Shadow of the Colossus' original director, the famed Fumito Ueda, is providing direct feedback to developer Bluepoint regarding its remake of the iconic PlayStation 2 game. Speaking to Eurogamer at the Gamelab conference in Barcelona, Ueda mentioned that he submitted, "a petition about content and tuning." That is to say, he offered a list of changes that he would make if he was directing the remake, but Fumito Ueda is not involved with the project.

Ueda would go on to refuse citing any of his recommendations for the Shadow of the Colossus remake, acknowledging that those details wouldn't likely be constructive if available to the public:

"Those things of the remake that I would like to change, I can't mention, because if I say one thing and in the final version that thing is not included, it's a problem."

It's an interesting position for Ueda to be in, watching another company rework his game. And not just any game, as Shadow of the Colossus is often considered one of the best games ever made. It's likely for that reason that Ueda is willing to give Bluepoint his advice regarding changes.

Even without Ueda's guidance, Bluepoint seems well suited to the task. The studio has a long history of remastering and collecting older games for newer platforms, including the God of War Collection on PS3 and the Nathan Drake Collection on PS4.

Shadow of the Colossus isn't just a remaster, however; it's a full-fledged remake. Where a title like Halo 2 Anniversary delivers current-gen visuals on top of old-gen code, Bluepoint is apparently developing Shadow from the ground up. The studio presumably has the freedom to change or improve features in the game, or even tweak the gameplay to better suit a modern audience.

That Fumito Ueda has been able to provide feedback to the team at Bluepoint implies that the studio requested his input, as it's unlikely Ueda would have done so otherwise. Though Bluepoint could simply have been doing a courtesy.

It's a complicated situation for all parties involved, one which will shine a spotlight on both Bluepoint and Ueda. And that's true even if Sony's Shueu Yoshida insists that Ueda isn't involved in the project, since Shadow of the Colossus will always be Fumito Ueda's game.

Fumito Ueda finished his interview talking about his new game, which is currently unannounced. He says he'd like to, "finish a game as soon as quickly possible" and hopes to create "something very different." With a Shadow of the Colossus remake release on the way, he'll have plenty of opportunity to reflect on and compare his past work with his new.

Shadow of the Colossus is planned for release in early 2018 exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

Source: Eurogamer