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LTTP: ICO

I still have to finish this game. I got stuck at a point where I had to use a walkthrough and I really hate to use walkthroughs...
Turned out you had to stand on this wooden beam going up and down, jump on the right moment and then you'd fly upwards like some fucking superman. I don't think this was in the US version since I came across a number of walkthroughs without this part. Anyway, it annoyed me and spoiled the atmosphere of the game somewhat imo.

But I'll finish it, soon. Loved it till the part I got stuck.
 
After playing SotC, I just had to go and buy this. Haven't played it yet, just wondering - are there any parts of the game that require you to have rumble, like in MGS? I wanna play it on my PS3 but don't wanna get an adapter.
 
God's Beard said:
uhh, PoP had better hang on to the edge-type platforming?
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Yeah and others can have better combat but in the end i think that´s not what Ico is about.

In the case of platforming sections they are there not only for the puzles and progress but to make you stay away from Yorda in the worst moments.

And as it has been said, the clunky and simple combat is that way because its just another element that helps to focus on what is important, which is to make you feel for Yorda, to make you want above everything else to to keep her safe and make you feel "underpowered" and desperate when you are trying to do that.

warthog said:
I still have to finish this game. I got stuck at a point where I had to use a walkthrough and I really hate to use walkthroughs...
Turned out you had to stand on this wooden beam going up and down, jump on the right moment and then you'd fly upwards like some fucking superman. I don't think this was in the US version since I came across a number of walkthroughs without this part. Anyway, it annoyed me and spoiled the atmosphere of the game somewhat imo.

But I'll finish it, soon. Loved it till the part I got stuck.
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Yes, that was one of the only confusing and kinda strange points in the game. Everything else is subtle but logical and easy to follow once you discover how to solve it.

There are some other small classic platforming sections that i didnt like much but they are ok. I even dont like the camera sometimes as it doesnt help you geting the best view but they are so minor defects and the rest is so good that they become irrelevant.

Keep playing, you havent reached the best part yet.
 
roxya said:
After playing SotC, I just had to go and buy this. Haven't played it yet, just wondering - are there any parts of the game that require you to have rumble, like in MGS? I wanna play it on my PS3 but don't wanna get an adapter.
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I don't remember there being any.
 
Tsubaki said:
Meh. GAF cares more about "experiences" than actual gaming.
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And thank fuck for that. There are more than enough 'actual gaming' games out there to play and I'm tired of most of them. I want more unique, special 'experiences' like Ico that really push the medium and show off what it's capable of.

roxya said:
After playing SotC, I just had to go and buy this. Haven't played it yet, just wondering - are there any parts of the game that require you to have rumble, like in MGS? I wanna play it on my PS3 but don't wanna get an adapter.
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No, there aren't, really. Rumble is used to very nice effect though, such as pulses when Ico jerks Yorda's arm when dragging her around and in a couple of cut-scenes, and I'd say it's worth playing it with rumble if you can.
 
I really dig the art-house approach Team ICO has. And I love the indie-games that draw inspiration from them, like Knytt and such. I can't wait till mainstream developers with some bigger budgets start to follow.
 
ethelred said:
While I agree, it's kinda hard to argue with an elitist mentality that gaming is narrowly defined down to nothing more than twitch action.
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I only recently played/finished ICO. The visuals are amazing and I love the grand scope of the castle. It's one of the few games where there is a sense of cohesiveness (all the rooms feel like they're part of one castle).

But ICO has gameplay issues that hinder it. I'm not asking for it to have innovative gameplay mechanics, as it's not that type of game. It has fundamental problems that make me question why the game was made in the first place.

First of all, it's easy. It's a puzzle platformer, but there are very very few puzzles in the game. The game is designed that it funnels and points you to the solution, robbing any sort of accomplishment to solving the puzzles. Why make puzzles if they end up being brainless?

