All clues can make sense (Part 1)
The Japanese Subliminal Message
On the back of the Japanese cover (in the image above), there is a line that runs through the colossus with the following subliminal message written in English:
"This is not the beginning, but a continuation of an epic journey.
One in which you've ridden over perilous terrain, confronting death and your own limitations.
Only to arrive here.
And through you traveled far, you had better stay as sharp as the sword you carry.
Because true love, your honor, your very survival all depends on this step.
Your destination? The top of a living breathing mountain.
One that can not be scaled, but must be slain."
The text message is interpretive and depending on the way it is interpreted, it can tell about a possible continuity of a hidden journey in the game. The message: "And through a long journey, you'd better be as sharp as the sword you carry. Because true love, your honor, your own survival depends on this step" - you may be referring to the procedure for releasing the supposed Ending Secret is so absurdly difficult that the player would have to be very persistent to release it. The final message: "Your destiny is the top of a mountain of living breath, one that can not be climbed but must be slain" - tells the player to reach the top of this mountain without having to climb it. The top of the mountain that the message may be referring to is the site of the New Theory procedure, that is, around the crater (Arena of the 11th colossus), where we try to play to catch some bird, and like Arena of the 11th colossus is below ground level, it is not necessary to climb to the top, since we are in reach of the top of this mountain.
In addition, at the end of the line that traverses the colossus on the Japanese cover, it is revealed that the Last Big Secret may even be the birds that fly around the head of the 1st colossus on the cover, and which also fly inside the crater, having the same pattern how these birds were programmed.
Logo of Game
In his blog, Nomad Colossus says that some fans made an observation, in which the logo of Shadow of the Colossus with the design of the 1st colossus, fits with the sketch of the 1st colossus drawn on the map, in which the logo X is marked coincidentally with the center of the cross of the stone blocks of the Theory of Intersecting Points, that is, in the crater (Arena of the 11th colossus), showing that there may be a treasure stored there. According to the New Theory, it is also exactly the place of the procedure to release the Secret Ending. The link to your review: http://nomads-sotc-blog.blogspot.com.br/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00%2B11:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00%2B11:00&max-results=4
In addition, in the image above to the right, in an observation made by me, notice that the 1st colossus club that is drawn on the map, shows the 1st colossus pointing the club to the East Region of the inaccessible areas of the map, in which, it is as if the first colossus was trying to tell the players to catch some bird in the crater of the 11th colossus, and that it will take you to the mysterious place where the colossus points the club.
Rumors of Interviews in Fumito Ueda
Through rumors of players, in which it caused a huge repercussion and became a snowball by Brazilian players, Fumito Ueda and some members of his team, had given a collective many years ago, and a mysterious interview after the talk about a Last Big Secret. In this interview that was never proven through some video, but witnessed by some players, Fumito Ueda had said that Shadow of the Colossus possessed a Last Big Secret and that until today was not discovered even by hacking players. So, Ueda gave some clues that many players distrusted of his peculiar information, however the clues have a lot relation with the New Theory. The clues are:
"The secret is on the cover of the game and in the skies."
This tip may be referring to some element of the game appear at the same time on the cover of the game, as in the skies. The "game cover" lane may refer to the browned birds that appear in the American and Japanese versions of the hoods, both on the front of the hood and on the back of the hood where the birds fly around the 1st colossus. In addition, the birds are scattered throughout the "skies" of the game.
"The secret will not be revealed anytime soon."
This clue to New Theory may be that the procedure for releasing the Secret Ending is so cruel that the player would be left to try to release it all his life.
