ICO

"A game that goes straight to the heart."

Ico has been one of the most praised PS2 games by almost every video game magazine, and if it is only for this time, they were right, Ico is masterpiece, a work of art, only that in all the extension of the word, and that is probably its fatal mistake, it is a game that was made to be admired and remembered more than played, like a good picture, that is probably the best way to describe this game, thinking about Ico for most video game fans is like thinking about pictures from Dali or Picasso for an art, it is one of those things that get better and better when you try to remember them, that is why Ico is so good, it is a experience you will never forget.

Story 10/10:
The story is one of the most beautiful I can remember, it is very simple and classical, but they way it is done is very, very nice and incredibly involving and mysterious, you will be dying to see what is going to happen next, just like during the good old days of Final Fantasy. This is the tale of a young boy who has been imprisoned in a mysterious castle only because he was born with horns, the people from his tribe thinks that he is cursed, that is why they left him in the castle. But one day he suddenly manages to escape from the little cubicle in which he was being kept, and he starts to look for the exit, and while doing so, he meets a mysterious girl called Yorda, who also needs to escape from that evil place.

It is a bit odd to praise the plot so much because there isn’t that much plot, I mean, sometimes there are cut scenes, but they are very few, most of the time we will be running and climbing over walls. But that is not important, even with that the story is very intense, really, I can’t remember a game with such an involving plot in a very very long time, the best plot in game in ages certainly, and I love the way the game ends, the ending is very emotive... and the funny thing is that everything is very typical, extremely typical but done in such fine way that is unbelievable.

Graphics 9/10:
Good graphics are not necessary in Ico, but they are very good, a little bit simple, but very beautiful. Something great is that the camera is angles are fixed (we are able to move it but just a little), the fortress in which poor Ico is imprisoned has some really impressive interiors, and the outside world sometimes offers very beautiful landscapes.

Music N/A:
In Ico there isn’t any music, and excepting from that incredibly beautiful tune played when you are saving, you are not going to hear anything similar to a musical theme during the whole game, there isn’t any music at all. But there is not need of music actually, the silence is the music.

There are voices but they don’t make any sense, of course they don’t, they are in an odd invented language, but it sounds great, it contributes to add a wonderful mystical feel to game, making everything even more involving (if that is possible).

Gameplay 10/10:
Veteran players will immediately find out that Ico’s gameplay is a copy of the old Prince of Persia only that adapted to our times and with Zelda-style puzzles. Ico will have to run, climb, jump and more than anything think a lot to succeed in his adventure. There are some combats too, if we leave Yorda alone for a long time heartless shadows will try to kidnap her, if this happens we will have to fight the shadows with everything we have at hand. The shadows are the only enemies on the game (aside from the final boss), and there are only two or three types of them, but that is not important.

The game is mostly structured in areas with puzzles, we will have to move around the different areas of the castle solving puzzles or finding the way to continue, each time we solve one of them we will be presented with another one in the next room, and so on. Sometimes there are cut scenes or the road is free of pitfalls, but that is general that is the way we proceed. This sounds pretty boring right?, yes, it sounds more than boring, it sounds tedious, but in Ico there is not time be bored, because “you” are the one stuck one castle, what I mean is that you will be so implicated that you won’t notice, this is one of those game that you only stop playing to make them last a little longer.

As I said before the way we solve puzzles is completely different from Prince of Persia, it is more like in one of the last Zelda games, only that with an overhead camera all the time and with less action: pushing big boulders, finding secret switches, aligning things, etc, and then we also have another problem, princes Yorda, because we will have to be constantly protecting her from the evil heartless shadows, if we leave her alone for a long time they will appear and try to kidnap her, we have to be cautious, and of course will are going to have to clear the path for her constantly.

Challenge:
These kind of games are always very hard, but Ico is not that hard, I got stuck a couple of times, but nothing important, sometimes you will have to go back, explore, think, but the things we have to do to proceed always have their logic.

Replay Value:
After having completed the game the only reason to play again is to read the dialogue of the NPCs (non playable characters), because during the first time we play they talk in a weird language (their language), and once we finish the game all the dialogue will be translated. There is very little dialogue and only two NPCs, but after beating the game you will very intrigued about what they were saying, sure. Aside from that there is also a secret and powerful weapon, and the possibility to see a little variation of the game’s ending.

Final thoughts:
Ico is MUST RENT, there is no point on buying it (unless to you come from a very wealthy family) because it is too short and lacks replay value, but not playing is a true crime. I have to repeat that I have not had such a deep and absorbing experience in eons. A work of art certainly, this is one of those games that leave you thinking for a long time.

”My lack of vocabulary and grammatical errors (if there’s any) are because I’m not from an English speaking country, sorry about that.”

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/23/04