Very Hard mode and the 8 hidden colossi
After completing the supposed Secret Ending in Hard mode, the Very Hard mode is released with another 8 additional colossi.
In the initial menu of the game, the "New Game (Very Hard mode)" option appears under "New Game (Hard mode)" and above the "Load Game" option.
The story of the so-called Very Hard mode is a continuation of the so-called Secret Ending, that is, the plot begins where it ended.
Wander, Mono, the boy with a horn (Emon) and Agro mare are behind the Wind Slit living in a moment of glory, that everything ended with a happy ending. But not everything that is good lasts forever.
PART 1: A ALMOST HAPPY FINAL
From this moment, the player controls Wander next to the Agro mare (who is no longer with the paw limping) to face the 8 hidden colossi, while Mono and the boy Emon are waiting in the Sanctuary of Worship.
Wander begins his mission with the energy bar and stamina from scratch, that is, at minimum values, because Dormin had reduced Wander's energy by removing the black tentacles from his body and transferring to Emon's body in the Secret Ending. The main weapon that Wander will use will be a replica of the Ancient Sword (sword that Wander obtained from one of the dead guards). The combination of sunbeams emitted from the sword pointed to the colossus closest to Wander's location.
The location of the colossi are corresponding to the clouds in the inaccessible areas of the map. In the supposed Secret Ending, when Wander flung the Ancient Sword into the water fountain and opened the light portal, the magnetic field drew some clouds from the inaccessible areas of the map into the interior regions of the Seal of the Forbidden Land, causing colossus hidden clouds corresponding to these clouds were drawn into the Forbidden Land as soon as they awakened from their sleep, for the clouds of the map are a kind of colossal lung, that is, the colossi do not live without being near their clouds. That is, of the 8 hidden colossi, 3 colossi were drawn into the interior of the Forbidden Land, 1 colossus was drawn to an inner region of the sealed place, however its path is accessible by the outer regions of the seal, while 4 colossi remain in the region which represents the outside of the seal. The free passes of the Wind Slit, the huge open gate in the Arena of the 16th Colossus and the beach (Easter Egg on Ico Beach) caused the magnetic field of the light portal to attract some clouds to the inner regions of the Seal of the Forbidden Land across these three areas.
With the Seal of Forbidden Land removed, the player can control Wander which may have two exits for the outer regions of the sealing. The two exits are: the elevator that was activated in the Arena of the 15th colossus that gives access to the east and southeast regions, and the Wind Slit that no longer has the wind that blocks the passage that gives access to the north, west and south of inaccessible areas of the map. In addition, the entrance door to the Sanctuary of Worship will be open, and the Agro mare will be able to access the spiral staircase as well as the huge bridge.
When an extra colossus is defeated, the black tentacles of this colossus will hover at the site of the dead colossus, that is, Female Dormin will not control the tentacles to place them inside the body of the Mono for now. Also, no icon will appear on the map when some hidden colossus is defeated, only the icons of the ancient colossi remain on the map to be faced in Reminiscence Mode. However, the 8 hidden colossi can not be faced in Reminiscence Mode (as part of the New Theory).
THE FIRST COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
As they all return to the Sanctuary of Worship, Wander investigates the bodies of guards who remain unconscious on the ground outside the sanctuary. As Wander touches the guard's necks to check his beating, Wander comes to the conclusion that they are dead and returns to the sanctuary. Mono then responds that she considers herself guilty of the atrocities that have been occurring and makes a confession to Wander: Mono says that she herself asked Emon to sacrifice her life so that the mysterious prophecy surrounding her would not be fulfilled. So, Wander tells Mono not to blame himself for the traps that are put in the way of destiny. Then Wander picks up and takes possession of one of the guards of one of the dead guards, since the Ancient Sword no longer exists, because of the portal of light that completely shattered the weapon with the magnetic field.
Then a thunderstorm emanates from the sky. The boy Emon gets scared and hides behind the altar. A chuckle echoed through the hole where Dormin announced the colossi. Wander tells the mysterious voice to identify himself. And by surprise the voice identifies itself as Dormin, but speaking only with female voices. Wander interrogates the mysterious voice saying that it is not possible that Dormin still exists because the beast had been defeated when all its dark and imprisoned part was purified in the body of the boy Emon of only a horn when they merge in the portal of light. Then begins a series of explanations.
