I know this video game because of its great fame, I've heard about it for years and years but I've never played it. I started playing it two days ago and I'm almost finished. I love it, it's a masterpiece. Your videos came out just now that I started playing it. Thank you so much for your immense work, I hope more video analyzes of this pearl come out!
This is a pretty well-known one, but the first time in the game she opens an idol door she seems a bit astonished/afraid, as though she didn't know that she could do that.
This is awesome and very thorough! Yorda walk/falling from moving platform at stone pillar (which is really more of a cutscene glitch), or falling from a high bridge when a shadow drops her if you hit it, and Yorda getting hit by boxes or bombs are all I can think of that's missing. The bombs and boxes show that even though she is timid, she's super tough. The fall from heights shows she is still mortal.
I noticed most of these behaviours during my many playthroughs, butI never saw thewaterfall one. At first, I thought that maybe she was looking at the idol door or that you pushed down the box into the water and she was trying to pathfind to it, but the longer she spent just looking at the water, the more I believed that she was really just in awe. I like your explanation about Yorda running ahead of Ico in somw areas. Personally, I used to think that she was excited when she saw the main gate was open, but that she ran ahead in the arenas for a different reason. The doors shut behind the two right after Ico stepping off something looking like a pressure plate, so I always thought that she ran onto the pressure plate to keep the door open for Ico to follow, because she already knows the castle. Your explanation about her wanting to leavethe castle just as much as Ico really pulled on my heartstrings. One thing that I expected during the part about her fears was a few clips of her walking close to ledges and looking down, pacing around before stopping and shaking her head at Ico. I always believed that she has really bad fear of heights because of hertime spent in the cage at the top of the tower with a rusty chain that broke just because a small boy jumped onto the cage. I really love your videos. Back in the day, I always wanted people to make videos about ICO like they did about SotC. It really takes me back about 15 years when I discovered all the theory and alalysis channels about SotC. Keep up the amazing work!
@@drawsandfails4286 Thanks for the kind words! I also double checked to see if she was pathfinding towards a box at the Waterfall segment, I worried I may have done that step of the puzzle early and forgotten. But I can guarantee that the box for that puzzle was still in the corner of the Sluice/Waterwheel area. I also caught her doing it on the little rope bridge once, but her animation was more quickly interrupted there. Thus why I lead her to the spot I did, for the animation to loop properly. I never considered the East and West Arena pressure plates and the idea of Yorda stopping a trap she knew was laid there. But then again, a lot of things just malfunction in this castle (like every lever after you pull it once) and I’m not sure if that’s all just game design convenience or narratively explained in some small way. Maybe Ico’s curse does bring that misfortune the villagers feared, but it manifests as him accidentally breaking nearly every old mechanism he touches. I think the fear of heights was expressed by Yorda’s refusal to make certain jumps, including the drop at East Arena I demonstrated. But for the most part, I think her fear is just a healthy concern, because there are actually a lot of fatal drops in this environment. It’s not exactly indicative of her character if everyone should be afraid of these heights. I’m really glad you appreciate these videos and I’m happy to return you to that time frame. Funnily enough, Nomad has been making an effort towards looking under the hood of ICO lately, so I guess it’s really just been a slow renaissance of ICO discussion and discovery ever since the 20th anniversary.
That's nuts! I didn't know Yorda could drop so far 😮I always loved her little 'yelp' of fear though! Also, I thought Yorda runs through the door without ICO at the Waterfall level? That is when they leave it to move onto the next level.
@@NomadColossus I double checked both the entrance and exit to Waterfall, but I think it's a case of mistaken memory, cause she didn't run ahead in either case.
I am amazed at the work you do. It's heartwarming to see someone have so much love for Ico and Ueda and his team''s work in general, and I would like to thank you for putting together all this information on Ico into these (amazing) videos. Lord bless you man 🙏🙏
Great video! I do have to note though on your last point with Yorda running through idol gates before Ico, I like your interpretation but I think it might be that way purely for gameplay reasons, since the you *need* Yorda to be in those rooms with Ico (so that the cutscenes can play and the doors can lock behind you). They didn't want Ico to be able to enter those rooms without her so she runs in first. Again, awesome video, just my thoughts.
