Apprezzato:
-Lo stile artistico. Il castello nella quale è ambientato il gioco è estremamente suggestivo, la pietra e l'onnipresente muschio vanno a comporre quello che sembra un capriccio artistico. E' imponente e freddo, labirintico e protagonista vero e proprio del gioco, va a creare un'estetica che diventerà poi marchio di fabbrica del Team Ico, ripresa poi in Shadow of the colossus e The last guardian. Anche l'estetica dei personaggi, i costumi, i nemici; tutto è originale e molto ispirato e insieme va a creare un mondo silenzioso e ricco di sacralità.
-Narrazione. Nonostante la narrazione sia molto minimalista (nella prima run addirittura non è possibile capire i dialoghi, non vengono tradotti da una lingua originale del gioco) l'evolversi dei sentimenti dei protagonisti è facilmente percepibile dai gesti. L'assenza di parola forse rende tutto ciò ancora più essenziale ma molto più forte, perché spinge il giocatore a prestare più attenzione ai dettagli aumentando il coinvolgimento. ICO non manca comunque di un senso di linearità, c'è infatti un effettivo evolversi degli eventi costate, senza spiegare nulla, lasciando che sia il giocatore a capire ciò che sta accadendo.
-Yorda. Raramente mi sono affezionato così tanto a personaggi videoludici in così poco tempo. Ico deve proteggere Yorda, la deve portare per mano e la deve aiutare a fuggire, tutto questo fa si che il videogiocatore sviluppi un senso di protezione nei confronti della ragazza e che ci si affezioni.
-Boss battle finale. Ho apprezzato molto il taglio cinematografico della scena, che non mi aspettavo assolutamente e che mi ha molto sorpreso. Un perfetto finale combinato all'ultima scena che ha davvero un forte impatto emotivo.

Non apprezzato:
-Nulla.

Conclusioni:
ICO è un gioco con una sensibilità quasi senza pari, emotivamente molto coinvolgente e che lascia svuotati una volta completato. La seconda run è una chicca, permette di sbloccare le linee di dialogo ed è essenziale per chi "ne vuole ancora", apprezzo la scelta di nascondere i dialoghi nella prima per renderlo essenziale all'estremo. ICO è un gioco che richiede anche molta pazienza al videogiocatore, non ti dirà mai nulla direttamente e potrà essere un po' legnoso nei comandi (è pur sempre un gioco del 2001), ma se si riesce ad adattarsi al gioco in tutto e per tutto quella che si ottiene è una delle migliori esperienze che può offrire un videogioco. Se sì è disposti a fare ciò è un gioco che va giocato assolutamente.

Ico is probably one of the most forgotten games in history. Being one of the first graphical powerhouses for the PS2, it proved that you don’t need a complex story and characters to have a good game. All you know is that you are a boy named Ico who is trying to save a girl named Yorda from her evil mother queen and escape from the castle. You enter as a captured prisoner because you have horns. You then escape and find Yorda along the way. What made Ico such a big deal was that you led her around manually by holding R1. This forced you to become attached to her, and they rarely spoke.

This game was way ahead of its time. That’s probably why people passed it by for Jak & Daxter and other PS2 games at the time. The game consists of some pretty cleverly designed puzzles that involve pulling switches, climbing, cutting ropes, and swinging on chains. You also push and pull the occasional block. The level design is really well done, but there were a few obscure puzzles like jumping off of a chain to knock a bridge down. This is completely against the game’s mechanics so you would never know to do this. Leading Yorda around sounds annoying, but it prevents you from having to rely on the already shoddy AI. The game mechanics work well enough in design but they are sloppy and frustrating to deal with.

When you jump Ico tends to clip into ledges and ladders making you have to slightly adjust him until he latches on. If you press the analog stick just slightly and jump he will jump 20 feet causing you to jump off ledges or fall down to your death. There’s just so much bad collision detection and the animations are janky and not well done. When you drag Yorda around her arm looks like a flopping noodle that can go through her body. I know this was originally designed for PS1 before the game jumped ship to PS2…but still. There are other mechanics like setting your sword down to pick up a giant stick, light it on fire, then set off a bomb. Sometimes you have to toss these before they blow you up. Fun game mechanics and all but they repeated through the entire game making you be grateful for the short length (just about 4 hours).

A lot of times I didn’t know where to go because the middle of the game has two areas that are identical, but just slightly different. The constant backtracking can confuse you requiring a walkthrough. There are no boss battles to speak of except the final boss, but the combat is so frustrating and annoying. Ico swings his sword around aimlessly and you can’t move while doing so. The AI jumps away as soon as you run after it so if you get stuck in a three hit combo you get knocked down and Yorda gets dragged away. You can’t die in this game during combat, but if Yorda gets dragged underground you’re done. You can pull her out of the hole, but sometimes a shadow creature will hit you and knock you back then you have to suffer the long animation of getting up. A lot of games had these animations (The Mark of Kri) and I don’t know why. It breaks the fluidity of everything. Once you get the hidden mace in the game combat is really easy, but you still get annoyed by the creatures constantly backing up when you approach.

The graphics look great with the new HD upgrade, but even back then they were amazing. A lot of textures have been slightly upscaled and some bloom and HDR has been added for better lighting. You can still notice the game’s age during up close shots of areas. Textures are muddy and so blurry they don’t even look like what they are representing. The main thing is that you can pan the camera around more now that the resolution has been bumped up making navigation easier. This is how you do HD upgrades right.

Overall, Ico is a great game, but the dated mechanics really show their age. If you can look past all this you are in for a great, albeit short, game but don’t expect engaging characters or a complex story. There are 4 cutscenes in the whole game, but this is about the journey and not the story.

The remastered experience is difficult. A chore sometimes. Some of the new puzzles are just bad implemented and the physics are not the best. The game shows it's age. But...there's a moment, involving a bridge, where you just know the game got you. You don't think about it, you just feel, and that's the magic of Ico. You might feel weird playing it now, you might consider it outdated, boring or that you don't "get it". But trust me, the moment comes and you just go "oh".
Beautiful game, took me 3 tries (once in the original PS2 back in 2006, once in 2014, and now, in 2022) to actually finish it. But I'm glad I managed to experience it.

