health bar and may also replenish any lost health. 

Note: Fruit found in the secret garden depletes your health and stamina and so is considered poisonous. This poisonous fruit is only found in the garden and is depicted at the end of the diagram. 

Agro Gymnastics

Pet Agro: Whilst standing near Agro's head or whilst sitting in her saddle you should equip nothing, as in have an empty hand, and press to pet her on her neck.

Maintain speed: To maintain Agro’s speed you should hold down rather than tap it.

Jump from Agro: You can jump from Agro at any time, standing or sitting, by tapping . This is useful to reach new heights if you can time it correctly.

Have Agro jump: Agro can jump over small gaps and off short ledges if you gallop her towards where you want her to jump. Agro will only jump over or off of things that she will survive from.

Rear then gallop from a standstill: From a dead stop sharply drag and, quickly and at the same time. If done correctly Agro should rear up and then take off into a maximum speed gallop. This is very useful for fast getaways.

Emergency stop: Whilst galloping sharply drag downwards and , as though performing the above move, Agro should drag herself across the ground and stop dead.

Stop and turn around: Whilst galloping sharply drag downwards and   twice (not twice, the entire combination) Agro should once again drag herself across the ground and stop but then quickly turn around 180 degrees, still running.

Stand whilst riding: Whilst either cantering or galloping hold down then drag upwards, Wander should stand up and ride on Agro’s back.

Hang from saddle: Whilst either cantering or galloping hold down and . Depending on which side you want to hang, drag the stick in either the left or right direction. Wander should hold onto the saddle and hang from that side whilst Agro continues to run. You can get off Agro from this position by letting go of the saddle.

Gameplay modes

Upon completing Shadow of the Colossus for the first time you will unlock additional modes; a harder difficulty mode and time attack modes. During gameplay of any difficulty level, including your first playthrough, you may also access reminisce mode.

Reminiscence mode:

Return to the fallen body of any colosuss that you have already defeated. There you will see its body, if you go up to it and press O to pray you can fight the colossus again but with an old film appearance instead of the regular graphics. Check the list below to see where each colossus is located.

Colossus Locations
Colossus	Map Area
1.Valus	F-5
2.Quadratus	F-3
3. Gaius	E-2
4. Phaedra	G-5
5. Avion	H-4
6. Barba	D-6
7. Hydrus	D-1
8. Kuromori	G-6
9. Basaran	D-3
10. Dirge	B-4
11. Celosia	F-1
12. Pelagia	G-2
13. Phalanx	E-6
14. Cenobia	C-2
15. Argus	G-1
16. Malus	F-8

Hard Mode:

Hard Mode can be accessed from the Main Menu after completing the game on Normal Mode and there are several differences.

• No tutorials or hints from Dormin
• Save files have an orange lowercase ‘h’ beside the game clear number, indicating Hard Mode. If the game has been completed three times for example the game will show 3h in orange.
• The following colossi have additional weak points on their bodies; Valus, Quadratus, Gaius, Barba, Argus and Phaedra. All have one additional weak point apart from Phaedra who has two.
• Wander takes more damage from regular attacks whereas very strong attacks such as being stomped on or hit directly will instantly kill him, regardless of your health.
• When playing through Time Attack a different set of items will be unlocked compared to the Time Attacks in Normal Mode. More information on this below.

Time Attack:

Time Attacks can be completed during either Normal Mode or Hard Mode but only after you have completed the game once. During the Time Attack modes there are a lot of opportunities to unlock some extremely useful items though the items unlocked depend on which difficulty level you’re completing them in. To access the Time Attack mode you should go to the Shrine of Worship and approach an idol of your choosing, by praying at any of the sixteen idols you will enter the Time Attack mode for that particular colossus. The goal of a Time Attack mode is to defeat the colossus in the given time limit which differ according to difficulty mode and the colossus being fought. Below is a table of the Time Limit given for each seperate battle.

