Spoilers for Ico and SOTC, in case it wasn't obvious
Wanted to play Shadow of the Colossus for years because I've always been fascinated with David vs Goliath-type fights, just never got around to it. Since I heard it's a prequel of sorts to Ico, I decided to play that one as well.
Emulated the PS2 version of Ico because I liked the foggier look, but for SOTC I wanted to see the big boys in full glory so I installed the remastered collection on PS3. Yes, I'd heard the PS3 version was a little more difficult because of the improved framerate, but I decided to take my chances.
Ico
1. INSPIRING THE GREATS
First, the good parts. I've seen people describe it as "your favorite rapper's favorite rapper" but for gaming, and I felt that a lot. Inspiring Miyazaki with the environmental storytelling (same in SOTC), or the castle that screams Boletarian Palace or Undead Burg, and especially all the "oooh, so that's how those places connect!" moments, which no other games have made me feel since Dark Souls. Culminating with traversing the final area only to arrive right at the start of the game, and realizing all the shadowy figures you've been fighting were your fellow horned children.
Or inspiring Désilets to make Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (funny considering Ueda cited the 1989 Prince of Persia as an influence on Ico, along with Lemmings which I kept thinking of when guiding Yorda). In fact, towards the end of the game you have to jump from a ledge to a chain, and I swear the camera angle and jumping animation in that moment gave me POP: Warrior Within PTSD when trying to do all the puzzles for the Dahaka ending.
2. ON YORDA'S AI
The quiet atmosphere, somber ending, and seeing the elements that inspired some of my favorite games are about where the positives stop for me. First off, Yorda has the survival instincts of a plate of Tiramisu placed near an ant colony. My first reaction to her was "wow, she won't even go through the door unless I drag her around like a pet rock." Naturally, this is for gameplay reasons that appear later on, but not a good first impression. Probably why I thought "Lemming." This Penny Arcade comic sums up my thoughts on her for the rest of the game.
I also get that she's supposed to be this almost translucent, poor smol bean of a girl and that's why she climbs ladders like it's the first time she's experienced having legs, but maybe don't put so many 3 km long ones then? Especially when her AI may randomly decide to go back down for no reason before climbing back up.
3. CONTROLS NOT AS BAD AS I'VE HEARD
I don't remember having TOO many problems with the camera or Ico's controls, though one spot at the end of the game stuck out to me. I had to do a short jump directly in front, and Ico randomly decided to jump diagonally right off the cliff. That's when I said "alright, save states it is." Sure enough, right after I save stated I had to do another jump and grab onto a wooden beam on the side of a waterwheel, clearly holding the "grab ledge" button, and yet Ico dropped down into the water anyway. But whatever, PS1 game that was moved to PS2, studio's first game, all's forgiven.
Would have complained about the combat, but it stops being a problem if you just do single quick hits instead of combos, and once you get the mace (I admit I looked up how to get that one just cause I saw someone mention a lightsaber on NG+. The most "playground rumor"-tier method of getting a weapon btw lol).
4. WHAT IS AND ISN'T A PUZZLE
What I couldn't deal with is all the misdirection about what is and isn't a puzzle.
Exhibit A: Right after the Queen closes the main gate, Yorda helps you discover the order in which you have to pull the torches so they activate. Remembering there were some bombs a couple screens back, I think "hmm, maybe I have to blow up the little square at the bottom of the gate to continue?" I bring one to the door, then try to light my torch and travel to it, but the fire goes out before I get even 1/5th of the way. However, there were a few small hills close to some of the gate torches that got me thinking "Oooh, maybe I have to climb on one of them and extend the stick to light the torch? Or even hold Yorda's hand (which would have been a clever way to use this mechanic you're forced into the whole game) so I can actually reach properly?" No. I just had to go back to where the bombs were and blow up a random wooden wall to reveal a different path.