A dated but still an effective emotional gaming adventure. I see the seeds that would later become Shadow of The Colossus & The Last Guardian, but I also see how this went on to inspire so many games that came out after this in large and small ways.

The Atmosphere, art direction and setting of Ico are still impressive, the tone and vibe combined with the beautifully melancholic soundtrack of this game was probably my favourite thing about the whole experience and this game is short enough that it never out stays its welcome and the ending is really satisfying. Think my biggest issue would be certain camera angles at points in the platforming, and the actual combat is pretty dated and having Yorda get dragged away from me often was annoying but not enough to derail any enjoyment. I'd love Ico to get another Bluepoint style remake at some point like SOTC did but I don't think we'll be getting that anytime soon but this game still remains a unique, influential and beautiful experience that was ahead of its time in 2001. An extraordinary expierence unlike any other.

Bazı oyunların bazı insanlar için bir anlamı vardır. İco yu zamanında oynasaydım yanımda bir karakter ile bu şekilde yaptığım bir maceranın muhtemelen benim için bir anlamı olurdu. Yanımdaki kızı sevdiğim kız yerine koyup kendimi ise onu koruyan cesur çocuk gibi görürdüm. Bir noktada bu oyunu bu şekilde oynamayı cidden isterdim ama maalesef yaşım daha geçken ve de herhangi bir kıza bir şey hissetmiyorken oynadım.
İco bir yürüme ve puzzle oyunu. Arada bir sinirinizi bozan canavarları dövüyorsunuz ki bu dövüşler çok sıkıcı. Animasyonları da çok kütük karakter kontrolleri kamera açıları da biraz sıkıntılı. Yanımızdaki Oçuva gel deseniz gelmez git deseniz gitmez elinden tutup sürekli bir yerlere çekmeniz gerekir. Ara sıra ne yapacağınızı bilmezsiniz siniriniz bozulur karakter aptalca şekilde düşer siniriniz bozulur vs vs. Baya sinir bozucu bir oyun aslında da kendine ait bir havası var. Bir şekilde oyun devam ediyor belki benim yalnızlığımda yanımda Oçuva nın olmasından dolayıdır. Yanınızda bulunan gereksiz npcler gibi belki daha iyi belki daha kötü olsa da en azından oyunda birisi yanınızda bulunuyor.
Neyse bu kadar yıkık değilseniz muhtemelen oyunun kontrolleri yüzünden sevmeyip bırakırsınız.

My fascination with Ico started when I stumbled across its gorgeous ps2 cover for the Japan/Europe region. There was something entrancing about the emerald turquoise sky which slowly faded into the cliffs of the background. The two figures of Ico and Yorda holding each other's hands as they roam across the giant yellow plane and to the right are architectural landmarks with one brick red ladder. The gorgeous windmill centered towards the right of the cover being a main feature of attraction and the arch behind it forming a bridge leading into a single doorway. It quickly became one of favorite covers of any media as it captured something so beautiful about its environment. Moving on, I decided to try out Ico and took my time as I finished the game in about 1 month, it was one of the most intriguing video game experiences and one I am amazed by.

Ico solely focuses on the relationship between Ico and Yorda. You will find that nearly every gameplay mechanic uses its feature to develop its relationship. Fumito Ueda uses an idea called 'design by subtraction' to rigorously polish until the point where everything that remains is in purpose of serving the focus of the game. Ico focuses on its intimate relationship and Ueda showed that development can be done in the form of no dialogue, this is where video games excel the most. Ico is the story of two young characters facing immeasurable odds but through the gameplay do you start to care about Yorda, an ethereal, fragile girl whose existence was to solely exist as a vessel. When the player explores its intricate and dream-like castle, it introduces mechanics in which the game makes us care about Yorda. For example, the combat exists so our attention as a player remains on Yorda as enemies cannot kill us, the game over state is simply moved to Yorda and through this do we start to give importance to her, leaving her for too long also initiates an enemy to hurt her which subconsciously makes you care about her, or take the example of holding her hand through the dedicated r1 button to help her walk throughout the castle, where we spend more time experiencing its beauty with Yorda. Or how the game designs its save point to only work if Yorda sits down beside you on the stone bench signifying how this journey is not yours alone but also Yorda's as she is given importance.

These are a few examples of how Ico expresses the importance of Yorda and its main relationship. Ico is incredibly appealing because of its ethereal and dreamy world largely due to Ueda's visionary genius. The castle in the mist is one of the most intriguing and well thought video game areas I have ever seen. Every puzzle idea is meshed brilliantly with the castle to make it seem natural and organic. There is this lingering feeling of desolation in the castle as you exhaust every nook and cranny. The world of Ico feels grounded and surreal. Strolling through the castle gates, bridges, courtyards, halls, and large rooms has never felt so engaging with Yorda. Despite the game featuring no characters in its castle for almost all of your playthrough, it manages to suck you into this magical world where you are left in awe as to how interconnected and dense it is. It is aesthetic brilliance as to how Fueda paints his castle with one of the most poetic and dense immersive experiences. The way the characters move feels so childish and fluid, fitting the essence of their characters. The sound design is emphasized heavily precisely because Ico has no flashy combat or heaps of dialogue and lore yet it manages to engage me into its core relationship simply through interactivity. Ico gives you something that other mediums cannot and that is its interactivity with a world that is full of soul. The game closes off thematically by giving an experience filled with connection, learning to think for yourself and the simplicity of becoming human. Ico tells this all through the quintessence of the video game medium, which is why this game spoke more to me than games with heaps of dialogue. Ico is the work of a single idea hammered in through every element of the game. The game is underwhelming if you look at it through the manner of dialogue and cutscenes however it speaks to you a lot more when looked at using the medium of video games.

Having never played this game on the PS2, I decided to finally give it a spin when the PS3 remaster was released. Sometimes it's hard to acknowledge the importance of older games if you haven't played them at the time they were released but with Ico, I was able to capture its greatness and it quickly became one of my all-time favorite games.

The mysterious setting, the emotional link between Ico and Yorda, the level and puzzle design, the soundtrack, the atmosphere, and the sound effects all create an incredible game but more than a game, it really becomes an experience as you journey through the castle and slowly develop the link between the characters as you move through rooms and fend off the shadow creatures.