You make a fair point. They did need Yorda to be ahead of you in all those areas, in order for them to work as intended. Still, they chose to animate her dashing forward like she was excited. And instead of having her do that everywhere for the sake of consistency, it was reserved for the places where it would mean the most to your escape. There is a Doylist explanation, but I don't think that shouldn't overshadow the Watsonian explanation.
@@Mystic_Ode That is true, I suppose while playing I mostly noticed it from a gameplay perspective since it stood out to me that way, thinking "Why would the developers have her run ahead of you here specifically?" rather than, "Why would Yorda?". I agree with your interpretation, thanks for the response!
staring at the windmill, i noticed that the cloth is moving in the wind and remembered how cool that type of effect looked in mgs3's opening cutscene when snake's suit would ripple violently. i wonder how they went about doing it back in the ps2 days, is it just a matter of displacing the geo with a noise texture of some sorts or did the use the same process as animating Ico's cape cloth thing
Hey, I noticed that you have a playlist with some music similar to ICO's soundtrack. I think you would like the album "Moon Mermaid" by Kow Otani, he made the Shadow of the Colossus OST, but this one has much more ICO vibes to me.
![ICO - Understanding Yorda [Post Script]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/evIlR1396Go/mqdefault.jpg)
![ICO - Understanding Yorda [Post Script]](/img/tr.png)
![ICO - E3 2001 Stock Footage [Best Quality]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/g05wLsdIyb0/mqdefault.jpg)
![HIWWHEE | OHM [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OJJLtTLqLag/mqdefault.jpg)
Such an amazing attention to detail on such an old game. When Ueda finishes his new Game in 2049 it'll be interesting to see
It's been more than twenty years and we're still finding stuff! What a game
I know this video game because of its great fame, I've heard about it for years and years but I've never played it. I started playing it two days ago and I'm almost finished. I love it, it's a masterpiece. Your videos came out just now that I started playing it. Thank you so much for your immense work, I hope more video analyzes of this pearl come out!
This is a pretty well-known one, but the first time in the game she opens an idol door she seems a bit astonished/afraid, as though she didn't know that she could do that.
this is a fantastic video! you deserve way more subscribers man, keep at it!
This is very comprehensive and well put together. I'm impressed
This is awesome and very thorough!
Yorda walk/falling from moving platform at stone pillar (which is really more of a cutscene glitch), or falling from a high bridge when a shadow drops her if you hit it, and Yorda getting hit by boxes or bombs are all I can think of that's missing. The bombs and boxes show that even though she is timid, she's super tough. The fall from heights shows she is still mortal.
I noticed most of these behaviours during my many playthroughs, butI never saw thewaterfall one. At first, I thought that maybe she was looking at the idol door or that you pushed down the box into the water and she was trying to pathfind to it, but the longer she spent just looking at the water, the more I believed that she was really just in awe.
I like your explanation about Yorda running ahead of Ico in somw areas. Personally, I used to think that she was excited when she saw the main gate was open, but that she ran ahead in the arenas for a different reason. The doors shut behind the two right after Ico stepping off something looking like a pressure plate, so I always thought that she ran onto the pressure plate to keep the door open for Ico to follow, because she already knows the castle. Your explanation about her wanting to leavethe castle just as much as Ico really pulled on my heartstrings.
One thing that I expected during the part about her fears was a few clips of her walking close to ledges and looking down, pacing around before stopping and shaking her head at Ico. I always believed that she has really bad fear of heights because of hertime spent in the cage at the top of the tower with a rusty chain that broke just because a small boy jumped onto the cage.
I really love your videos. Back in the day, I always wanted people to make videos about ICO like they did about SotC. It really takes me back about 15 years when I discovered all the theory and alalysis channels about SotC. Keep up the amazing work!
