I've hit a bit of a dry spell game-wise (totally not a shameless, contrived excuse to promote Gamewise) recently. The newest game that I have is Kirby's Return to Dreamland, and the latest game that interests me on a console I don't own is Arkham City. So I've been buying some Virtual Console games and replaying pretty much everything worth replaying to keep myself busy. But alas, after finishing Final Fantasy VI last week, I was officially out of both Wii Points and decent shit to play. So I went out and ended up finding a couple of nice PS2 games.

The first game was Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I've heard a lot of good things about it, and the time-reversal mechanic sounds fun. Should be interesting.

The second game I bought was Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Truthfully, I only bought because I needed one more purchase for a 25€ gift card at the store. Based on the little amount of time I've spent playing them and the large amount of time I've spent reading Internet discussions about them, the Metal Gear Solid games sound exactly like something I would not enjoy. But oh well, it's worth a shot if it ends up broadening my horizons. Besides, the jungle setting and the injury system are kind of interesting. And I've heard that the boss fights are great.

And the last game is Shadow of the Colossus. Yes, the elusive Shadow of the Colossus. The same Shadow of the Colossus that I've been trying to find for almost 3 years now. And the infuriatingly funny, thing is, I found it at pretty much the only game store in town, which I've been to literally dozens of times. There it was, just sitting on its ass at the back of the shelf like it's been there for years. (I hope it hasn't, because if it has, I may need to punch a cute baby animal) Hell, I've been contemplating on buying a PS3 ever since I heard of The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection. I'm still kind of in shock, really.

You're probably going "Why aren't you posting this shit on blogspot or something? Whaddaya want from us, man?" Well of course, the primary purpose of this thread was to gloat about the fact that I found Shadow of the Colossus for 15€ in a perfect condition box with neat little art cards and everything. But I'd also like to know if there's anything I should know that might enhance my enjoyment of the games. (no spoilers, of course) And while I'm definitely going to play Shadow of the Colossus first, and you can go fuck yourself with a choke pear if you try to change my mind, which game should I play after that? And I don't want you to tell me which to play first based on your preference, since your preference probably isn't like my preference. No, I want you to talk about the games (in a spoiler-free fashion, preferably. I'd hate to dampen my festive mood by killing you [or reporting you like a bitch]), and I will then later make an informed decision based on what I read in this thread.

Or you can just do your usual thing and have a run-of-the-mill shouting contest about which game I should play first. Either way is fine.

I'll probably keep putting my impressions on the games in this thread if it stays alive and I can be arsed.

I have yet to play SotC but I don't have very high expectations after gotten quite disappointed by Ico. I could seem some qualities, but mostly I felt the game was just lame (for lack of a better word, I hate that word).

I am extremely excited about The Last Guardian though. I guess that's a paradox.

Still congrats for finding it in a game store. That must be pretty rare.

I never really finished Ico. I don't even like it. But I love SotC. It's a completely different and breath taking game.

I would go with Prince of Persia next just to get it out of the way. It hasn't aged very well and it is just kind of OK, in my opinion. Combat is essentially the same combo over and over again until you can kill whatever you're fighting (with some enemies taking an annoying amount of time to die), the audio when the characters are talking can be very quiet at times, the story is lackluster, the Prince is unlikable, and it is a very short game. I will say that some of the puzzles and platforming aren't too bad, though, if my memory serves me right.

Metal Gear Solid 3 is not for everyone. I personally love story driven games, and I really liked the story in this one. Gameplay will consist of a lot of patience, especially if you play on anything other than easy. Camouflage and stealth are the name of the game, and if you want to make at least one 'boss fight' less annoying later in the game you'll want to be as stealthy as possible to avoid killing people. If you do go in for combat generally try to choke them from behind for less hassle. Shooting people works too, if that's the way you want to go. Both systems work fine. All boss fights are unique and epic in their own way (The End, anyone? That fight still blows my mind, especially the 'alternate' ways of dealing with it. So unique.). Story wise, the game can be described as...poetic (think anime). Cutscenes are long and overdramatic (and just downright silly sometimes), but the overall narrative is actually quite serious. And honestly, some parts of the game I see as downright beautiful in their presentation (last boss fight, for one). This game is much longer than Prince of Persia and I feel it should be given more time to appreciate it, so this should be the last one to play. If you don't have a taste for the melodramatic, though, you will probably not enjoy this game very much.

Thanks, man. That's pretty informative. And I'm generally not that big on melodramatic cutscenes, but then again I had no idea how much I loved ridiculously random run 'n' gun games until I played Metal Slug, so I'll try to keep an open mind. I have a few questions, though.

Will I be able to, if not appreciate some of the finer references to the other games, at least understand the main plot with nothing but a very basic understanding of Metal Gear lore?

How long does an average playthrough of each of the two games take? And how well are the games suited for short sessions of play? (I'd imagine that MGS3 is better for lengthier sessions being the cutscene-heavy game that it is, but what about PoP?)

How lenient is Prince of Persia when it comes to, eh... variations from the intended path? Like, for example, is there usually more than one very specific way to solve a certain puzzle or cross a pit or something like that?

@Slimebeast

You played it via the Team Ico Collection on the PS3, right? Because right now the only thing that's really bugging me about SotC is the framerate, which I understand isn't so much of an issue in the HD version. (Damn well shouldn't be)

Aaanyway, defeated the first three Colossi. Fairly straightforward so far, though I've heard the battles should start getting more complex somewhere around now. I'm really digging the orchestral soundtrack, and the feeling of complete isolation that not even most Metroid games can match.

Go for MGS3 next its aged extremely well and it looks beautiful for a PS2 game.

The first three are sort of tutorial material, then the real fun starts :) I don't know if you have stumbled upon it yet, but there are things to find to improve your health and grip stamina. Take your time to explore, the views are awesome. The best barren and most realistic landscape in a video game so far.
The HD version runs at 1080p with a steady framerate. The game really shines on ps3, my favorite HD upgrade.

Prince of persia sometimes has multiple options to cross an obstacle, although most of the time you're following a path. Finding that path is the fun part. It reminded me a bit of what made the original TR so great. Exploring and finding your way to climb to dizzying heights.

You don't need any prior knowledge for MGS3, it is the earliest in the 3D series. It gives you a lot of background info for the other games. I recently play through MGS3 HD, took me a bit under 13 hours. That was with prior knowledge of all the game mechanics and rushing through the stealth bits. (I'm not patient enough for stealth) Prince of Persia is the shorter game, but more fun imo.

One thing about MGS3, it is not suited for short play session at all. You can't pause cut scenes, and they can last upto 30 minutes especially near the end of the game. The way I rushed through it, gameplay vs cinematics/codec conversations was about a 40/60 split. You can speed up codec conversations which I did. (O cancels audio, X to read through the text)

SotC is an amazing game and you should probably play it first irregardless of anything. Since you have very high expectations for this game, just try to tone it down a bit so you're not disappointed. Could happen to any game if the expectations are too high.

Can't comment on the other games as I have not played MGS3, but I remember I liked PoP very much. All I can say is thet if you have played another 3D PoP game, then you could leave it for last as they will be quite similar. If you have not played another PoP, then it's great.

From what I remember the game is pretty linear.

I tried Shadow of Collossus once for a few minutes. I did not really liked it.

Snake Eater is the best game of the list.

Prince of Persia might be a bit aged, but I think you will enjoy it.