Donlevy Reviews Ico & Shadow of the Colossus!

Welcome welcome, fellow people! If you're coming from Tumblr, or anywhere else, be sure to check out my introduction earlier in the blog! And as always, thanks for checking this all out! I hope you enjoy the premiere review on this blog! 

As I teased through Tumblr, I do in fact have a double helping of game reviews for you today! Consider it payment for my missing of the previous content days. The two games in question are Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, both of which can be found remastered on one wonderful disc for the PS3, as shown above (which also features the FAR superior European/Japanese Ico boxart. The North American one is just terrible.). The games were originally released on the PS2 in 2001 and 2005, respectively, and both share many similarities, as well as Shadow of the Colossus being a spiritual prequel of sorts to Ico. Both games make wonderful use of simplicity and minimalist design to showcase the world and respective game mechanics, as well as allow the player to piece together and elaborate upon the stories at their own behest. These are wonderful games, and are a testament to the power of the PS2, as well as the magnitude for interactive storytelling. Absolutely two of the most defining puzzle games in video game art, and each hold up remarkably well in the new and awesome HD collection for the PS3. But I know you...oh yes, you want details, do you not? Very well then.
Quick note: I'm only using one Donlevy Spectrum (trademark still pending), and that will be for both games together, since their overall positives and negatives are largely similar. Newcomers: yes indeed, I use a Spectrum for reviewing!

Ico

Ico involves very little backstory: you play as the young boy Ico, after he is lead into a prison-like castle by members of his village, for the sole reason of possessing horns upon his head. As you begin to explore after breaking free, you come across a mysterious young girl named Yorda, whom Ico is unable to understand when she tries to speak. Regardless, you control Ico as you quite literally guide Yorda through the castle, attempting to find a means for the both of you to escape the vast castle grounds. Along the way however, eerie shadow-like figures emerge to try and recapture Yorda, and you must defend her with Ico's weapon, either a plank of wood or, eventually, a sword. Failure to do so results in a Game Over, and a transport back to one of your last saves, which take the form of strange stone benches found in various locations throughout the castle. To help Yorda move and advance through the castle, your duty is to solve the various puzzles that make up the areas, usually involving climbing and jumping, or the moving of certain objects.

Ico offers practically no "hand-holding" to the player (rather ironic given that that's the main mechanic of the game) and despite a sometimes linear path, leaves it up to you to explore the castle and discover what to do. This is largely one of the best aspects of the game, in that it makes success all the more satisfying when you complete a task. However, it can lead to unruly frustration at times, and particularly at the beginning, it can drain the desire out of any new player. See, with a game like Ico where so little is directly revealed to you, both in story and in gameplay, it can feel like there is lack of incentive at the beginning to continue past the immediately tricky or obtuse puzzles. In this, it does require a lot of the player, and it makes Ico somewhat demanding, but it absolutely is worth seeing to the end, despite the reticent structure. Lack of direction or directive can eat up your time playing this game, and while it's admirable, it can be a real pain when the solution or path is hindered by either the camera or misdirection. Indeed, there are more than a few environmental "red herrings" of sorts that can throw you off your course. Boxes that can be moved, and some that can't. A long corridor that leads to nowhere in particular. It's all part of the fun of exploring, but Ico is not impervious to annoyance. And it doesn't help that the controls and camera are far from perfect. The controls are very sensitive, with Ico sometimes jittering and falling over an edge with no intent, or jumping off a (very high) ledge by mistake. And with the camera, the placement and tricky depth of field can mask your task, or just make a jump a little too difficult. Still, the rest of the puzzles are very well designed, and never require too much from the player, as you have an intentionally limited number of actions to take at any given time, and you'll understand what you need to do. If progress is ever hindered, you will get through it eventually.

And as you solve the puzzles and progress through the castle, you'll begin to form a unique story of it all, almost entirely implicitly. The castle and the land is mysterious and haunting, with an isolated yet disturbed feeling that echoes throughout the chambers and courtyards. Ico specializes in a minimalist philosophy for it's setting, and everything from the fog from beneath or the broken statues and benches contributes to a really unique and fascinating atmosphere. As a game from 2001, the game still holds up well graphically, and the HD update goes a long way to pushing the lighting and emphasizing colour. There isn't a lot of music to speak of, apart from the AWESOME credits song, as much of the sound design comes in the form of ambience and sound effects, but it goes a long way towards the setting and tone.

So apart from some frustrating controls and camera, and some annoying misdirection, Ico is a special game with a wonderfully unique narrative and setting, and some intensely satisfying moments that last even past the end. It was something of a hidden gem during the PS2 days, but now with this HD Collection, Ico truly gets to shine as an early and stellar example of art direction within a game. Very cool indeed.


Shadow of the Colossus

Similar to Ico, the backstory to Shadow of the Colossus is short and simple, but a bit more elaborate. You play as Wander, a young man who has fled his village with his horse Agro, and the body of his beloved, Mono, after she was sacrificed in a village ritual. Wander ventures to a mysterious and forbidden land far beyond his home in a bid to resurrect Mono with the help of the deity Dormin, no matter the cost. To do so requires the death of sixteen Colossi that inhabit the vast land, and with Agro, Wander sets out to find and eliminate the various Colossi.