Colossus	Time Limit
	Normal	Hard
1. Valus	2:30	2:50
2. Quadratus	4:00	4:30
3. Gaius	6:00	5:00
4. Phaedra	5:30	5:00
5. Avion	5:30	5:30
6. Barba	3:30	6:30
7. Hydrus	12:00	8:00
8. Kuromori	8:00	7:30
9. Basaran	7:30	5:30
10. Dirge	6:00	5:00
11. Celosia	5:30	5:30
12. Pelagia	9:30	10:00
13. Phalanx	12:00	13:00
14. Cenobia	9:00	9:00
15. Argus	10:00	11:30
16. Malus	9:30	13:00

By successfully completing these Time Attacks you will acquire a new item for every two that you complete. All new items will appear in the pool at the back of the shrine and can only be used in that particular difficulty level so, for example, items unlocked in the hard difficulty mode cannot be used in the normal difficulty mode. There are eight items for each difficulty level and sixteen in total.

Two items are unlocked in both difficulty levels; the fruit tree map and lizard detection stone but I will discuss what these do further below. Below is a table of all of the items you can unlock by completing the Time Attacks.

Time Attacks Completed	Unlocked Item
	Normal Mode	Hard Mode
2	Whistling Arrow	Harpoon of Thunder
4	Cloak of Force	Sword of the Sun
6	Mask of Strength	Fruit Tree Map
8	Lizard Detection Stone	Shaman's Cloak
10	Fruit Tree Map	Lizard Detection Stone
12	Mask of Power	Shaman's Mask
14	Cloak of Deception	Cloth of Desperation
16	Flash Arrow, Brown Agro	Queen's Sword, White Agro

Lizard Detection Stone:
 
The lizard detection stone will mark your map with an icon whenever you are standing in the general vicinity of a white tailed lizard. The icon on the map will be that of a lizard but they will only appear when you are relatively close by to that lizard. There are 77 white tailed lizards on the map, for more information on finding all of the white tailed lizards, check the trophy guide here.

Fruit Tree Map:
 
The fruit tree map will mark your map with the icon of a piece of fruit wherever a fruit tree can be found. The icons will appear regardless of how close you are to the tree and so, to use this item, you simply need to look at your map. There are 128 pieces of fruit in the game but only 33 markers as each marker has multiple pieces of fruit in the area. For more information on finding all of the fruit, check the trophy guide here.

Normal Time Attack Unlockables:

Whistling Arrow: When fired a whistling arrow will distract a colossus and make them turn in the direction of the arrow. This is a useful way of guiding a colossus or making them turn around so you can access their back.

Cloak of Force: The Cloak of Force quite simply increases the damage done by your sword.

Mask of Strength: The Mask of Strength also increases the damage done by your sword and can be used in conjunction with the cloak of force for even more damage.

Mask of Power: The Mask of Power is an even more efficient version of the Mask of Strength and thus cannot be used in conjunction with it. It can however be used with the Cloak of Force for increased damage.

Cloak of Deception: The Cloak of Deception renders the player invisible to all Colossi, allowing you to roam around their guarded areas without them bothering you in the slightest. This is especially useful during the final battle as you can walk through unscathed. The Cloak of Deception cannot be used alongside the Cloak of Force.

Flash Arrow: Flash arrows explode upon impact and do significantly more damage than regular arrows. Flash arrows can sometimes completely destroy small sigils in the same way that the ancient sword can.

Brown Agro: After successfully completing all sixteen Time Attacks on Normal mode you can unlock a brown variant of Agro, shown below, to use this new skin you must hold down at the title screen when loading a new game. 

Hard Time Attack Unlockables:

Harpoon of Thunder: These arrows do significantly more damage than regular arrows and also have the ability to interrupt a colossus' attack. Harpoons of Thunder can sometimes completely destroy small sigils in the same way that the ancient sword can.

Sword of the Sun: With this equipped the light from your sword will shine regardless of whether you are in the sunlight or not. In order to use it you need to cycle through your weapons until you find it.

Shaman's Cloak: The Shaman's Cloak decreases the damage that you receive from the attacks of the colossi, allowing you to survive for longer.

Shaman's Mask: The Shaman's mask also decreases the damage you receive from colossi and may be used in conjunction with the Shaman's Cloak for added protection.