Other clues given in other supposed interviews
- In a Latin forum (Mexican and Spanish), the player Poc created a topic saying that Fumito Ueda gave an interview and that at the end of it gave a clue related to a supposed Last Big Secret:
"SECRETO CASI REVELADO: Hola a todos... En una entrevista, Fumito Ueda, creador de Shadow of the Colussos, ha revelado que a parte de ser el Jardin Secreto uno de los secretos del juego, habría otro, que no he encontrado en ningun lugar en internet, él solo da una pista con una frase a modo de acertijo que dice: "SIEMPRE TE QUEDARÁ EL PUENTE ¡¡¡ DA EL SALTO!!!". La imagen que acompaña ésta frase es la del puente larguísimo que se cruza al comenzar el juego, el mismo que se derrumba cuando lo terminas. A que se referira Fumito Ueda al decir esto?. Yo ya he llegado al Jardin Secreto terminando el juego solo una vez y sin comer una sola lagartija ni nada mas con una técnica muy simple que consiste en subir poco a poco dando solo saltos laterales.
A alguien se le ocurre alguna teoria para descifrar el acertijo revelado por Ueda??
Yo creo que efectivamente debe tratarse del puente de entrada al templo, ya que al decir que "siempre te quedara el puente", hace suponer que aunque se destruya cuando terminas el juego, el mismo reaparece sobre la partida guardada al iniciar nuevamente el juego, Ahora, "da el salto", a que se referira? ya he subido y he dado saltos desde el puente y lo unico que pasa es que me entorto contra el suelo y muero."
The topic link: http://zonaforo.meristation.com/topic/1831989/.
The translation of the text is: In an interview, Fumito Ueda, creator of Shadow of the Colossus, revealed that besides the Secret Garden being one of the secrets of the game, there would be another secret that was never revealed. found anywhere on the internet.He just gives a hint with a phrase like a kind of puzzle that says "ALWAYS THERE IS A BRIDGE, GIVE THE JUMP." The image that accompanies this phrase is the huge bridge that crosses the the first one that collapses when the game ends.What did Fumito Ueda mean by saying that? I have already reached the Secret Garden by finishing the game only once without eating a single lizard or anything else with a very technical using diagonal jumps.
Anyone have any theory to decipher the puzzle said by Ueda?
I think he must be referring to the entrance of the bridge to the temple, saying that "whenever there is a bridge," he suggests that although it is destroyed when the game ends, it reappears in the saved game to start the game again, now, "the leap" what does this mean? I climbed up and I jumped off the bridge and the only thing that happens is that it fell, I squirted on the ground and I die. "
The mysterious track "ALWAYS THERE IS A BRIDGE, GIVE JUMP" has a lot of relation to the New Theory, because the procedure to release the supposed Secret Ending indicates that it is to "jump" from the crater where "we saw the huge bridge" to hang in some bird.
- In the Gamefaqs forum, several players comment on a mysterious interview at IGN:
During a press conference called "Ask Kyle Shubel," one of the Shadow of the Colossus fans asked Kyle Shubel (part of the production of the game): "Beyond the Secret Garden, does the game have any more secrets?"; and Shubel replied, "Try to use the Parachute." That is, it is as if Kyle Shubel was giving a clue of the Last Big Secret and that, by the way, also has a lot of relation with the New Theory, in which, the Parachute has to be activated in the menu item when hanging in a bird. Kyle Shubel's collective link commented on Gamefaqs:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/924364-shadow-of-the-colossus/43077354
This same interview is commented on Joshua Barsody's blog: http://www.joshuabarsody.com/2012/08/shadow-of-colossus-last-big-secret.html
Ueda's Purposeful Misconception
In mid-2011 and 2012, Fumito Ueda posted on his twitter two storyboards, in which the players believed to be the supposed Alternative Ending. Fumito Ueda had said in an interview that he gave up the idea of releasing the Secret Ending for players who had a save from the Ico game on the Memory Card for having found it unfair to players who did not play the game. However, there may be a misinterpretation when Ueda says that he gave up only the idea of Ico's save and did not give up the idea of the Secret Ending, in which the idea may have been replaced by the Cloth of Desperation covering Mono and later becoming the Parachute.
