Ico: Youth in Revolt

Summary: Ico is a game about a cursed boy trapped inside an ancient island fortress filled with gloomy creatures, eroded mechanical relics, spacious levels, and a ghastly prisoner named Yorda. To put it simply: Your game disc contains an endangered species. 

Left alone inside a stone crypt as a sacrifice for the Dark Queen, Ico’s fate seemed cruel. As fortress machines strain and grind, shaking the ancient tomb, Ico’s makeshift coffin spills out its human component. In his dazed state Ico is shown a vision of a pale beauty trapped and alone within the nightmare void of a tower.

Thus begins your journey into the complex labyrinth of mystery and adventure.

Ico’s controls are very simple mirroring the child hero. He can run, climb, push, shimmy along small ledges, swim, carry, and interact with the numerous mechanical devices scattered across the vast fortress. Ico's repertoire of moves is a standard affair in a game like this, but what sets this gem apart from all the other games is the inclusion of the secondary character, Yorda.

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Not being as athletic and flexible as the cursed boy, Yorda needs to be looked after often. Depending where the girl is on the map you can either, call her to Ico’s side, or take her by the hand and lead her about the environment. A lot of times you need to pull her up to higher ledges. In the more intense moments you are called upon to react fast, by puling Yorda out of the vortex gateways that serve as portals to the snagging shadow creatures.

Yorda is the key element to unlocking, and activating the numerous mysterious doors and devices that react only to her powers. Having Yorda always present at the end of each level makes the varied and devious puzzles that need to be solved very intense. You often need to investigate the surroundings while clearing a path for her, by lowering ladders, opening doors, blasting structures, positioning her on floor switches or giving her a helpful shove.

Ico’s environments are grand, yet minimalistic in design. You’ll scurry through crawl-spaces, shimmy on window ledges, and perform risky jumps from one structure onto the next – hanging for dear life is a reoccurring theme in Ico. Some of the levels are vast and comprise of many different conjoined sections. As you progress, you’ll often notice places in the distance you’ve been through, or eventually end up in later.

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The best thing about Ico’s level design is that nothing seems apparent at first glance. You need to take time and observe the stage from different angles, training yourself to notice things like ledges, chains, levers, or any suspicious objects that might help or hinder your progress. You have access to a free-roaming camera, and an option to zoom on points of interest, this makes puzzle elements easier on the mind. Whit skillful poise, traversing the treachery of the dungeon will become second nature to seasoned and new players alike.

This game has very encompassing ambiance: in the inner chambers water drips onto cobble stones, torches blaze with fire, chains rustle, and the rustic gears of the fortress pyramid-like machinery keep grinding on your nerves. In contrast, the outside world teems with sounds of birds, insects, and trees swaying to a swinging symphony of your adventure.

The unusual way of traversing in this game forms a really close bond between the player and the two characters; until now, this kind of personal attachment was only possible in the best written novels where character development could flourish aided by personal imagination. In a way, this game is a book you play rather than read.

Ico is a perfect  game for couples. Play and watch your partner distress every time you neglect Yorda; or cheer for every last-second rescue and puzzle solved. 

Developer: Team Ico
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PS2, PS3
Released: 2001
Genre: Action-adventure, puzzle