Ico
Those that thought there were no good first-party games on the PlayStation 2 had better think again. This game MUST be played.
Published: October 18, 2001
There are games that defy genre definition because they borrow from so many that they essentially create their own. Then there's Ico, a game that borrows little from any genre in current gaming, and instead reaches back into the earlier past of games to flesh out a concept that was until now accomplished with only text or crude 2D graphics. Appropriately enough, Ico has neither of those, instead offering those that can still remember the days of the thinker/puzzler a whole new outlet for their imaginations. See, Ico is an incredibly simple game. Sure, there are complex puzzles, but other than some random combat (which can be a little annoying, admittedly), you're primarily tasked with making sure both you and your female companion can get out of the castle. I may be getting ahead of myself, though.
Ico's premise is that of a small boy (named, oddly enough, Ico) born with horns. In his village, this isn't uncommon -- one is born every generation, and has been for many, many years. The boys are taken to a castle and locked inside a futuristic looking coffin alongside countless others apparently to die a lonely death. Our hero isn't up for that, however, and thanks to a bit of rocking and some crumbling stone, he's soon tipped his wooden cage over and broken free. The impact, however, is more than just a light tap, and he's sent off into Dreamland. There, during a thunderous and stormy night, he sees a young girl trapped in a cage, after a brief encounter with an inky black foe, he wakes to find himself in the very room he dreamt about. Obviously, the girl he witnessed is here, and he takes it upon himself to free her, thus starting their tandem escape from the castle.
It's funny that the main goal in Ico is that of saving the Princess, a quest that harkens back to the dawn of gaming. And while Ico taps into a subgenre that has been absent for years now, at no point does it ever feel trite or underdeveloped. As I said before, there's much of the classic text-based and 16-color adventure games of the past here, but brought into the third dimension where suddenly a simple Point A to Point B key search seems like a fresh original concept. The puzzles are logical, but for every five or so simply thought out puzzles, there's one that's bound to stump you until you can think it through. Of course, once you do, it's an utter mystery why it wasn't so obvious from the start, but then that's what makes good puzzle.
So, your task is simple: guide the girl to the exit. Of course there are obstacles, the bulk of which are the aforementioned puzzles, but the castle you're traipsing around in is hardly unoccupied. The Queen, who you'll meet shortly after the game begins is wicked in both looks and ambitions, though the latter part you'll have to find out on your own. She's largely made up of swirling blackness, usually taking the form of little tendrils that coalesce and warp all around her. The effect is unbelievably cool, but it also serves to link her with her more common underlings, the smoky black apparitions that pop up quite often to try to snag the girl back. If they do manage to drag her back down into the pools of darkness, it's game over.
Other than those three objectives, you're on a pretty clear path to escape. That might sound like I'm oversimplifying everything, but in all honesty I'm not. That really is all that's standing in your way. Think through the puzzles, slice through the smoke creatures (who, by the way, go from being infuriatingly bothersome to welcome blade fodder as soon as you're able to ditch your 2x4 for a real sword), figure out what the Queen's up to with Yorda, the girl, and you're set.
I've been trying to figure out where to start with the graphics for a while now. I guess the best way to begin is to just admit that Ico is easily the prettiest game I've ever seen. Forget GT3, forget MGS2, forget anything else. Ico is more stunning then anything else you can think of. The game's beauty stems from not one source, like character models, lighting or texturing (though all three of those are almost perfect), but from just about every conceivable graphics source you can think of. The animation is so clean and smooth -- especially when Yorda and Ico interact -- that I was constantly shaking my head in disbelief. Small animations like climbing up ladders (where, by the way, the characters hands and feet always connect with the rungs) or climbing onto objects show more than just motion, they show an effort, where legs kick to get momentum and muscles strain to lift weight. Its not limited to the protagonists, either. The creatures that try endlessly to recapture Yorda all have their own style of movement. The Spider Wraiths scurry quickly over all inclines and surfaces, while Sentries amble over to their target with slow, deliberate steps. The Ghouls are a bit of both, possessing the speediness of the Spiders with the presence of mind of the Sentinels. As Ico's weapon makes contact, tufts of the smoky substance they're made of are lifted off and cast about, drifting for a while before evaporating. While not as apparent in the spirits, the modeling on the main characters is superb, and since a press of the R2 button can zoom the camera in, you can have ample opportunity to scrutinize them.
The characters and the world in general look great because of exquisite modeling, and in the end it's what makes them so much more impressive than environments or characters in most games, but Ico's texturing is simply something to behold. You'd think that staring at about a million stone blocks would get old, but thanks to a perfect balance between clean, high-resolution textures for objects close-up and cleverly used simpler ones for background elements, your eyes never tire of the castle's different environs. There are often plenty of opportunities to look out at the sea surrounding your stony prison, and every time you'll be met with an incredible draw distance that is textured all the way out with water that glistens and sparkles under the sunlight. Each area has its own distinct look and feel, and while you have a feeling of cohesiveness about the surroundings, there are definite differences in the motif, from the inner courtyards with their sun-drenched yellowed squares to some of the darker, more organic cliff faces later in the game.