All in all, I'm glad I was able to play and enjoy this game and join the cult following that holds this game in high regard despite not being a huge commercial success.

När jag gick i 8an kom en folkmusik-grupp vid namn Jaerv och hade en liten konsert för oss på skolan. Genast så fastnade jag verkligen för deras låtar och jag gick hem och började lyssna på dem på spotify. Jag lyssnade ganska mycket på dem men efter ett tag så slutade jag och glömde väl i princip bort att de fanns.

Sex år senare satt jag och scrollade på Facebook en måndagskväll i november och såg att Jaerv skulle ha en julkonsert med gratis inträde i Jönköping på lördagen den 17:e december klockan 18. Vid denna tiden så bodde jag och gick på bibelskola i just Jönköping så då tänkte jag att jag kunde passa på och gå dit och lyssna.

Jag började med att fråga en kompis som jag redan förut hade pratat med om att gå på konsert med någon gång, men just den helgen så kunde inte hon. Det jag gjorde då var att jag, när det var en vecka kvar till konserten, frågade en annan tjej, som jag för övrigt hade blivit lite förtjust i, ifall hon ville gå. Hon svarade att hon skulle fundera lite på det, och tre dagar senare berättade jag för henne, med lite hjälp på traven av en annan vän, att jag gillade henne. Hon gillade mig bara som en vän så det kändes lite tråkigt, men på något konstigt och paradoxalt sätt så fördjupades ändå vår relation efter detta i alla fall, och vi bestämde oss för att gå på den dära konserten tillsammans den kommande lördagen.

Veckan gick och efter att ha lussat för sista gången med klassen under lördagseftermiddagen så åkte vi hem och gick snabbt hem till våra respektive rum för att hinna förbereda oss på att gå ner till Kristine kyrka där konserten skulle äga rum. När vi väl började gå så var klockan 17.20 och jag var lite stressad för enligt Google Maps skulle det ta cirka 40 minuter att gå dit, men vi gick fort och kom dit med typ 10 minuters marginal, så jag har lärt mig att man inte kan lita på Google Maps tidsberäkningar när det gäller promenader.

Vi kom som sagt dit en bra bit innan det började, men vi fick ändå inte så bra platser men det gjorde ingenting för man kunde ändå höra musiken bra. På vägen dit hade vi gått och pratat om hur fin staden var med alla lampor som lyste, och runt oss singlade små och vackra snöflingor ner mot marken. Allt var fint och mysigt. Konserten var bra, i början blev jag lite uttråkad men mot slutet tyckte jag att den var riktigt bra och det var underhållande och cosy att vara där med henne.

På vägen hem blåste det kallt när vi gick längs Munksjön men det var ändå lugnt och skönt att gå där tillsammans sida vid sida. När vi hade börjat gå upp för backen mot slutet av den medellånga promenaden så pekar hon på en bänk, som alltid har stått där och som alla bara brukar gå förbi. Hon frågar ifall vi ska sätta oss lite på bänken, och jag svarar att det är något som jag alltid har velat göra. Så vi sätter oss ner på bänken för att avnjuta den stilla kvällen och varandras närvaro.

21 lördagar tidigare, lördagen den 23:e juli, så var jag i Göteborg tillsammans med mina TV-spelskamrater. Det var första gången jag träffade flera av dem i verkligheten och efter att ha kollat i lite butiker, käkat hamburgare på Bastard Burgers och spelat minigolf så gick vi helt plötsligt upp för ett berg som tydligen hette Risåsberget. Jag hade själv varit där uppe tillsammans med mina två kompisar från gymnasiet ett år och tre dagar tidigare, så jag tyckte typ det var lite udda att jag hamnade där igen.

Hur som helst så fanns det en del bänkar utplacerade på vägen upp för berget, och genast så påpekade jag och Adrian att de var lite lika bänkarna i ICO, lugna och fridfulla platser att vila på under sin resa. När jag sedan flyttade till Jönköping drygt tre veckor senare och upptäckte den där bänken på vägen upp för berget jag bodde på, så drogs genast mina tankar tillbaka till ICO. Så när jag nu satt där på bänken, tätt intill tjejen jag gillade, så kunde jag inte låta bli att berätta lite om det underbara spel som ICO är.

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För mig handlar inte ett spel bara om rolig gameplay, bra story, snygg grafik, eller ett grymt soundtrack. Utan oftast finns det alltid någonting mer, något som är mer abstrakt, en sorts känsla man känner antingen medan man spelar spelet eller bara tänker på det. Det kan vara känslan av hur coola Sonic-karaktärerna är i Adventure-spelen, eller varför inte den otroliga aha-upplevelsen när man listar ut lösningen till något pussel i The Witness. Många av känslorna kopplade till spel tror jag dessutom kan kokas ned till antingen nostalgin till ett spel man körde för länge sedan eller till hypen för ett sprillans nytt spel. Men ett gammalt spel som jag hyfsat nyligen spelade för första gången och som fick mig att känna något som jag aldrig tror ett spel tidigare fått mig att känna, det var just pussel-äventyrsspelet ICO.

ICO släpptes från början 2001 till Playstation 2 och sedan remastrades det 2011 till Playstation 3, vilket var versionen som jag spelade. Spelet handlar basically om pojken Ico och flickan Yorda som försöker rymma från ett stort slott de blivit fängslade i. Du kontrollerar Ico, och bara några minuter in i spelet hittar du Yorda inlåst i en bur och släpper ut henne, då upptäcker ni också att ni pratar två olika språk. Erat första ögonblick tillsammans blir dock kortvarigt eftersom ett skuggmonster dyker upp och försöker ta fast Yorda igen. Som tur är så tar du upp en pinne från golvet och slår ner monstret. Trots att ni inte har särskilt enkelt att kommunicera med varandra så är det uppenbart att om ni vill fly från slottet och dessa skuggmonster, så måste ni samarbeta. Spelet går sedan ut på att klura ut hur man ska ta sig igenom slottets alla områden och att skydda Yorda från skuggorna.

