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RePlay: Ico

RePlay: Ico

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With the reveal that The Last Guardian is in fact alive and well, I thought I would look back at the game that kick started Fumito Ueda’s career and the short but fantastic legacy of Team Ico. That game is aptly named, Ico.
Developed by Team Ico, with legendary director Fumito Ueda at the helm, this was the development house’s first title. In creating this game, the team formed a mythos, aesthetic and world that would be continued and built upon in their later titles, such as Shadow of the Colossus and the now soon to be released The Last Guardian. Released in Europe on the 22nd of March, 2003, Ico is a puzzle platformer with light combat elements and a very light story. I first played the game four or five years ago after borrowing my older brother’s copy (he was obsessed with Team Ico’s work). I lost myself in a sombre world filled with horned children, dark shadows and fiendishly difficult puzzles. Ico was one of the first games I had played that made me realise how story can be told with very little explanation, as it can simply be shown to the player. Looking back, Ico was probably one of the few games that made me 174621-headerpassionate about short-narrative indie games. Ico feels a lot like a modern indie title, with its focused gameplay and a completely original look and tone. 
The game features a simple yet mysterious plot, following a young boy with horns, Ico, who is brought to an abandoned castle where he is sacrificed to protect his village. Ico quickly breaks free and finds a young girl, Yorda, who is trapped in a cage. The two team up to escape the castle, all the while fighting back the dark shadows that hunt down Yorda. The story isn’t anything ground-breaking, but the level of mystery presented in the narrative makes it seem far deeper than it actually is. That being said, there is a substantial amount of visual storytelling in the castle’s design that becomes clearer the longer you play. The story is elegantly presented as it gives just enough dialogue and visual cues to keep the player engaged, while at the same time never getting in the way of the gameplay and general relaxed tone. 
As I have already said, Ico is a puzzle platformer through and through. Ico and Yorda must explore the castle they are stuck in via a series of puzzles. The puzzles require you to lead Yorda through various rooms throughout the castle and get her to open doors only she can access. This may sound simple enough, but some of the later puzzles are viciously difficult. The puzzles normally involve you clearing a path for Yorda by pushing boxes, cranking levers, pulling latches to open doors, etc. Due to Yorda’s less agile body, you must help her throughout the game. While you solve these puzzles, you must fight off hoards of shadow demons that try to hunt Yorda down and take her away. You have to attack these shadows with a small wooden sword (later upgraded to a metal sword), which is just as frustrating as it sounds. I would have to say that the weakest part of Ico is its combat against these shadows, as it’s simply pressing the square button until they are dead. It’s a fairly simple combat maxresdefaultsystem that does nothing more than present tense moments, which are usually over in a matter of seconds. 
One point I would like to address is that of how Yorda and Ico are designed as characters. There have been some recent controversies over the characters’ relationship; some critics and personalities claiming it to be a misogynist portrayal of the damsel in distress trope. While I can see and agree with this criticism to an extent, I also don’t think it’s really the point of the game. Ico and Yorda are barely characters to begin with, and I as a player never felt like Yorda was an object of desire or needed to only be saved for the male’s victory. I saw the relationship as two young children, banished from their worlds and cast together to escape, together. I see Ico and Yorda as a friendship more than a romantic relationship and they are framed in a very cute and suitable way, by gently holding hands, their resting at save points and even Yorda’s AI, which simply wanders and explores when you aren’t around her. Team Ico’s games have an underlying theme of friendship cemented into their design; whether it’s a boy and a girl, a man and his horse or a boy and a large flying cat demon, there is always a friendship at center stage.

Visually, Ico looks breath-taking, even today. The game is styled in a washed out colour palette that evokes a watercolour, almost childlike story illustration. The castle is built up of dull, grey and brown palettes which are sometimes contrasted with green wildlife scattered about the exteriors. The character designs are also beautifully created and hold up surprisingly well, especially Yorda, whose design lends a mysterious and alien nature to her character. The game’s soundtrack also holds up very well, with what little there is of it. The game relies on atmospheric nature sounds for the most part but, when it does use a score, it’s masterful. The most notable piece in the soundtrack has to be the tune that plays during the save point stone seats. It’s a laid back melody that gives the player a moment to stop and relax, which mirrors Ico and Yorda’s situation. 

Ico, as a premiere title for a development team, was an astounding success, as it not only was more or less perfect in its design, but it cemented a general aesthetic and theme that no other team has really been able to pull off. I suppose at this point answering this question is pointless, but does Ico hold up? Yes, in so many ways. Ico’s puzzles remain difficult yet fair, its world gorgeous yet sombre and its characters simple yet endearing. Team Ico would go on to make only one more game, Shadow of the Colossus, which you can buy alongside Ico for PS3 in a handy bundle. Now fans worldwide will have to wait and see if Fumito Ueda and his team can deliver with The Last Guardian. 
Have you played Ico? Do you agree with me? Let me know in the comments!

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