Ico

The Good
I have a lot of pity for Ico. He and Yorda are so poor. They are just little innocent children. But those people are so bad, put them in that castle.

Gameplay is very special. It's the only game where you have to care for another person. In the battles, you can't die yourself, but you have to protect Yorda. As a woman, that was also pretty annoying for me!

There are such cute save points in the game. You and Yorda sit together on the sofa and hold hands to save the game. And if you reload the game later, you'll see that Ico was sleeping!

The puzzles are pretty hard, you'll have to find lots of ways to help Yorda. But that's because you work as a team. Only Yorda can open those blue doors. That's why you must help each other to escape the castle. And there is a very special final boss battle. It has a connection with the normal battles of the game, with this wave of darkness that captures Yorda when the shadows take her.

The graphics are excellent. I played this game six years after it was released, and it looks as if it was made just now! Everything looks perfect. Animations are especially realistic. This and Shadow of the Colossus have the best animation of all games. And those two games also have connection in story, and have a similar kind of story, with unexpected endings.

The quality of the story is almost the same like in "Shadow of the Colossus", although I think the ending of "Shadow of the Colossus" was better. And also like that other game, there is not much conversation, but the story is in the action and cut scene. You feel the story from how Ico and Yorda help each other and look at each other.

The music during the final cut scene is great. Very fitting for what is happening.

The Bad
In this game, you'll always have to protect Yorda. How annoying. You have to escape yourself, but now you have this Yorda to take care of. You can't even be killed, but the game is over if you don't protect Yorda. And she really can't do anything, can't protect herself at all. Of course, this is the idea of the game.

I don't like this feeling of protecting someone. I'm a woman, so I want to be protected. But I'm sure many men will like this game, because they like the feeling of protecting a woman. Like my husband!

The Bottom Line
Very recommended. The game is six year old, but even its graphics look great today, and its story hasn't got old, better than in most today's games, many of which are rubbish!