Denna unika känsla som ICO fick mig att känna var vikten av att beskydda Yorda. Genom hela spelet kände jag på något sätt att jag bara var tvungen att försvara henne och föra henne till säkerheten bortom slottets murar. Redan vid första mötet är det nästan instinktivt man plockar upp pinnen och jagar bort skuggmonstret. Och det är ju inte så konstigt att man vill skydda henne, för, i hela det stora ödsliga slottet så är hon den enda man har. Viljan att beskydda Yorda växer med spelets gång i och med att bandet mellan Yorda och Ico bara blir starkare och starkare. Hur spelet gör för att få denna känsla att växa fram tycker jag framgår i såväl gameplay som story.

Det första jag märkte efter att jag räddade Yorda från det första skuggmonstret var att man kunde ropa på henne, så att hon följde efter en. Även fast att de inte kan prata med varandra så kan de ändå förstå varandras enkla intentioner med vad de försöker säga. Ico som ropar att Yorda ska följa efter, och Yorda som säger nej när de kommit fram till ett för svårt hinder som hon inte klarar av. Och om man fortsätter att hålla inne samma knapp för att ropa på Yorda så tar man hennes hand och börjar dra med henne efter sig. Och den funktionen att just hålla Yorda i handen, känns väldigt viktig för att relationen mellan Ico och Yorda skulle växa, och sedan så förundras jag även över hur immersive det känns att just hålla i hennes hand. Dels för att man ibland får lite besvär att dra med henne när man springer för fort, man liksom hackar fram, ungefär som att hon inte riktigt hinner hänga med, och dels för att man själv håller in knappen samtidigt som Ico håller i Yordas hand, och det börjar ju kännas lite i fingret efter att man hållit inne en knapp ganska länge.

Den huvudsakliga gameplayen i spelet går ut på att lista ut hur man ska komma vidare. Man skulle kunna säga att varje rum är som ett pussel där man klättrar, puttar på lådor, drar i spakar eller spränger bomber. Det som gör pusslena ännu mer komplexa är att det inte bara är en själv som ska ta sig igenom det här hemska slottet, utan man måste få med sig Yorda i princip hela vägen. Så vissa pusselmoment går ut på att hitta en väg för Yorda att ta sig igenom, då man behöver henne för att öppna vissa barriärer/portar som bara hon kan öppna. Detta är alltså ännu en anledning till att Ico och Yorda behöver varandra.

I ICO finns det i princip bara två sätt att få Game Over på. Det ena är att man faller ner från en hög höjd eller ner i en avgrund. Och det andra är att Yorda blir tagen av skuggmonstrena som kommer fram titt som tätt för att röva bort henne igen. Sättet som skuggorna fungerar på är att de dyker upp på olika ställen genom spelet och försöker både plocka upp Yorda och slå iväg Ico för att hindra honom från att rädda henne. Sedan tar de med henne ner i ett mörkt hål någonstans i marken, och om du inte lyckas dra upp henne från hålet tillräckligt fort så får du Game Over. Combaten är väldigt simpel. Det finns bara en knapp för att slå och efter tillräckligt många slag så dör skuggmonstret. För att rädda Yorda om skuggorna tar fast henne kan du slå monstret som håller henne för att det ska släppa henne, och om skuggorna lyckas ta Yorda till ett av de mörka hålen så kan du dra upp henne, med samma knapp som du håller i hennes hand och drar upp henne över normala kanter. Detta tyckte jag var väldigt intuitivt för att första gången Yorda fastnade i ett av hålen för mig så visste jag inte alls hur jag skulle göra, men jag bara testade att dra ur henne, på samma sätt som jag var van vid att dra i henne sedan innan, och så fungerade det. Ett annat sätt att döda skuggorna på är att låta Yorda använda sin kraft och öppna en port. Detta sättet är väldigt effektivt, men man måste vara snabb och det finns inte heller alltid en barriär att öppna.

Även fast att combaten är simpel så tycker jag verkligen att den förstärker känslan av att behöva skydda Yorda. Varje gång det dök upp monster och man hörde den fasansfulla musiken som börjar spelas, så fylldes jag med både rädsla för att misslyckas men också med en beslutsamhet att försvara Yorda till varje pris. Så man bara fortsätter slå på skuggorna, även fast det bara finns en attack och även fast det känns som att skuggorna aldrig tar slut. Och ifall combaten hade varit mer komplicerad och det skulle finnas combos eller andra attacker, så tror jag inte att känslan hade blivit densamma, utan det är just den känsla av fruktan för skuggmonstrena och hjälplösheten som gör att det känns mycket viktigare att skydda Yorda.

Skuggorna dyker upp på olika planerade stunder i spelet, men de dyker också upp ifall man lämnar Yorda för länge i ett annat område av slottet. Detta får en att alltid vilja stanna i närheten av henne, vilket stärker bandet och relationen mellan henne och Ico. Om man råkar ut för just detta och man lämnar henne för länge så att hon blir tagen av en skugga, så får det en att bli mycket mer försiktig och helst aldrig vilja lämna henne ensam igen. Det var därför jag blev så uppskrämd och stressad när jag vid vattenfallet råkade trilla ner och behövde skynda mig den långa vägen tillbaka för att inte Yorda skulle bli tagen. Som tur var så hann jag innan någon skugga dök upp, så jag slapp förlora all progress sedan min senaste sparning, men den paniken som jag ändå kände visar verkligen hur fäst vid Yorda man själv som spelare faktiskt också blir.

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Allt detta berättade jag såklart inte för min vän när vi satt tillsammans på bänken i decembermörkret, utan jag berättade i princip bara att det fanns bänkar i spelet som man kunde sitta tillsammans på. Jag tycker att det finns något väldigt fint med bänkarna i ICO. De agerar som sparpunkter, ett tillfälle då man kan vila ut och känna sig trygg. Men för att ens kunna spara på en bänk i spelet så måste både Ico och Yorda sitta på bänken, de måste alltså vara tillsammans. Det är bara i varandras närhet de kan känna sig säkra och pusta ut.

