Ico And Shadow...

[deadlychicken22]

Well, I just finished Ico, and I must say that is one of the best games I've ever played. I got to the water area and thought that I was about half-way done because its the third out of four areas that the manual lists. Then, about an hour later, I reached the end of the game. Simply amazing. Has anyone here played Ico besides me? What did you think of it?

Also, is anyone planning on getting Shadow of the Colossus? It looks pretty good and its made by the same people as Ico, but I've read that there's slowdown at times. I can't buy all of the games I want this fall/winter because I simple don't have enough money, so i'd like to know what you guys think.

 

[Alpha2]

I got the Colossus demo a few days ago and I just plain love it! True the graphics do have their slight issues compared to Ico, but when you look at the differences in the game play you kinda understand why.

The game starts with a wide open environment that seems to go on for miles and has the same glowing sun and visual blurring style that Prince of Persia has and uses them more practically. using the sun reflected off you sword to find out where to go, hop on the back of you horse and go there as ou watch the landscape fly by, THEN you final reach the destination and climb a small cliff face to the top marveling at the intuative system for running jumping and navigating walls and such.

THEN you fight the first colossus. All 100 feet of this angry force of destruction who'd like nothing better than to turn YOU in to a pink smear under his heal, and all you have is a sword and a bow with unlimited but weak arrows.

Put it this way if you like Ico you'll like Shadow of the Colossus. There may be less puzzle solving but you still have to use your head to bring down the beast.

 

[deadlychicken22]

Thanks for the response. Shadow of the Colossus sounds really good, so I think I'll pick it up friday.

BTW, where did you get the demo?

 

[deadlychicken22]

oops, double post

 

[Huxley]

Put it this way if you like Ico you'll like Shadow of the Colossus. There may be less puzzle solving but you still have to use your head to bring down the beast.

/me is proper jealous

This must be one of the only games I'm genuinely looking forward to playing... *sigh*

 

[Alpha2]

I'm guessing it's because I signed up for PSUnderground and I signed up for the Gamer's Advisor Panel. Has a tendancy to get me invites to Beta tests (I scored a free Modem for betatesting Twisted Metal Black and a HDD because I betatested FF11) Though I think it's random because I didnt get the God of War Demo that a friend of mine got... though come to think of it I did post in Sony's forum telling them to hurry up and give us a release date on the game a few months ago.

 

[deadlychicken22]

I'm guessing it's because I signed up for PSUnderground and I signed up for the Gamer's Advisor Panel. Has a tendancy to get me invites to Beta tests (I scored a free Modem for betatesting Twisted Metal Black and a HDD because I betatested FF11) Though I think it's random because I didnt get the God of War Demo that a friend of mine got... though come to think of it I did post in Sony's forum telling them to hurry up and give us a release date on the game a few months ago.

​

Yea, i'm part of PSUnderground also, although I've never gotten anything besides demo discs (getting a HDD would be awsome!). I got a demo for dark cloud 2 and for god of war though, so you're probably right about it being random.

 

[Alpha2]

Well as far as I know the Modem and HDD I got were specifically related to my GAP participation. I've gotten invites to Betas like Monster Hunter and Killzone2 They even let you keep the Beta disks now it seems. (I havent really tried to play much of Monster Hunter though, being a beta disk I doubt it'll let me access the regular game.)

Until I get Broadband though I think most of the betatest invites they would have sent me have been directed elsewhere dud to the increasing demand for a fast connection.

 

[Macbeth]

An ICO thread?!
I just loved playing ICO, it's certainly a beautiful game, even the PAL thing that the game came in was beautiful, with postcards of the scenery.. I heard USA never got it though; you're missing out, the postcards and packaging are great. All you had apparantly was some weirdly drawn picture of ICO on front of a plastic DVD case..
Can't wait for Shadow of The Colossus!

 

[Alpha2]

Yeah it was one of those classicallly horrible U.S. packages. So bad I'd say it was atleast 40% responsible for it's low sales. 40% lack of commercial appeal (no funny animals or beefy angsty gun toteing hardasses) and 20% poor press/bad word of mouth from people upset one of the two 40%s.

Frankly when compared to Prince of Persia I dont see why anyone wouldnt like Ico, I mean the only thing it didn't have was the reversing time aspect and the acrobatics... and maybe to a smal exent the familiar name although I doubt many of the people who bought it ever played the original version.

 

[deadlychicken22]

An ICO thread?!
I just loved playing ICO, it's certainly a beautiful game, even the PAL thing that the game came in was beautiful, with postcards of the scenery.. I heard USA never got it though; you're missing out, the postcards and packaging are great. All you had apparantly was some weirdly drawn picture of ICO on front of a plastic DVD case..
Can't wait for Shadow of The Colossus!