Cloak of Desperation: The Cloth of Desperation is a parachute that eliminates all fall damage. When using the Cloak of Desperation you will fall slowly with a very flight forward glide. You will still die if you attempt to use it in certain spots such as the cliffs overlooking the ocean This item can be used alongside the Shaman's Cloak.To use the parachute you can hold either or Circle whilst in mid-air.

Queen's Sword: The Queen's sword is an incredibly powerful sword with the ability to destroy even major sigils completely with just one fully charged stab.

White Agro: After succesfully completing all sixteen Time Attacks on Hard mode you will unlock a white variant of Agro, as pictured below. To enable this you must hold down at the title screen when loading a new game.

Easter Eggs

Tree climbing:

Dotted around the landscape are a lot of very large trees with broad branches. These larger trees can be climbed in the same way you would a colossus by scaling up the green moss on the trunk of the trees. This method is a very effective way of checking to see if there's any fruit in the upper canopy and as a way of surveying the landscape.

Grabbing onto Fish and Birds

Several creatures can be grabbed onto with , provided you're fast enough. Try practicing grabbing onto the doves in the Shrine of Worship by running at them, jumping and grabbing with . Wander will only fall off if the bird lands, your grip meter runs out or you manually let go. Aside from doves you can also try this with other birds including hawks which tend to fly up high and for long distances, including over ravines and canyons. Be cautious when grabbing onto hawks as, if your grip runs out, you may fall to your death. Fish can also be grabbed onto if you seek them out in a lake and they'll drag you about underwater for some time before you run out of air. Note: For the PS3 edition of the game there are trophies related to grabbing onto birds and fish, see here for details.

References to Ico

In the PS2 edition if you have a saved game file from Ico on your memory card then the diamond-shaped mark on Agro's head is changed to the "I" from the Ico logo. This only occurs on the black variant of Agro and not on the brown/white skinned alternatives.

The reward from completing the hard mode Time Attacks is the 'Queen's Sword' from Ico.

PS2 Secret Garden Exploit

Find the patch of ivy behind the Shrine. If your grip meter is high enough, you can just jump straight up the side until you reach the first ledge, which has a small patch of leaves on it. Position yourself directly under that patch of leaves and continue to hold and jump straight up. Your character will immediately duck into the leaves and allow you to refill any lost stamina. Once you have regained your grip bar continue around and up the side until you finally reach the path leading to the garden. Bare in mind this does NOT work for the PS3 HD remaster of the game.

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The Adventures of Maddog Williams in the Dungeons of Duridian - Quick Review (MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari-ST game)

‘The Adventures of Maddog Williams in the Dungeons of Duridian’ was slightly behind the times at its time of release but is now a fantastic example of a text parser adventure game with a sly sense of humour and some really challenging gameplay. 

Developer: Game Crafters
Genre: Graphic adventure
Release date: 1992
Platforms: MS-DOS, Amiga and Atari-ST
ESRB: E - Everyone.  

The game was released in 1992 though it looks to be from a much earlier time due to not embracing the movement into a point and click interface that Sierra had started using. The game has been re-released as freeware so the original copy protection at the start of the game is now just for show, anybody can play the game for free. If you want to play it, you can pick it up from the developers web site here.

 

The story of ‘Maddog Williams’ is fairly standard of an adventure game; Maddog is an inventor and an antique’s shop owner who goes on a quest to rid the land of an evil wizard called Serik after stumbling along a kidnapped princess and saving her. If you’ve ever played any of the old 'King’s Quest' games by Sierra then you will feel right at home with this one and there are also plenty of humorous references to these older Sierra graphic adventure games.

The controls of the game take a little to get used to, especially the controls during combat as sword fighting is in real-time rather than being turn based. Maddog himself is moved about using the arrow keys and combat is dealt with by Maddog continually swinging his sword whilst you advance, retreat, spin and swipe by moving him about. Aside from this ‘Maddog Williams’ plays very much like a text adventure but with VGA graphics and the game revolves around the use of its text parser to interact with the game world. For those unfamiliar with these a text parser means that the player must type in commands in order to interact with things such as typing in ‘Look at drawers’ or ‘open drawers’ to see what’s inside them. Items that you pick up in the game can be used and combined together to form new ones and this is what constitutes a lot of the in-game puzzles.