Så när jag satt där på bänken, tätt intill tjejen jag gillade, denna decemberafton så kunde jag också, fastän det var kallt, få vila ut och känna ett lugn i hennes närhet. Jag visste dock att det aldrig någonsin skulle bli vi två, men för en liten stund behövde jag inte tänka på det, utan jag kunde bara känna frid över att just hon ville sitta bredvid just mig, på just den bänken. Om det inte hade varit för kylan eller för att det bara hade lett till att mitt hjärta skulle slitas ännu mer itu, så hade jag, precis som Yorda och Ico brukar göra, velat hålla handen med henne där på bänken.

Och så berättade jag för henne om det bästa ögonblicket i hela spelet. Jag kan mycket väl ha sagt att det är det bästa ögonblicket från något spel någonsin, för det är det. Det kan dessutom mycket väl vara så att det till stor del är på grund av detta enda moment som jag gillar ICO så mycket. Så ifall du aldrig har spelat igenom ICO förut så kan jag passa på att utlysa en spoilervarning nu.

Efter att ha klarat då båda arenorna i den östra och västra delen av slottet, de två huvudsakliga målen i spelet, så gick jag ner till utgången för att äntligen få fly undan fångenskapen. Äntligen ska Ico och Yorda bli fria igen. Med hjälp av sina sista krafter så öppnar Yorda den stora porten och bron över till andra sidan klippan fälls ut. Till en början så springer jag med Yorda hållandes i handen, men hon är så svag nu att hon inte orkar hänga med, så hon faller ner på marken. Jag bestämde mig då för att låta henne ta den tid hon behövde, även fast jag kände mig lite stressad och ville helst bara springa över bron så fort som möjligt. Men jag tänker inte springa över utan Yorda, känslan av att jag måste skydda henne är så stark nu att vi får gå i hennes takt, även om det går lite långsamt.

När vi kommit halvvägs ut på bron händer det som inte får hända. Bron börjar dras in igen och Ico hamnar på sidan som leder till fastlandet och friheten, medan Yorda är kvar på sidan som leder till slottet och den eviga fångenskapen. Här behöver jag inte ens tänka på vad jag ska välja att göra, utan valet är nästan rent instinktivt och baserat på bandet som bildats, inte bara mellan Ico och Yorda, utan även mellan mig som spelare och Yorda. Utan att blinka springer jag bort från friheten och hoppar tillbaka till fångenskapen. Tillbaka till Yorda.

Detta är ett så otroligt ögonblick som är svårt att beskriva i ord utan man måste nog spela det själv för att verkligen förstå. Jag förundras verkligen över hur spelskaparna lyckats skapa ett så starkt emotionellt band mellan spelaren och en NPC, att man överhuvudtaget inte ens tvekar en sekund på att hoppa tillbaka till Yorda igen. Man kan bara inte överge henne, även fast man själv har nått friheten.

Efter att ha suttit där på bänken och både haft det mysigt och frusit, så bestämde vi oss till sist för att gå hem och äta tillsammans. Därefter satte vi oss, som vi brukar, i klassrummet och pratade ända tills lite över klockan ett på natten. Det var nästan lika sent som vi hade suttit och pratat på natten mellan onsdagen och torsdagen en och en halv vecka tidigare. Nu hade vi alltså umgåtts nästan konstant i cirka 8 timmar och vi kände oss båda väldigt trötta och utmattade, så vi sa adjö och var och en gick hem till sitt och lade sig för att sova. Två dagar senare fick jag en fråga av en annan klasskompis. En fråga som man inte får alltför sällan som TV-spelsfantast. Han frågade vilket som var mitt favoritspel, och med minnena och tankarna från lördagskvällen färska i minnet så kunde jag inte svara annat än att ICO faktiskt var det bästa spelet jag någonsin spelat.

ICO surprised me. It’s simply amazing how a minimalist approach in a narrative can convey such strong emotions. Beautiful, beautiful game, and beautiful looking even with it’s age (especially in this PS3 remaster).

What didn’t age as well, tough, were some aspects of it’s gameplay, like how Ico moves in some parts and Yorda’s A.I., which can be a little frustrating sometimes. But, even so, I’m in this very weird situation in which I think some of this clunkyness actually ended up being part of the experience, you know? How it was really supposed to feel.

The puzzles were not the most mind-blowing out there, but offered the right amount of challenge to keep the story going on smoothly and, most importantly, providing a fun time. And, boy, it was FUN to go through these in a game without a HUD, an inventory system, and let alone any menu beside the Pause, game over and game save screens. In this regard, it kind of reminded me of the experience I had whilst playing The Neverhood, so you’ll feel right at home if you enjoy these types of adventure games - but be open minded and wait for the surprises ICO can deliver through the simplicity of it’s unique way of storytelling.

I was in awe during my whole - and short-lived: 5h56m! - playthrough, and I swear I could keep on playing it from beginning to end in a single sitting if I didn’t check on the clock and saw the “4 a.m.” being displayed on it. Super recommended if you’re in for one of the most unique rides in this medium. A little work of art.

I was at the rope in the chandelier room early on trying to get yorda to descend with me and quickly got frustrated. she kept noodling about at the top, pacing in place, occasionally looking down at me, and for the life of me I couldn't understand why she can't just climb down (at this point I had seen her climb ladders so I hadn't realized that ropes were off-limits). every so often she would look over to the windows to our left and stare for a bit, and after I had exhausted my options on the lower floor I decided to return to her. what I found was that these windows were actually my key to progressing, and once I had scaled them and explored the collar beams above I soon realized she was pointing me in the right direction all along. that was the moment I transitioned from simply seeing her as just another mechanic to keep track of to trying to respect her autonomy and trust her as an actual companion. there's a point late in the game where she's been weakened and will trip if you drag her along too quickly, and I found myself legitimately gently keeping pace with her arm in arm.

this "design by substraction" methodology interests me because in a lot of ways it's more of a process of substitution. as an early representative title for the ps2, it spends the vast majority of its time playing up the strengths of the hardware's rendering at the expense of its mechanics. this isn't a bad thing at all. these simple environmental puzzles encourage the player to explore each room and contextualize their location in this vast castle that interconnects the more you progress. long sequences of riding elevators or scaling walls are framed with far-off vistas in the background, detailing a sense of time and space that simply couldn't exist in a prior era with poor draw distances. objects bleed together in murky rooms to highlight bloom effects from light streaming from windows, which often higlight where to go next or what objects to examine. the gameplay itself is perfectly functional, and its simplicity enhances the world around it in a way that earlier generations absolutely could not replicate.

while I do like the majority of the puzzles here, it's the platforming that really pulled me out of the fiction and into frustration at multiple points in the adventure. ico has a weird contextual jump that is fickle about when it follows realistic physics, and thus it can be distressing when the dev's design implications don't quite reach the player and expected actions can't be performed. upwards and backwards leaps feel interchangeable at points, and it's tricky to determine forward momentum during certain leaps when it's obvious that they're semi-scripted. the game's final main section is an uncomfortably long platforming challenge that kills the mood at what should be a critical emotional point, and I wonder how my opinion of the game would have changed had this part been shortened or changed to be more puzzle-driven (it doesn't help that the section before this is an abridged and somewhat disappointing redo of the east arena section, which is my favorite part of the game).

