Retro Reviews: Ico

Ico was released in 2001 developed by Team Ico and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.

Ico is a fairly unique game all things considered. In an era of a game presentation becoming more and more complicated, Ico was presented as something relatively minimalist and spartan while giving those who played it a wholly immersive experience that attains an experience that many story-driven games wish they could reach.

Ico is about a boy born with horns, which is considered a bad omen by the people of his village. As a means of removing the omen from the village he is taken by his people to an ancient castle where he is placed in a sarcophagus as a sacrifice of some sort to the ruler of the castle, The Queen. After a quake causes Ico's tomb to crash to the floor, he manages to escape from it and starts looking for an escape from the castle. Soon after he runs across a mysterious girl locked in a cage and frees her. Unfortunately they do not speak the same language but Ico is determined to help the girl, Yorda, also escape from whatever fate she is to face in the castle.

It won't be an easy task as the castle Ico and Yorda are in is ancient, decrepit and filled with puzzles. Not only that, the Queen's minions, shadows, will try to steal Yorda away from Ico to take her back to the Queen. It will be up to Ico to not only fight off the shadows but to lead Yorda through the hazards of castle as well.

The best way I can describe the gameplay would be a somewhat simplified take on 3D Zelda. While not based around collecting keys or items and generally being more linear the use of block puzzles and pulling switches to alter the environment always give me that Zelda feel. Your basic goal is to guide Yorda from one location as another. Sometimes she can be used as a temporary weight but most of the time you just have to make sure not to get too far way from her for if you do, shadows will come. The biggest problem with Yorda is that Ico has to lead her by the hand up and over obstacles though occasionally her limited path finding abilities will have her climb up things and save you the hassle of leading her. She has a tendency to stray but she won't ever go to far and will usually come back if Ico gives her a call.

The battle system in Ico is also very simple. Since Ico obviously isn't a trained fighter what he has for a fighting style is more or less flailing around with whatever weapon he has at the time. It works for the most part but until you get access to swords later in the game, it takes a long time to kill the shadows with the 2x4 you find all over the place and the enemies can swarm you making it difficult to get to Yorda if she is taken to a location far from you. Though to be fair the fighting is not really a focus of Ico, even it is a common occurrence.

Simplicity is also a fixture of Ico's graphics. While beautiful to look at the surroundings are stark, perfectly fitting a long abandoned castle. This makes for a very atmospheric game that doesn't overload the senses with a ton of graphical effects, outside of generous bit of bloom lighting.

There are some signs of the game's origins as a Playstation title especially in Ico and Yorda's movements. There is something about how their models are built and animated that sometimes feel like they just upgrades from how it was on Playstation. There is a ragdoll style effect that is especially noticeable on Ico. Just makes him weirdly gangly despite not being particularly tall for a kid his age.

The music in the game is also appropriately spartan. The songs that are there are memorable especially the credits theme and the weird music that plays when the shadows attack adds tension to the scene. The rest of the background music is environmental sounds that further add to the atmosphere of the world. The voice acting for the game, the small amount there is, does the job well but since the game isn't in English and features I think two made up languages it is hard to judge.

In the end, Ico is a over-looked but classic early PS2 game. And the reason why I review it now is that the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus Collection comes out for the PS3 next month. It'll not only be in HD but us in North America will get the better version that was released in Europe and Japan with extras. Frankly I can't wait. And this will hopefully lead up to Team Ico's next game, The Last Guardian finally getting its release next year. And hopefully like its predecessors will provide an engrossing story through its gameplay rather than overabundance of cut scenes.

Pros/Cons
+ Very immersive atmosphere
+ Great puzzle design
+ Sparse and gorgeous environments
+ Lack of interrupting cut scenes keep things immersive
+ Beautiful credit theme
- Very short
- Some remnants of Playstation origins evident.