Again, the modeling has to be mentioned, because while all the characters exhibit an amazing attention to detail, it's the castle and its surrounds that are the real star. The architecture is unbelievable, often showing vistas that appear to be there for background eye candy, but as you discover later in the game are absolutely reachable areas. The puzzle design forces you to fold back in on previously explored areas, but often from different elevations or sections. This fills in the space of what would normally seem to be a monstrous, endless huge fortress, so as you re-enter areas you've been before, sometimes hours later in the game (you'll get a healthy dose of deja-vu near the end), you'll be able to visit areas that looked impossible at the time. The sense of scale really has to be experienced first hand. It's just not possible to describe how breathtaking it is to look down and see literally hundreds and hundreds of feet below you a completely different section of the game.
Ico came at a perfect time for me, as I was feeling more than a bit pissed off about what had happened in my life, but there's an indescribable feeling of calm that comes over you as you play through the game. Much of this stems from the fact that you hear little other than the soft claps of shoes and bare feet on stone, steel and wood. There's always some sort of ambient sound, from birds chirping merrily to the white noise of a waterfall rushing somewhere nearby to the crash of the ocean just out of view of the camera. When music does break in, it's a mix of ambient notes and unintelligible murmuring tones. The music is used more as punctuation to what's happening on screen or to provide an aural cue than anything else, but because of the overlying sounds that are always present when the music fades out.
The only, and I mean ONLY gripe I have with Ico is the voices. Not because they're not done well, but because they were to reveal some very key points about the plot. See, nothing any of the characters say is intelligible to us. It sounds a little like Japanese or maybe a bit like French, but it's a completely original language created by the developers, and the only way you're able to understand the characters is with the supplied subtitles. What's more, Yorda and the Queen speak their own language, illustrated with something that looks like tweaked Egyptian hieroglyphics, so there's no way to know what they're saying. The original plan for the voices was for them to slowly make sense as you beat the game a few more times. Because of time constraints, that plan was scrapped, and the game does suffer. What you do hear, though, is awesome, and even with the inability to understand the words, you get the gist of the comment and you can definitely feel the emotions they're trying to express.
Because of the 11th hour stripping of the voices, Ico loses almost all its replay value. The puzzles don't change the second time through, so the only thing left to experience other than the beauty of the game, which never EVER gets old, is a slow plot reveal. You still understand what's going on, but it's like watching a foreign film with no knowledge of the language. You're stuck with filling in the dialog with your imagination. This is the only thing that kept Ico from getting a perfect score. It was a rather big part of the gameplay to learn of the Queen and Yorda's conversations, and with that taken, it leaves a small void, one that can't be filled, even with the rest of Ico's flawless presentation. Even with this fault, Ico is a game every single PlayStation 2 owner should check out, and most would be severely lacking in their library if this wasn't among their games. It's an instant classic that will become a benchmark for originality, fun and old fashioned substance over style.
Ico's premise is that of a small boy (named, oddly enough, Ico) born with horns. In his village, this isn't uncommon -- one is born every generation, and has been for many, many years. The boys are taken to a castle and locked inside a futuristic looking coffin alongside countless others apparently to die a lonely death. Our hero isn't up for that, however, and thanks to a bit of rocking and some crumbling stone, he's soon tipped his wooden cage over and broken free. The impact, however, is more than just a light tap, and he's sent off into Dreamland. There, during a thunderous and stormy night, he sees a young girl trapped in a cage, after a brief encounter with an inky black foe, he wakes to find himself in the very room he dreamt about. Obviously, the girl he witnessed is here, and he takes it upon himself to free her, thus starting their tandem escape from the castle.
It's funny that the main goal in Ico is that of saving the Princess, a quest that harkens back to the dawn of gaming. And while Ico taps into a subgenre that has been absent for years now, at no point does it ever feel trite or underdeveloped. As I said before, there's much of the classic text-based and 16-color adventure games of the past here, but brought into the third dimension where suddenly a simple Point A to Point B key search seems like a fresh original concept. The puzzles are logical, but for every five or so simply thought out puzzles, there's one that's bound to stump you until you can think it through. Of course, once you do, it's an utter mystery why it wasn't so obvious from the start, but then that's what makes good puzzle.
So, your task is simple: guide the girl to the exit. Of course there are obstacles, the bulk of which are the aforementioned puzzles, but the castle you're traipsing around in is hardly unoccupied. The Queen, who you'll meet shortly after the game begins is wicked in both looks and ambitions, though the latter part you'll have to find out on your own. She's largely made up of swirling blackness, usually taking the form of little tendrils that coalesce and warp all around her. The effect is unbelievably cool, but it also serves to link her with her more common underlings, the smoky black apparitions that pop up quite often to try to snag the girl back. If they do manage to drag her back down into the pools of darkness, it's game over.
Other than those three objectives, you're on a pretty clear path to escape. That might sound like I'm oversimplifying everything, but in all honesty I'm not. That really is all that's standing in your way. Think through the puzzles, slice through the smoke creatures (who, by the way, go from being infuriatingly bothersome to welcome blade fodder as soon as you're able to ditch your 2x4 for a real sword), figure out what the Queen's up to with Yorda, the girl, and you're set.