Second, the action is horrible. Shadow creatures show up randomly or are event-triggered and make moves toward Yorda. Each segment plays exactly the same. You walk up to one. Whack. Whack. Whack. They fall down. Whack. Whack. Whack. They fall down. Whack. Whack. Whack. They're dead. It is the most repetitive, useless combat I've experienced in a 3D game yet. These action sequences are obviously thrown in just because. They aren't any fun. They aren't challenging. What was the point again?

If the focus of the game was to tell a story, and give you the experience of being lost in a huge unfamiliar castle, they should have stuck to just that. Instead Team ICO made lame attempts of spicing it up, and the game is weaker as a result.
 
Tsubaki said:
I only recently played/finished ICO. The visuals are amazing and I love the grand scope of the castle. It's one of the few games where there is a sense of cohesiveness (all the rooms feel like they're part of one castle).

But ICO has gameplay issues that hinder it. I'm not asking for it to have innovative gameplay mechanics, as it's not that type of game. It has fundamental problems that make me question why the game was made in the first place.

First of all, it's easy. It's a puzzle platformer, but there are very very few puzzles in the game. The game is designed that it funnels and points you to the solution, robbing any sort of accomplishment to solving the puzzles. Why make puzzles if they end up being brainless?

Second, the action is horrible. Shadow creatures show up randomly or are event-triggered and make moves toward Yorda. Each segment plays exactly the same. You walk up to one. Whack. Whack. Whack. They fall down. Whack. Whack. Whack. They fall down. Whack. Whack. Whack. They're dead. It is the most repetitive, useless combat I've experienced in a 3D game yet. These action sequences are obviously thrown in just because. They aren't any fun. They aren't challenging. What was the point again?

If the focus of the game was to tell a story, and give you the experience of being lost in a huge unfamiliar castle, they should have stuck to just that. Instead Team ICO made lame attempts of spicing it up, and the game is weaker as a result.
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Many people like Harry Potter. I could poke holes in it all day long.

However, that's not the point. Do people like it? Are they entertained by the fantasy world created? Sure they seem to be voting that way.

So... In the end ICO was quite entertaining. The mystery of the castle, the sacrifice of the little boy, the girl, the queen, it all worked together nicely.

However, if you wish to point at any one thing and spit out ugly words like Gordon Ramsey on Hell's Kitchen "SUBPAR! CURSE YOU! SUBPAR!" then there is nothing to discuss really.

Not everyone enjoys the same foods.
 
By the way the fighting scenes were put in there to give you an attachment to Yorda as you are the only one who can protect her in this strange place.

:D It wasn't meant to be frustratingly hard. It was meant to attach you to Yorda so that you had to worry about leaving her alone.

That's my understanding.
 
UntoldDreams said:
By the way the fighting scenes were put in there to give you an attachment to Yorda as you are the only one who can protect her in this strange place.

:D It wasn't meant to be frustratingly hard. It was meant to attach you to Yorda so that you had to worry about leaving her alone.

That's my understanding.
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Agree, thats what i said some posts above.
 
Yeah I don't think it would have the same effect if the combat was like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry, or even Prince of Persia, you're supposed to feel helpless and occasionally get knocked on the floor and Yorda is stolen off you, while you try and beat them with a wooden stick.
 
Tsubaki said:
If the focus of the game was to tell a story, and give you the experience of being lost in a huge unfamiliar castle, they should have stuck to just that.
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Well, guess everyone likes something different about the game, but it's not like Ueda went "hey let's make a game that is just about being lost in a castle and a story with 10 lines of dialogue so it bores people to death".

In 1997, he got the idea to create a game with the universal theme of "boy meets girl," with the two main characters hand-in-hand during an adventure. To express the imagery behind this vague concept, he took an assistant and made a 3-minute movie using Lightwave. In it, a young (normal-looking) young boy in a red shirt gazes from an inclined step at a horned girl sitting on a couch below, cloaked in shadow. There follows some un-Ico-like footage of armored robots flying around and firing energy blasts, destroying part of a castle, and then an end to the trailer as the girl reaches out and touches the boy's cheek.

