I played through both ICO and Shadow of the Colossus for the first time last year (the PS3 versions) to prepare for the Last Guardian. I had messed around with the PS2 version of ICO when it came out, but never got much further than an hour in. I have to say, ICO hasn't aged very well. It has great atmosphere and animation, but it's kind of a drag to play (the combat is bad and tedious, the puzzles aren't signposted very well, the escort aspect is stressful in a bad way, and the fixed camera is not good). It started development as a PS1 game, and the PS3 version is about as good as the graphics are going to get without completely rebuilding it from the ground up. I think the PS3 version of Shadow of the Colossus still has a lot of room for improvement without completely changing the feel and look of the game. ICO is a cool little thing, but I don't have much interest in revisiting it.

@ohagan: I feel you man. I consider ICO in my top 10 of all time.

It's good to have it on the PS4. It's a great game that should be released on as many platforms as possible, but it's bizarre that they've been treating this as a major release in multiple press conferences. It's essentially a remaster of a remaster, so for me it's about as exciting as rereleasing Mario Bros. for the Switch. People should play the game, but if you have a PS3 you already have a perfectly fine way to play it.

Maybe if there weren't about 400 other games in my backlog. I might watch somebody else play some of it.

I think it's been heavily featured at press conference because it plays well in trailers. Conceptually and visually, it's still super impressive.

Had an extra $40 in PSN credit and just bought it.

I have the PS3 version but never got around to it. Maybe the PS4 port will find its way into my life.

Bought it on the PS3, but it looked ugly and controlled badly, so I only got through about five or six bosses.

I'd be interested to finally see what all the hubbub is about on a platform where it'll actually look beautiful (thank you PS4 Pro and 4K HDR TV) and have alternative control options.

No. I can't play through this game anymore. Every piece of it is ingrained in my brain.

I'm bumping because I am curious what people's thoughts are on it now. I've posted on here already, but I thought I'd update my thoughts on it. It comes out on February 8th (which I just looked up as I hadn't known), and if not the day it comes out, I'll most likely be getting it at some point soon after. I groaned when I saw that they were re-releasing the game out with new visuals when they first showed it off, I thought 'why not just put another Ico Collection out in 1080p at 60fps?' This is more impressive than that, and to add to that, it's not even full price which is just kind of shocking.

It's not the game I'm most excited about for this year, but I'm interested to delve into it. I am curious how exploring the world feels, which thinking back, as much as I loved the world the first time through, it's not actually something I did when I first went through it: explore. When I first went through it, I also didn't know that killing the lizards expanded on the stamina gauge, which probably would have alleviated the frustrations I had with the final boss and also forced me to enjoy exploring the world more. The only thing I am not a fan of so far that I've seen with the update is Wander's face.

I'm wondering how many of you are getting it, and if you changed your mind since this thread first posted? I'm also interested to hear what Brad especially has to say about it with a quick look.

It's reviewing incredibly well and it looks amazing. I played the game when it originally came out on the PS2 so I feel that my memory is hazy enough to really enjoy the game again on the PS4. It's no surprise that one of the best games to come out for the PS2 is still really good.

Shadow of the Colossus is my favourite game of all time and I couldn’t be more excited about playing the remake. I have actually only played the game once when it first came out. My first experience with the game was so powerful that I never wanted to touch it again for fear of ruining my memory of it.

That being said, I’m unbelievably excited to finally play it again.

People that said that it's an easy cash grab, or that it's a dumb idea sure look silly now. It looks like it was made with incredible passion and attention to detail. A beautifully made remaster, or maybe even a remake. I will definitely buy it.

Considering I've never played it, but always wanted to. I'm interested for sure

I can't really say my stance has changed since I first posted here. Yay, it's reviewing well! But it's Shadow of the Colossus, of COURSE it's reviewing well! The game itself is awesome, so unless they somehow managed to screw up the remaster, I can't really give out brownie points for it still being awesome.

Am I glad that those who have never played this get to play it? Sure, and I hope they love the game as much as I do.

But that being said, is this still a rerelease of a game that's already been released twice and will probably be released again when they realize they can get away with it? Yes. Does this gen still have a real problem with expecting us to pay hand over fist for prettied up versions of old games, especially when it's long past the point that they need to do it to fill up their library? Absolutely. Is it still sad that the most exciting thing at Sony's E3 was the third release of an old game instead of anything new and exciting? Uh-huh.

So no, can't say my stance has changed despite the good reviews. I can give them points for not charging full price like I was dreading though.

@twolines: It's a remake. The reason it might be considered remaster is that it sticks so close to the original game, but really, they remade every aspect from what I understand (although I'm not sure about the soundtrack other than hearing it was spruced up somehow). It was also stated that it was a remake, not a remaster by Yoshida and BluePoint.

After looking at the finished product, I can't really say I like the new aesthetic too much. The smooth framerate is a definite plus, but the more cartoony models had a charm this doesn't.

I am not a fan of how the remaster looks, not once while playing the original or the ps3 upres did I think "man I wish this game looked more realistic!". I firmly believe that in a decade from now when this remaster no longer looks "cutting edge" that peoples opinion of it will be much poorer than the more impressionistic and abstract original (or faithful ps3 port). Part of the originals greatness is its art style which seems very toned down in favor of a more realistic "alive" landscape.... but thematically the land being on the verge of death and barren was very important to me. and my enjoyment of it.

This is my favorite game and I am pretty disappointed in what I am seeing of the remaster. I guess I just do not understand what people are seeing in this that gets them excited, I would have much preferred just another ps3 style remaster and full HD and possibly 60fps over whatever this is supposed to be. If anything this reminds me of that 90s Psycho remake that was completely pointless.

As someone who only played through SotC on ps3 and doesn’t have that much of a reverence for it, I’m really looking forward to the remake. I watched the Digital Foundry video and was stunned at how good it looks. I’m excited to experience the game again with these upgraded visuals and refined controls.

I played the Hd release a few years ago, so I'm not really looking to play it again right now. I'm sure I'll grab it at some point though, because it looks amazing.

Also, nothing about this looks lazy in the slightest. People need to get over their problems with re releases. They are a reality now and none of the complaining on the internet you do will change this. If you don't want it then don't buy it (That'll send an actual message; vote with your wallet and all that), but don't throw shade on devs for making their games available on more systems so more people can play it. Especially when it's clear they put actual work into making the game look a hell of a lot better. I've had plenty of chances to play older games I missed out on, and would probably have never went back to get running, available to me, because of these "lazy ports". Forgive me if I seem aggressive about this, but I'm just tired of the groans and moans associated with this stuff.

Complaints on the quality of the "re release" are fine, but the merit of them have already been established. Otherwise they wouldn't still be a thing.

I've never played Shadow of the collosus before. So it looks great to me