Top 5 of the 1st Half and Top 5 Most Wanted For the Second Half of 2011

Can you believe that we are already more than half-way through the year? Though with the Wii sucking wind (thanks to Nintendo apparently not interested in delivering games the core would like) it was relatively boring one for me. Mostly marked with buying used games and some previous year releases. I did manage to sneak in some 2011 releases though and here is how I'd rank them:

Top 5 of the First Half of 2011

1. Portal 2 - PS3

This game is incredible. If you've played it, you'd know that. Taking the simple, yet refined mechanics of the first and expanding it greatly, not only in terms of gameplay but also in story. Not only do you get an incredible single player but also an amazing co-op mode that does more than just be an add-on but its own story in its own right. Remember if you don't play this, Cave Johnson is going to burn your house down, with the lemon!

2. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 3DS

A remake of my favorite game of all time? That is a no brainer for me. This remake improves quite a bit, mostly graphically. Link has more animation, the world is more detailed, etc. Also moving the menus to the touch screen makes the thing that so many players hated, doing the iron boots in the water temple. Plus the ability to take OoT on the road with me is awesome.

3. de Blob 2 - Wii

And here what I believe to be the best game on the Wii this year. Sigh. Don't get me wrong, de Blob 2 is a great game. The review I posted said as much. It expands on a lot of what made de Blob great and improves on what was wrong.

4. Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition - 3DS

The 3rd of now 4 versions of Street Fighter IV is a great port from the PS3/360 versions. It is in the vein of the ports to the SNES for Street Fighter II. Gives you everything you love about the console version without having to pay for the DLC. Can't go wrong with that.

5. Radiant Historia - DS

While I am not very far into this game I am loving the use of the time travel aspects of using the Historia and opening up many different plot lines and scenarios. And with a pretty fun battle system I'll certainly enjoy this even more as I go.


Top 5 Most Wanted for the Second Half of 2011

1. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Wii

The wait for this has been a long one, 5 years since the last console version actually. With a great mix of TWW and Twilight Princess' art-style and hopefully some fun new gameplay aspects with Wii Motion+ this could very well be the game that beats out Portal 2 for my favorite of the year.

2. Batman: Arkham City - PS3

Arkham Asylum was a fantastic take on Batman and is arguably the greatest super-hero video game of all. It just nailed how Batman truly operates in the shadows to take out thugs and the relative brutal efficiency of his fighting technique. Arkham City promises to expand on it with a larger environment and more villains showing up.

3. Team Ico Collection - PS3

If you hadn't noticed, I just posted a pair of trailers for this game. Improves to HD will hopefully just make these fantastic games even better and make the wait for The Last Guardian a little easier, or harder. Hard to say.

4. Kirby - Wii

A Kirby platformer with some of the ideas of New Super Mario Bros. Wii of 4 player co-op? Count me in. Kirby games are always a ton of fun and will help ease some of the pain this year.

5. Star Fox 64 3D - 3DS

Another remake of a classic but much like OoT3D getting to take this on the road will be a huge plus especially that the game feels suited to handheld experiences. Plus we get to be annoyed by Slippy all over again. Yay?

There are other games that I wanted but these are the ones with the definite release dates. Mario Kart, Super Mario, Paper Mario, MGS3, etc all look great but I'm not sure if they'll all make it out this year. If they do, wow that will be a lot of stuff.

Roo & Pat The NES Punk: E3 Video Game History Museum Exhibit Tour

The Video Game History Museum is a physical place in San Jose, CA, or at least they hope to be one, that intends to be like any museum: A place to go to learn about the history of something and provide research opportunities. They also have a traveling exhibit and obviously at E3 this year. So Roo and Pat the NES Punk show us around and discuss some of the more interesting exhibits.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Seriously if I ever went to an E3 and this exhibit was there, I'd probably never leave.

E3 2011 Recap - Conference Thoughts + Who Won

As of Tuesday, June 7th at 10:30 AM Pacific, all Press Conferences of 2011's Electronic Entertainment Expo are over. Of course, we'll be seeing tons of game demos and interviews starting there, and continuing all through Wednesday and Thursday, but we already know all the major announcements, reveals and games we can look forward to. So, with that information in mind, join me in my E3 2011 Recap, in which I'll be giving my personal thoughts of the show, entailing my in-depth analysis of all three major Press Conferences (sorry for discriminating, Ubisoft and EA, it's just that... well, yes, you are less important), and ending off with a conclusion saying who won and why. I hope you enjoy!