Dormin says Wander still does not understand his form of existence. Dormin explains that it is an entity consisting of two parts: one part is masculine while the other part is female, and that Wander had defeated only the male part of Dormin materialized in Emon's body with the appearance of a horned beast. In addition, Female Dormin adds that the male part of Dormin can only offer itself in the pact on a male host body to materialize, while the female part offers itself in a female host body. However, Wander contradicts Female Dormin saying that even if this explanation were true, one part of its existence depends on the other, that is, if the male part of Dormin ceases to exist totally, the feminine part also ceases to exist, is one of the secrets known among shamans. Wander concludes his reasoning by saying that he is sure to have purified all the masculine part materialized in Emon in the portal of open light, because Emon regressed with a pure child of only one horn in the side of the head. Then Female Dormin says that Wander is wrong, for he had not completely purified the materialized male part, for when the beast Dormin had been defeated, falling from the sanctuary's hole to the floor below, one of the creature's horns broke during and when the portal of light was opened, the magnetic field sucked only the beast materialized at Emon, but the broken horn was not sucked into the portal because the strong gale carried the piece of horn and imperiled it in one of the walls' which separate the idols. Female Dormin tells Wander to take a look at the piece of horn that is in the space of one of the shattered idols. After doing the verification, Wander frustratedly agrees with Female Dormin who concludes his speech saying that if that piece of horn had been burned and purified in the portal of light, then the events would be different, that is, instead of Emon his old age even to that of a boy, he would regress to that of a 0-year-old baby, and furthermore, the huge bridge that connects the Wind Slit with the Sanctuary of Worship would have collapsed when its supports self-destruct as they collapse. Wander says he understood the part that Emon might have regressed like a baby with his fully purified spirit along with the masculine part of materialized Dormin, but he did not understand why the huge bridge collapsed. From this comes a series of revelations.
Female Dormin tells a few things about the times when the Forbidden Land and the essence of Dormin were sealed. She explains that Dormin's essence of her male part was divided into 16 parts and imprisoned in the 16 colossi that Wander already knew except for the 16th colossus (in true story mode), but as the female part of Dormin represents the half in comparative power with the masculine part, that is, the essence of Dormin of his feminine part was divided in 8 parts and imprisoned in another 8 colossi that are hidden around the seal of the Forbidden Earth, in which, Wander does not have the knowledge of the existence of these creatures. Then Wander asks her, where are the idols that represent these colossi mentioned in the explanation. Female Dormin reveals that the idols that are incarnations of colossi can be represented in two ways: One is through monuments such as the 16 huge statues that were in the corners of the corridor of the Shrine of Worship, and the other way is through engravings in blocks of stones, that is to say, there are 8 engravings in 4 blocks of stone in the enormous bridge, besides the 4 blocks in the Arena of the 16th colossus. Each block shows the sketch of an image of a hidden colossus. Concluding the explanation of Female Dormin, if the 8 hidden colossi are all defeated, the set of supports of the enormous bridge collapse and self-destruct, for the huge bridge would be considered a 17th idol symbolically representing the 8 blocks of stones and the sacred magic within its supports seals the feminine part of Dormin.
Wander is surprised by the revelations of Female Dormin, but he thinks there is no reason to confront more colossi, since his goal was fulfilled when he revived Mono. However, Female Dormin contradicts saying that Wander is wrong and will have to defeat the 8 hidden colossi, for she makes one more revelation, but rather surprising. Female Dormin reveals that Mono is pregnant and that the baby to come soon will be a great danger if she lives with humans, because in addition to the baby keeping a terrible sacred power inside, this same power grants eternal life, from of the 7 years of age, since it is the age limit of the first life cycle. Female Dormin adds that humans' obsession with power will make them one day aware of the mysterious power of the child that Mono carries in her womb, in which this child will be hunted forever so that its hidden power is stolen and used improperly among humans that could endanger their own existence, that is, the human race could eventually become extinct, as well as the Emon guards who were killed when they were electrocuted, because the power used against the guards was out of control.
