I do love a unique and beautiful game. It's always nice when they really try something different. This isn't one I heard of, because in 2001 I was prepping for college and my mission to Chile. Video gaming was not on the agenda for most of this decade 😕 Excellent plot summary! Seems like an intriguing premise. I don't mind a minimalistic game either, as long as it's done very intentionally. 5:40 yeah, clunky controls can make some of these classic games hard to go back to. It's one of the reasons emulation can help, as you can remap keys. 6:46 haha, Penny Arcade is awesome! lol, I don't know the game, but it still seems hilarious! 7:16 I like that premise, even if it is very escort-centric. The shadows feel menacing without explicit violence or gore, but still effectively upping the stakes! 9:14 I do like fusing puzzles into games 😀 10:30 Ugh! Yeah, that's smack in the middle of uncanny valley. The European one is way better. Awesome vid! I'd never heard of this game, but it made me want to play it 😀
It truly is a special game when it comes to visuals. It's hard to imagine playing this in 2001 with it being so different from the other games, but even today it holds up well. Wow, in a way I can't believe you haven't heard of some of the games I've reviewed/discussed but in other ways it makes me happy that you are seeing them now. Maybe you'll want to play one of them sometime. I really enjoyed the plot. It was a special bond between the two main characters in their escape from this giant empty castle. Penny Arcade is soooo good. I love their strips and that one is one that I will never forget because it perfectly sums up trying to get Yorda to do things. The shadows gave me so much anxiety. It was such a weird time in my life but they worked as a great enemy to keep you on your toes. The European cover is so much cooler. I don't know who greenlit our cover haha. Thanks for watching buddy!!
@@TigerChainsawVideoGamesAddressing the cover and who ‘greenlit’ it: It’s kind of a rough story. See, there’s a weird discrepancy between the US and the Japanese release of ICO due to differing ‘Master Dates’ from Sony of America and Sony of Japan. (A Master Date is when the game must be finalized and shipped.) Sony of Japan was perfectly fine with ICO being a winter holiday release, but Sony America (initially) wanted it in the Summer. IGN has reports from back in early 2001 claiming the game was going to ship in July. Then they updated their list and essentially said “Scratch that, it should be this August.” “No, wait, hold on, it’s September.” Sony America apparently let them push the deadline back twice, by a month each time, but they weren’t going to push it farther than the first month of Fall. And the game still wasn’t finished. I mean, it was playable, don’t get me wrong. But the Shadows had an AI system that was too aggressive and their hp was really tough to whittle down. Yorda’s pathing could definitely be more precise. Some puzzles they planned weren’t in place yet. And a thousand little other tweaks had yet to be made. The American PS2 release would end up being something akin to a late-stage beta build, whereas the Japanese and European releases felt far more finalized. This matters to the story of the US cover because the Japanese/European cover wouldn’t even be conceptualized until they wrapped the bulk of development work in November. There was no other example to follow in August 2001. Team ICO was obviously too busy trying their best to polish the American version when Sony needed them to make a cover for their promotional material. So seeing as the team didn’t have the time, Sony instead turned to a third party packaging company called Beeline. They said, “We want a cover and manual designed for this game. Here’s your text and here’s 30 screenshots at 240p quality. You want a demo to actually experience the game you’re depicting? Sucks. We don’t have time to send one over. You have a tight deadline, so get to it.” Sony then apparently went back and forth with these artists for a while, often asking them to make new adjustments to Ico’s face (all these critiques were vaguely worded according to the designers themselves), resulting in the strange expression we were left with. There’s an article discussing this you can look up titled “The Story Behind Ico’s ‘Terrible’ North American Box Art”.
@@Mystic_Ode I meant to respond to this sooner. What a wonderful comment and insight you have given us on the Ico project. I checked out your channel and can tell how much the game means to you. Thank you for sharing all that information. The covers make a lot more sense to me now. Thanks for watching, Ico is an awesome game. Glad this video reached you.
