[:plant:] The GFF Game Club [Now Playing: Max Payne] Now with less spoiler tags

Joining during Ico.

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

I guess i could see a 60 hours game being an issue.. Crackdown would be fun, ive watched it played but never played it myself. Love the music though, Celldweller rocks!

Is it xbox360 only though?

Most amazing jew boots

It could be anything, but we're taking the PS2 into consideration because majority of GFFers have a PS2. Also the game library is massive.

But yeah, 60 or so hours in one game is okay. Just consider that most of us are busy with work/school/life so aiming for total completion may be impossible for some.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'd like to join as well. Here's the backloggery page.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Hey, it's a game I actually need to finish. I'll get right on it and those couches.

backloggery

How ya doing, buddy?

OK, so we're not far off a week away from the deadline; how's everyone getting on with the game? Has anyone started and not finished yet?

Also, how are people feeling about the amount of time we left for the game?

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

I just finished Bayonetta, so I'll likely start my playthrough over the weekend.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

About time you finished Bayonetta (awesome game that it is).

Also, if anyone has any suggestions they'd like us to consider for the next game I guess it wouldn't hurt to start voicing them now.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Terminus

It could be anything, but we're taking the PS2 into consideration because majority of GFFers have a PS2.

Don't most of us have a circlebox by now, at least those of us who would be interested in this game club? It's pretty cheap by now. I think we'd be fairly safe selecting that as a platform. Not that I have any objections to the PS2...

As for me, I have to admit I kinda forgot about this but I can get Ico played by tomorrow without any problem. It's a short but sweet game, and having played it once before really helps.

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

Originally Posted by Soluzar

I can get Ico played by tomorrow without any problem.

You've gotten until the following Sunday, so no need to rush particularly.

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

Quote:

Don't most of us have a circlebox by now, at least those of us who would be interested in this game club? It's pretty cheap by now. I think we'd be fairly safe selecting that as a platform. Not that I have any objections to the PS2...

Personally I'd like to see a game that can be emulated so all of us without the system and/or game would have a way to join in.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Also, how are people feeling about the amount of time we left for the game?

I'm actually thinking it was a little long. Despite Bayonetta's release this month, along with ME2, there wasn't a lot of stuff coming out, and I think with too long a window for a shorter game like this, the drive to get it done lost momentum.

I know I had a problem with my PSdouble shitting the bed during this period, so I restarted on triple; but even with that, I think a tighter focus should exist to keep the thing going instead of it being shifted to the back of one's mind, y'know?

And where do you draw the emulation line? N64? Most emulators of things past that are somewhat shoddy, and there are no Mac versions of stuff like nullDC for example (which is occasionally spotty anyway), so.

And PCSX2 is all over the place depending on the game, etc etc etc.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

dawww, my first save couch and the kids fell asleep again :3


I'd forgotten you could zoom during the cutscenes. In a way I hate that. In games like this and MGS2, because you could zoom, you were always zooming, as opposed to leaving the cutscenes as is.

Anyway, the only thing so far that bothers me (that I didn't noticed before) is how Ico has no turning animation. If you're standing still and move in another direction, he just clips towards without ever turning. He does have one when you change direction while running, though.
Otherwise the animation, and visuals in general, are still splendid.

FELIPE NO

How far along is everyone? We're approaching the first due date.

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

I finished it last night~

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Qwarky

I finished it last night~

I finished it the day OP made this thread. Granted I was working on it for a week prior though. Also lol at SD for trying to play it on a HDTV. It could only say "impossible"! xD

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I stopped playing it and since then have finished ODST and got a fair way into Mass Effect on an evil playthrough.

I'm easily distracted.

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

I started a new Mass Effect playthrough as well, but then continued ICO the next evening and finished it in one go. I suppose it helped since I knew how far away I was, so it kept me going.

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

I started playing this tonight (not really for GFF Game Club specifically, kinda worked out that way), and good fucking LORD the controls and especially the combat are fucking awful. Nothing like getting 100% juggled on the ground by shadows as they take your woman who doesn't speak your language (like all women, am i rite?) a thousand miles away.

I'll give the controls a pass given the age of the game, and everything else but the combat is pretty ace, but MAN the combat blows. If this game was not so damn short and everybody didn't rave about it, no way I'd finish it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I said it before and so did Shin. The combat felt like hitting a block of wood with a stick. Once you upgrade, the combat noticably becomes easier. I dunno, its more of a pacing issue I think. I noticed the first half of the game was constantly with these guys while the latter half, you don't see them as much or even get to use your new upgrades all that much either.