Female Dormin explains that when the Mono resurrection ritual was performed, the Dormin entity witnessed a life within the Mono's belly, and that it was a miracle that the baby was not killed along with her mother in the murder Emon had committed. However, Wander asks what is this strange radiation of light that covered the body of the Mono, and Female Dormin responds that when Wander flung the Ancient Sword towards the water source and opened a portal of light, the remains of sacred spells who imprisoned the powers of the male part of Dormin in colossi were collected from the idols wrecked by the magnetic power of the sword thrown into the water, and the magnetic field of the unleashed light portal fed the wind from the seal of the Forbidden Land in which the remains of sacred spells were influenced by wind vortices, and as the Mono rested on the altar, vortices cut the Mono's skin lightly, and finally, the remains of sacred spells, entered the body of the Mono, and the baby that was the only thing alive at that moment, was affected by the particles and became the bearer of this mysterious power of light. Wander surprised by more revelations he still asks Female Dormin because Mono did not become the bearer of this power. And Female Dormin explains that during the Mono resurrection ritual, her body and soul were not yet connected 100%, so Mono was not spiritually affected by the remains of sacred spells. Female Dormin concludes by saying that when Emon's guards fired numerous arrows toward Mono, the baby felt her mother's pain, and through the umbilical cord, the baby sent an electric current that protected Mono's body by restoring the wounds, and as the baby felt threatened, he fired an electric shock toward the guards causing an instant death.
Female Dormin tries to convince Mono to both unite and become a Queen to protect the mysterious power of light that the baby keeps inside of humans and that this was the inevitable fate predestined by the strange prophecy of the ancient shamans. Wander tries to find another exit, but Mono tells Wander that there is no other choice and that he agrees to join Female Dormin. With sorrow in his heart, Wander accepts the choice of Mono and asks Female Dormin how the two (Mono and Dormin) will protect the baby's future from humans or vice versa. Female Dormin reveals that for the Queen to prolong life until she attains immortality, it will be necessary to use the mysterious power of light of the baby's body that Mono carries to drain the spiritual energy of the horned boys chosen by fate to be shamans, while others horned men who have no vocation to be a shaman, will be responsible for bringing these special children to the Queen and commanded by a shaman leader of the human race, at every period. Female Dormin says that the first descendant of the lineage, corresponding to the boy of a horn (old Emon), must breed enough and the future Queen must wait for a considerable number of horny boys, so that the selection of destined boys is made to be shamans, and these must be recognized as "bad omens" in their villages. Meanwhile, Female Dormin tells Wander to go and defeat the 8 hidden colossi with the goal of destroying the huge bridge so that Female Dormin is allowed to perform the ritual of union between her and Mono. However, Female Dormin says that Mono will have full control of the Queen's body, while the female part of Dormin will only be part of the power.
Wander decides to agree to Mono's decision and goes on a quest to defeat the 8 hidden colossi. Female Dormin says that the 8 colossi walk freely through the Forbidden Land, that is, the hidden colossi are not confronted in an orderly manner, for they are faced in a random way, because the idols of the 16 colossi were to be self-destructed in order.
PART 3: SEARCHING FOR 8 HIDDEN COLOSSES
Continuing from there, Wander tells Mono everything that has happened about his resurrection, from his entry into the Forbidden Land until he had defeated Dormin. Soon after, as soon as Wander plans to leave with the Mono to leave the Forbidden Land, a series of female voices try to convey a message through Mono thinking that the child who carries him in his womb can not live with humans, beyond the voices still say that Mono can not leave the cursed place and advises to return with Wander to the Sanctuary of Worship.
When she was surprised by the message from the voices, Mono has a relapse and then she touches his belly. Moments later, Wander worried about Mono's discomfort, he learns through her about the message of voices in his head, and they both decide to return to the Sanctuary of Worship to know what's really going on. In addition, Mono still tells Wander that the voices' message may be related to the mysterious radiation of light that came from inside his belly when the electric currents hit Emon's guards, making them faint.
PART 2: THE BEGINNING OF A NEW JOURNEY
The first occult colossus is called the Spider and nicknamed by the players of Aberth. This colossus resembles a spider. In the image above to the right, the clouds covering the map in the outer "Northeast" region of the seal were moved to the F2 quadrant, according to the image above to the left, where the colossus appears below the huge bridge (which is still intact ).
