Masterpiece: <em>Ico</em>

At the dawn of the PlayStation 2 era, a relatively obscure first-party game called <em>Ico</em> was launched with little fanfare. Sales were tepid. But while everyone else was busy playing <em>Gran Turismo</em> and <em>Tekken</em>, word started to spread among enthusiasts. <em>Ico</em> went from an unknown game to a cult classic in a few short years. Today, its proper place in the gaming pantheon is clear. <em>Ico</em> is a Masterpiece.

<a href='http://meincmagazine.com/gaming/news/2010/11/masterpiece-ico.ars'>Read the whole story</a>

 

[Graapho]

This has been bugging me for a while, and especially now when graphics are involved; why is there no way to maximize the images? I want to click them to see the hi-res version.

 

[Schpyder]

Brilliant, lovely game. Easily one of my top 10, and better as a whole experience, I think, than its spiritual sequel, Shadow of the Colossus. It also has my favorite single ending in the history of videogames.

That said, I do need to correct one thing in this overview. The voices aren't in Japanese, they're in a fictional, made-up language. Which only serves to further establish the other-ness of the setting.

 

[Baeocystin]

Beautiful.

 

[Rene Gollent]

Someone had to Brilliant write up John, I loved this game.

 

[dreemernj]

A great article about a great game. One thing though, I thought they did use a PS1 engine enhanced to work on PS2. There was definitely footage of the engine running on PS1 hardware, but it couldn't run all that well. The poly counts for the characters looked similar to the PS2 version.

This led me to believe they started for the PS1, with low polycounts, low quality textures, etc, and then enhanced it for the PS2 by adding the light effects and all but eliminating visible draw in.

The test vids of it on PS1 hardware are probably on youtube somewhere.

 

[Pugnax555]

Curious that there's no mention how Ico was originally supposed to be a PS1 game, but was held back to utilize the more powerful hardware of the PS2.

 

[Evan E]

Here's the original Playstation 1 footage of Ico. Thank god they didn't use that soundtrack.

This game was my introduction to "modern" gaming. The last time I'd played computer games was during the Infocom era, but reviews in The New York Times and by Andrew "Zarf" Plotkin convinced me that this was something I had to see for myself. I still think of Plotkin's description of the character animation:

It's all in the body language -- I'll leave it at that. No I won't. You are quick, nervous, aggressive. The girl is graceful, easily startled, curious. She'll come over to you if you wave. You can take her hand, and she'll follow you; or run after you, if you run.

-- and you're staggering along the corridor and she's right behind you, laughing, tugging on your hand, you're pulling one way and she's yanking the other and you're both laughing and running and there's an archway and you stumble out into the sunlight together and you see --

I did that with words. Ico does it with motion. I'll leave it at that.

 

[jdietz]

You (the Ars gaming team) also picked team Ico's only other game, Shadow of the Colossus for a masterpiece piece also.

Please note that Team Ico's next entry in the "series" called Last Guardian is coming out next year.

 

[GokieKS]

Great article. I bought a PS2 before launch with the expectations of playing games like Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, etc, and the system more than lived up to expectations. But when I'm asked what I think the best PS2 game is, my answer is Ico each and every time. It's not the best looking game on the PS2, it doesn't have the best soundtrack, there's practically zero re-playability, and frankly, the (US) cover art is rubbish (probably turned a lot of people off of purchasing it, unfortunately). But what it does have, more than almost any other game I can think of this side of Super Mario Bros. 3, is that nebulous concept of "soul". The world was surreal in both a beautiful and haunting way, the level design was fantastic, and most of all, it managed to convey a story and develop a blossoming relationship between Ico and Yorda that I truly cared about, and did it all with no (intelligible) dialogue.

I absolutely love this game.

 

[tigas]

Not discounting the article, which is great, there's a problem with the build-up: two pages ain't "feature-length". That left me salivating for something as big as the Snow Leopard review...

 

[Elledan]

I have only seen gameplay videos of Ico, and even that was already a mesmerizing experience. The feeling of really being there is so incredibly pervasive it's almost impossible to not get sucked into the game's world. As said, the simplicity of the interface definitely contributes to this, with no HUD, power-ups and other distractions. Just you, the girl and this castle.

 

[Pugnax555]

Here's the original Playstation 1 footage of Ico. Thank god they didn't use that soundtrack.

Wasn't that the end credit music? It's been at least 6 or 7 years since I last played the game, so I don't really remember. The song does sound very familiar, though.

 

[Rene Gollent]

Wasn't that the end credit music? It's been at least 6 or 7 years since I last played the game, so I don't really remember. The song does sound very familiar, though.

It is indeed the closing credit song.

