Ico

This game is one of the first games released for the Playstation 2, and despite its rather simplistic gameplay it is still a very fun and visual game to play. Sad that a game so old looks so much more amazing than games released to the newer consoles these days. The story has a boy named Ico being escorted to what one could call a prison, this happens to any boy who is born with horns as Ico is. Well he escapes with a little luck as the castle he is locked in is now in a state of decay. He soon stumbles upon a frail girl named Yorda and now with her by his side he must make an attempt to free him and her from this rather large castle. The gameplay consists mainly of figuring ways to get from point a to point b. None of the puzzles are to hard to figure out as long as you do not over think things. There is combat in the game and that is one of the games weaknesses in my mind. Combat usually consists of shadow like creatures coming for Yorda and you fighting them off, sometimes it just seems to take forever for you to get rid of all these annoying creatures. If they pull Yorda into one of their shadow warps the game is over. The combat becomes a bit more fun if you can get your hands on the mace, and the final fight with the queen is also rather good. Lots of amazing scenery to be seen as the makers of the game seemed to really make a nice environment for Ico to move around in. Near the end of the game you get separated from Yorda and I have to say this was a more enjoyable part of the game as all you had to do is worry about getting through the various jumps and winding gears and such. I prefer the prequel though as Shadow was a bit more epic and the combat was very fun in that one. This one ended better though.

If you like shooting or killing with the pleasure of blood splattering you're screen, then you're looking at the wrong game. Ico might of been an early game for PS2 but it's still the top game in my list (and indeed many other players.) The two main characters Ico and Yorda are brilliantly designed and you don't need English audio to understand the strong friendship between them. The music is soft and touching. Puzzles are very good. Not you're basic Lara Croft Tomb Raider stuff but REAL puzzles that are complex even if you re-play the game. But the best bit...the graphics. The scenery is so beautiful it's better than life itself. For an early game, the graphics still out-beat most scenery on PS2 games. You'll find you're self absorbed in a beautiful mystical world as you fight shadows, solve puzzles and find you're way to freedom.

This was one of the early games for the PS2 and I haven't seen many games on the format since then that I can say are as good as this. Unique puzzles, harrowing story, amazing atmosphere and a great feeling of total immersion in the environment - this is simply a beautiful game. One might say that it is art. It is quite a short game (7-8 hours) but it's an adventure worth taking. In my opinion it would take a more mature mind to fully appreciate this game, rather than just playing it for the sake of playing it.

A game for grown ups in the best possible sense. If you can, hunt this down.

Before I ever played Shadow of the Colossus (SOTC) I had rented a copy of Ico just because the cover looked interesting. The problem was however that even renting video games at that time was quite costly. Also you could only rent the games for a few days so you had to finish the games in a very short time which was pretty difficult even if you were on holiday. Most PS2 games had more than 30 or 40 hours of game play. The consequence was that I had to choose certain games to play and ignore games that weren't appealing at first glance. And usually I chose popular games since these were the games that were written about. "Ico" wasn't popular and got rejected by me although I did notice that it was a beautiful game. After having played SOTC I did not immediately felt the need to play Ico,but upon seeing the title in a game shop I was curious if I would love it as much as I did SOTC. Well,without a doubt I can say that I loved the game. Although I found it more annoying at times especially because of the camera that made it hard to see where I was going. This games breathes the same atmosphere as SOTC with one slight difference. The world of Ico was more livelier and colorful than SOTC. Figuring out puzzles in Ico did take more time since absolutely no hint is given what to do next. In SOTC at least hints were given when you were stuck. In Ico you have to figure it for yourself. Also the girl didn't respond as often as I would like (just as in real life Ha Ha!!!) but soon got over this flaw once I saw the little boy holding her hand and guiding her through the Castle,it never got tiresome. There is definitely a cuteness factor that makes this game more appealing. As in SOTC the story is left very abstract and it is not clear what is going on exactly. Still the game managed to suck me in and finish the game just to see if the boy succeeds in protecting the girl. The first ending therefore was very hard to swallow and couldn't believe that they would end the game like that. The second ending (after credits) gives the player the hard earned ending. Ico is a classic that isn't as epic as SOTC but still a beautiful game that manages to engage you deeply.

This is without a doubt the best video game that no one ever played. One review on the page says that this game would be more appreciated by adults, and he's dead on. Its so artistic and simple, it may be a little slow for kids. As of 2005, the game is 4 years old and I still think it has the best graphics ever.And despite almost a total lack of dialogue, the characters manage to feel completely real. The only thing I've ever heard bad about the game is that its too short. I disagree. With its unbelievably simple game play, it would have become repetitive if it went on any longer.

Buy it!