I've been trying to figure out where to start with the graphics for a while now. I guess the best way to begin is to just admit that Ico is easily the prettiest game I've ever seen. Forget GT3, forget MGS2, forget anything else. Ico is more stunning then anything else you can think of. The game's beauty stems from not one source, like character models, lighting or texturing (though all three of those are almost perfect), but from just about every conceivable graphics source you can think of. The animation is so clean and smooth -- especially when Yorda and Ico interact -- that I was constantly shaking my head in disbelief. Small animations like climbing up ladders (where, by the way, the characters hands and feet always connect with the rungs) or climbing onto objects show more than just motion, they show an effort, where legs kick to get momentum and muscles strain to lift weight. Its not limited to the protagonists, either. The creatures that try endlessly to recapture Yorda all have their own style of movement. The Spider Wraiths scurry quickly over all inclines and surfaces, while Sentries amble over to their target with slow, deliberate steps. The Ghouls are a bit of both, possessing the speediness of the Spiders with the presence of mind of the Sentinels. As Ico's weapon makes contact, tufts of the smoky substance they're made of are lifted off and cast about, drifting for a while before evaporating. While not as apparent in the spirits, the modeling on the main characters is superb, and since a press of the R2 button can zoom the camera in, you can have ample opportunity to scrutinize them.
The characters and the world in general look great because of exquisite modeling, and in the end it's what makes them so much more impressive than environments or characters in most games, but Ico's texturing is simply something to behold. You'd think that staring at about a million stone blocks would get old, but thanks to a perfect balance between clean, high-resolution textures for objects close-up and cleverly used simpler ones for background elements, your eyes never tire of the castle's different environs. There are often plenty of opportunities to look out at the sea surrounding your stony prison, and every time you'll be met with an incredible draw distance that is textured all the way out with water that glistens and sparkles under the sunlight. Each area has its own distinct look and feel, and while you have a feeling of cohesiveness about the surroundings, there are definite differences in the motif, from the inner courtyards with their sun-drenched yellowed squares to some of the darker, more organic cliff faces later in the game.
Again, the modeling has to be mentioned, because while all the characters exhibit an amazing attention to detail, it's the castle and its surrounds that are the real star. The architecture is unbelievable, often showing vistas that appear to be there for background eye candy, but as you discover later in the game are absolutely reachable areas. The puzzle design forces you to fold back in on previously explored areas, but often from different elevations or sections. This fills in the space of what would normally seem to be a monstrous, endless huge fortress, so as you re-enter areas you've been before, sometimes hours later in the game (you'll get a healthy dose of deja-vu near the end), you'll be able to visit areas that looked impossible at the time. The sense of scale really has to be experienced first hand. It's just not possible to describe how breathtaking it is to look down and see literally hundreds and hundreds of feet below you a completely different section of the game.
Ico came at a perfect time for me, as I was feeling more than a bit pissed off about what had happened in my life, but there's an indescribable feeling of calm that comes over you as you play through the game. Much of this stems from the fact that you hear little other than the soft claps of shoes and bare feet on stone, steel and wood. There's always some sort of ambient sound, from birds chirping merrily to the white noise of a waterfall rushing somewhere nearby to the crash of the ocean just out of view of the camera. When music does break in, it's a mix of ambient notes and unintelligible murmuring tones. The music is used more as punctuation to what's happening on screen or to provide an aural cue than anything else, but because of the overlying sounds that are always present when the music fades out.
The only, and I mean ONLY gripe I have with Ico is the voices. Not because they're not done well, but because they were to reveal some very key points about the plot. See, nothing any of the characters say is intelligible to us. It sounds a little like Japanese or maybe a bit like French, but it's a completely original language created by the developers, and the only way you're able to understand the characters is with the supplied subtitles. What's more, Yorda and the Queen speak their own language, illustrated with something that looks like tweaked Egyptian hieroglyphics, so there's no way to know what they're saying. The original plan for the voices was for them to slowly make sense as you beat the game a few more times. Because of time constraints, that plan was scrapped, and the game does suffer. What you do hear, though, is awesome, and even with the inability to understand the words, you get the gist of the comment and you can definitely feel the emotions they're trying to express.
Because of the 11th hour stripping of the voices, Ico loses almost all its replay value. The puzzles don't change the second time through, so the only thing left to experience other than the beauty of the game, which never EVER gets old, is a slow plot reveal. You still understand what's going on, but it's like watching a foreign film with no knowledge of the language. You're stuck with filling in the dialog with your imagination. This is the only thing that kept Ico from getting a perfect score. It was a rather big part of the gameplay to learn of the Queen and Yorda's conversations, and with that taken, it leaves a small void, one that can't be filled, even with the rest of Ico's flawless presentation. Even with this fault, Ico is a game every single PlayStation 2 owner should check out, and most would be severely lacking in their library if this wasn't among their games. It's an instant classic that will become a benchmark for originality, fun and old fashioned substance over style.