 

[Ral]

Awesome. I've been wondering what games to get for my newly acquired PS2

 

[RaveBomb]

Damn, now I want to dust off my PS2 and give this a spin again.

 

[.劉煒]

Time to look for this.

 

[Jakal]

I'm pumped for the HD rerelease of this and SotC.

 

[John]

The voices aren't in Japanese, they're in a fictional, made-up language.

They're "the Japanese voices" meaning "the voices used in the Japanese release."

Which only serves to further establish the other-ness of the setting.

Yep. In an age where "The Philosopher's Stone" had to be retitled for Americans, it's almost shocking that Ico wasn't over-explained via English audio and text for its US release.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Ico has one of the best endings I've ever seen in a game. It just felt right.

 

[2late2die]

I have to admit I have yet to play the game. I even have a PS2 but couldn't find a copy. Now I think I'm just gonna wait for the HD version and hope they don't do much more than smooth out the geometry and add high-rez textures

 

[quarlie]

One of my favorite games ever.

 

[BeowulfSchaeffer]

No PC version. Unfortunate. I do wish some of the console titles were available on PC.

 

[stuffe]

Shame the US box art was so shoddy, the UK version was gorgeous, and came with a beautiful selection of "art cards" (glossy postcards to me) that I almost framed. Same with SOTC, lovely packaging, although being cardboard it's scuffed and collected dust over the years...

 

[patSPLAT]

and by best ending we mean brutal and sadistic

 

[Shudder]

The saddest part about this game is I can't find my copy.. nooooo

 

[Ajar]

I loaned my copy to a friend and then he moved to New York. :/

 

[Killing Time]

and by best ending we mean brutal and sadistic

ending was nice, did you not stay for after the credits?

 

[yourmombrokemywii]

It's hard to explain to someone what makes this game so great. You actually have to sit down and play it yourself to appreciate how wonderful this game is. The dynamic of guiding Yorda around the castle has been unmatched in any game so far. I'm so glad I purchased this game when it was released because it was just so different than anything I had ever played before. I think I will fire up my PS2 this weekend and give this game another play through.

 

[stuffe]

There's only one criticism I can make of the game. And it's this:

"Oom-pah!"

Drives me nuts on re-plays.

 

[Golgatha]

I just got a used copy of this game this year. Will have to play it sometime soon.

 

[Evan E]

Wasn't that the end credit music? It's been at least 6 or 7 years since I last played the game, so I don't really remember. The song does sound very familiar, though.

It is indeed the closing credit song.

Huh. I recognized the theme from the in-game music, but not the awful vocals and terrible lyrics, so I assumed it was a fan remix. Guess I'll be cringing on my next re-play.

 

[desenfoque]

But the American cover art can easily be in the "Worst 10 cover of Videogame History"

 

[BeowulfSchaeffer]

Fumito Ueda's next project:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Guardian

 

[Rene Gollent]

Huh. I recognized the theme from the in-game music, but not the awful vocals and terrible lyrics, so I assumed it was a fan remix. Guess I'll be cringing on my next re-play.

I should clarify that I didn't pay too close attention to the lyrics since I had trouble making them out in either case (hearing issues), but it's at least the same music, which would explain the OP's sense of deja vu

 

[Artichoke Sap]

Fantastic, John. A thoughtful article on a thoughtful game.

Ben, you're fired.

 

[trrll]

Still one of the all time great games.

 

[Mauller]

I'll admit to being one of the gamers that missed out on playing this game due to seeing it's box art on the shelves and never giving it a second look. If they'd released with the UK cover, I might have picked it up. I did play SotC and consider it one of the best games that I've ever played. I can't wait for the HD re-release to come out so that I can enjoy this missed gem and replay Colossus again.

 

[cmacd]

*PA Comic*

Someone had to Brilliant write up John, I loved this game.

Yup, I was getting ready to if nobody had yet. "I don't speak crazy bitch." Best line ever.


I hate this game. Mainly because I sold it, and I want to play it again, and I don't want to either A) buy a PS3 and wait or B) buy another PS2 and the game. Looks like it runs like $30 at a minimum, plus the cost of the system...

GRRR

Man, though, I had forgotten how godawful the U.S. cover art was. That definitely didn't help sales...I bought it based on some previews, but if I'd simply been browsing the shelves? I'd have passed right over it. The Euro/Japanese boxart, however, is absolutely beautiful.

 

[jasonvalhalla]

I never got all the fuss about this game.

Repetitive level design, repetitive battles. The whole game is set in that abandoned castle with the empty rooms and senseless staircases. While the non-interaction interaction with the princess is fresh at the beginning, after a couple of hours I wished something else would happen. The shadows just got annoying. They never represented a challenge anyway.