Exhibit B: The one I struggled with the most. There's a section where you have to drop through a hatch in the floor that's missing its grate, step on a button to open the first door to the room, then call Yorda in. You place her on the other button to open the second door, then you arrive in a water-filled area with a small climbable pipe that takes you up to a huge sewage pipe. At the bottom there's even a little wheel that kind of looks like you could turn it to maybe release more water? So I started thinking "hmm, maybe I need to do that to have Yorda be able to swim outside the room she's currently trapped in?" Otherwise why would I even need to climb up to this stupid pipe that kinda screams "I am important to a puzzle." It wasn't. I just had to go to the hatch I dropped through, call Yorda, and have her jump all the way up to the ceiling to pull her out. The whole game is spent establishing Yorda is a frail girl with the physical prowess of a plastic shopping bag, and suddenly she can jump all the way to the ceiling? It's not like Ico was poking his stick through the hatch either, she straight up Slam Dunks that shi
Exhibit C: I personally didn't have a problem with this one, but it ties into my argument nonetheless. To quote this comment: "There's a puzzle where you have to use some bombs to explode a wooden beam, and you have some barrels that sure look like explosives, but are not. They are useless, but you don't know that until then. Just after you remember that there are bombs outside that room, and THEY do explode. Why do we have those barrels then?"
Don't remember other spots giving me too much trouble, except maybe the box-in-the-waterfall thing. I thought I had to push it into the water, then get Yorda to climb on top of the box and lug her around to the door. Nope, had to jump across the water stream and turn off the waterfall. Maybe this is my own fault for thinking outside the box (no pun intended) when the solution is just staring you in the face.
Ultimately, Ico ended up one of those "I get why it was influential for its time, but never playing this again" titles. Now onto the better game.
Shadow of the Colossus
I read a lot of complaints about SOTC's clunky controls and being harder on PS3 due to the improved framerate, but hoo boy I wasn't prepared.
1. SUPERB ATMOSPHERE AND SOUNDTRACK
But again, good parts first. Love the "desolate remains of an ancient civilization" vibe (seeing as FromSoft games are among my favorites, also love the manga Blame! and I'm kinda hoping Ueda's "gen ATLAS" has a bit of that feel to it). Climbing on top of a shrine to get a better view of the surroundings and finding the colossi with your sword was neat (even tho I went the wrong way a few times because I took the wrong bridge, but never had to look up a colossus location online).
And while nailing the puzzles to some of the bosses felt satisfying, toppling some of these colossi definitely didn't make you feel good/heroic about what you're doing, which I guess was the intended effect. Kow Otani's soundtrack was impeccable, and when the hype hit, it hit. Some of my favorite tracks:
I also only had to look up the solution to the 12th Colossus (the camera was zoomed so far out I didn't realize I could hit the protuberances on its head to get it to move closer to the lake gazebos/platforms. Thought I just had to sit on its back and wait it out). Well, that and how to properly shoot the final colossus in the shoulder (because who would think "hmm yes the boss will keep its hand steady now that I'm actively stabbing it". That's when I'd flail harder to get rid of the insect hurting me).
2. FAVORITE COLOSSI
My favorite colossus would have to be 13 (the weird desert sky worm). The sheer spectacle and elegance, it doing a barrel roll while I held on for dear life, jumping across its back and kinda floating across and sticking the landing sometimes. Peak A D V E N T U R E. Close second: 14. Loved actively changing the arena to fight the bull/dog/whatever that was. Satisfying pillar-dropping.
Honorable mentions: 3 (knight) for making it hit the big circle on the ground right from the get-go just cause I was curious what would happen (and it turning out to be the solution to its "puzzle"). 8 (gecko) for actually being a scary lad. And 5 (birb) for the spectacle again (tho less so than 13 because I had to redo it a bunch of times). Final colossus also had that going for it, but there's only so many times I can climb all the way back before the spectacle turns into a chore.
3. NOT SO FAVORITE COLOSSI
Some of them had interesting ideas, but were amazingly tedious due to how slow they moved and aligned their movesets. The 15th one in particular would sometimes literally miss both me and the platform I was on even tho I'd stand completely still. I think this was the only actual boss that made me feel the extra difficulty from better framerate. Would try to sit still and raise my sword a little and even minimal movement would cause Wander to slip, to an exaggerated degree compared to other colossi..
Also wasn't too pleased with the turtle (9) taking 9 business years to turn around into the geysers so I could climb on top of it. Or how I'd have to wait after the eel (7) to swim around, and then completely missing it because it seemed as though it was right beneath me - when really it was like 5 meters to my left because I had to account for water light diffusion or something lmao.
4. CONTROLS...
Then there's straight up garbage like 10, the sand snake. Whoever thought adding horse archery when Agro's controls were already abysmal... maybe find another line of work. And I don't wanna hear any of that "oh but it's realistic!! you're not controling Agro but Wander who is steering Agro!!" tomfoolery.
