วีดีโอ

9:00 i didn't understand. Yorda entering the bridge doesn't look subtle

I would like to note first, ive never played or heard of this game prior to now but after hearing this theory i have one bit to add as a suggestion. It was mentioned as an allegory that maybe Ico needs a "scent" to track like a dog. If we go under that same allegory maybe his knowledge of where Yorda is even without having seen where she had been moved is an unconscious usage of his power. In the same way that a dog may recall a scent, Ico yearns to get back to Yorda and due to that unconscious want his abilities accurately tracked her. Once he does find her the camera still tracks to her for a long while, up until even the boss fight and only then does it track his sword. This can be explained because...well, grief. This is conjecture because of my lack of knowledge, but in the same way we may think intently about a loved one who has passed, even years after theyre gone, Ico's bond with Yorda does the same. Its only when theres a pressing life or death need that his ability tracks his sword, something he actively must seek to defeat the boss, likely one who also hurt Yorda. His ability reacts to his desire, and in that moment it was to defeat the creature. He needs his sword to do so, thus his ability tracks his sword.

Bro literally yells to see better.

These are some really compelling observations and theories. I hate to admit, but Ico's yell always felt... "inelegant" to me, so it never ever occurred to me to call out to Yorda when she wasn't present (i.e. in the room with me), and if I *had* ever tried it, I likely wouldn't have given the camera positioning any more thought than "ah, that must be where I'm supposed to head", without ever linking the camera's focus to Yorda's position. Frankly, it's mind-blowing to me that anyone would ever think to call out during the boss fight!

R1 also shouts in the Last Guardian.

I bet Yorda's love of birds is meant to symbolize her desire for freedom. I mean, we basically find her in an extra-spiky bird cage.

Awesome video! This is the ultimate "vibes" game. I really love the simple yet iconic design of this castle - it's so much like Laputa, but you can really sense the dormant yet evil undercurrent. It's the castle of an evil sorceress... but the weather is nice and it's just empty and eerie.

ICO walked, so that Antonblast could run (and scream really goddamn loud)

Super super cool. Almost sounds like Half-Life 1 music.

Yo nice sentence for a wedding!

I can't believe i have never noticed the horned figure in the sigil omg, now i can't unsee it. And to add to that Fumito Ueda went to a Art university, and as someone who also did a very usual and proeminent contet of study is iconography, which is exactly the study of symbols and images throughout human history and culture and what could they mean related to their context, place, history and religion.

I see. A lot of recycled textures.

SotC and ICO still have stuff for us to dig for and look into. I sadly never played sotc. I did play ICO when it came out. I was like 11 or so never really beat it sadly 😢 last place I remember was the windmill puzzle.

Is Ico actually Wander from shadow of colossus?

When i played ICO as a kid i always assumed his call switched to the sword because (after the fall) the princess' light was sealed...and now the sword is the onlything emmiting that energy.

This is what finally got me to start playing the game, not super far but Very glad this video found it's way to me. Thank ya for you work

I think its design (a helpful tool to orient the player and let them know things are happening/where to go so they don't get lost or frustrated) came first, and then they saw that they could tie it in to the narrative.

Maybe it's not even a horned figure. The pattern kinda resembles some magical circuitry, or maybe even a depiction of a hallway. An open passage perhaps? Maybe both. Man these games are full of mystery. It's really quite fantastic.

I wonder if the queen "took" Yorda's power/essence from her, and it's at least partly in the sword, powering it. A darker interpretation, but maybe not impossible.

Nice work cataloguing these! I only ever saw the sewer hint at 6:00. Still, it made enough of an impression on me that I once wrote about it here: lefthandedgamer.blogspot.com/2006/12/hotel-yorda.html "Frustration was setting in; the point at which the only reason you haven't looked up the answer in a FAQ is sheer wounded pride. Suddenly, Yorda paused in her random wanderings. She stood on one point, pointing up at the ceiling excitedly. 'Ico!' she exclaimed. I looked to where she was pointing, and sure enough - one of the drains had no cover. All I had to do was help her climb up. She solved the puzzle for me. She had worked it out for herself. Because we were a team.”

That's an awesome find about the cage crane path! Can the crane in the throne room be seen with the normal camera in gameplay? I also love the work you did investigating whether the castle was modified over the ages. When I first played Ico, I got the impression that the castle had seen several owners who used it for different purposes and the Queen was a recent squatter, so I find analyses like this especially interesting!

The sofa actually being a sofa in the pilot film is pretty interesting. I always found it weird and kinda anachronistic that the save point is a sofa, and especially weird that it's seemingly made of stone since not only are sofas a more modern invention but making one of pure stone seems both a waste of the stone and not particularly comfortable to sit on. Maybe it being a sofa is simply a reference to the pilot film or maybe it was an actual sofa at some point in development before being turned into a stone sofa?

Much like how vampires can't cross running water, I've heard that some cultures believes spirits can't do that either. While some of these shallow waters do run, perhaps water that's deep enough, let alone running, has an effect that negates these spirits? As for Yorda in the ending, she might be just alive enough (especially if the beach scene isn't a dream) due to thwarting the ritual, and it may also help that she's seemingly in her own body.