Timeless classics! I'll need to review Shadow of the Colossus sometime. Rumor has it that some players even made it to a secret garden. Pretty cool. Thanks for watching.
Ico is known for inspiring so many games....The Last of Us, Journey, Uncharted, Halo, Metal Gear Solid 3, The New Prince of Persia, Ico is an absolute titan when it comes to game design and it's accomplishments are remembered by a scarce few nowadays ❤
It is so beautiful buddy, it holds up really well. Oh you definitely need to play Shadow of the Colossus!!! Both are great games. Thanks for checking this out my guy!
I really enjoyed playing ICO on PS2 and picked it up again on PS3. I'd like to revisit it for Lady Laci and her sister as I think they'd both really like it. If this game had been any MORE Fresh, it would've needed a sidekick named DJ Jazzy Jeff.
It's so fun to introduce games to our significant others. I'm sure "fresh" was my hot word of the review lol Probably said it a 100 times. Glad you enjoyed Ico, I know I did. Thanks for watching buddy!
It is definitely a tough game but I thought the atmosphere and music were so great. Give it another shot when you have time! Maybe get your cat and turn on some metal and sit back and play through it haha.
@@orangeblitz4786 you should buddy!! Always appreciate you taking the time to watch my videos. Thank you for all the support. Ico is worth your time if you ever pick it up.
Nice review! I've never played this one, but after your glorious review, I will need to put this one on my radar! I'll try to get the PS3 version that also included Shadow of the Colossus since I've also never played that one either! I was an rpg snob back then, so if it was something different, I wouldn't play it... which is why my backlog now is so big, lol! Great video and keep up the good work!
I think you'll be happy if you pick it up, especially since you'll be getting a two-for-one with the Shadow of the Colossus bundle! It's a stellar game and a good change of pace. Thanks for watching buddy, let me know what you think of it when you play it.
Never seen this game before, Love the concept , Definitely sounds like a interesting and fun game, Very different from many of the games from the time Fantastic video I really enjoyed this
The concept is so much fun for this game. Wow, I'm surprised you haven't heard of this, but that's awesome. It's always fun to introduce gamers to new games. Give it a shot sometime my guy. Thanks for watching!!
Wait a minute…what’s the name of that mosquito game..? 👀 Penny Arcade are legends! I’ve read EVERY strip(…at one point😅) Maybe you were subconsciously afraid of those ‘shadows’ because you’ve seen the movie _Ghost_ before… 😝 Great review, TC! Much love, dude! 🤘
That game is called "Mr. Mosquito" Haha, I still need it in my collection but it would be real fun. That's super dope you know who Penny Arcade is!! Big bonus points, Frank. I have not seen the movie Ghost so.... : ( Thanks for watching my guy.
This is one that's withering away in my backlog. Sad, now that I've seen this review! Such a typical, tropey "save the princess" idea that has a twist all its own.
It's such a great game that deserves a playthrough! It's not too long either. I thought they presented the "save the princess" in a very unique way. Thanks for watching, pal.
Nice review. I've never played this game but it sounds interesting. The shadow guys remind me of the ring wraiths in lord of the rings and I think it's a cool take on typical bad guys in a game
Never played ico and probably never will. I agree the European cover is much better. I do remember when this was released though it was kinda a big deal. I just never checked it out. A 9.2 is a pretty great score but Ico just doesn't grab my attention.
Your right, I could have been a douche bag and ignored a video my friend put together because I don't want to play Ico, or I could just watch the video and comment. To be honest TC could film himself lighting a bag of dog s*** on fire and id still watch, laugh and comment. @@TrashQueenAndKing
I think it still holds up pretty well today but if those types of games aren't your style... then I don't think you would enjoy them. They look great but if you don't like the puzzle aspects... well haha you've got plenty of other games to play in your backlog. Thanks for watching, LD.
I do love a unique and beautiful game. It's always nice when they really try something different.