Microsoft's Conference

E3 kicked off with Microsoft's press conference at 9:30 AM Pacific on Monday. Overall, not only was I not impressed, but I was also disappointed and worried with what Microsoft continues to choose to focus on, a trend that started at last year's E3 and seems to continue. In fact, my impression of this year's show is pretty much the same as last year's. There were some cool games I already knew are coming out, and I already know are cool; like Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3, Halo: Combat Evolved HD, Tomb Raider, and Forza 4. During the last 10 seconds of the show, the spotlight was taken by a Halo 4 Teaser, which, like all teasers, revealed absolutely nothing except the announcement of the game. Which was smoothly ruined earlier in the morning. All that took up 15, maybe 20 minutes of the show. Everything else was Kinect and software which supports it.

You can't floor an audience with this.

At last year's conference, I was excited to learn about Kinect's awesome-sounding technology, only to be later disappointed by the games available for it, such as Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports and Kinectimals. Therefore this year, going in, I expected Microsoft to show off more interesting software, which caters to the core gamer a bit more, especially considering the feedback they got last year. What I ultimately got was, the reveal of awesome features like the ability to scan-in any object and have the peripheral recognize it flawlessly, and the ability to draw in 3D. Awesome! And then... on-rails Fable, on-rails Star Wars, Sesame Street and Disney (also on-rails, by the way). Does that make me want to buy Kinect, which I still haven't? No. Is that enough to satisfy a hardcore audience at E3? Definitely not. Perhaps Microsoft was blinded by the numbers moved by their casual software last year, but even then, Kinect's potential is going to waste.

Sony's Conference

Also on monday, at 5 PM Pacific, after EA's and Ubisoft's Conferences, came Sony's showing. I already knew before going in that Sony's Next-Generation Portable was going to be talked about in detail, so coming off of Microsoft's Conference, I was willing to bet my house Sony's would be better. As expected, it was. After a brief apology about the PSN fiasco (which was handled well, I thought), Sony showed some PS3 games. Resistance 3, Starhawk, Uncharted 3, among others. What initially struck me as odd is that almost the entirety of their lineup supported 3D gameplay; not only that, but they made a big deal out of it. I was thinking, "How can you make such a big emphasis on 3D when only a small portion of the market owns a 3D-capable TV as of today?". Apparently they thought about that too (which is not surprising, it doesn't take a genius), because they announced a 24" 3D-Capable Monitor from the Playstation brand, which comes bundled with a pair of 3D glasses and Resistance 3 for $499. It's a good deal.

They also showed a few Move games. They announced Bioshock: Infinite (which looks awesome) will be supporting it. NBA 2K12 was there, which looked alright, but the real surprise for me was Medieval Moves. This is a game developed from the ground-up to take advantage of Move, and it actually looked fun. There's a variety of weapons you can use in the game, and they change in the fly depending on the gesture you make. No weapon select screen is needed. There's also puzzle-solving, and of course, combat with enough variety for a demo. It looked all-around good, and aside from that, I liked that a lot of more hardcore-oriented games are supporting Move as an option. Emphasis on option. That's how you do it. Not with Disneyland Adventures: On-Rails Flying Edition.

And also, of course, we were treated to Sony's new portable system, now officially called the Playstation Vita. As we already knew, the system features a touch screen and a rear touch pannel, not to mention Wi-Fi and 3G. They announced a lot of Playstation 3 favorites are coming to Vita, like LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted, and they looked like fun. They also announced the system will retail for $249, and $299 for the 3G-enabled model, which is a great price point and actually raises a threat for Nintendo's 3DS. Unfortunately, it won't be out this year. My only gripe with the system (and it may prove to not be one as the future draws nearer) is most of the games they showed looked like console games on a handheld. I think handheld gaming is different from home gaming, therefore requires different types of software. But they still looked fun.

Sony's new handheld: The Playstation Vita.