The link of the second Storyboard that Fumito Ueda put on your twitter around 2012: https://twitter.com/fumito_ueda/status/175261728593035264/photo/1
Alternative Game Cover
In the alternative cover, we can see the following message written on the back: How would you go for love? Below this sentence appears the shadow of the 15th colossus with the message written on his body: Discover uncarth and destroy. This phrase may be one of the subliminal messages referring to "discovering" the location of the procedure to release the supposed Secret Ending that may be the crater in the Arena of the 11th colossus that has already been "dug up", and then must "destroy" the 15th colossus enabling the supposed Secret Ending, in which, is exactly the colossus referring to the shadow that appears in this cover, according to the New Theory.
Ueda's favorite colossus
Some players know that the first colossus is Ueda's favorite. For this reason, the elements of his arena may have references to the elements of the supposed Last Big Secret of the New Theory. That is, the elements of the arena of the 1st colossus are: dry trees referring to the dry tree of the procedure site, birds flying around the head of the 1st colossus referring to the birds that fly inside the crater of the 11th colossus and the mini temple swallowed by the mountain may correspond to the supposed elevator that we activated to open the mysterious stone door of the 15th Colossus Arena.
The brown bird of the game Shadow of the Colossus can be an "EAGLE"
Storyboard of Secret Ending
In his blog, Nomad Colossus reported that Fumito Ueda had mistakenly put the following information about the fruits of the Secret Garden in the game's Artbook:
Ueda states in the official art book that: 'Within the garden grow 37 pieces of fruit that decrease your max health and grip meters. Though they seem to have a deeper meaning, collecting them does not change the story or the ending. If you return to the ground and save after eating one, you'll be sure to regret it, so be careful.
Nomad Colossus wrote in his blog that Fumito Ueda made a mistake in saying in Artbook that in the Secret Garden there are 37 clusters of fruit, and that there are actually 48. Nomad adds that the amount of clusters of fruits correspond to the number of colossi planned in the initial game design, bringing this one reference. More information about this blog content on Nomad Colossus: http://nomads-sotc-blog.blogspot.com.br/2017/09/fruits-in-forbidden-lands.html
Regarding New Theory: Why will we regret eating a fruit from the Secret Garden, if the game "supposedly" is nothing else? Why in the above text does Ueda mention about changing the game story or the ending, "assuming" that there is no way to change the game story, or "assuming" that there is no Alternative Ending? In my opinion, Fumito Ueda has put the information from the Secret Garden having 37 bunches of fruit wrong on purpose in Artbook. Fumito Ueda for being the creator of the game, could not make a mistake as gross as this, and perhaps he did it, so that the players more attentive, or the players who believe in the existence of the Last Big Secret know the true number of clusters (which are 48 bunches of fruit) and make a difference with the number of bunches mentioned by Ueda in the Artbook (37 bunches of fruit). Note:
48 - 37 = 11 (forty - eight bunches of fruit minus thirty - seven bunches of fruit results in eleven bunches of fruit that Fumito Ueda forgot to mention in the Artbook).
That is, the number 11 of the result of the above subtraction can lead us to the colossus of number 11 which is exactly the colossus that is located in the arena which is the place of the procedure to release the supposed Secret Ending, and at the same time, is the location from the center of the cross formed on the map with the 4 stone blocks that are inside the Secret Garden.
The supposed bird drawn on the Shadow of the Colossus map may be the brown bird that appears in the opening and closing of the game, as well as being the mascot in the game's inserts and Artbooks, and being the "supposed" key to the Last Big Secret. In addition, there is a hypothesis that this bird is an eagle, because of the main theme that covers the history of the game: Shamanism. That is, in the legends about the beginning of Shamanism, the story tells of the origin of the first shaman:
"The people who lived in the West were good and the people who lived in the East were evil, the Gods created men and everything lived in peace and harmony, but the people In order to alleviate the suffering of the people, the Gods sent an Eagle to transmit medicinal powers. The Eagle went up to the men, but they did not understand its language, and so it was not able to transmit them to science, and the gift of medicine.The Eagle, flying and with the firm decision to fulfill its mission, saw from the heights a beautiful woman, sleeping naked, in the shadows of a tree.The Eagle landed, made love with the woman and as fruit From this act, the first Earth Shaman was born."