Already a number of Ico's elements were in place, and Ueda began to work with Kaido at this point to turn the concepts expressed in the movie into a game design for a PSone title. Their three key points were "differentiation" (to make a game unlike any other), "artistic presentation" (a level of aesthetics such that any still screen of the game would be artistic), and a "non-realistic reality" featuring a vivid heroine who would make the player want to be heroic.
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http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3122598

In my opinion, he succeeded completely.
 
Tsubaki said:
Second, the action is horrible. Shadow creatures show up randomly or are event-triggered and make moves toward Yorda. Each segment plays exactly the same. You walk up to one. Whack. Whack. Whack. They fall down. Whack. Whack. Whack. They fall down. Whack. Whack. Whack. They're dead. It is the most repetitive, useless combat I've experienced in a 3D game yet. These action sequences are obviously thrown in just because. They aren't any fun. They aren't challenging. What was the point again?
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In most of the game you don't have to fight. All you have to do is reach the idol doors with Yorda and all the shadows in the room will be killed. As people have pointed out, its to give you the feeling of needing to protect her. If they just made it a puzzle adventure that wouldn't be there, and if they made Ico like a typical adventure character with combos and such you wouldn't really get the sense of him being almost helpless which is the point of the game.
 
BobFromPikeCreek said:
Generic?? You're kidding right?
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Based on what I played.

I had to move more than a couple boxes. Compared to many other games the puzzles weren't very inspired.

BobFromPikeCreek said:
Anyone who complains about the simplistic combat in ICO is automatically deemed a moron. I mean, how much more can you miss the game's point?
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I understand the point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It's like getting a joke but not finding it funny. Yes, the combat is there as a tool to help you get attached to Yorda. But I personally found it annoying and silly to boot. I mean seriously, these powerful, dark, shape-shifting creatures are scared by a little kid swinging a 2x4 around.
 
I mean seriously, these powerful, dark, shape-shifting creatures are scared by a little kid swinging a 2x4 around.
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They're not scared of him, they just don't want to get hit by a 2x4 while trying to snatch Yorda.

They used to be Human
 
icarus-daedelus said:
Thanks, I like being an elitist prick too. I understand what the game was trying to do - it just didn't come across to me very well.
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I'm not trying to be elitist, but I guess it does sound that way. I just think it's stupid to want a more complex battle system in that game. He's a little kid trying to defend a little girl. He's not Kratos.

SomeDude said:
the game has a ps1 vibe about it.
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It pretty much is.
 
Killer said:
hey guys should i play this game? even when we already in the next-gen era?
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Yes.
Just because it was designed around older hardware specs does not have any bearing on how good of a game it is.
 
Narcosis said:
Yes.
Just because it was designed around older hardware specs does not have any bearing on how good of a game it is.
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I think i will.. and also i heard theres a connection between Ico and SOTC stories is that true?

b/c i was halfway through STOC and never finished it, so i probably will start over when i'm done with Ico
 
Flek said:
Wait... what? Why the hell the US Version? Its the WORST Version you could get ...
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I'm well aware of the differences, and the UK version is easily available. I have a US PS3 and a US PS3 only.
 
icarus-daedelus said:
I understand that it's trying to make you want to protect this girl - but I didn't want to, because it was boring and repetitive. (Note that I'm not suggesting it should have a more complex combat system here.)
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That's fair. No one says you have to like the game. It just irritates me when people say it should have had a complex battle system. If you can see what they were going for and why a simple battle system works for it then I don't care if you like it or not, that's your call.
 
icarus-daedelus said:
I don't want a more complex battle system in ICO, although I would like a more complex system in God of War (but that's another subject entirely.) I just got so sick of it after a while that any "meaning" to be had was completely leeched out by my boredom and general dislike of it.