The hypothesis for the strategy of battle against this colossus, according to my guess, is to stand on the enormous bridge, to draw the colossus under the supports and to jump into its body. When standing above the body of the colossus, it must control the colossus's directions underneath its body by striking species of ice stalactites with the replica of the Ancient Sword (similar to the control of the 12th colossus when hitting species of teeth), and then overthrow it to the huge arena crater of the 11th colossus. Once fallen and immobilized, it will be necessary to remove, perhaps the only magic syllable that is under his body.
THE SECOND COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
The second occult colossus is called a Javali and nicknamed by the players of Sirius. This colossus resembles a boar. In the image above in the center, the clouds covering the map in the outer "Southwest and Southeast" regions of the seal were moved to the G7 quadrant, according to the image above to the right showing stacked rocks, in which this image appears in the Artbook of game with little information on the battle arena of this hidden colossus.
The strategy of battle against this occult colossus, according to Nomad Colossos, is to trap the body of the colossus on the stacked rocks, and then mount it on its back to remove its magical stealth.
THE THIRD COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
The third occult colossus is called Phoenix and dubbed by the Adar Flam players. This colossus resembles an ostrich and had been involved in the New Theory on the thesis of resurrecting a phoenix from the ashes, in which, when the egg-shaped rock is broken, in the Temple of the Sun within the Arena of the 8th colossus, the flame lit at the tip of the pillar knocked down by the Flash Arrow, would burn the ash remnants of the broken rock, giving rise to a new phoenix. In addition, this colossus is also involved in an urban legend of the 17th colossus. In the image above to the right, the clouds covering the map in the outer "North" region of the seal, were moved to the D3 quadrant, the location of this colossus being in a special way, since its arena lies within the regions of the Forbidden Land, but being accessible by a path through the regions outside the seal of the Forbidden Land:
In the images above, merely illustrative (the two images to the right were taken from the blog of Nomad Colossus), show the way to reach the Phoenix Arena. In the image above the map, we have the Wind Slit without the wind passage that was removed by the magnetic field of the light portal of the supposed Secret Ending. In the two images on the left of the map, we have the bridge that meets the path when we face the 3rd and 14th colossus. In the two images to the right of the map, we have an open field and a supposed area of anomaly located in the quadrant E3 of the map and that had been discovered by the hacker player WWWArea in 06/26/2013, in which, in the New Theory can be a supposed one way to the Phoenix Arena. The discovery of this area was posted on the Nomad Colossus blog. The Nomad analysis link on the 3rd colossus that includes the E3 area of anomaly: http://nomads-sotc-blog.blogspot.com.br/2011/07/gaius-3rd-colossus.html
The battle arena of Phoenix, show dry trees similar to the area where the 9th colossus faces. One of the chances of defeating this colossus is a guess by Nomad Colossus who thinks that we should attract the colossus into the dry trees, in which the trees would twine like twigs in one of the colossus' wings, then the colossus would bother with the stingers and try remove the branches from its wings, while the player would take the chance to climb the colossus on the other wing. The other is a hypothesis, according to my guess, would be to attract the colossus to a lake where there are fish, then the colossus would lower its head placing it inside the lake to feed of some fish in this same lake, whereas the player would take advantage of the moment to climb it by the neck until arriving at the wings and remove the two magical sigils supposedly in each wing, besides the sigil in its head.
THE FORTH COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
The forth occult colossus is called Roc and dubbed by Avus players. This colossus resembles a dragon and caused a lot of repercussion in the communities of the game by Internet, because he is very involved in a legend created by some Brazilian players who swore to have seen a shadow prowling around Wander, in which, was known like "the legendary Black Bird ". In the image above to the right, the clouds covering the map in the outer "Northwest" region of the seal were moved to the quadrant B4, near the Colossal Tree, according to my guess, since this colossus had already been involved in the New Theory on the reference of the dragon Niðhöggr next to the tree Yggdrasil, both of Norse mythology, besides the players have seen the shadow of the "Black Bird" in these regions of the map.
In the above images collected through video and Art Book images, we can see that there is a column in the middle of the battlefield. The battle strategy, according to my guess, would be for the player to make Roc stand at the top of the column and rest for a while there. In the meantime, the player could seize the opportunity to climb up the spine to the colossus' wings to remove their sigil (s).