There’s an instant charm with ‘Maddog Williams’ due to its vibrant appearance and interesting surroundings, the storyline is very easy to pick up and your surroundings feel open, flexible and detailed. There’s so many opportunities to die that it’s a little ridiculous and I remember, upon stumbling into some kind of cavern with a girl tied up on the table surrounded by hooded figures, that it would be a good idea to march on over to them. Unsurprisingly I didn’t live through that experience and I was treated to, in graphic detail, what happened to Maddog in text descriptions. I later realized there was a hidden passage within the wall that I was supposed to climb through. The complete lack of hand-holding is actually a breath of fresh air compared to many modern games however and it’s fairly standard to do a lot of saving and reloading with these early 90s games. 'Maddog Williams' felt very much like a point and click but with keyboard support and the puzzles, storyline and overall gameplay experience are all very enjoyable. It’s a shame the same cannot be said for the combat which is clunky, difficult to control and extremely deadly when you’re actually trying to face down an opponent. A very convenient ‘training’ option is available for you at all times to hone your sword fighting skills but I would have preferred turn based combat rather than awkwardly walking around backwards, swinging my sword. 
 

Another problem is that usually, in games that utilize text parsers typing, the game would be paused when you type. Unfortunately, in 'Maddog Williams' this is not the case so often you must type commands very quickly in certain situations where time is about to run out. It’s not unusual to have to reload the game multiple times so you already know what you’re supposed to be typing in unless you are extremely good at thinking, and typing, on your feet. The difficulty level of the game is very much set by your own personal skill in not just typing but controlling Maddog and solving puzzles but, with enough practice, these are problems that you can adjust to. Whilst the game’s graphics were by no means top-end at the time I found them pleasant, fairly detailed and very reflective of the overall feel and atmosphere of the game. The audio can be a little rough in places but the music is really quite lovely and, whilst the sound effects are in no way realistic, effort has been taken to make the game world come alive with many sights and sounds. Overall, you’ll get several hours of play out of this game depending on how versed you are with item combination focused puzzles so for hard-core point and click or retro Sierra game players this should be just the right level of challenging. 

The Good:

• Fairly challenging but not too frustrating
• MIDI music nicely ties in with the theme of the game 
• Alternate endings makes for a little replay value 
• Great humour, very likeable characters 
• Some very good puzzles

The Bad:

• Combat far too clunky with weird logic
• Quite a short game with not a lot of depth 
• Save game function can stop working, multiple saves recommended
• Lack of pausing when typing causes problems

The Score: 6/10

Last thoughts: It's a shame they never brought out a sequel, as a free game this is a really fun way of spending an evening and the humour and style is very likeable.  

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Shadow of the Colossus (And some Ico) - Theories and story explanations (Spoilers!!)

Despite Ico being the first game to be released by ‘Team Ico’ it’s actually the second in the story’s chronological order, Shadow of the Colossus is essentially the prequel to Ico. Now, there are lots and lots of spoilers below so don’t read on unless you want to know everything about the game. There are a lot of questions about Shadow of the Colossus but I’ll only be covering several major ones as they are all rather complicated.

Short summary: When Wander finishes destroying all of the Colossi of the forbidden land he’s possessed by Dormin, a likely reference to the mythological king Nimrod, and turns into a horned baby, starting a long race of ‘cursed’ horned boys that Ico is descendent from. Wait, what?

Story explanations and some additional theories

Plot summary:

The game starts with Wander entering the Forbidden Lands carrying the body of Mono on the back of his horse. At some point prior to the game’s events Wander acquired an ancient sword, the only weapon capable of defeating the Colossi of these lands suggesting that Wander knows what he must do to bring Mono back. Mono was sacrificed due to having a cursed fate but her relationship with Wander and Lord Eamon is unknown, it is possible that Lord Eamon played a part in the ritual that ended her life but there is no direct evidence for this. Either way, Wander cares deeply for her and brings her to the Shrine of Worship, lays her body upon the altar and pulls away the sheet that was covering her lifeless form.