@@drawsandfails4286 Thanks for the kind words! I also double checked to see if she was pathfinding towards a box at the Waterfall segment, I worried I may have done that step of the puzzle early and forgotten. But I can guarantee that the box for that puzzle was still in the corner of the Sluice/Waterwheel area. I also caught her doing it on the little rope bridge once, but her animation was more quickly interrupted there. Thus why I lead her to the spot I did, for the animation to loop properly.
I never considered the East and West Arena pressure plates and the idea of Yorda stopping a trap she knew was laid there. But then again, a lot of things just malfunction in this castle (like every lever after you pull it once) and I’m not sure if that’s all just game design convenience or narratively explained in some small way. Maybe Ico’s curse does bring that misfortune the villagers feared, but it manifests as him accidentally breaking nearly every old mechanism he touches.
I think the fear of heights was expressed by Yorda’s refusal to make certain jumps, including the drop at East Arena I demonstrated. But for the most part, I think her fear is just a healthy concern, because there are actually a lot of fatal drops in this environment. It’s not exactly indicative of her character if everyone should be afraid of these heights.
I’m really glad you appreciate these videos and I’m happy to return you to that time frame. Funnily enough, Nomad has been making an effort towards looking under the hood of ICO lately, so I guess it’s really just been a slow renaissance of ICO discussion and discovery ever since the 20th anniversary.
This is such a cool video, thanks for putting this together!
Haven't finished the vid yet but I'm glad theres a video that documents all of Yorda's behavior now!
I admire you.
I love Yorda and looking at all of this details make me like her more
Sadly I probably will not be able to watch this video for maybe 2 days, but I can see that it will be a good one!
Looking forward to it!
That's nuts! I didn't know Yorda could drop so far 😮I always loved her little 'yelp' of fear though! Also, I thought Yorda runs through the door without ICO at the Waterfall level? That is when they leave it to move onto the next level.
@@NomadColossus I double checked both the entrance and exit to Waterfall, but I think it's a case of mistaken memory, cause she didn't run ahead in either case.
So many details I didn’t notice, thanks!
In a funny way, this is a tutorial for how to play as the boy in The Last Guardian.
@@liplepeoberty5815 That’s really true xD
I am amazed at the work you do. It's heartwarming to see someone have so much love for Ico and Ueda and his team''s work in general, and I would like to thank you for putting together all this information on Ico into these (amazing) videos.
Lord bless you man 🙏🙏
@@walterwhite8164 Your comments mean a lot. I appreciate all the thanks.
@@Mystic_Ode I'm here for the ride, can't wait for more discoveries!
Thank you for this video, you deserve a lot more views.
simply amazing
She's like a cat, lol!!
Great video! I do have to note though on your last point with Yorda running through idol gates before Ico, I like your interpretation but I think it might be that way purely for gameplay reasons, since the you *need* Yorda to be in those rooms with Ico (so that the cutscenes can play and the doors can lock behind you). They didn't want Ico to be able to enter those rooms without her so she runs in first. Again, awesome video, just my thoughts.
You make a fair point. They did need Yorda to be ahead of you in all those areas, in order for them to work as intended. Still, they chose to animate her dashing forward like she was excited. And instead of having her do that everywhere for the sake of consistency, it was reserved for the places where it would mean the most to your escape. There is a Doylist explanation, but I don't think that shouldn't overshadow the Watsonian explanation.
@@Mystic_Ode That is true, I suppose while playing I mostly noticed it from a gameplay perspective since it stood out to me that way, thinking "Why would the developers have her run ahead of you here specifically?" rather than, "Why would Yorda?". I agree with your interpretation, thanks for the response!
staring at the windmill, i noticed that the cloth is moving in the wind and remembered how cool that type of effect looked in mgs3's opening cutscene when snake's suit would ripple violently. i wonder how they went about doing it back in the ps2 days, is it just a matter of displacing the geo with a noise texture of some sorts or did the use the same process as animating Ico's cape cloth thing
Hey, I noticed that you have a playlist with some music similar to ICO's soundtrack. I think you would like the album "Moon Mermaid" by Kow Otani, he made the Shadow of the Colossus OST, but this one has much more ICO vibes to me.
@@juromori Interesting. Thank you so much for the recommendation. I love hearing more music like that.
This is lovely.