THE FIFTH COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
The fifth occult colossus is called the Worm and dubbed by the Dionin players. This colossus resembles a mix of worm with a flower. In the image above in the center, the clouds that cover the map in the outer "West" region of the seal were moved to the quadrant B5 and C5, more precisely on the beach that brings an Easter Egg from the beach that appears at the end of the Ico game, we can see the soil made of sand and the wall made of rock (both similar to the beach). That is, the magnetic field of the light portal (in the supposed Secret Ending) drew Worm clouds across the beach, just as the Roc clouds were drawn in a region below the map.
The strategy to defeat this colossus, according to my guess, would be to lure him into the sea, in which, Worm would drown and the player would take the opportunity to remove his or her secrecy (s) in his body.
THE SIXTH COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
The sixth hidden colossus is called Devil and nicknamed by the players of Pholux. This colossus resembles a bat. In the image above in the center, the clouds covering the map in the outer "Northeast" region of the seal were shifted to the I2 quadrant, more precisely at the Dam, according to Nomad Colossus who analyzed the piece of orange rock from the colossus arena with the rainbow-shaped structure of the dam, in which Devil may have broken the structure when making its entry into combat.
According to my guess, Devil would be agitated to see the presence of Wander around him and would be chipping like a chicken, so the strategy would be to make the colossus not notice the presence of Wander and the player would have to hide aching behind a of the rocks scattered on the sand. As soon as the colossus is calm, it would give a break for the player to seize the opportunity, and as quickly as possible, Wander would jump into the colossus on one of the lowered wings and remove the sigil (s) in his body.
THE SEVENTH COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
The seventh occult colossus is called Monkey and nicknamed by Monkey players. This colossus resembles a monkey. In the image above to the right, the clouds that cover the map in the outer "East" region of the seal remain there for the quadrant I3 where, according to Nomad Colossus analyzed profusely a supposed cave indicated on the map in this region as the arena of this colossus, therefore as Monkey is a colossus that would be hanging in the stalactites, nothing more appropriate like this place to be its arena.
Therefore, the strategy to defeat Monkey would be quite logical, that is, to hit an arrow in each hand so that the colossus is released from the stalactites, falling from the ceiling of the cave to the ground.
THE EIGHTH COLOSSUS HIDDEN:
The eighth occult colossus is called Griffin and nicknamed by Kyos players. This colossus was inspired by the griffon. In the image above to the right, the clouds that cover the map in the outer "East" region of the seal were moved to the I7 quadrant, according to Nomad Colossus, who unveiled a collision-like path, but they have no aesthetics in some sectors, in which , the path goes from north to south through the eastern regions and became known as "invincible lands," yet he analyzed an area with aesthetics in the I7 quadrant similar to the arena in Griffin's Art Book image.
After Wander defeats the 8 hidden colossi, the supports of the huge bridge collapse and self-destruct, causing the bridge to collapse. Wander returns to the Sanctuary of Worship and then begins the end of the supposed Very Hard mode.
Before the ritual begins, Mono asks Female Dormin what she should do if in a future situation things get out of control, and Female Dormin responds to Mono that she will have no choice but to tie her spirit reincarnating in the body of the child who waits in her womb.
Then, Female Dormin begins to perform the ritual to join Mono and become, both a Queen. Then, Female Dormin removes the materialized shadow on the broken horn that was of the masculine part of Dormin and transfers materializing in the white dress and around the hair of the Mono, making it like his new attire. Then Female Dormin controls by removing the black tentacles from the arenas of the deceased dead colossi, and bringing them through the hole of the Sanctuary of Adoration, and wrapping them in the black garb of the Mono, to complete the ritual and coexist with the Mono .
With the ritual over, Wander asks Mono if she is well, and Mono (the new Queen) responds, in a deep, echoed voice, to begin what needs to be done.
PART 5: THE QUEEN'S LAR
Still in the Sanctuary of Worship, Mono tells Wander advising him not to see each other again, that is, Wander will have to say goodbye to Mono forever. Wander replies that on the one hand he is happy that his desire was fulfilled to see Mono alive again, but on the other hand it is sad that this is his cursed destiny to have become a Queen to protect both the future child that is about to be born and the human race of the mysterious power of light. Then Wander is quite surprised when Mono reveals that the child who waits is also Wander's daughter, since Wander had impregnated Mono during the romance they had before Mono was sacrificed by Emon.
