ICO

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.