What a beautiful game. Easily my favorite game of all-time. Whenever the 'games as art' debate comes up, my one answer in that argument is 'Ico'.
The biggest travesty in video game history is the US cover art. I remember seeing this game around the PS2's launch, in a Circuit City kiosk. But at the time, I had no idea as to the name of the game -- the visuals just so happened to catch my eye, as I was browsing the aisle. I remember being so impressed by the lighting effects (I still am) and the cinematic, minimalist presentation. The character animations reminded me of my favorite childhood games: Another World (also called Out of this World) and Prince of Persia. Had I owned a PS2 at the time, I would've found out the name of the game in the kiosk, and left the store with a copy. Unfortunately, I didn't. And to make matters worse, when I finally did acquire a PS2, I was so disgusted with the generic box art, upon stumbling across the game, that I didn't give it a thought. "Who would ever make a game, about a generic white kid with a viking helmet and a blanket wrapped around his neck? This reminds me of the Mega Man box art." I figured the game couldn't have possibly been good and moved on.
That all changed when Shadow of the Colossus was announced. My roommate brought home a demo of it, and i found out that it was by the same team that produced Ico. After looking up the game on the internet, I finally learned that this hideous box contained that beautiful, mysterious game I had accidentally discovered, all those years ago.
And so began my four year journey of hunting down a copy of the game. I finally stumbled upon a mint condition copy at GameStop (not a single flaw or blemish) and played through the entire game in a single sitting, with giant can headphones.
The most impressive aspect of this game, was its ability to make me care about Yorda. I never once became angry with her actions, nor did I feel that the game had been programmed to be artificially hard because of her limitations. It all felt very natural to me. I felt like the courageous little boy, defending the helpless neighbor girl, in a battle against imaginary monsters. It probably didn't help that Ico's primary weapon was a giant stick -- my weapon of choice, as a child.
I'd never seen another game like this. No other game, to my knowledge, was able to bring a character to life through subtle personality quirks. Yorda likes birds. She will often turn her head to admire the birds when walking by them. And if you leave her untethered, she will even jump at them, or chase them around a room -- without a care in the world.
And that's what drove me, through the entire game: my love - Ico's love - for this innocent girl, who couldn't possibly save herself. I really did care about saving her. I couldn't understand a thing she said to me, which made the animations, the physics, and the emotion all the more important. And even after so many years, I still feel like Ico is a timeless classic, which stands the test of time.
It's a masterpiece of a game, well worth the measly $20 I spent. I'm glad that I finally figured out the name of that mysterious game at the kiosk. Most importantly, Ico made me feel like a kid again. And I wish there were more games like that.
Needless to say, I'm all the more excited for The Last Guardian.