​

We got a plain DVD case with a picture of Ico with the windmill in the backround on the cover and a small booklet explaining the basics of the game. Sounds like you guys got a much better packaging, but it really doesn't matter that much, its the game that makes it good, not the packaging.

BTW, besides being one of the best games I've ever played, it only cost me $7!

 

[darkman]

Ico is the best game I have played in years. I was playing it last year. Reading this thread makes me want to drag it out again and go through the whole adventure again. The whole game takes my breath away. I am really looking forward to Shadow of Colossus. Not enough cash in my pocket at this time, so I think I will be playing Ico for right now. I wish they would give us Americans the same packaging. We are not round eyed barbarians that are uncivilized! :angry:

 

[Alpha2]

You know what would be interesting is if the 3rd game from this designer finds some way to merge the to universes... I dunno just brains storming.

Oh yeah, he IS workign on PS3 game BTW but the thing is he expects it to take a while because he takes his time.

 

[c0ncept]

could anyone clarify exactly WHY ico is so good? I've heard many good things about it and I am planning to use it in my dissertation, but I need to find out why its worth the time it would take to play the whole thing.

 

[deadlychicken22]

could anyone clarify exactly WHY ico is so good? I've heard many good things about it and I am planning to use it in my dissertation, but I need to find out why its worth the time it would take to play the whole thing.

​

Well, the reason you haven't heard exactly WHY it is so good is because its very hard to put into words. I guess it probably has to do with the overall atmosphere of the game, because each individual part of the game, while very good, isn't necessarily groundbreaking. The game is basically one giant puzzle, made up of many little puzzles, that takes place in a giant castle. It has an excellent story, but the story doesn't offer much explanation for what happens and why. You really need to play it to understand why people give it so much praise. Look around, people are probably giving it away. I found it for $7 used at a local video vision a couple years ago.

BTW, it only took me about 7 hours to beat it, so its not that long.


Ok, I got shadow of the colossus today, and its AWSOME!!!!
I already defeated 7 of the colossi so I decided to take a break. It only took me about 3 hours, but it seems like they are getting harder as I progress (I hope so ;p). Also, I read that there are some bonus things you can do after you beat the game, but I can't remember what. Anyways, it was definitely worth its $40 price tag.

 

[Macbeth]

America may get games before England, but you remember one thing... most of the games we get later are improved and come with little things like postcards, maps, etc, and cute fold out cardboard cases displaying beautiful artwork while all you get is a quick translated version of the game in some crappy plastique case!

 

[Alpha2]

Well technically you get the same translation just with the Euro spelling edits.

But yeah the US regular gets the shitty end of the stick when it comes to extras assuming the game isnt being brough over by Working Designs.

As for what makes Ico so good. It's just lovingly crafted, you can tell that someone really cared when they made the game. They wanted you to like what you saw when you see the subtle yet incredibly realistic movments in the character animation, they wanted you to feel like you accomplished something when you figured out how to clear a puzzle, they wanted you to feel angry when they went after the helpless woman you're protecting with nothing more than a stick in the very begining.

Ever watch a Miyazaki animated movie and afterwards have the feeling like you wanted to keep thinking about what you just saw? The characters, the skill in animation, the quality of story? That's kinda the same thing I think you get from these games. You know they weren't ment to be huge happy colorful commercial sucesses like Crash Bandicoot or Legend fo Zelda, just as Porco Rosso didn't make as much box office cash as Shrek.

 

[lubidog]

Didn't IGN give Shadow 9.7, whereas Gamespot have only given it 8.4 (or something, can't be arsed to check!).

Anyway, the point is that some people love these games, and others just admire them.

BTW $7??? Have you seen the price of ICO on ebay recently???

 

[deadlychicken22]

Didn't IGN give Shadow 9.7, whereas Gamespot have only given it 8.4 (or something, can't be arsed to check!).

Anyway, the point is that some people love these games, and others just admire them.

​

Yes, some people simply love them (like me) while others just admire their artistic beauty but don't get into them quite as much. I think Gamespot gave it a 8.7, which, by gamespot's standards, is VERY good. Many of my favorite games got under a 9.0 on gamespot, so don't go just by the numbers, read the reviews.

BTW $7??? Have you seen the price of ICO on ebay recently???

​

looks like they're going for around $15 used on ebay unless there's a ton of last minute bidding..... If you can't afford the price on ebay then try to find one locally. Rental stores like video vision (where I got my copy) are practically giving them away because no one's renting them (they just don't do well with the masses). If you can't find it cheap, then you should look into renting it as its only about 7 hours long, you could probably beat it in one rental.

 

[shinneri]

I learned a long time ago not to trust reviews in decide whether I'll like a game or not.

As for Shadows of the Colossus, I want it. Now.