This disturbance within the Temple of Worship awakens Dormin and, initially to protect the sanctity of the land, several shadowy figures that rise from the ground to attack Wander. When Wander raises his sword to defend himself the shadows melt away and are instead replaced by the unseen voice of Dormin, speaking to Wander. Dormin and Wander discuss why Wander is there and what Wander must do to return Mono’s soul to her body, Dormin initially attempts to dissuade Wander into proceeding as it goes against natural law and will have dire consequences. Wander insists and states that he does not care what the consequences are and, giving in, Dormin agrees to assist Wander in his mission. Dormin explains that the sixteen idols of the temple must be destroyed and in order to do this all of the colossi who the idols represent must be slain using the specific sword that Wander has on his person. Only when all sixteen colossi are dead will Mono be resurrected. Once Wander agrees to this proposition, consequences or no, he sets out with his horse Agro to find and destroy the Colossi with Dormin’s voice helping him along the way

Once the final Colossus is slain Wander is teleported back to the Temple of Worship and, at this point, Lord Eamon arrives just in time to see this. Eamon is furious and shouts at Wander, asking him if he knows what he has done and reveals Dormin’s true identity to Wander, claiming that Wander has been manipulated. Eamon explains that Dormin has been simply using Wander to free themselves and return to their true form but, shortly after Eamon’s explanation, Wander is shot dead by one of Eamon’s men. As Wander dies his body is enveloped by darkness and Dormin comes forth from his new host, explaining how they were locked away and sealed in the colossi. Dormin moves to attack Eamon and his men but Wander’s spirit fights back for control, during this struggle between Dormin and Wander one of Eamon’s men steals the sword and, on the way out, Eamon thrusts the sword into the pool of water at the end of the room. Eamon does this to try and banish Dormin once and for all, a swirling vortex of light explodes from the depths of the pool and pulls Dormin into it but, as he fades, Wander’s form reappears. Wander struggles not to also be pulled into the vortex of light and reaches for Mono who is still lying lifeless on the altar, unfortunantly he too is pulled into the light which finally fades, revealing that the pool is now dried up. Silence falls over the temple once more. Close by, Mono’s soul is returned to her body and she awakens. Agro greets her and they appear to know one another.

The scene cuts to the sight of Eamon’s men fleeing the Forbidden Lands as the bridge collapses, whether this is initiated by him or Dormin is unknown. As Eamon looks out at the temple all you can see is destruction stewn across the lands before him which appears to be a representation of the path of destruction and death that Wander carved in an effort to bring back Mono. The scene returns to Mono who is now walking with Agro to the end of the temple. She finds a horned baby lying in the hole where the pool of water once was, the sword is no longer there. Mono gently picks up the child and, following Agro, walks to the sacred garden atop the Temple of Worship which is full and thriving with life. The camera pans away as it follows a hawk before returning to the screen that the game started on as every comes full circle.

What’s the relevance of the shadowy figures and the tentacles?

Each time a colossus is slain mysterious, black tendrils erupt from the final sigil on its body and seek out Wander before stabbing through him, rendering him unconscious. Somehow transported back into the temple you notice that shadowy figures, gradually increasing in number, collect around Wander’s lifeless body to look down at him. The dark tendrils are fragments of Dormin’s true form which have been locked into each and every of the sixteen colossi that you fight, by killing them Wander is releasing these fragments from their prison. But he’s not just releasing them; he’s physically taking the fragments into his own being which is why they appear to penetrate his chest. An additional bodily figure appears around Wander each time another colossus is killed and these too are representations of the fragments of Dormin’s true form. 

As you progress through the game Wander’s appearance changes ever so subtly; his hair darkens, his skin pales, he grows small horns and he develops a red, veiny appearance on his face. These changes to his outward appearance are reflective of the internal changes occurring from Dormin’s gradual possession of him. By the time the final colossus is felled Wander has absorbed every single fragment of Dormin, except one; the source of Dormin’s voice.