I also have to admit yorda is a bit underused in terms of actual puzzle design. at best she serves as a virtual tether on ico; anytime he needs to explore an area without her, it becomes a race to solve the puzzle before she is taken by the shadow creatures. this creates multiple nice parallel puzzles where you are searching both for how to progress through the castle as well as how yorda can follow without navigating the same treachery. other than a few simple puzzles where she must hold down switches for you to get through certain doors early on, she rarely ever actually directly interacts with the puzzles, and as the game progresses more puzzles arise where she can remain by your side constantly and thus is more just there than anything. the shadow creature sections also could have served as tense moments where block puzzles or similar must be quickly solved while keeping yorda away from the creatures. however, in most cases they can simply be extinguished without progressing nearby puzzles, and by the latter half of the game they barely register as present given the power of the sword.

A mysterious boy with horns is sealed away within a statue. An equally mysterious set of circumstances sets him free, allowing him to cross paths with a girl. Neither speaks the same language, but both have the same goal: escape this weird realm they've been trapped in.

Over the course of 7 or so hours, you navigate the various puzzles that stand between you and your respective freedoms together. You run, jump, climb, and pull on everything that moves to ensure that you and your mystical lady friend make it to safety together. A simple tap of the R1 button brings her to wherever you require. She will NOT climb chains though. Such is life.

Playing it for the first time in 2022 is such an interesting experience - its impact has been rippling throughout all of game design since its initial release in so many ways that I've never lived without its legacy even without playing it. Some aspects of it have aged poorly - its combat feels less than stellar and a few jumping puzzles are mind-bogglingly difficult, but it isn't enough to tarnish the impact of such a beautiful experience.

The PS3 presentation is stellar, presenting the game in 1080p at a mostly locked 30 frames per second. It feels definitive. This game in general just feels like a definitive work of its own, beyond reproach.

One of the most astonishingly realized and atmospheric titles; washed in an over saturated and ethereal hue of blinding light and a sparing soundtrack that is no less heavenly and unsettling in equal measure. The game's antiquated and old fashioned structure, its occasional repetition in enemy encounters and frustratingly shoddy platforming, left me a bit cold for slim stretches at a time but there's no denying just how effective and integral and timeless the player's relationship with Yorda is. Despite it all, that finale leaves me speechless and moved. Ico realizes the universal vision of emancipation from powers beyond your understanding and control. The developers craft this twisting labyrinth of a castle to navigate this newfound maturity and responsibility that befalls Ico. There are few games that openly test the patience of its player by simply testing their capacity to be an empathetic human being; guiding someone helpless to shared freedom through an uncommon unity. Exquisite yet maddening in its approach, but are those not the qualities that encompass the trenches of childhood? Ico is modest fantasy as dreamlike nostalgia.

sexy mutyumu recommended this to me as part of this list thanks dude

de chirico has always been one of my favorite artists of all times and even though i connect a lot with the evocative and dramatic use of chiaroscuro in passionate baroque fashion by caravaggio the surrealist and almost mentally exhausting paradise of nonsense that brimmed with symbolism in dalì or even the impossible geometry and perspective of timeless beauty by picasso among many many others of great painters sculptors and whatnot de chirico still shines of a genius that to this day feels even wrong to talk about in this manner

in the most pure and plain form the metaphysical works of the italian painter show desolate sceneries adorned with strong and sharp lights and shadows that gently embrace everyday life mixed with mythology (trains and statues mannequins and towers modern and ancient objects) and stripped down perspective to evoke a sense of estrangement and emptiness and yet also freedom and power

clearly when i looked at ICOs box art i had a hunch that de chirico strongly inspired the style and composition of this cover and the fact that director Fumito Ueda painted it himself echoing La Nostalgia dell’Infinito made me realize that the game would have the same exact feeling of a de chirico painting and now that i finished it im 100% convinced thats the case

ICO is about a boy that grows horns for some reason that isnt explained here and he is then locked inside of a humongous fortress to rest in peace forever i guess because his home village wanted him the fuck out even though those horns kinda look sick i want them too tbh the villagers were just envious

that being said ico escapes gets a mystical cute girl of some kind that looks like shes made of pure light out of a cage and the two begin this longass trip through this incredibly complex architecture

lemme just put out of the way the stuff that i didnt like so i can go on to talk about the things that made me love this game so much to the point that in this moment im not so sure as to what score i should give it lets see how it goes

i dont like playing this game . here i said it
personally i got frustrated too many times during this experience because of janky as fuck platforming movement that got me falling into the abyss more than one time and deleting like 20 mins of progress honestly this game is a test of patience and i barely passed it
the combat also sucks which ranges from enraging in the first part of the game (poop ass controls enemies that dodge every fucking time and yorda getting kidnapped every 3 seconds) and pointless later when you get the sword or the mace or whatever when you kind of one shot them but they still manage to take yorda away somehow
puzzle games arent for me honestly ive never really gotten into them and will never be able for the life of me to enjoy them as much as id want to because im 1 stupid 2 impatient 3 traumatised so this game was setting itself up for failure in my eyes

and somehow it ended up being an experience like nothing ive ever touched in my life the sheer beauty of every single scenery and architecture is mind blowing for a game like this the castle is intrinsically against you theres traps cliffs rocks bombs waterfalls (very sexy waterfalls and mountainous paths in the later parts id say) everything is trying to kill you (and managed to many times) and it keeps twisting in itself in a labyrinth fashion and still it feels breathing humming and feeling the same dread and longing for freedom that ico and yorda are experiencing