Embarking from a central shrine, the entire landscape opens up for Wander and Agro to travel to. The area is vast in both scale and scope, and while much of this game will indeed be spent travelling around, it is never dull. The areas are varied and serene, but yet very isolated, and it adds to a haunting and scenic journey wherever you go. Crossing a narrow path alongside a mountain only to peek down at the enormous lake below is a marvellous sight, and it is at times like these where the game feels majestic and wondrous, and a bond is formed with Agro, your only companion along the way. Controlling Agro across the land is very tricky at first, as you have to adjust to different speeds for different occasions, and it can be frustrating to control Agro by an edge, but eventually the controls will be learned enough to perform a few useful tricks as you gallop across the land. There are different, but subtle, secrets to uncover as you go around, such as different save shrines, or collecting food and shining lizard tails that improve your health and Grip gauge (which will be mentioned shortly). These secrets are easy to miss, but along with a time trial mode and several other unlockables, these add to the gameplay and replayability by a good margin.

You have at your disposal a bow with unlimited arrows, as well as an invaluable sword which directs you to the next Colossus via the reflecting of sunlight. Before leaving the shrine to find them, Dormin will leave you with a hint and slight description (in the form of an idol) about the next Colossus to defeat, and the cryptic and cool nature leaves you guessing in anticipation. Reaching each respective Colossus can range from simply finding the closest path, or past a series of complex platforms and jumps (a la Ico). Finding the correct path can sometimes be a hassle, as the sunlight sometimes directs you to an area in which a path is not immediately observable. Finding the Colossi is a puzzle unto itself, and I certainly found it enjoyable thanks to the aforementioned fun of travel, even if it was sometimes quite befuddling. But the bulk of this games awesome nature comes in the form of taking on each respective, and quite varied, Colossi. Each Colossus require a different strategy to take down, each themselves a puzzle, but the one common element found throughout the massive battles is climbing. I mean, you'd be pretty useless if the only thing you could do in the game was shoot petty arrows at these behemoths. As I mentioned before, you have a Grip gauge, or rather a Stamina gauge, and you are at it's mercy as you climb a Colossus in search of their weak points, where you must then use your sword to bring them down. Holding on to fur or ledges slowly decreases the gauge, as does minor things like firing the bow and swimming (yes, there is a terrifying water-based Colossus), and if your gauge runs out, well: *pheuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu splat*. Climbing and figuring out how to take down each respective Colossi is fantastic fun, and every single fight feels like a tremendous boss battle on an epic scale, and solving the puzzle of the Colossus and taking them down is a wonderfully satisfying feeling. These are truly memorable fights, and each of the Colossi exhibits different habits and dispositions; some are indifferent to Wander, while others are fiercely aggressive, and it makes the Colossi feel more unique and mysterious than simple enemies.

Compared to Ico, the soundtrack to Shadow of the Colossus is much more bombastic and epic to fit with the battles and triumphs. Nary but the sound of wind can be heard when exploring the world, but in a fight, the music changes dynamically to what's happening in the battle. As Wander approaches the Colossi, or maintains his distance, the music is tense and daunting, but when Wander begins to climb the Colossus, the music changes to a sweeping and hugely awesome triumphant score. Because I can, hear one of the tracks in question here: BOOM LINK. Also with Ico, Shadow of the Colossus holds up great as part of the HD Collection. The lighting and spectacular shadows that can also be found in Ico continue to add and enhance the atmosphere and design, and the aesthetic of the Colossi is still fantastic, as it really comes through in High Def. There's a slight film grain effect which kind of shows it's age, but for the rest of the game, I have no complaints.

So yeah, Shadow of the Colossus kicks all leagues of butt. It's a memorable and intensely satisfying adventure with a vast and haunting world to explore, a minimalist aesthetic that enhances everything, and a simple story that, like Ico, leaves much to the player while still including many various details. The gameplay in the Colossus fights is stellar and engaging, and while it shares Ico's problem of having a trying camera and some finicky and unreliable controls, it was never unplayable or repulsive. An amazing experience.

And as a summary, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are simply glorious. Actions speak louder than words, and both games present fantastic stories and adventures whilst speaking on only a handful of occasions in each case. The use of minimalism enhances the two in ways that were quite groundbreaking at the time, and now it makes them some of the best games that combine artistic expression and excellent gameplay, as they leave lasting impacts on those who play them. Having both Ico & Shadow of the Colossus together in HD for a new generation is a wonderful thing, and I highly encourage you to give them a look.

Ico & Shadow of the Colossus 

 

YAY

• Fantastic, haunting, and immersive atmosphere and aesthetic for both games. 
• Able to tell so much with so little.
• Challenging, varied, and wonderfully fun puzzles.
• Each game is incredibly satisfying all the way to completion.

NAY

• Limited camera angles frequently work against the player.
• In Ico's case, lack of any instruction can lead to early frustration.
• Imprecise controls can result in avoidable mistakes.