This is an insightful video! Personally, I think that Ico is mostly remembering where he last knew Yorda was, but in the final act of the game, he infers that the Queen might finally start a ritual and the room where was imprisoned is the most likely spot. The magic of the sword may also be able to respond to Ico in some way and help him find it. However, I do think that Ico and Yorda's bond throughout the game might take on a power of its own even without anything like ESP present. Ico's dream could have a mystical aspect tied more to dreams in the setting than a power he has, and his distress may have resonated with Yorda's own. The nature of dreams in the setting could also be why Ico gets a vision of the Queen's plans for Yorda and the other dangers in the castle without the Queen and the souls enslaved to serve her seemingly realizing this. Another possibility for the sword is that Ico has associated it with his goals and focuses on it now because it can help him save Yorda and also protect himself, and he might be calling out due to stress. Perhaps sound can also bounce off of the sword to a degree, similar to how the Queen's waves of dark magic are deflected. As for Ico on the beach, he might see something or someone in the distance, which proves to be Yorda, and is calling for help, while at the start of the game Ico is calling for help in a more aimless sense, hence why the camera stays focused on him. Depending on the bond though, Ico might sense that Yorda is at the beach too. Thanks again for this lovely video! Ico is a genuinely fabulous game and I found myself enjoying it a great deal even after playing Shadow of the Colossus first. I'm grateful that Ico was created and that it influenced so many people to create their own magnificent games and works of art.

She is taller than ico?

That's so interesting! I'm always amazed at the level of detail in these games, everytime I feel someone points me something new! Doylist (out-of-universe) explanation for the camera is tracking your current goal. Watsonian (in-universe) explanation is definitely ESP/magical sense. Maybe it's something that awakened in him by being trapped in the coffin? Ico was to become one of the shadows, so he'd have to be able to sense his master's presence (this could also explain the premonition). The Queen's sword has pretty much the same properties as Yorda's magic, too, I assume Ico pinpoints it because he got used to Yorda('s magic) in the time they were together.

love the idea of the shared dream! i personally always viewed R1 as having the main purpose of "pointing to yorda, whereever she is in the world", and ico yelling out is just how that's justified. didn't really consider the fact that he turns to face that direction as well. very cool. personally i like to believe yorda is helping him spiritually through the final battle as well because it's cool and awesome.

I adore this game. I played it a couple of years ago on my PS2 console connected to my 720p TV using component cables. I really want to play it again but the image is so washed out, not clear like this, and any bright white light in the area completely bleaches out the screen. The game is excellent at making you feel you are in a VAST area, and I was blown away by the water pool around the windmill

The main gate having the same light magic as Yorda may throw off the idea, but you could also argue that the only times you really interact with it she's there with Ico. Given their bond, it's likely he'd focus on her rather than the gate, similar to the idols she can open never being focused on via R1. In the Queen fight, he'd know that Yorda was trapped in stone so the sword takes priority since it can help free her. Just a thought there. Anyway interesting theory. Given how much of the Team Ico games have their story told through the gameplay mechanics, I doubt the camera focusing on certain points is solely done for gameplay.

I was aware of that but blame it on te clunkiness of early PS2 games but now you demostrate was on purpouse makes a lot of sense, exept for the start when he calls Yorda without even knowing her, but that was the clunkiness I was talking about, very common in those times.. anyway awesome content new sub

Fuck yeah another channel about Team ICO's games

Sounds like it would fit right in with a Shin Megami Tensei game

Well, so this cofirm the theory that the female part of Dormin really revived Mono in Shadow of the Colossus. Because in sotc's intro, it's said that Dormin can control light, and (in this theory) Ico is descendent of wander-mono/dormin, so he greew up with the power of sense the light.

Great video

Honestly I should play ICO again, its been so long since me and my sister beat it. I am not sure if I even took notice of the little details back then that you showcase, so thank you for making these videos

It means nothing for the story. It's literally a button to focus on Yorda, and call her over to you, and/or to focus on an important thing, like the sword. As for not removing it when object is not in same room, that would cost more code, and wasn't needed to be added.

Maybe they didn't want to have shadows swimming, and the instakill was a mean to fix if something goes wrong and shadows start going into water. It's nie to have a channel analyzing ICO like yours! It's a game I like a lot but there just isn't much to watch about it ob YT

Sean! Sean!!

This isn't "overthinking". Stop self-depreciating, and depreciating the practice of thinking about games and their meaning. Mechanics are the language of games, and do encode meaning. The question is, what kind, when, and where. I never finished ICO, but I love Fumito Ueda, which is why I am here, and I'm sure I'll love this video, too. 9:58-10:50 don't make me repeat myself. 13:48 I think this interpretation is true, but I abhor the word choice. It is too formal, exact, scientific, and yes, even super-heroey. It's like saying that Silent Hill isn't similar to this-and-that; it doesn't feel, look or taste like so; doesn't seem to be anything, it just *IS* this. Makes it horrifically less interesting. Drop this business, or better yet, invite the reader to wonder with you. 14:19 this again. Extrasensory feats. This is NOT not the Mutants & Masterminds rulebook. 15:23 conjecture without evidence, my sire, does not therefore, significate that an absence of evidence, is itself true. First of all, I frequently watch 10 mins or more, and abhor short-form-video. I think this video could, and should have been shorter, considering its subject, and what was shown about it. Around 10 or 13 minutes. Maybe it "couldn't" have, but regardless, it felt too long to me. Some of the best Ueda videos I have ever seen were around this length, from Nomad Colossus to Siegarettes. It could even be shorter, and be amazing, like Zulie the Witch's. I personally just find around 10 perfect. You credited your songs, which is good, and the text-only format is very nice.

even if ICO seems invincible.. the more damage he faces, the more "shadow like" he becomes. after certain amount of damage / if Yorda is taken, a similar darkness wave like the queen's 1 hit attack, happens instantly, and it's an instant game over.