Q said you could speed things up by killing the things with using power stone statues. But those opportunities are still rare. I also saw that on occasion the monster who grabbed her and sunk back into the hole doesn't necessarily come back out. Not completely sure on this though.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I think if you're hovering near the hole, the shadow pops back out of another one. It certainly seems that way when there's only one left.

FELIPE NO

The shadow eventually pops out. As soon as they shove Yorda in, they jump in themselves and while it takes some time, they'll eventually pop out again.

I also entirely disagree that opportunities to run to the idol statues are rare. There were about 4-5 battles where I had to fight off shadows, and a few more where I chose to fight them for more dramatic flair, but usually it was just a case of making it to the statues.

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

Finished this today. It stands up reasonably well to the test of time. The only aspects which could stand significant improvement are technical. I mean, you could say the constant fog is an artistic style, but it irritates me. I'd like to see a clearer, sharper version of the game. I'm hoping they decide to make a "Team ICO" collection for PS3 akin to the God of War collection.

The combat is definitely the least entertaining part of this game. Completely frustrating. I don't find it detracts from the rest of the game too much, but it definitely isn't a highlight. I don't know if I'd want to see it improved though, because it adds to the feel of two helpless kids trapped in the giant castle...

The main thing I want to see some discussion about is the basic premise.

Spoiler:

It's obvious from the opening scene that the idea of imprisoning horned youths in this castle is a tradition which has been practised for generations. There are dozens of sarcophagi (if I may call them that) around the room in which our protagonist begins his explorations. I feel compelled to ask why, although I don't think it is possible to come up with a definitive answer. The best I can do is to suggest that the life force of horned boys is drained to provide the queen (if I can call her that) with energy to extend her own life and provide her with power for manifesting her magical abilities. It is unclear why Yorda exists, too. Does it seem that the queen engages in procreation? Doesn't seem likely to me, she appears to be a magical creature. I don't doubt that she could easily create Yorda, but... for what purpose?

Anyway... I enjoyed that, and I enjoyed reading what you folks new to the game thought. Hope we can keep the discussion lively for a while. I'll be away this weekend, but should still be able to get on the internet at times.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Spoiler:

I think the basic plot premis is a little clearer once you take Shadow of the Colossus into account. At the end of that, the hero goes all demonic, the bird comes back to life and you see her with a kid with horns (If memory serves), implying that Ico is in some way decended from the SotC kids. One would assume therefore that kids with horns are direct descendents of the SotC people and therefore, have some magnitude of that demonic power. Chances are, it's horned kids who have the power to defeat the witch, so she gets the villagers to lock them all up in her castle, either just to kill them or so she can drain their horn magic or what have you. Yorda is probably some sort of Ying to the witch's yang, an opposing force that she needs alive to live herself but who has the potential to overthrow her, so she keeps her locked up.

That's all conjecture of course but it looks like the kind of standard fantasy story schtick the Japs are fond of. I think part of the joy of the story though lies in it's ambiguity. Much like SotC, there's obviously greater forces at work but the focus of the main character and as a result the focus of the player is on immediate events. Ico doesn't knw why he's been locked up and so neither do you. SotC boy is only concerned with saving his missus and so are you. I don't think a long and detailed back-story would enhance either game at all, if anything you'd lose focus on what you were doing and start concentrating on the wider plot, lessening the intensity of the experience. In a game with a strong narrative like most Final Fantasys, there's no ambiguity, you know you're the hero, you know there's a bad guy to off and the fate of the world rests on your shoulders. In Ico, for all you know the queen is just a nonce who likes fucking dead children, there's no grand saving the world bullshit, you're just a kid trying to escape from a castle, being slowed down by a girl with downs syndrome who you need to drag along to open doors for you.

The reason films made from books are always dissapointing is that when you read a book, your imagination fills in the details of the setting and the voices and the look of the characters, no matter how detailed the descriptions. Once it's put into a film, those things are someone else's interpretation and bound to differ from yours slightly (Like who the fuck pronounces Sauron as Sour-on, rather than Sore-on), you lose connection with the story. Ico and SotC leave a lot to your imagination which is probably why people tend to find such a connection with the games. I didn't really enjoy Ico that much but SotC is an incredible game and from a story telling standpoint at least, they have a lot in common.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Actually, this discussion brings up an interesting topic (which I may have missed since I haven't been paying attention): Should Shadow of the Colossus be the next game?

I'd definitely be willing to play that gem again.

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