in your escape through this interconnected wonder of architectural might you have to care for yorda in every and any moment she cant jump cliffs or climb ropes or even fight so you have to be there for her 24/7 youre basically her eyes her arms her brain (for a girl locked up in a cage all her life its kind of expected) all together for the entirety of the game and you cant even leave her behind because shes essential to unlock puzzle doors that require her magical powers (apart from the fact that shadows getting her into the dark splotches trigger a game over)
this sounds like a fucking dumb and stressing situation and in some ways it kind of is but it never feels like that i ended up caring for yorda toooooo much i became emotionally attached to her to the point that i would just take her hand every time because i just didnt want to lose her in any way and this sort of sentiment happened throughout the many dangers of the game (when she jumps in the void waiting for you to catch her its so psychologically drenching to me every time i was shaking even tho i knew fair well that its an animated sequence and that she couldnt just fall like that) to the point that i would sometimes just chill with her on the sofa safe point listening to the atmospheric music

this kind of relates to the relationship that these kids share . even tho this is very boy meets girl tropey theres this invisible barrier that separates them theyre 2 completely different beings they dont speak the same language and they have no knowledge of what the other person is like or has been through and somehow they still bond through their similar fate and hardships and cooperate to get the fuck out of this dark and cruel environment and it feels so genuine and so real its just UGGHHHHHHH great i love them this is great they share minimal interactions minimal dialogues minimal everything and they still feel like they cant live without their counterpart and thats just how i felt with yorda i couldnt just leave her alone for more than 3 seconds or id feel physically sick

theres a very important moment during the story where yorda is weakened by the castle dark energy or whatever and so when you walk hand in hand with her again if you pick up the pace too much she cant holp up anymore and falls to the ground . at that point i just took her and gently walked with her because if i made her fall again i would cry and thats just how emotionally fastened to yorda the game made me and this is after like 3 dialogues and 3 hours of wandering in the castle with no sound at all

thats also another interesting aspect of the game . in its goal to make this experience as lonely as possible the music department is stripped to the minimum (currently i can only remember the save point music and the final boss music both excellent soundtracks id say) and all the immersive work is left to astoundingly evocative SFX that really push the experience further into its dreamlike atmosphere

in cooperation with this the glimpses of the world surrounding the fortress enchant and scare you equally youre on a deserted side of the land where a towering castle sits on top of a hill and no way to get to the forest around it but a single bridge that youre trying to unlock and yet it looks breathtaking and youre struck with the beauty of what awaits you after this journey ends

the introduction of the story that i made is literally the entire story i wish i could be joking but thats basically the whole point of the entire narrative + you add a brutal and villainous queen whos trying to nurture yorda as the new vessel for her body and thats the full description so i am gonna talk about the more spoiler ish stuff even if its things kind of foreshadowed from the beginning of the game basically

after you unlock the bridge ico and yorda get separated (i was fidgety as fuck not having yorda around was lethal for my well being) and ico falls to apparent death in a river below soooo he just goes back to the castle sees that yorda got every life sucked out of her and decides to beat the shit out of the bitch queen with a new magical sword

so you go there beat the queen allegedly save dark matter yorda but get in a coma like state because of an intense damage to the head that also breaks icos horns and then seeing him lifeless and almost killed by the ruins falling off of the now collapsing castle yorda decides to put his life before everything else finally take action and save him on a boat and then says goodbye and thank you and then i cry like a fucking baby because shes an entity deeply entwined with the castle and cant leave

then ico gets on a shore and gets watermelon and yorda is there happy ending lets eat watermelons under the scorching sun or something

still deeply traumatized me tho

now that i think i said everything i needed to say do i think ico is an objectively great game ? the fuck not it was tedious as hell almost frustrating and mechanically theres more that i dont like instead of stuff that i like but do i think this is a thematically and atmospherically great game ? absolutely and it probably will feel like that even if other games try to emulate this kind of vibe

i cant explain how this works but this is the closest a game has ever been to a de chirico painting at this point i just know Ueda completely understood the hidden art of the artist and tried to put it into a full length videogame project like nothing else

in all those architectural geometries contrasting shadows and lights lifeless environments and imposing dreads resulting in a feeling of solitude and alienation you are still able to find warmth and familiarity like youve always been accustomed to and still feels like its a completely new experience

now you tell me if this is a description of ico or a de chirico painting

THAT WAS LONG OK ended up playing and logging the ps3 version that has hd graphics or whatever but first and foremost i did that because this page has the ueda cover art and not the highkey unbearable NA version so yeah
ICO good i will be playing shadow of the colossus next and that game looks sexy as fuck can i just say that

also tbh partly liked it this much because it gave me some dangerous the legend of zelda twilight princess vibes which is one of my fav games of all times so you know i may be biased i thought i would hear midna going incomprehensible fictional language and now i want to play tp again thats great

maybe i just do love games with invented languages

anyway the shadow enemies designs were great i loved them they were kind of hot can i say that is this legal

if that cover art were in a national gallery i wouldnt know a thing its just compositionally amazing i cant get enough of it also i did see the shadow of the colossus art concept in the same style of this cover and while i do think its also stellar the ico one is just something else entirely i swear to god i might cry rn

boy do i love ICO overall 11 mins ost

ICO is about video game foundations. Yorda is the tangible representation of your progression in the game, she glows with a supernatural energy that opens locked obstacles so common in video games. Yorda also represents communication. Not only on a basic level, because she and Ico don't speak the same language, but she represents the communication between game designer and player. World and player.

You never maintain a dialogue with your inseparable partner, but Ueda's triumph is precisely to objectify the pillars of game design in a character that is felt by the player as a person. Whether it's the moments she communicates to you by pointing her fingers at things that can help you solve the puzzles, or the simple fact of guiding another being with an action buttom that allows you to hold her hand, which doesn't feel like coupling Yorda to you, rather that the two of you are actually holding hands.

