Ico

Moby ID: 5158
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Description official descriptions

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.

Spellings

  • イコ - Japanese spelling
  • ěť´ ě˝” - Korean spelling

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

193 People (147 developers, 46 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 90% (based on 66 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 190 ratings with 8 reviews)

Finally a really really good PS2 game

The Good
Like everyone else I fell hook, line and sinker for all the hype and marketing surrounding the PS2 launch. Since I didn't have my act together to pre-order a system I was stuck driving to Best Buy everyday to see if a new shipment came in. Finally I got my PS2 and went on a buying frenzy of games and accessories. Now I that I probably own fourteen or fifteen PS2 games I must say I have been slightly disappointed. That is up till now. ICO has got to be the sleeper hit of the year if not the decade. It was quietly developed by an internal development team at Sony Computer Entertainment and launched in North America with out any fanfare by Sony Computer Entertainment of America. I only bought this game because I wanted something to play while I waited for Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto 3 to come out. Boy oh boy did I find a gem.

If you liked Prince of Persia you will love this game. Ico embodies the absolute pinnacle to date of the Adventure / Puzzle-Solving genre. The world is completely interactive. There is nothing in Ico's environment that you can not climb, hang, push, pull or jump off of. If you think you can do it you probably can. Every edge, every railing, every banister you can climb and hang off of even though it most likely does not progress the plot. The controls are fluid and elegant. The movement of Ico is incredibly realistic. It quite fun just to mess around seeing what the young lad is capable of.

If you liked Myst you will love Ico. I have yet to see a more meticulously detailed or more beautifully rendered 3D world than this game. It for the first time really showcases what the PS2 is capable of. The lighting effects are amazing. The camera angels are flawless. There are certain parts of the game where the shear scale are breathtaking and the heights dizzying.

A unique twist of the traditional rescue/escape theme is that Ico and Yorda, the young Princess also trapped in the castle, survival and success are intertwined. Neither one can communicate with each other, but understanding is immediately apparent. Yorda can not jump or climb as well as Ico. If they are to escape he will have to pull her up steep climbs, catch her jumping across large gaps and coach and encourage her to climb up or down ladders and stairs. Ico will have to constantly protect her from the demons that try to steal her away. Yorda however is the only one who knows the secrets of the castle and can open the magically locked doors. The relationship between the two is very tender and innocent.

My girlfriend, who could take or leave the whole video game thing, spent five hours on Sunday watching me play Ico and she loved every minute. She was able to suspend disbelief and immerse herself in this incredibly beautiful world SCEI created. We were both touched by the sad and very Japanese ending.

Ico also has great voice acting ( I think ). My main irritation with most video games is the terrible voice acting that goes into them. Silent Hill 2 is a decent game but the acting is do damn corny the experience is lost. The same is true with the Resident Evil series. Ico however is in Japanese with English subtitles. Though there are few spoken parts when there is acting it is quite well done. Another nice touch is that it is impossible to make any puzzles unsolvable. I hate games that allow you to destroy the only ladder you need to climb out of the pit or let you progress so far in the game without the necessary key, again Resident Evil comes to mind.

The Bad
It was short and linear. Neither one was is a huge complaint. Given the scale of this game I probably just finished it too fast. There are many things I could still explore so there is some replayability. I understand why the game is so linear. The environment is so large it would be too easy to get lost and not progress the plot for hours and hours if you could just wonder around willy nilly.

The Bottom Line
The best PS2 game to date. Do not be fooled by it's seemingly timid packaging there is an amazing game underneath.

PlayStation 2 · by nullnullnull (1463) · 2001

If you have someone for whom you would do anything, play this game.

The Good
ICO is very unique in the way that it combines graphics and music in order to achieve a wonderful feeling of nostalgia/longing, while being very dark and stressful at the same time. Additionally, it makes an interesting use of the surroundings in order to produce puzzles that fit the game perfectly, not being blatantly easy nor excruciatingly difficult. The use of voices is also very well executed, even if it is used scarcely (which just feels right in the barren, lonesome world of ICO). And of course, the main characters themselves are what makes the game work, with the relationship existing between them being the focal point of the game, and what stood out the most – it is a beautiful portray of friendship, and probably the game’s most appealing trait.

The Bad
The only negative aspects of ICO are really the fact that combat is very plain and simple (even though this is most likely purposeful to fit the mood of the game), and being a relatively short game (despite being slow-paced).