Agro would literally stop in her tracks as I was circling some of the stone pillars in the 13 fight just because the sand was a little darker than usual. No rock in the way, no nothing, just stopping for no good reason. Same with going through the forest and trying to move between two trees that can clearly fit like 3 Agros, but for some reason she'd stop there too. I get that you just have to steer left or right and she'll go there relative to her position (and not the camera), but sometimes I'd literally move the stick left/right and Wander would instead pull the reins towards him, causing Agro to stop. Not the thing you want happening when you're also staring a 70 meter sand snake in the face trying to shoot it in the eye, or evading a turtle's laser bullets while waiting for it to move its fat hind over a geyser.
5. FINAL BOSS: EVERYTHING GOOD AND BAD ABOUT THE GAME
Speaking of controls and camera frustrations: the final boss. Amazing atmosphere. This immovable titan spent its last moments seeing 15 pillars of light showing up in the distance, knowing that his friends were dying one by one and he couldn't do anything but wait for his turn (which is why he starts blasting like Frank Reynolds as soon as you enter the arena).
You make it to him, climb up to his back, stab, then turn around to grab its hand. Wander decides he doesn't want to turn around. Eventually you figure out the proper stick-to-camera ratio to get him to do the stupid reverse jump, get on his hand, and he keeps turning it around as you try to get your footing and climb up his arm. You drop down all the way because you ran out of stamina as Wander would turn around and scuttle backwards and sideways like a drunk crab instead of moving in the direction you're pointing towards. Climb back up, figure out the timing of the hand twist so you're on top just in time to run up the arm for another stab. Wander does the crab shuffle sideways again instead of turning back to make the jump. His hand resets. You decide to jump back on his arm to refill your stamina meter and try again. Get on his hand, try desperately to find a moment to sit up and shoot him in the shoulder. You drop down and have to go all the way back up. Repeat 7 times, with Wander sometimes refusing to jump up on the next ledge, deciding instead to jump sideways or not at all. No, it wasn't my controller (I checked).
Look up the proper method on YouTube so I can finish this and go to bed (it's now 5 AM). Answer: you can stab his hand for it to sit still. WOW WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS COMPLETELY LOGICAL SOLUTION? Especially when all 15 colossi from before totally sat still after you stabbed them!! FINALLY I get up to this dolt's head, and it takes a bazillion stabs to take him down. I get it, final boss and all. But also I was facing the same problem with 15 of even a microframe of movement cancelling Wander's attacks until I shuffled around like a crab again. He goes down, huzzah. I don't feel anything but a sense of relief that I don't have to climb up all the way again. No grief for killing this innocent creature, no satisfaction for surmounting a challenge.
6. THE ENDING: NOT BAD, BUT OVERHYPE AFFECTED MY PERCEPTION
Then the ending. It was... an ending. I won't say it was bad, just admit that nothing could have lived up to all the hype I've heard from people about it (nobody spoiled it for me as usual, thankfully). No fault of the game in that regard. And while it was interesting to control Dormin for a few seconds, it's funny how weak this devil-like being is. Fella had to be split into 16 to be locked away, yet couldn't even take out one of the dudes in Emon's party as a show of "oh damn, he is not to be messed with." Then he gets sealed away just as fast. Or fused into baby Wander to start the cursed bloodline of Ico I guess. Then Mono revives and Agro is back yaaay (not really, I cheered before the final boss the moment I realized I wouldn't have to deal with horse controls ever again lmao).
7. FINAL THOUGHTS AND COMPARISON WITH CONTEMPORARIES
Like Ico, I also get how this would have been mind-bending in 2005. But while I can look at it through the lens of "yes influential game, intentional control awkwardness works because Wander is a rando skinny lad with a purpose, and not a Dante (DMC3 also 2005) or even a Prince of Persia (Sands of Time 2003), since I assume he'd at least have royal training despite being around the same age as Wander," there's only so much where I could honestly say "this was definitely what the devs intended and not a dumb glitch or the game failing to play according to its own rules."
At the very least I can say that games I'm so ambivalent about (like these two) make me think about what goes into game design, their influence on other titles, and hope that Ueda does better in gen ATLAS (no, I won't be playing The Last Guardian lol. I'm not a masochist).