Who is Dormin?

The voice guiding Wander actually belongs to Dormin and the focus on the light in the top of the temple poses him as some sort of heavenly being, which is wrong. Dormin actually looks like this;
 

It should also be noted that Dormin refers to itself as ‘we’ and without gender pronouns, this is due to the fact that Dormin is a collection of powerful spirits and not an individual one. Now, Dormin doesn’t look particularly heavenly though not exactly evil either as, despite the fact that Western cultures commonly associate horns with the devil, that’s not a worldwide association. An interesting observation about the true nature of Dormin starts with their name which, backwards, spells ‘Nimrod’. Nimrod was a warrior king in mythology who killed a bull with his bare hands and, as a showcase of his strength and triumph, wore its horns upon his head as a crown. Nimrod was also responsible for the building of the Tower of Babel, a very tall tower that was built to reach the voice of God that also has connections with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon as they were both situated in Babylon; the city that Nimrod ruled. Take a look at the Tower of Babel next to the Temple of Worship and see what you think about it.  

Remember that sacred garden at the top of the very Babel-esque Temple of Worship? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, also situated where the Tower of Babel supposedly was, could very easily be represented by the hidden garden as both are wonders of the world. It’s also interesting to note that Babylon was apparently a polytheistic society and that, within the Temple of Worship, there are sixteen idols that are worshipped by whatever culture use to dwell in these sacred lands. Is this place a video game representation of the lost kingdom of Babylon? It’s not out of the question. 

The similarities between Dormin and Nimrod continue beyond Dormin inhabiting a lair similar to that built by Nimrod. After Nimrod dies his body was split into separate pieces and spread out throughout the Earth whereas in Shadow of the Colossus Dormin’s soul is also separated and spread out across the world in the form of the Colossi. Nimrod’s death also prompted his wife, Semiramis, to claim that Nimrod had become the Sun God and whenever Dormin is talking during the game the camera is focused solely on the large hole in the ceiling of the shrine where there is nothing to be seen except pure sunlight. Lastly, Semiramis had a son after the death of Dormin whom she claimed was a virgin birth and who was also, apparently, Nimrod reborn into the mortal world. At the end of the game we see a sort of virgin birth whereby there is a horned baby, most likely Dormin or Wander reincarnated, who is left with Mono to be raised. It’s definitely something to think about but there are more immediate questions to be asked in direction relation to the game, such as…

Is Dormin good or evil? 

Dormin is good:

Even though Dormin ended up possessing Wander they did warn him about the dire consequences of killing the colossi and they also did uphold their part of the bargain and brought Mono back to life. After Wander and Dormin’s combined form was destroyed by Emon, Wander was also brought back to life in baby form. Whether this is intentional or not is arguable but it’s likely Dormin could have simply saved themselves and not bothered with Wander.

Our only real indication that Dormin is evil stems from Emon’s reaction to finding out they had been freed and the implication it was Emon who banished Dormin in the first place. However, just because Emon thinks Dormin is evil does not make it so and, truthfully, it is likely Emon hailed from the same village that Wander and Mono did. Emon obviously knew of Wander’s intention to come to these Forbidden Lands and has likely been following him for a while, if this is the case then Emon could have a direct correlation with why Mono was sacrified due to her ‘cursed fate’. A fear of ‘Old Gods’ may be the reason why Emon is fearful of the Dormin as they are obviously powerful and ancient beings. It may simply be that Dormin is part of a religion that Emon follows that paints him as an evil being or, simply, Dormin could be an Old God that is no longer worshipped. When Dormin possesses Wander they use the word ‘borrow’ to describe what is happening, suggesting the possession is not permenant, it could be that Dormin was using this chance to exact revenge over Emon and his men for banishing Dormin. A little revenge after being split up and imprisoned in Colossi in a forgotten land is no indication of evil, I think everybody would try and find some way out of it, even if it included using the body of a wandering mortal.