The Bottom Line
While surely not a game for everyone (due to its slow pace and heavy mood), ICO can arguably be considered one of the top - let’s call it “spiritually enhancing” - games ever made. If you let it, ICO grabs you by the hand (pun intended) and takes you along an emotional rollercoaster that you cannot feel disconnected from - both graphics and music contribute immensely in order to make sure your anxiety will leave you on edge, yet totally immersed. And that is probably ICO’s most recognizable trait – it deep-dives you in such a way that you will not want to surface back to the real world. Essentially, that’s what games are really all about.

PlayStation 2 · by Rik Hideto (473498) · 2014

The Princess and the Draggin'

The Good
Every generation the Curse is visited upon the Village and a child is born with tiny horns. The horns grow larger and the child is blamed for failing crops and sickened animals. When the horns are full-sized, faceless riders take the child from the Village, across the water to the Castle. There the child is entombed in an urn and left to die—for the good of the Village. Except that is not the fate Destiny has in store for Ico.

Alive, in his funerary urn, Ico has a vision of a Princess trapped in a cage suspended by a chain, high above him. Freeing himself from the urn, Ico now has a purpose, escaping the Castle with the Princess, even though that means defying the Queen of the Castle. To do so, he will have to overcome the greatest of all environmental obstacles—the entire Castle. He will have to lead the weakened Princess through one gigantic, intricate puzzle while fighting off the Queen’s Shadow Demons who seek to return the Princess to her mother.

Ico has three major elements. First Ico must find a way to navigate through the Castle. He climbs, crawls and jumps well so he is able to find hidden switches, creep along narrow ledges, and swing from ropes and chains. The Princess is in a weakened state, so Ico must lead her through the Castle by pulling her hand or calling out to her and also by finding a less acrobatic way for her to get through the Castle. Finally, if the Princess is out of sight for too long (or certain events are triggered) Shadow Demons rise up from smoky portals and attempt to drag the Princess away.

Ico’s primary weapon is a length of wood he can use to hammer at the demons. He can find a sword (later in the game) which makes quicker work of them and there is at least one (maybe two) secret weapon to be found. The Shadow Demons are cunning opponents seeking to distract Ico while kidnapping the Princess or knocking him off high areas, but they cannot kill him. The game, except for the final sequence, ends only if Ico falls too far or the Princess is taken away.

When playing Ico, I was struck that no extra lines were drawn, no extra words spoken, no extra notes played. Ico is detailed where detail is called for and sparse where it is not. Previous reviews have referred to Ico’s artistic merits and they are definitely there in terms of graphics, sound and music. It is a beautiful game, yet players who play Prince of Persia: Sands of Time before Ico will probably be disappointed.

Lastly, I was initially annoyed with the mechanics behind the Princess. She comes when called and goes where dragged, but as a character she offers little. In terms of game play, she is used to open certain magical doors, so she is mostly a key shaped like a girl. But there is something sweet about Ico’s interaction with her—the way he protects her, how he holds her hand, the way they sit together on the couches which act as save points—and this pays off with one of the best endings I’ve ever seen.

The Bad
Ico doesn’t take long to play. It takes time to figure out what to do, but not that long to do it. While I appreciate that nothing was added to the game to lengthen game play, I do wish that the NTSC release had some of the features of the PAL release which add to replay—learning more of the story the second time around and allowing a second player to play as the Princess.

The Bottom Line
If you play Ico before Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, you probably think Sands ripped Ico off. If you play Ico after Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, you probably think that Sands really improved on what Ico accomplished. I recommend this game, but you may have been here before and already done that.

PlayStation 2 · by Terrence Bosky (5397) · 2004

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
512x256 PAL shots GTramp (81965) Jun 30, 2013

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 second playthrough bonuses present in the Japanese and European releases. These include translated subtitles (initially hieroglyphs), the option to have a second player (who controls the princess), a secret weapon different from the one findable in the first playthrough, and the option to play the game with one of four cinematic video filters. There are also changes to some of the shadow generation points, fights with enemies are slightly harder, and the Waterfall and Windmill puzzles are simplified.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2002 – #7 Best PS2 Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2002– Best Atmosphere of the Year
    • 2002– Special Game Idea of the Year
  • EGM
    • February 2006 (Issue #200) - #121 out of 200 in the "Greatest Games of Their Time" lisz

Information also contributed by Big John WV, Indra was here and Mark Ennis

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by nullnullnull.

PlayStation 3 added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Macintrash, Jeanne, Sciere, Leandro S., Zeppin, DreinIX, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, yenruoj_tsegnol_eht (!!ihsoy).

Game added October 15, 2001. Last modified March 15, 2024.