Ueda has already joked that due to its "design by subtraction" philosophy, perhaps ICO's combat has become too simple and repetitive. I agree, but like it or not, for me every confrontation being a repetitive task that happens EXACTLY after solving a puzzle and/or if you leave Yorda alone for too long, it's almost like the game screaming at you your responsibility to protect the video game as a concept. Protect your journey, protect your progression, protect your communication with the world. If you are not interested in doing this, who will?

In addition to the characters, ICO exists within a world. And the world of ICO is meticulously crafted to be the setting for video game situations. What makes all areas of this huge castle so well built that many times, solutions to the puzzles are to find imperfections in the architecture of the environment so that Ico can hang or push a box.

Exploring the imperfections of a virtual world that were purposely left by the creator is part of ICO's proposal. It is part of the proposal to explore what video games do in the first place. It's a game that doesn't underestimate the player, because it never pretends that it's not a video game, it wants to see how much you understand this logic to be able to connect emotionally with an artificial intelligence that, holding your hand, will open the next box of surprises of this castle until you, the player, leave there understanding what makes a game, and your character leaves there free from the claws of its creator.

also i played the game on my playstation 2 but i refuse to log that rotten cover.

I am a massive fan of Shadow of the Colossus, yet I have never gotten around to playing the other games that Team Ico has developed. I own The Last Guardian, but I never got around to playing it, partly because I wanted to play the game that started this unique, lore filled world.

Ico is incredible. For so many reasons. I know it has been praised by many for its art, world, story telling, and so on, even by the likes of Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro, and numerous developers of well known, beloved games.

The game starts with a short cutscene, and after that there is very little dialogue to explain what is going on, but you are constantly piecing things together and you never stop wondering what has happened/gone wrong in this cruel, strange place. And one of the best features of the game is seeing the bond that Ico and Yorda develop throughout the story. They have no reason to help each other, but both being outcasts that are so isolated from others they form a trust for one another, and it’s beautiful.

As far as gameplay, it is 5 percent combat, 10 percent exploration, and 85 percent puzzle solving. Let’s start with combat. It’s… fine. Really you just press the attack button until the enemies are gone. I do appreciate the different weapons you can find, especially the hidden ones that reward you for your exploration! Speaking of, I wish there was MORE exploration involved, because I loved wandering around the massive castle you are tasked with escaping. I don’t know how they could have done it, but I wish there were more items that were placed secretly around the map, or maybe flashbacks that explain a bit more of the story? I don’t know, I just wished there was a bit more here. Finally, the puzzles are super fun. Some very simple, some challenging enough to make you wonder if you are doing the right thing, but never cryptic and frustrating, a perfect combination.

Of course, this game does have its flaws. As with every Team Ico game so far, the controls aren’t the best in the world, but in this game they aren’t too bad. However, the camera is not good at all. I was constantly fighting it, or wishing it would fix itself. Then comes the most frustrating part of this game, the waiting. There isn’t a ton of it, but when it does happen it is painfully slow. Climbing up ladders, turning specific dials, or waiting for Yorda to figure out how to get out of a damn hole in the ground are not fun to sit through. A specific example was a ladder in the west arena, where Yorda couldn’t make up her find and would get halfway down, change her mind and go all the way back up, run around, and then finally come all the way down the ladder.

All that being said, this game is lovely. The ambiance, world, music, and story are all beautiful. And as a side note, I love how this ties directly to the events in Shadow of the Colossus.

This game is a must play for anyone who considers video games to be an art form, and pretty much anyone who likes video games. One more game to play in the Team Ico library!

Ico has the guts to do what everything else in its kin is deathly afraid to do

No, it wasn't the minimal dialogue which contributes to an air of mystery.
No, not the constant wonderful set pieces that while largely sharing the same assets I could remember each room in the game regardless.
No, not an ACTUALLY GOOD on-rail camera which contributes to the environment feeling even more grand and mysterious.
No,

Ico turned the HUD off.

I say that only partially joking, but I yearn for more games to attempt this. The problem is that they'd have to be designed in a way that's intuitive, and the way Ico uses context sensitivity is careful and brilliant; it got a little shaky in the last leg of the game when I had to wonder "can I actually make that jump?" but the previous 5hrs had taught me to simply trust the game's direction, so I carefully lined myself up, pressed triangle, and cleared it. The game mostly does a fantastic job of making it clear enough where you can and can't traverse without making the environment look stained with neon "CLIMB HERE" platforms.

You control a boy born with horns, scorned by his village and sacrificed or sold because of his deformities; he's locked up for a while, before tremors all around knock over and break his coffin, freeing him. On the way out, he finds a girl named Yorda, whom's as pale as snow and speaks in a tongue he does not understand. Despite this, he grabs her hand and guides her along and vice-versa, revealing she has an innate ability to open the ancient fortress's sealed pillar doorways. This is where Ico begins, and where any detailed talk of the story from me ends.

The environments, while samey most of the time, are nonetheless captivating and beautiful throughout; wrought with sweeping winds bellowing over the abandoned city-fortress, accompanied only by its machinations creaking as they idly work, and seagulls finding a familiar home along the cliff-like, decrepit ledges of the fortress above the vicious sea that hammers menacingly against the base and rocks far below.

Traversal feels incredibly heavy and clunky, but not in a way that outright controls bad; I did just about everything I wanted to do without much fuss over inputs other than some careful movement, like you would if you were realistically traversing perilous scaffolding and ancient aqueducts. A pessimist would call Yorda a glorified leg shackle in this regard, and while I'd be inclined to agree in only the coldest objective sense, you could argue bringing any persons on a trip you have to wait for just makes them dead weights; is that how you evaluate your friends or loved ones? By how you may have to accommodate them on your journeys? I don't think so, not for me anyways. Do you think Yorda, who knows how the fortress is layed out, feels even a little burdened by the bumbling boy figuring it out himself since she can't explain due to the language barrier? She might, but she shows grace in allowing the boy the agency to solve it himself; only after quite some time, at most, standing in a vague direction and calling to him as a hint forward. It's a beautiful symbiotic relationship of mutual patience and understanding that allows them to communicate despite not knowing a single word from each other's tongue.

Everything about this speaks to me on a primal level.
Compassion before frustration. Understanding before knowing. Empathy before sympathy.

That is Ico.