Dormin is evil:

The very fact that Dormin is divided and sealed up in a forbidden land is fairly indicative of either extreme power or extreme evil, or both. Emon, or whomever banished Dormin to begin with, very likely trapped him due to the Dormin being too dangerous to be allowed freedom. Whilst the Dormin explicitly tells Wander there will be dire consequences to his actions they never fully disclosed what these consequences would be and this points towards the Dormin manipulating Wander. It may be that the Dormin were simply testing to see how ignorant and stubborn Wander was and, after Wander proved he was willing to do absolutely anything to bring Mono back, decided Wander would take it all the way and carve the Dormin a path back into the mortal realm.

Just because Mono was resurrected at the end does not indicate that Dormin is good and that it could have simply been a side effect of Dormin’s resurrection. For all we know, Dormin needed Mono to rid themselves of a part that was stopping them from taking on a physical form which follows onto my current favourite theory, that Dormin is a symbol of balance like Ying/Yang:

Dormin is neutral:

Dormin could very well be both good and evil which, as a potential deity, is not unlikely. Dormin could again have been sealed due to being an ancient being that mankind has feared but not exactly an evil one, simply one that consists of many spirits where some are good and some are bad.

An interesting observation about the Dormin is that they may become progressively evil or darker as the game goes on. As more and more Colossi are killed you’ll notice that doves appear around Mono who grows lighter and lighter whilst Wander darkens and collects shadows around him. This could be a symbol of Wander having to give up his life to save Mono’s in the form of human transmutation where, usually, bringing a life back requires you to give your own life in return. In this case, Wander has to give his life up to Dormin in order to provide Dormin with the necessary tools to do as Wander asks. Rather than possessing Wander Dormin is simply finishing up the process required of them to return Mono’s life back to her. Soul resurrection is, after all, no simple task.

Now, the Dormin’s voice at the beginning of the game is a mixture of several voices due to be a collection of spirits, not just one entity, these voices include male and female ones. However, these female voices appear to become less audible as the game goes on suggesting that some kind of ‘good’ or ‘pure’ part of the Dormin is leaving in order to bring back Mono leaving only only the darker side behind. If this is the case then the entity that takes over Wander’s body is the darker, more evil part of Dormin and not Dormin in its entirety whilst Mono is inhabited by the lighter, purer part of Dormin. What would have happened had Emon not killed the shadowy being of Dormin is unknown but Dormin again hints at only borrowing Wander’s body. Would this part of the Dormin just left, inhabited somewhere else, found another body? Who knows, but it’s interesting to think about.

How are the two games connected?
Shadow of the Colossus is an official prequel to the game of Ico and so previous theories such as Ico and Shadow of the Colossus being set in the same time have been rendered as impossible. The games are set in the same world as one another but whether or not it is the same location remains to be proven. It is perfectly likely that the Forbidden Land and the Temple could be changed to the degree we see it in Ico.

The horned baby in the game started the line of cursed horned boys that you see in Ico, the horned baby is officially confirmed to be Wander so Ico and all the other horned children are descendants of Wander. As well as the horns it could be that some of Dormin’s power is passed on through the lineage that Wander creates and, if this is the case, then the evil Queen in Ico could very well be attempting to acquire this power. The Queen is interested in possessing her daughter’s body and, since Dormin had power over the dead and could transfer a living soul into a corpse, it is likely he would have the power to transfer a soul from one body to another.

At the end of Shadow of the colossus we see that Wander has developed horns due to the destruction he reigned down upon the sacred, forbidden lands. These horns are a punishment and at the end we hear the narrator saying that maybe one day Wander can atone for what he has done. This appears to have started the horned boy curse that we see in Ico yet, at the end of Ico, Ico loses his horns after rescuing Yorda and destroying the evil Queen. If this theory is correct then this indicates that Ico is the first of Wander’s descendants to finally break the curse and atone for the sins of his ancestor. 

I haven’t gone into full detail about this game as I could probably write even more of an essay about it but feel free to add in your own additions, are Shadow of the Colosuss and Ico set in the same location? Those bridges look pretty similar to me… Is there a connection between Yorda and Shadow of the Colossus? Does Dormin exist in any form during Ico, why are the shadowy figures from Ico very similar in appearance to the ones in Shadow of the Colossus? So many questions!

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