Overall, Sony delivered. There weren't major "wow" moments, but it was more than enough to satisfy fans, and get new people to jump in on the Playstation brand. Can't wait to hear about more Vita games (Where's LocoRocco Vita where you tilt the screen? Seriously).

Nintendo's Conference

Finally, on Tuesday at 9 AM Pacific, Nintendo took the stage. As was the case with Sony, we knew beforehand Nintendo had the showing of a new system under its belt: the successor to the Wii, which was known as "Project Cafe" until today, when it became known by its official name: Wii U. Doesn't sound much dumber than Wii, if you ask me. The controller was confirmed to have a 6.2" screen, which will be able to play Wii U games, via a wireless signal received from the system itself. This wireless signal allows for games to be played without using a TV (assuming you are near the system for the wireless to work, of course. This is not a handheld system), or to play games that utilize both the TV screen and the controller screen together in unique ways. The system is also fully backwards compatible with Wii software and controllers. We saw some concepts of these games, and they looked interesting to say the least. It's also possible to browse the web on the touch screen, and share whatever you desire with the big screen. It's a neat idea, and I'm sure there are tons of things it can do we don't know about, and more even Nintendo doesn't know about. The controller also has a camera, a gyroscope, two sliders, etc. It basically looks like a 3DS sans a top screen, 3D and with one extra slider. No real games were shown, aside from a Lego game (what?), a new Super Smash Bros was announced, which will also come out on 3DS (YES), and a New New Super Mario Bros. Nothing too concrete, though.

Nintendo's Wii U. Above: System. Below: Controller.

Half the show was given to the Wii U. The 3DS stole the spotlight for the remainder of it. Tons of games were shown, some previously unknown, and all complete with new trailers (though some of those absent from the conference itself) - Paper Mario 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Ocarina of Time 3D, Mario Kart 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Super Mario 3D, and, the big surprise - Luigi's Mansion 2. It was good, and most of them will release this year, which is definitely nice.

The beginning of the show addressed Zelda's 25th Anniversary. Basically, to celebrate, neat Zelda items will come out throughout the year. Ocarina of Time 3D in September, Zelda Four Swords for free on 3DS, Zelda: Link's Awakening on the eShop today, two music CD's (Ocarina of Time 3D's Soundtrack, and an orchestral CD with music from the entire series, based on live performances that will be happening in all major regions throughout the year), and finally, Skyward Sword on Wii this holiday season. Much better than the mediocre celebration Mario got for his 25th Anniversary.

Overall, Nintendo delivered and then some. The only problem (though it's a significant one) I had was that Wii U doesn't come out until around November of 2012. And they showed one (I repeat, ONE) Wii game at the conference, and that's The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which thankfully comes out this holiday season. We know about a couple others (Kirby Wii being the most interesting), but they didn't mention them at the show. The 3DS is nice, but a handheld system and Zelda can't sustain Nintendo for two entire years (you have to remember nothing very interesting has released on Wii since November of last year). I sure hope there's more announcements coming for Wii. Even so, it was a nice showing.

So...

Who Won?

This is no real surprise, but it's a big toss-up between Sony and Nintendo for me. Sony showed some awesome stuff, with no huge setbacks, but nothing insanely impressive. Nintendo actually wowed me a bit with the Wii U and what they're thinking about doing with the controller, and the 3DS line-up for this year alone looks very nice. But there's far too little for console gamers until fall of next year. But, after much consideration, I have to give it to...

NINTENDO

Even though I'm a huge fan of the company, I was as objective as possible (I do realize I can't be entirely so) when deciding this. The fact of the matter is, Nintendo's killer software wins once again for me. Don't get me wrong, Sony's games look nice, even Microsoft had some potential killer apps in there, but Nintendo really came through showing an impressive line-up for 3DS in 2011, and laying the groundwork for amazing Wii U titles (the huge third party support shown for that definitely helps). So, just like last year, The Big N does it again for me in 2011.

I know it's common place for writers to say this at the end of articles, but I mean it: I'd love to see your comments regarding the winner for you, and whether you agree or disagree with my comments. Thanks!

Bonus: Zelda for Wii U.