Ico is a boy with horns. At the age of twelve, when his horns grew large enough, the elders send him away to be sacrificed in order to prevent evil spirits from attacking the village. Entombed in a crumbling ancient castle, Ico only manages to begin his escape when a freak earthquake shakes loose the vessel he has been locked in. Ico shortly meets a princess named Yorda, who has been imprisoned by the evil queen. The two children must explore the ominous castle, trying to find a way to escape, persecuted by the queen's shadow minions.

ICO is a third-person perspective game that mixes action-based exploration gameplay with puzzles. The game is set almost exclusively in the castle, which consists of dozens of rooms, passages, platforms, and contraptions. Ico will run, climb, and jump his way through these environments. The puzzles in the game are physical (environmental): Ico must push and pull objects, manipulate switches, re-arrange structures, etc.

Yorda will accompany Ico throughout most of the game. Many of the puzzles revolve around creating a way for Yorda to access special glowing blue doors, which only she is capable of unlocking with her powers. Being less athletic than Ico, Yorda will often need a more comfortable path built for her. Ico can hold Yorda's hand to lead her with him, and also call her to come nearer.

With the exception of the final (and only) boss, all the enemies in the game are shadows. They attack in groups, either at pre-set points, or when Ico is separated from Yorda for a long time. Their goal is always the same: to capture Yorda and carry her towards a black whirlpool. If the player fails to rescue her before she is consumed by this shadow portal, the game is over. Conversely, Ico can not be killed by the shadows; they can only push him, preventing him from reaching Yorda in time. The player must therefore fend off the shadows (Ico uses a stick for the largest portion of the game), at the same time hurrying towards Yorda. Protecting and rescuing Yorda is one of the primary gameplay elements in ICO.

The game has no HUD (heads-up display). Other distinguishing features are the soft lightning visual style, low-key use of in-game music, and conversations through a fictional language, leaving much to the player's imagination.

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Alternate Titles

"イコ" -- Japanese spelling

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Part of the Following Group

HUDless games

Merchant	Title	Platform	Price
	Ico	PlayStation 2	$15.00
	Ico	PlayStation 2	$15.00
	ICO
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User Reviews

Action and meditation at once... is this possible?	PlayStation 2	YID YANG (162563)
One of the Playstation's finest.	PlayStation 2	DANIEL HAWKS ! (1843)
The Princess and the Draggin'	PlayStation 2	Terrence Bosky (5238)
Mystical and pretty, and with a bit of retro-cool.	PlayStation 2	Shazbut (158)
Annoying for women, pleasant for men!	PlayStation 2	Melody (119)
The only computer or video game so far that I would unreservedly call "artistic". Also fun and playable	PlayStation 2	weregamer (157)
Superb environmental puzzles with a pair of characters that you will care about.	PlayStation 2	Random Fiste (9)
Finally a really really good PS2 game	PlayStation 2	nullnullnull (1473)

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The Press Says

WomenGamers.com	PlayStation 2	Jun 05, 2004	10 out of 10	100
Gaming Age	PlayStation 2	Mar 05, 2002	A	100
GamerDad	PlayStation 2	Apr 04, 2004		100
VicioJuegos.com	PlayStation 2	May 06, 2005	95 out of 100	95
Fragland.net	PlayStation 2	Sep 13, 2002	92 out of 100	92
RPGFan	PlayStation 2	Jun 22, 2002	92 out of 100	92
Digital Entertainment News (den)	PlayStation 2	Jul 23, 2003	9 out of 10	90
Game Critics	PlayStation 2	Nov 13, 2001	9 out of 10	90
PTGamers	PlayStation 2	Dec 31, 2005	17 out of 20	85
Thunderbolt Games	PlayStation 2	Dec 26, 2005	8 out of 10	80

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Trivia

Art

The original artwork, designed by Fumito Ueda, was inspired by the works of the surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico. For comparison, the painting The Nostalgia of the Infinite bears a strong resemblance in style to the cover art.

Development

ICO was originally meant to be released for the PlayStation, but the development was halted and then continued for the PlayStation 2. A screenshot gallery of the first version has been included with the limited edition of Shadow of the Colossus. Also, originally Yorda was due to have horns, not lead character Ico

Extras

The European Limited Edition version has a double cardboard-sleeved case and contains four postcard-sized art cards.

Novel

In 2004, author Miyuki Miyabe released a novel in Japan based on the game. She wrote it because of her appreciation of the game (ISBN 4-06-212441-6).

Version differences

The US version does not contain the the second playthrough bonuses present in the European and Japanese releases. These included translated subtitles (initially indecipherable), the option to have a second player control the princess, a secret weapon, and the option to play the game with a distinct cinematic effect for certain cut-scenes. There are also changes to the shadow generation points and the AI, and the Waterfall and Windmill puzzles are less complex.