I understand that it's trying to make you want to protect this girl - but I didn't want to, because it was boring and repetitive. (Note that I'm not suggesting it should have a more complex combat system here.)
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My sentiments exactly. Ico is a very cinematic game that appeals to people who want a cinematic experience. When it comes to gameplay, there's no real sharp edge to speak of. The puzzles weren't all that interesting to me and the combat was annoying. I think the combat system works in the confines of what the designers are trying to do, making him some kind of bad ass with huge combos like Dante or Kratos would have been silly, but that doesn't make the combat any better than what it is.

I really liked SotC despite it also being a very cinematic game. Mainly because there's more of a focus on gameplay than in Ico, because you really have to figure out and find the weak points of each Colossus and execute the strategy. The last boss in the game was certainly the most epic and cinematic, but he wasn't my favorite because climbing up him was a pain and he was as dumb as a sack of bricks once you got near his weak point.

People are going to have different tastes in video games, it's a fact of life. Calling somebody a "moron" for not liking the combat isn't something you should be doing. That would be better reserved for somebody saying the combat system in Ico is deeper than the one in Ninja Gaiden.

BobFromPikeCreek said:
That's fair. No one says you have to like the game. It just irritates me when people say it should have had a complex battle system. If you can see what they were going for and why a simple battle system works for it then I don't care if you like it or not, that's your call.
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I don't think anybody said that the combat system should be more complex. We've just been saying that it's simplistic and annoying.

There's a key difference.
 
ZealousD said:
I don't think anybody said that the combat system should be more complex. We've just been saying that it's simplistic and annoying.

There's a key difference.
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I don't think I accused anyone here of saying that, did I?
 
Good job! Ico is a fantastic game and one of the reasons I bought my PS2 when I did. In fact, it was the game I bought when I bought my PS2 (as was FFX). I absolutely adore this game. As many have suggested you should give SotC a try. Personally, I can't get into SoTC, but I can see why many think it's a great game.
 
Meh, thought ICO was tolerable and I guess great graphics for its time.. SOTC however I thought had pretty bad graphics, and was just a boring game.. yah yah cinematic feeling, atmosphere.. I get that.. But I thought it was very boring..

Btw there are two euroepan versions of ICO.. The original release which is barebones and the rerelease which has more things. Just a notice if you plan to buy the euroiepan version. I think the barebones version is still in a few stores in Europe.
 
Right.... So the GAF improvements to ICO are as follows.

#1) The boy should be a 420 pound hulking Bald Space Marine and not have to use a wooden stick.

#2) By radioing in an airstrike, he should have been able to destroy parts of the castle and assault the queen's stronghold.

#3) Queen should be upgraded with STROGG alien technology and have vast armies of creatures after forging an alliance with aliens.

#4) The combat should be just like Gears of War.

#5) Remove Yorda completely from the game because we don't care about her.

#6) The climactic scene should not be about a young boy trying to do the right thing against an overwhelmingly powerful Witch Queen. It should be a large, hulking techno organic monster who fires rockets and lasers.

Did I catch everything correctly?
 
Shompola said:
Btw there are two euroepan versions of ICO.. The original release which is barebones and the rerelease which has more things. Just a notice if you plan to buy the euroiepan version. I think the barebones version is still in a few stores in Europe.
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Completely incorrect. Both versions have exactly the same content on the disc. The original LE release is the one to try and get for the nicer packaging and art cards pictured on the previous page.
 
Killer said:
I think i will.. and also i heard theres a connection between Ico and SOTC stories is that true?
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True. But you don't begin to see the threads that tie them both together until you beat SotC and see the ending.

Also, I think it would be a great move if Sony released Ico on the PSN. The game is 700 megabytes or less, which isn't as many as some demos. It would be nice exposure for the game.
 
icarus-daedelus said:
Oh yeah, just because I dislike ICO means that I want it to be exactly like that.

