ICO, a puzzle-platformer produced in 2001, is a game that many have
chosen to describe as "minimalist." Cutscenes are few and far between,
and when they do appear, the few characters within the plot (there are
three) generally say only a few words. This might be a downer for those
who appreciate BIOWARE-esque conversations to advance the story, but
ICO more than makes up for the lack of speech with rich facial and body
expressions, as well as producing a gorgeously rendered stage to house
the game's drama (talking isn't always how a plot progresses, after
all.)
The story of the game is typical of the game's director, Fumito Ueda
(of Shadow of the Colossus fame) in that the viewer is made aware of a small fraction
of what is going on within the game, and the imagination is left to
fill in the rest. In the opening cutscene we see Ico, a boy with horns,
being taken, wrists bound, to an impossibly large and ominous castle.
Inside, the three armored men who have been escorting him place him
inside a large, glowing coffin-like container and make it clear that he
is being sacrificed for the good of his village. The men leave, and as
ICO struggles to free himself the crumbling foundation of the casket
cracks and the entire coffin rolls out, freeing Ico in the process. Why
does Ico have horns? Why is this bad? Who built this castle and how
long has it been there? Where is it, where is the village? These
questions are left largely unanswered, save through intriguing hints
throughout the game once Ico starts his adventure.
A central element the story is the relation of Ico to Yorda, a girl he
finds who is also trapped within the castle, and the relationship of
the girl to the Queen who rules it, apparently all alone. With Yorda,
ICO has to travel throughout the various wings of the castle, solving
puzzles which will allow them to progress.
The puzzles of the game are intricate. Ico isn't particularly graceful, but
in order to move throughout the game he must jump across fissures,
clamber up ropes, pipes, and ladders, edge along platforms, and push
large blocks around to stand on or weigh down pressure switches. Many
of Ico's challenges involve finding a way for Yorda, less nimble and
much weaker than he, to follow behind him. Yorda must be helped to jump
over crevasses, and if she can't jump to reach a ledge ICO will reach
down and help pull her up. Often times the puzzles are simply "get from
point A to point B" problems, but sometimes the user will have go
through a series of exercises, such as navigating up to a platform, in
order to pull a switch, so a box will drop, that will have to be
positioned so that Ico can clamber onto a ledge, climb a ladder, and
push a pressure switch that will open a door, so he can jump over a
river, push a box into it BEFORE turning a crank that shuts off the
water flow fueling a waterfall that is blocking the door to the next
stage, etc. The animations for all these actions are realistic and
superb; Ico will kick and scramble his way up ledges, strain as he
pulls Yorda up over a ledge.
Yorda also is central to the game in that ICO is forced to defend her
from shadowy monsters at various points throughout the game. Although
focused primarily on grabbing Yorda and bringing her back to a shadowy
porthole somewhere in the player's surroundings, the beings will fight
Ico if he interferes with them. In these stage there is no health bar;
the player can only lose if he is unable to stop Yorda from being
sucked into the porthole. This happens quicker than one might think,
however, because Ico can be knocked down. In the few seconds that it
takes for him to get up it is possible for Yorda to be taken halfway
across the screen. Enemies are cautious around Ico, so their strategy
often consists of attacking him from behind, or luring him away from
Yorda so they can grab her when his back is turned. As for the
aesthetic: environments are beautiful, if heavily saturated with the
castle's stonework. The castle itself is incredibly large; connecting
its various sections are bridges whose supporting pillars stretch down
into the sea, well over a thousand feet below. The tremendous scale and
detail of the building is complemented by the game's lighting, which is
also superb. Trees and grass grow in various locations all over the
building, giving the player a feeling of an oasis, or chains support
rickety cages, producing another sentiment entirely. The aesthetic
appeal of this game is, in my opinion, the primary aspect that someone
should consider purchasing this product.
As for time it takes to complete, Ico is finished by a first-time
player in about 10 hours. This is short by today's standards, but the
viewer is assured that the 10 hours will be well spent, especially
considering the unlockable features that the gamer receives once
completing the (European or Chinese) version of the game. It's a quicky
but a goody, in this reviewer's opinion.
Puzzles, beauty, and duration aside, ICO manages to capture an element
of story-telling that is rare in the current market. Genuine concern
for the characters mixes with awe, and another of other emotions, about
their setting and situation. Although the game is now more than five
years old, it has a classic aura about it that ensures that it will be
played for many years to come. Buy it! Ico is an excellent addition to
any library.
