[PS2] ICO appreciation thread 2.0

Arise, my horned warriors, your time has come again!

They may strike us down, but we will not be slain! Hell, we don't even have lifebars! Just as long as no one knocks us off edges too high, we should be fine.

And with that, revival

Anyone who's anyone knows what ICO is about, even though the game is still more of a small-scale cult title, despite near unanimous praise from gaming media. With the recent re-print of ICO in Europe, even more players are both introduced to the title or actually getting their hands on a copy.

But yeah, this one is for the fans. You know the drill, everything ICO goes here.

What you loved about it, what you disliked about it. Discuss the atmosphere, the story, the gameplay, the structure, the legacy, the theories and interpretations. Made you smile, made you cry, made you love games again, made you care, made you dream? How does it relate to Shadow of the Colossus? Is it just thematic and stylistic similarities, or is there some actual connection between the two?

Discuss, argue, theorise, share fanart you've found. Everything ICO goes here.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, it was rereleased as a regular plastic case version in Europe now that Shadow of the Colossus arrived, so finding a copy should be a lot easier now.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Hah, I was actually expecting it to be really unfunny, but the use of Wallace & Gromit music and the way Yorda pushed Ico off of her were terrific.
Still no match for Metal Gear Awesome~

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

PAL, the actual signal, is better than NTSC, Elixir. The problem is that since most games are originally made in NTSC, developers are too lazy or inexperienced to properly convert them to 50Hz and adjust the slightly larger resolution, so they tend to just squish it, which results in the type of borders FFX suffers from.

Meanwhile, look at Konami's conversions of Silent Hill 2 and 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2, Sony's God of War, and you'll see good PAL conversions.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

It's quite possible to run through the game around 2 hours, but I usually end up taking around 7-8 hours since I keep stopping to admire the views.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Getting a proper version of the game (in this the much improved PAL version) would be For The Win. Here it is simply about hiding a glaring flaw~

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

You don't need a PAL TV for PAL ICO. The game has selectable NTSC/PAL display.

Getting a modchip would be well worth it. You could play The Chikyuu Boueigun 2 as well, which I'm utterly in love with right now <3

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Elixir

To be honest, that looks like it'd become boring after awhile.

Well erm, it IS a Simple 2000 title, after all. You're the one praising Zombie vs Ambulance.

And I've been playing 17 missions so far, with both characters, on Normal difficulty (there's about 7 difficulties in total), and I haven't gotten bored yet. The game just keeps throwing new and wonderful things in your face at an alarming pace and you love it. I thought the level with the five walking giant tripods was amazing, but then the game puts you against twice the amount. Then I thought the giant spider assault level was hysterical, but later on the game combines it with a level with two massive motherships that keep dropping MORE of them at you until you destroy the motherships. And dropping one of those three city blocks sized ships means they actually rain down on you and you have to hightail it out of there FAST or get left under as the ensuing explosion levels even more of the city.

And it was only THEN that I got to fight my first Godzilla monster. That was comparable to Area 5 in Rez in terms of orgasmic awesome, a 10 minute endurance fight of hysterical proportions as I tried to desperately stay alive from his ridiculous fire breath attack and pumping him full of any weaponry I had.

As for European release, Essential Games delayed the game till next month, but it's still coming out here, as Global Defence Force. If they don't dub it, I'll buy myself a copy.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Elixir

You're a redhead. You drive an ambulance and you save people who just happen to be gradually transforming into zombies. Meanwhile at the hospital, people add upgrades to your ambulance such as spiked wheels, faster speed, extra defense, etc. Then you have the combo counter and zombies spawning in the middle of the road. The game reeks of awesome, much like Shinryu Explosion (Saturn game to Simple Series).

Just because it's a simple series game, doesn't mean it sucks, although 90% of the time it does. People are very critical when it comes to Zombie vs. Ambulance, because Simple Series titles don't have the greatest reputation.

I didn't say it sucks. But like all Simple 2000 games, it IS simple and is bound to get repetitive. So my point was, I fail to see how you can defend Zombie vs Ambulance and yet do that "NO OFFENSE, BUT THAT'S BOUND TO GET DULL" for EDF2 =/
There's tons of completely different weapons you find from levels for later use, unique for each character. Both characters are completely different to play, massive variety in levels, vehicles to use, 7 difficulty settings etc etc

I hate insects myself, makes it all the more fun to shoot up giant spiders, as icky as they are. The ants are completely harmless though, unless they get too close.


As for Ico, are you at the yard, or still stuck inside? A lot of people get stuck on the jump there. Just place yourself on the piston that keeps popping out and start your jump early and you'll fly up to the platform edge above with the door.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Though even then it's wishful thinking on most parts. People WANT the two games to be connected, even though there aren't that many hints to it in the end.

At most, Wanderer could be the reason Ico and his kind are treated like they are in ICO, but that's it. There's nothing else said in SotC, really.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yeah, subtitles for Yorda speech, four optional (and pointless but cool) effect filters, 2-player mode, light saber and the infamous watermelon ending are in the Japanese and PAL versions of the game.

The first print of the European version came in a sweet cardboard case (same as Shadow of the Colossus) with four (or two, if you were unlucky) artcards. The recent (cheap) rerelease came in the standard European plastic PS2 case and no artcards.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I suppose he meant the language is "made up" as in not real japanese like some people claim. I've read more than one "It's actually Japanese, just an old dialect, I recognize it" on message boards

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah, second player controls Yorda. She can walk, run, jump, climb ledges (but not chains) and carry bombs. It would have been hilarious if she could drag Ico along and do the fighting.

The camera is still focused on Ico, but the second player can "snatch" the focus by holding a button down, which has the same effect as when Ico calls for Yorda and the camera moves to her.

A lot of people complain about the 2-player option and it is kinda pointless since the game is so obviously meant as a single-player experience. But afterthought or not, it's surprisingly well implemented, and a very nice afterthought regardless. I suppose they intended guys play with their girlfriends.

I (and a lot of others) feel the watermelon ending is the true bonus of the PAL version~

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Dave1988

Actually the language used in both ICO and SotC is a mix of japanese and latin.

Again, no.

You may think it sounds like a mix of Japanese and Latin or maybe you like to say something like that in hopes of someone believing you actually know something about this, but the languages in the games are not real, already used languages (nor are they created, full languages either). It's not a mix of languages, it's not an old dialect, it's simply made up. Anyone can hear this, but in case someone adamantly wants to insist against that, Ueda has himself said it, for instance in this old interview with GIA:

http://terror.snm-hgkz.ch/mirrors/th...s/f010831.html

Quote:

GIA: How did you create the imaginary languages that Yorda and Ico use? Are they based on any real-world languages?

Ueda: There is no particular language that we have based the imaginary languages. One might say the boy's language is similar to Chinese, and the girl's language sounds like French.

dcorban, I'm happy to hear you loved it. It's always lovely to find out someone else has discovered/played through the game and been able to enjoy it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Dave1988

Hmmm seems my sources were crap wrong. Oh well...

A lot of people are convinced Ico talks an old dialect of Japanese and many are quick to believe them since it sounds plausible enough. Hell, someone I know thought the creatures in LocoRoco spoke a real language

FELIPE NO

How come? For me, it's the kind of game, like Rez, that you keep returning to again and again because it's such a simple and likeable fairytale, with a beautiful atmosphere.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Why not download/buy the European version? D:

Hell, I could rip an image of mine, you'd get subtitles for Yorda's speech (though you'd need to complete the game again).

Jam it back in, in the dark.