ICO Defeated

[cheshirenoir]

I have completed Ico. Strangely unsatisfying, in that although it was a beautiful game, with fascinating gameplay, there was only about 8 hours of play in there, and the environment was a bit samey. I would have liked something other than the castle.

I only got stuck once in the whole game which means, clearly, I was the target audience.

Comments

[angriest.livejournal.com]

You got stuck once, but how many times did you think "oh sod it, take the princess"?

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

I liked that whole "the castle is the puzzle" thing - the way you kept seeing places you'd been before from new angles gave it a nice cohesion.

I did get a little bored of traversing the great hall though. (The one with the tiers of balconies, and the partially collapsed bridge through the middle).

The scene on the bridge back to the forest was fantastic :)

play

[decrypt-era.livejournal.com]

Ico is my favourite game, certainly on the PS2, maybe of all time.
I feel i didn't so much defeat it, as unfold it.
The ambience, the texture, the minimalism,
the balance between the characters,
i love everything about it.
I found myself just standing and admiring each place,
or running and jumping about for the playful pleasure of it -
such non-goal-oriented activities tell me i'm becoming immersed,
that my psyche has been persuaded; this is a reality.

[tommmo.livejournal.com]

I think I'd probably rate Ico in my top 3 games of all time. It's simply gorgeous, and playing it delivered a kind of serene pleasure no other game has ever really matched.

The save couches, where you and Yorda sit down together for a rest? That image is probably the single sweetest thing of all time.