The Let's Play Archive

Shadow of the Colossus

by Geop

Part 11: Basaran, the Ninth Colossus



Blip - With commentary (Polsy) | No commentary (Polsy)
Youtube - With commentary

Basaran's location on the map: D-3

Artwork/Pictures -
Basaran Centerfold, left page (Artbook)
Basaran Centerfold, right page (Artbook)
Basaran (Artbook)
Basaran (Artbook)

Dormin's Hints -
 "The power of the earth shall shake even a colossus..." 
 "Aim for the legs that support the body of the floating colossus..." 

Notes -
- Basaran is a  tortoise of sorts! He is roughly 75 feet (23m) tall and 160 feet (49m) in length. 

- Unveiling a bit of my geo-nerdiness here, buuuut...  The prefix of his name, "Basa", is most likely borrowed from "Basalt", which has its origins in Latin. Geysers by nature are caused by geothermal hot-spots, and, provided there is a reservoir of sorts, result in explosive eruptions of water. Basalt is formed by supercooling lava, and is black in color. Dormin describes the lair as a dry lake bed, so there must be some reservoir of sorts in the sub-surface which is fueling the geyser network. 

- The latter half of his name, "Ran" has an odd tie.  It is Latin for "spider" or spider-like. In spite of being a quadruped, Basaran has a distinctively spiderish gait to him. His stance kind of reminds me of a tarantula, actually. My guess is that the creators felt longer legs and a higher center of mass would make more sense than short, stubby turtle legs, given how we have to tip-and-climb him. Plus, it makes him inherently creepier because of OH GOD A SPIDER  

-  The entire battlefield has a dark, soot-like black coloration to it, and the shell on Basaran could be seen as an allusion to basalt. By the same token, his explosive projectile could be seen as a connect to the explosive geysers that surround his stomping-grounds. 

-  Hydrothermal vents are another example of water reacting with superheated geology, although they are found at spreading centers or hot-spots near plate boundaries. Over time, mineral discharges from these vents can form a chimney of sorts. These can reach pretty staggering heights over time. For example, a 40m tall one was spotted off the coast of Oregon in the past. Its name? Godzilla Take THAT, Gamera. 

-  Remember that nasty spill Agro had in that bonus segment following the Avion episode? Well, Basaran is one of the few colossi that can blow Agro right over and leave him immobilized like that for a brief period. 

-  If you shoot Basaran in the underside of his foot/hoof, that leg is done. Period. Meaning, if I were to take out his right two legs, and he later ended up on a geyser again, he would roll right over (provided he tried he brace himself on the same two legs). Given how short the time window can be on Hard mode, it's kinda nice of them to do that. 

- The bonus segment after this episode was of me goofing around, trying to exploit the physics. After several cheap shots (WHY DID YOU FALL. YOU WERE HOLDING ON ) by the game, I managed to kinda-sorta pull off what I was trying to do. If you time it correctly, Wander supposedly vaults in to the air. The end result was apparently a chin-scratch, and I decided to just leave it at that Tried to time it right, but after an hour, I decided to just call it quits. If the trick actually requires STANDING near the edge, then screw that. I managed to end up doing it a slightly different way in the final recording, as you'll notice