Team Ico
Ico

Ico

Or the game that led the world to wonder once and for all if video games could be considered a form of art.

And it also provided us with an answer, which is yes, video games can also be art and not necessarily just angry goons, archaeologists with pointy breasts, or mere rip-offs of Super Mario.

And how did it give us this answer?

Through a path that no one had ever taken with such conviction until then, that is, putting the emotional aspect of the game itself first. Not that before Ico (dated 2001) there were no games with emotional or artistic plots (think of Final Fantasy VII, just to give a classic example), but until then, no one had ever tried to make you truly care for a fictional character.

The game indeed tells the story of Ico and Yorda, two children escaping their fate.

Ico is a poor boy born with horns, a symbol of an ancient curse, which the inhabitants of an unspecified village bring to a castle to offer him as a sacrifice, locking him in a tomb to free themselves from his curse.

Yorda is a girl whose past is unknown (she might not even have a past, it's up to you to understand) who finds herself imprisoned in a cage in this castle for a reason she does not know.

As you might easily imagine, Ico manages to free himself from the tomb that held him captive and meets the girl, helping her escape and starting their flight from the castle. Up until now, nothing exceptional, you might say, and I can agree since the way the story is narrated, and the story itself are very minimal, but it's during the actual gameplay phases that the real magic happens. In Ico, your task will be to continue your escape from the castle, solving various environmental puzzles that the rooms of the castle offer.

These puzzles are based on the peculiar qualities of the two protagonists. Ico can defend himself, jump, and climb, while Yorda is particularly vulnerable and not very agile but can use her special aura to open doors that connect one room to another. Thus, the game unfolds consistently proposing increasingly challenging situations, all made more difficult by the presence of shadows that will try to imprison Yorda again, causing a consecutive game over, and creating a slight sense of tension that makes the experience more vivid and real.

I know that such a schematic description of the game does not actually capture what you can experience playing it, and that perhaps one of those pseudo-poetic reviews would have better conveyed the idea, but believe me, the game manages through many small details to make you actually care for the co-protagonist, and you will understand this by yourself at a certain point in the game.

The visual aspect is extraordinary and shows us how things like 3D, high definition, and super-pumped graphics are unnecessary embellishments, and that indeed the hardware of a Ps2 is more than sufficient to paint evocative settings on the screen like never before. Both the interiors of the castle and the exteriors are crafted with a class and style that we rarely see even today, in the full HD era, stuff that would put to shame yet another Call of Duty that gets gifted ratings and sells millions of copies but is ultimately the same old warmed-up soup.

The sound component is perhaps the most minimal ever heard in a video game. Ico has no background music, except for some interludes like battles (accompanied by a kind of dark ambient) and saving, accompanied by a delicate electronic melody. This is because Ico seeks (and succeeds) to immerse you as much as possible in the gaming experience, leaving to your hearing the beauty of listening to natural sounds, as if you were really there.

Another peculiarity of the game is the absence of hubs that show you energy, buttons to use, or anything else, simply because it does not need them. You find yourself there and you'll know what to do when necessary.

Added to all this is the enigmatic ending, the point where the game gives its best and will leave you speechless making you understand the difference between a video game and a work of art.

Despite what was said above, the game was recently released paired with its sequel-prequel Shadows of The Colossus in a Ps3 version with the addition of high definition and 3D support, nothing really relevant according to the writer, if you can, play it on the original console and enjoy this game as it was conceived.