Shadow of the Colossus -- Questions.

I have killed eleven of the sixteen colossi in Shadow of the Colossus so far in the game. That's eleven very distinct boss battles. Although they share the same concepts and mechanics each one has its own feel. It's own vibe. They all use the find it, climb it, kill it structure. Yet Fumita Ueda and team have managed to make each one feel unique. They all share the same questions. How do I get on it? What little trick is in store for me once I'm on it? Where is its weak point and how do I get there? It's in answering these questions that each one is unique. The colossi are the stars of the game, and they've been exceptionally well thought out and implemented. There is one question that I haven't been able to answer yet. And it's a very different sort of question from most video game stories. In most video game stories right and wrong are black and white. There are a few games that have been successful in dealing with moral ambiguity, but none of them have succeeded as well as Shadow of the Colossus to this point. That may change by the ending, but as of now, Shadow of the Colossus has me wondering if I'm doing the right thing more than any other game before it. The colossi haven't done anything to me. They aren't an active threat to me. It's out of my greed for wanting the woman returned to me that I'm killing these seemingly innocent creatures. The team has done well in making the colossi seem like living breathing beings. Especially number eleven. It showed real fear. It didn't want to die. It made me feel exceedingly guilty in having brought it down. The story is a thing of simple beauty. The game starts with a man on a horse crossing a massive bridge to reach the Temple of Worship. Inside he dismounts and removes the wrapped body from across the horse's back and lays it on the alter. He removes the wrapping to reveal a young woman. A voice from above speaks to the man and informs him that in order for her lost soul to be restored he'll have to defeat sixteen guardians, the colossi. He's informed that his sword when raised in sunlight will point the way to each colossus. You'll then set about hunting the colossi down. Upon finding and killing each one, their souls are drained from their bodies and enter yours which causes you to black out. You'll awake in the Temple of Worship and the voice from above will describe your next foe and off you'll go in search of it. That's all there is to the story. And with that they've managed to set up a wonderful morality question that you can't wait to see the answer for, if one even exists. There is a great aspect to the game I feel a lot of gamers aren't going to appreciate. That's the in between time. Time spent exploring the world. If you go from colossus to colossus to colossus you'll be missing out on a great aspect of the game that feeds into the story. You begin to wonder about the world you find yourself in. Asking questions about why it is as it is. The world sets my imagination ablaze. There isn't any hidden treasure to be found. There isn't any secret goal to achieve. There is just the world to see. You'll be compelled to see it. You'll want to go further down this canyon path just to see what's there. More often than not it will reveal a breathtakingly beautiful view as your reward. You'll appreciate that the designers took the time to create these out of the way spots for nothing more than creating a spectacular world for you to explore. Or at least I do. I wonder how many of the run and gun bang-bang right now type players will take the time to stop and smell the roses so to speak. Not many, I'm afraid, and that's too bad.