Ico ps2

ICO

Developed by: SCEI

Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment

Released: September 25, 2001

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Oh you knew it was coming, didn't you? Yes, we all love us some adventures about a mute girl and a horned boy just trying to get the hell out of a castle clearly meant to keep them there. But what starts with a boy bucking his destiny quickly turns into an escape act for two of the most intrinsically endearing people in the history of gaming. ICO did some very amazing things; it introduced puzzles on a scale that hadn't really been seen before, offered a constant reminder of the wooded safety that awaited you just across a bridge that you only had to get to, and gave us Yorda and Ico, two characters that seemed to move through a dream world of immaculate lighting and level design with no care to just how impressive it all was.

And when Yorda took a leap across a gorge, reaching out for Ico's hand and just making it, you felt it -- you felt it every time she leapt, almost missed and was dragged up to the next puzzle. You did it because she felt real; just as everything in this world did. You did it even more once you learned the identity of the person who'd put you there. ICO is often held up as art and it absolutely is. It provokes emotion (despite not actually having a true narrative or character development), it provides breathtaking vistas and it makes for some of the best puzzles ever found on any game. That's how good ICO is.