Shadow of the Colossus walkthrough, guide and tips on PS4

How to find and defeat every colossus, plus more guides to the PS4 remake.

Guide by Chris Tapsell Deputy Editor

Updated on March 16, 2018

Shadow of the Colossus has returned to consoles once more with a sublime remake, and still intact are all the curios and oddities of the original version.

And so they should be, but that doesn't mean there aren't some awkward moments and difficulties that come from translating a PS2 era game to a PS4 one - or just from the occasionally tricky colossi themselves.

Here, you'll find our Shadow of the Colossus walkthrough hub, with links to each Shadow of the Colossus guide we put together, including one for finding and defeating every colossi in the game, and all of our various Shadow of the Colossus tips that we pick up along the way.

Shadow of the Colossus walkthrough

Below you'll find a contents list of all our walkthrough pages, showing you how to find and defeat every colossus in Shadow of the Colossus for PS4.

Shadow of the Colossus walkthrough:

Other Shadow of the Colossus guides

We'll be updating our specific Shadow of the Colossus guides in the very near future. Here's what we have for now, but keep a close eye on this page in the hours and days after launch for updates!

Shadow of the Colossus tips:

Finally, it's worth assembling some general tips for Shadow of the Colossus. It's a strange game - the controls are a little clumsy and dated, and much is left unexplained - so hopefully these little nuggets of info will help smooth the way for your journey across the Forbidden Lands.

Healing - Your health regenerates slowly over time, but you can speed it up considerably by crouching down (pressing R2). You can do this anywhere that Wander can stand up naturally without having to hold onto something, and it can come in very handy during the toughest battles later on.
Agro can get injured, but not killed - Thankfully, you don't have to worry about your trusty steed being trampled by some clumsy giant. It'll get injured if it does take damage in combat, limping for a bit, but it'll always recover. Phew!
It's easy to miss the new additions to the PS4 version - Bluepoint's remaster is a faithful (and very beautiful) upgrade on the PS2 original, keeping colossi and world locations intact. There are few interesting bonuses however, such as a mysterious new collectable and a hidden Easter egg.

It's possible to upgrade your stamina and health - For each colossus you defeat, your grip and life gauges will increase, helping with future encounters. But you can also lengthen it by finding lizards and fruit trees out in the wild. If you don't see any, don't worry - you can complete the game fine without them.
Agro has a few tricks to help you get around - If your horse riding skills are sluggish, it's well worth reading up on the many Agro tricks that can help you get a sprint start, stop quickly, and much more. Don't forget to pet her from time to time, too!
You can get very helpful items from Hard Mode and Time Attack - Once you have finished the game, you can carry on with your health and stamina increases intact. Future playthroughs also unlock Time Attack mode, which you can activate by kneeling in front of idols in the main temple. Beat enough Colossi quickly to get powerful new items, from upgraded weapons to a kind of glider, as well as tools to help you track down lizards and fruit easier.
You can normally stand up somewhere on a colossus - Most, but not all, of the colossi will require you to climb or grab onto them in some manner. When you're doing a lot of climbing that stamina bar (the yellow orb in the bottom right) can deplete rather quickly, especially if you're clinging on with one hand. There is normally somewhere you can stand up, though to recover your health. It'll require a good sense of timing, but basically look for shoulders, backs, and wings that level out for a period of time, and just get ready to grab R2 as soon is they start to shake!

Jumping is faster than climbing - Normally, if you're working your way up something via climbing, you can do it faster by jumping. Hold down X and release it when the dots in the stamina bar have reached the edge of it (like when you fully charge up a stab of your blade) to get maximum air.
You can cancel a colossus' animations - Often, and especially as the difficulty ramps up later on, you'll find yourself being tossed around and unable to get a charged stab in on a colossus' vulnerable spot. You can, however, often cancel the animation for when a colossus is about to start tossing its head or body around by landing a quick stab, with minimal charge, just as it leans it's head back, or prepares to move. The reset animation is normally a chance for you to land another properly charged attack before it starts shaking you off once again.