Update: After some talks with Jaikhay and some digging into how the game's particles are called upon, it seems more and more likely that the particle effect being used here is a mistake, and was always intended to be swapped out with the black smoke puff that one would expect of a defeated Shadow. It was merely pulling from the wrong coordinates on the particle sheet. The red particle was always labelled 'boy_blood' ('boy' has always been the internal filename for Ico specifically, and the blood would be from the final confrontation with The Queen) and the black smoke particle was always labelled 'enemydead'. Still, it's a cool effect to see play out. And if anyone was really attached to a thought or story concept that developed while watching this video, more power to you, you can keep that thought as your interpretation of the narrative.
To me, the effect seems oddly similar to the one used in The Last Guardian. When the Yoroi warriors stumble and fall ldown, you can pull them by the helmet and "decapitate", setting loose the green magical gas substance that seems to be the true inhabitant of the armor. At the moment when you separate the helmet from the suit, there's a semi-transparent reddish splash effect, even with obvious separate droplets. It certainly doesn't look like it's intended to represent blood, at least not realistic in any way. It has no volume or surface effects, more like a sprite or transparency, and the color has some purple tint to it, making it seem more like a ghostly jam than blood. But still, I find the effect is almost the same, considering the role of Yoroi in TLG is almost identical to the Shadows in Ico. And it seems to be left in the final game on purpose. I wonder, what could be the implications
I never knew that the NTSC version had a deadline unlike the PAL one. This video explains a lot more of the missing (often subtle but I'd say integral for the game's atmosphere) features of the North American version. Nice video. 👍
The concern is not their dismissal, that happens in all versions. But in no other version do they have bright red particle effects. Also the Shadows may not be entirely gone, as they always seem to return and have a role to play in The Queen’s ritual.
But why would Ico only turn to stone when Yorda is captured by the shadows or the final fight with the Queen. Couldn’t she have turned him into stone at any point in the game they met? Why wait until they met or Yorda was captured?
![fellow fellow - พรุ่งนี้ไม่มีใครรู้ feat. INK WARUNTORN [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QP6JyjYx_W0/mqdefault.jpg)
Update: After some talks with Jaikhay and some digging into how the game's particles are called upon, it seems more and more likely that the particle effect being used here is a mistake, and was always intended to be swapped out with the black smoke puff that one would expect of a defeated Shadow. It was merely pulling from the wrong coordinates on the particle sheet.
The red particle was always labelled 'boy_blood' ('boy' has always been the internal filename for Ico specifically, and the blood would be from the final confrontation with The Queen) and the black smoke particle was always labelled 'enemydead'. Still, it's a cool effect to see play out. And if anyone was really attached to a thought or story concept that developed while watching this video, more power to you, you can keep that thought as your interpretation of the narrative.
To me, the effect seems oddly similar to the one used in The Last Guardian. When the Yoroi warriors stumble and fall ldown, you can pull them by the helmet and "decapitate", setting loose the green magical gas substance that seems to be the true inhabitant of the armor. At the moment when you separate the helmet from the suit, there's a semi-transparent reddish splash effect, even with obvious separate droplets. It certainly doesn't look like it's intended to represent blood, at least not realistic in any way. It has no volume or surface effects, more like a sprite or transparency, and the color has some purple tint to it, making it seem more like a ghostly jam than blood. But still, I find the effect is almost the same, considering the role of Yoroi in TLG is almost identical to the Shadows in Ico. And it seems to be left in the final game on purpose. I wonder, what could be the implications
I never knew that the NTSC version had a deadline unlike the PAL one. This video explains a lot more of the missing (often subtle but I'd say integral for the game's atmosphere) features of the North American version. Nice video. 👍
Well, the shadows served their purpose. They captured Yorda and Ico turned to stone so the queen got “rid” of them.
The concern is not their dismissal, that happens in all versions. But in no other version do they have bright red particle effects. Also the Shadows may not be entirely gone, as they always seem to return and have a role to play in The Queen’s ritual.
But why would Ico only turn to stone when Yorda is captured by the shadows or the final fight with the Queen. Couldn’t she have turned him into stone at any point in the game they met? Why wait until they met or Yorda was captured?
Me: th-cam.com/video/MIjh4nYj4uI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=R0BgSae5keAlS3ku&t=26