Wander asks Mono if the child to be born will be a boy or a girl, and Mono replies that he feels it will be a girl, and if it is, it will be called Yorda. Then Mono asks Wander how he plans to live with the humans with a progeny-only kid, and Wander replies that he guarantees that the boy can no longer be named Emon, since he does not want Emon to be reminded of his future descendants as "a shame pro clan of the shamans" by having chosen to merge with Dormin (male) to correct his possible error of having sacrificed a maiden because of a prophecy. In addition, Wander decides to take on the responsibility of pretending to be the first descendant to initiate the lineage of horned men, inventing a story corresponding to the "Common Ending," in which the earliest descendants of the lineage will build a statue in honor of Wander on the side left of the bridge, next to the first save point in the Ico game.
Finally, Wander asks the boy with a horn how he wants the first descendant of the line to be called, and he responds by saying only "Nico." Then Wander says goodbye to the Queen telling her that one day she will make a brief visit only to meet her daughter, Yorda. As Mono possesses the powers of the female part of Dormin, she uses to teleport to a castle near the Forbidden Land.
PART 6: THE TRUE HISTORY ?! EMON WAS THE FIRST DESCENDANT AND WANDER NEVER WAS !!!
Shadow of the Colossus - Lost Music Track (Unknown OST - 2)
PART 4: THE QUEEN'S BIRTH
Looking at the image above from the Art Book (except for the two arrows), the strategy to ride the Griffin would be to make the colossus stumble over a stone and smash it to the ground, according to my guess, as it gives the impression as shown in the image above left. Then it would be the perfect opportunity for the player to mount in the colossus and remove their sigil (s).
To conclude, the OST that would be played on some hidden colossi is an unknown song that was found in the game by Nomad Colossus through hacking. The link to your discovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLRThI06Eus
Pretending to be the first descendant of the lineage to conceal the true story, Wander decides to build a statue in his honor on the left side of the bridge (next to the first sofa-like save point in the Ico game). The statue has the physiognomy of a skinny ancestor with a pair of horns on his head. So, Wander proposes rules progeny descendants of the line of horny men meet the needs of the Queen.
From then on, two types of groups of horned men are formed:
- the group of horned children destined to be shamans and brought as a sacrifice to the Queen: in a village where all beings of the horned race live, it will be a rarity to find some horned being with vocations to be a shaman. In this case, the inhabitants of the village of the horned race will have to hire, at each period of time, a shaman with much experience and who is representative of the human race, to make the recognition of these horned beings destined to be shamans as children, since someone who is intended to be a shaman can only be recognized by another shaman. These children are to be brought to Castle of the Mist to be sacrificed in sarcophagi through an electric discharge that is shot through the body of the Yorda that is imprisoned eternally in a cage in the castle.
- the group of horned men who hire the shaman of the human race and deliver the children to the Queen: they are formed by horned men who are not destined to be shamans. That is, this group of horned men who have no special abilities, do not know the Queen's true purpose of getting these horned children, only fear that these shamanic gifts of these children are a bad omen for their villages.
However, over time, the future descendants of horned men rebel against the Queen, for when they delivered the horned children destined to be shamans, they learned through them that many stories, such as that of the origin of the first descendant that was false, because as these children had premonitions, the farce was revealed. Then the horned beings decide to stop delivering horned children until the Queen tells the true story of the origin of the first offspring and its true purpose is to prolong its life until it obtains immortality.
After the Queen reveals the true story (corresponding to the supposed Secret Ending and the Very Hard mode) to the horned men race, they decide to destroy the statue of the Wander on the left side of the bridge, in which only a piece of the leg remains, and decided to build a statue with a fat physiognomy of only one horn in honor of Lord Emon. From then on, horned children recognized as shamans begin to wear a cloak with the same color as Lord Emon's face, that is, gray and pink. However, the character Wander is now forgotten by the future offspring of the line of horned men, and all the adventures of Emon in the past will be remembered by them, in which Emon is seen as the hero of the lineage and Wander is seen as a villain. Meanwhile, the Queen will have to protect the mysterious power of light that the Yorda keeps within herself to be out of reach of humans.
