I still strongly believe Shadow of the Colossus is the very definition of epic.
1) There is nothing BUT Colossi to take down.
2) Huge fields with no enemies puts emphasis on the scale and scope of the journey, and the urgency of taking down the Colossi. No action happens in between, a calm before the storm. When the encounter with a Colossus within its environment finally occurs, there is such a large contrast between the empty galloping across fields and the sudden approach that the battle that follows is nothing short of epic.
3) The minimalist dialogue heavily relies on action over words. Minimalist cutscenes make each encounter significant and memorable.
4) The music is the most engrossing soundtrack I have ever listened to, perfectly matched with the epic encounters of each Colossus. There is no music when wandering, and slow, moody and relaxing music as you approach a lair, a switch to an eerie tune as you close the distance to the Colossus's habitat, and complete switch to a dynamic, heavy orchestral tune when fighting it. The music is also fully orchestrated, and we all know all epic Games ALWAYS employ orchestral music.
5) The emotionally gripping cutscenes are kept short and brief, without dragging, being overly dramatic and feeling too sorry for itself. This allows for some genuinely emotional situations (Agro and Wander and their master to horse relationship, the individual Colossus takedowns) that last but for a moment, yet a player's reminiscience of the moment increases by hundredfold, fully engaging the player into the emotional turmoil of the main character.
GOW3 is epic indeed, but SotC remains, to me, unbeatable in terms of scale and size, and heck, even poetry, compared to any other game I have ever played.
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