Backlog Burnout Review of Ico: Living in his younger brother's Shadow

System(s): PS2, PS3
Release Year(s): 2001, 2011
Rating: Teen
Current Amazon Price: $74.99 (PS2), $19.99 (PS3)

The Skinny:

Ico is a haunting, beautiful game that is often forgotten due to it's impeccable "sequel" Shadow of the Colossus. Artistic, moving, well crafted, and only occasionally marred by awkward AI or character control Ico is an excellent, somewhat overlooked gem that you should definitely check out.

The Meat:

Shadow of the Colossus is in the top five of many people's best games of all time lists. It's consistently heralded as a work of art and is deserving of all of the praise it receives. But we aren't here for that game. We're here to talk about Ico. The "older brother" game of Shadow that, for some reason, people don't seem to talk about or like nearly as much. Is it just one long escort quest? Absolutely. Is it as good as Shadow? No. Can the AI occasionally drive you up the wall? No doubt. Is the combat kind of meh? No argument here. Do any problems that the game has fall to the wayside while you're playing it and you you realize you've lost yourself in a beautiful, desolate haunted castle and couldn't care less about minor grievances? No question.

Ico was the first major release of a development team inside SCE Japan Studio known as Team ICO. Recently  It is a puzzle/platforming game in which a young boy named Ico with horns is taken to an ancient ruin by the elders of his village and sealed inside a pod and apparently left to die. After escaping his pod he finds a strange girl locked in a cage who speaks in a language neither he nor the player can understand. This girl is hounded by mysterious shadow creatures and has some unknown connection to the decrepit castle our hero has found himself in. Together, young Ico and Yorda (mysterious foreign girl) try to escape the castle.

The entire game is one long environmental puzzle. Your only goal is to escape the castle, but this is much easier said than done. Many doors are blocked by odd statues. These statues react to Yorda and move aside for her, so the goal of most rooms is to get Yorda to the statues. While Ico is very nimble, Yorda is not at all. This creates a really fun dynamic in the game where Ico goes scrambling along tiny ledges and climbing pipes on walls to get to a higher platform, and then reaching down to pull Yorda up after him or drop a box down for her to climb up. It makes you feel like you're really helping her and she in turn helps you by opening the way forward through the castle. I personally grew attached to Yorda throughout the course of the game, which is impressive considering that she never says a word you can understand at any point.

Threatening this new budding relationship are the denizens of the castle, the ghostly shadow beasts. These dark creatures will pop up from time to time and try to steal Yorda away. They will knock Ico down, pick Yorda up, and attempt to force her through a shadow portal. If they succeed a shock wave comes from the portal, that turns Ico to stone. Yorda will also be captured if Ico leaves her alone for too long. Your job in these situations is to fight off the shadow beasts with a stick that you pick up near the beginning of the game. The combat is extremely simple, with one button for swing sword. However, there are subtle layers of nuance to it. Some of the beasts will go for Ico and attempt to incapacitate him while others bee line straight for Yorda. Or a big hulking beast will distract you in front while a smaller one flies around to sneak up on Yorda from behind. It creates tense situations where you're trying to protect her from multiple foes or chase down a flying beast that is carrying her off. While not an impressive or mind blowing combat system, it is effective and enjoyable in its own right.

The puzzle design of this game is sublime. Figuring out how to get through each room is a unique and enjoyable experience and is really divided into two parts. First off, you need to figure out how to get Ico through the room. Then you need to figure out how to get Yorda through. While some of the puzzles are fairly simple, some of them took a little outside the box thinking to unravel. Are there objects in the room I can make a bridge out of? What would smacking this do? The game perfectly walked that line of difficult puzzle solving without ever dipping into the annoying or arbitrary zone that many games fall prey to. If you're the kind of person who uses walkthroughs for games, this is one I would strongly encourage you not to do so for. The entirety of  this game is figuring out how to traverse each room, so having someone tell you how to do it really defeats the purpose and takes away the joy of accomplishment.

One of the most impressive features of Ico is how effective the atmosphere of this game is. I mean that in more ways than one. The environments are both beautiful and forbidding at the same time creating a sense of wonderment coupled with unease at all times. The way that Yorda behaves timidly and strangely, and yet seems to understand far more about what is going on than you do is intriguing and draws you in. The fantastical designs of the shadow beasts hunting Yorda are truly remarkable. Some just look like men whereas others are hulking monstrosities or bizarre birdlike creatures. There is a minimalist attitude to everything that I find refreshing. There is very little music so what is there is all the more effective. The castle is desolate and empty, except for the powerful moments when it isn't. There's no real story being told directly, so every little snippet you can discern for yourself is that much more rewarding.It is just an incredible journey that can't be adequately explained and has to be experienced.

There are a few minor gripes I have with this game. Occasionally Yorda just won't cooperate. You'll stand at the top of a ladder and yell for her to climb up and she'll just stand there for 30 seconds before doing it. Sometimes she'll refuse to jump a gap three times, and then just do it. It's rare but these moments are really immersion breakers because they show that Yorda isn't a person, she's just a stupid AI. Also, sometimes Ico won't do exactly what you tell him. If you've played Assassins creed you know what I'm talking about. Yes of course I wanted you to jump at that angle directly off the platform instead of 2 inches to your left. That's what I needed.

The Bottom Line:

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Ico is a beautiful game that any serious video game fan should play. It has enjoyable gameplay, wonderful artistic design, an appealing main concept, and a fantastic atmosphere. Small technical gripes here and there do break immersion or cause frustration, but these moments are few and far between. Oh and let me save you a major headache and say that you can swing on chains using the circle button. You're welcome. Took me far too long to figure that out. With its recent re-release as part of the Shadow of the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD remaster collection you should definitely check it out. And, for its low price of $20 you get this wonderful game as well as its "sequel" which is one of the greatest games ever made. But that's a discussion for another time. Thanks for reading!