The so-called Secret Ending can be enabled on all versions of Shadow of the Colossus
According to New Theory, the supposed confidential content containing the Alternative Ending and Very Hard mode with the 8 hidden colossi are available in any versions of the game Shadow of the Colossus: the NTSC and PAL versions of the Playstation 2, possibly (or not) ) the remastered versions of the Playstation 3 and possibly (or not) the remake versions of the Playstation 4 that will launch soon.
But in the game Ico, it is possible to enable Extra Ending by collecting a watermelon and taking it to the end of the course from the beach to Yorda in PAL versions as well as the supposed Secret Ending of Shadow of the Colossus could only be enabled in PAL versions. According to my guess for the New Theory, this comparison would be "supposedly" wrong. The most plausible explanation I give is this:
- In the game Ico it is only possible to enable Extra Ending ONLY in PAL VERSIONS, because the MELANCES that are the key elements to release the Ending Extra, only exist in the PAL versions of the game, that is, the watermelons DO NOT APPEAR near the corner of the beach wall, above the grass (in the image above to the right) in the NTSC versions of PS2. In addition, it is possible to enable the Ico Game Extra Ending in the remastered versions of the Playstation 3.
- In the game Shadow of the Colossus it is possible to enable the Secret Ending in ALL VERSIONS, because the BIRDS THAT FLY WITHIN THE 11TH COLOSSE CRATER that are the key elements to release the supposed Secret Ending, exist in all versions, that is , if the Alternate Ending, besides the 8 additional colossi were enabled only in the PAL versions of the PS2, the birds of the F1 quadrant would NOT be flying inside the Arena of the 11th colossus in the other versions, that is, it would not have anything inside the huge crater.
The so-called "Secret Ending" and "Very Hard Mode" can exist and be enabled in the remastered versions of the Playstation 3?
There is an important data that has been implemented on the consoles of the new generation: the gold, silver and bronze trophies as achievements. In the remastered versions of Shadow of the Colossus on Playstation 3, there is no/many trophy related to the supposed "Ultra Secret" content, but the explanation I am going to give is: I have never tested these F1 quadrant birds on remastered versions of the PS3, but there are two hypotheses for this particular case. The first hypothesis is that the team that worked on remastering may not have implemented the "Ultra Secret" content and the second hypothesis is that the creators may have implemented, but they have not added any trophies to the "Ultra Secret" content because, the intention of the creators in relation to the supposed Secret Ending and the 8 hidden colossi is to be something of the "legendary" type, that is, it would only be acceded with a lot of determination of the most skeptical players, and when releasing a list with trophies conquests related to the content "Ultra Secret" would simply reveal to the world that the game actually has an Alternative Ending with 8 more colossi and would lose the grace of the essence of what is a "secret." Perhaps the intention of the producers of various games with their urban legends is to generate many doubts in order to make the skeptical players believe in a possible Last Big Secret and at the same time discredit the less skeptical players with the intention of triggering many discussions on social networks among fans of their games, and feed a real or imagined idea to not let their games fall into oblivion, and be remembered forever to value their masterpieces.
The so-called "Secret Ending" and "Very Hard Mode" can exist and be enabled in future in the remake versions of Playstation 4?
This will depend a lot on the relationship that Fumito Ueda has with the new team that is part of the production of the PS4 remake. Recalling that a few years ago, creator Fumito Ueda was dismissed from Sony, and had an external relationship with the production teams of the games The Last Guadian (PS3) and Shadow of the Colossus (PS4).
Illustrative image taken from the Nomad blog.