So I'm just going to go ahead and assume that because of your post, all ICO fans are pricks who can't stand anyone disagreeing them and have to make up stupid assumptive shit to defend the game.
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No you shouldn't assume that.
However, you can go ahead and assume it was made in jest.

When you display an opinion on the internet which you (going in) know people are going to disagree with you... Don't be shocked about what you get back.

Frankly, I thought I was being jokingly friendly. The response I was expecting might have been something along the lines of:

"No no no... That's weak sauce. We need Tie Fighters and Greek Gods."
Perhaps followed up after that with some real commentary or clarification?
 
Ico was good, but i mean it was a one trick pony. A constant escort mission. Better than any other escort games, but still. SOTC had a hell of a lot more substance and overall a better game, so if you havent played that go do it now.
 
Great game. One that I talk about w/ my friends and coworkers regularly as one of my all-time favorites. It was all about atmosphere and the little details. They really nailed the rumble feature in the controller, but tying you to Yorda... you'd feel it every time you tugged her in another direction. I also liked the save feature, sitting down on the stone couch with her. The game builds the relationship between the two characters with very little dialogue. By the end, you're praying for them to be together. You dread leaving her alone and having the shadow creatures take her. The puzzles, while not the most difficult, take some good timing and coordination, and reward you similarly to the puzzles in Zelda.

I think PA's comic on Ico is a classic, too.
 
I'm sure this has been mentioned, but I like when you leave her alone and she wanders around looking at stuff instead of just standing there.
 
I will always remember ICO as a very special game. The atmosphere, the feeling, thr graphics, pretty much everything is there.

But i will remember it also for something particular. I've never been this enraged while playing a game when
the Queen push the kid aways and one of his tusk breaks.
. I think this is where i realised i was attached to the kid because holy shit i was furious when that happened.
 
This is one game, that I have yet to purchase....hoping that the ebay prices go down or Sony re-releases it for cheaply as it's still a little too much for my wallet.
 
NolbertoS said:
This is one game, that I have yet to purchase....hoping that the ebay prices go down or Sony re-releases it for cheaply as it's still a little too much for my wallet.
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lol what?
 
NolbertoS said:
This is one game, that I have yet to purchase....hoping that the ebay prices go down or Sony re-releases it for cheaply as it's still a little too much for my wallet.
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I found it for $10 used at FYE last week. It's in near perfect condition.
 
icarus-daedelus said:
Because it's "art," you're supposed to be attached to Yorda, blablabla. Personally, I got the opposite effect - I couldn't stand constantly having to save her with the mind-numbingly repetitive combat. Bitch can save her own self.
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20010928h.gif
 
Holy shit, I just bought Shadow of the Colossus the other day, and my little brother just walked in with a copy of ICO. I was pretty surprised to see it, isn't this game fairly hard to find.
 
Orodreth said:
Sorry for the bump but i just finished ICO yesterday.

Whoaaa, what an amazing experience, specially the last part of the game
since the bridge scene and that jump ( oh god, that jump) to the part when Yorda picks you up and lets you in the boat and what a suprise when you reach to the end of the beach,
is all so emotional.
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Exactly, though you forgot to mention the moment leading up
to the final encounter with the Queen, coincidentally my favorite part of the game. After falling of the bridge, you finally discover a way to get back up to again, yet you find yourself back at the very same location where the game originally started. Not only that, but you practically had to kill Ico's "own kind" in order to save Yorda, a scene which was surprisingly dark and disturbing in a way. The matching ominous music enhanced the overall atmosphere as well, very much so in my opinion.

I almost wish there was a real sequel of this game some day...
 
snack said:
Holy shit, I just bought Shadow of the Colossus the other day, and my little brother just walked in with a copy of ICO. I was pretty surprised to see it, isn't this game fairly hard to find.
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You'd be surprised how many un-appreciative people there are who pass this up at 10 dollars at a small game store.
 
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