G2 Forest

On the way to the 12th colossus (Pelagia) you must pass through a cave that leads to a hidden forest. You could say this is an enchanted forest as it has that mystical feeling about it... 

The path leading in seems well worn as if over the long span of years others have passed this way on horseback. Perhaps in times past this was a place of worship where people came to revere nature, or it could just have been a nice place to visit ; )

The forest is surrounded by high cliff walls leading to a impassible ledge featuring twin waterfalls. Across the chasm is the northern most part of the forest that is out of reach and can only be viewed from the south side.

There are some birds (doves) that make their home in this forest, so it was thought that by grabbing a dove you might be able to get across the chasm to the other side of the waterfalls, but unlike hawks, these birds are not powerful enough to lift Wander off the ground for more than a few seconds.

There's a central mound with a large rock at its center with light streaming down from a gap in the canopy of leaves above. The rest of the forest is dark with trees, their branches and leaves blocking out the light, but in a few places the light breaks through.

 Top of large rock next to the beam of sunlight

A shallow stream meanders by

East end the waterfall

If you are at the 12th colossus in the NTSC version and leave its area and return to the forest you can hear the music start playing again. If you get as far north as you can (it's a ledge jutting out next to the east most waterfall), you will see Pelagia's health bar appear and Wander will go into his 'battle ready' stance. This area is close enough to activate the colossus again even though you are technically outside of the colossi's area. So you can listen to 'A Shadow Coming Closer' while standing in the G2 forest. Note: I tested this in the PAL (European) version and the PS3 version but it seems they have fixed this glitch.

Using the sword of the Sun to point at Pelagia

Dormin's message in the G2 forest!

When I first saw this I just had to laugh! Dormin is telling Wander he 'cannot aim for its vitals as thou art now', deeerrrr! I'm not even in the colossi's arena! So this is obviously a glitch in the game (but an interesting one all the same). Strangely, I have never seen anyone else mention this glitch, so it seems I was the first to discover it. Let's call it the 'G2 forest glitch' ; ) Only works in the NTSC (US) version, Greatest Hits, and Black Label versions. 

Wander in his 'fighting stance' in the G2 forest

Pelagia is still active when Wander is in the G2 forest

Here I moved Wander's camera straight up to peek over the cliff walls that separate the G2 forest from Pelagia's lake to see the colossus walking around its arena. As you can see, as we are so far away, the area renders in its low resolution form, but the colossus is still in high-res mode. 

In the Preview version if you move your camera down into the water you get this strange lighting effect! Doesn't work in the NTSC or PAL versions though.

Bottom of the G2 canyon looking up

North (inaccessible) side of the forest

There's a high mound crowned with trees on the north side

The trees here are 2 dimensional flat shapes arranged in a grid like pattern

Back wall of north side

In my 10,000 subscribers video I showcased the G2 forest's North side, bottom of the canyon, top of the forest canopy and the forest birds. Check it out here:

https://youtu.be/XoarR8DKX_8#t=1030

The north side has a solid floor and Wander can run around there, but you can only move toward the back wall, if you try to move forward (south) Wander just runs on the spot stuck where he is. Also, the solid floor is lower than the ground texture so after just a few steps Wander's head disappears below the surface. So all you see is the forest floor above you and Wander running on an invisible floor.

The invisible solid floor on the north side extends out east between the forest and Pelagia's area. The textures play up but even in this state it still presents some amazing scenery! It's like a strange dimension between worlds where time and space are skewed... quite bizarre but still has its own beauty.

You can see Agro in the distance running on the spot trying to get to his master

This is from the Preview version. It's also in the NSTC/PAL versions but the effect is not as good. I've also turned down the mist effect here to make the forest sharper.

The walls of Pelagia's arena can't render from this distance so you can watch the colossus moving around, only the gazebo structures, Pelagia and some water effects can be seen. I tried getting the colossi's attention from here by whistling and shooting arrows (both regular and explosive) but it appears you are too far away for Pelagia to notice. The arrows appear to hit the gazebo structures, but it may only be hitting the invisible walls of its arena... it's hard to tell.

 Paradise floats upon the lake...

OPM demo Intro cut scene

In the intro cut scene models of all versions of the game the forest is missing (including the demos). So it appears it was added after the intro cut scene was created. Perhaps they thought the area needed something more than just a winding path to the 12th colossus. This would explain why there's really nothing to do there except enjoy the scenery. In comparison the E5 (Autumnal) forest acts as a hub to explore different parts of the land and has its own save shrine, and it exists in the cut scene models. 

It's also missing from the demo and Preview version maps

Above the G2 forest canopy