This isn't one I heard of, because in 2001 I was prepping for college and my mission to Chile. Video gaming was not on the agenda for most of this decade 😕
Excellent plot summary! Seems like an intriguing premise. I don't mind a minimalistic game either, as long as it's done very intentionally.
5:40 yeah, clunky controls can make some of these classic games hard to go back to. It's one of the reasons emulation can help, as you can remap keys.
6:46 haha, Penny Arcade is awesome! lol, I don't know the game, but it still seems hilarious!
7:16 I like that premise, even if it is very escort-centric. The shadows feel menacing without explicit violence or gore, but still effectively upping the stakes!
9:14 I do like fusing puzzles into games 😀
10:30 Ugh! Yeah, that's smack in the middle of uncanny valley. The European one is way better.
Awesome vid! I'd never heard of this game, but it made me want to play it 😀
It truly is a special game when it comes to visuals. It's hard to imagine playing this in 2001 with it being so different from the other games, but even today it holds up well. Wow, in a way I can't believe you haven't heard of some of the games I've reviewed/discussed but in other ways it makes me happy that you are seeing them now. Maybe you'll want to play one of them sometime.
I really enjoyed the plot. It was a special bond between the two main characters in their escape from this giant empty castle.
Penny Arcade is soooo good. I love their strips and that one is one that I will never forget because it perfectly sums up trying to get Yorda to do things.
The shadows gave me so much anxiety. It was such a weird time in my life but they worked as a great enemy to keep you on your toes.
The European cover is so much cooler. I don't know who greenlit our cover haha.
Thanks for watching buddy!!
@@TigerChainsawVideoGamesAddressing the cover and who ‘greenlit’ it: It’s kind of a rough story. See, there’s a weird discrepancy between the US and the Japanese release of ICO due to differing ‘Master Dates’ from Sony of America and Sony of Japan. (A Master Date is when the game must be finalized and shipped.)
Sony of Japan was perfectly fine with ICO being a winter holiday release, but Sony America (initially) wanted it in the Summer. IGN has reports from back in early 2001 claiming the game was going to ship in July. Then they updated their list and essentially said “Scratch that, it should be this August.” “No, wait, hold on, it’s September.” Sony America apparently let them push the deadline back twice, by a month each time, but they weren’t going to push it farther than the first month of Fall. And the game still wasn’t finished.
I mean, it was playable, don’t get me wrong. But the Shadows had an AI system that was too aggressive and their hp was really tough to whittle down. Yorda’s pathing could definitely be more precise. Some puzzles they planned weren’t in place yet. And a thousand little other tweaks had yet to be made. The American PS2 release would end up being something akin to a late-stage beta build, whereas the Japanese and European releases felt far more finalized.
This matters to the story of the US cover because the Japanese/European cover wouldn’t even be conceptualized until they wrapped the bulk of development work in November. There was no other example to follow in August 2001. Team ICO was obviously too busy trying their best to polish the American version when Sony needed them to make a cover for their promotional material. So seeing as the team didn’t have the time, Sony instead turned to a third party packaging company called Beeline. They said, “We want a cover and manual designed for this game. Here’s your text and here’s 30 screenshots at 240p quality. You want a demo to actually experience the game you’re depicting? Sucks. We don’t have time to send one over. You have a tight deadline, so get to it.”
Sony then apparently went back and forth with these artists for a while, often asking them to make new adjustments to Ico’s face (all these critiques were vaguely worded according to the designers themselves), resulting in the strange expression we were left with. There’s an article discussing this you can look up titled “The Story Behind Ico’s ‘Terrible’ North American Box Art”.
@@Mystic_Ode I meant to respond to this sooner. What a wonderful comment and insight you have given us on the Ico project. I checked out your channel and can tell how much the game means to you. Thank you for sharing all that information. The covers make a lot more sense to me now.
Thanks for watching, Ico is an awesome game. Glad this video reached you.
I haven't played this but I played shadow of the colossus so much on the ps2. both of these games are still beautiful for how old they are
Timeless classics! I'll need to review Shadow of the Colossus sometime. Rumor has it that some players even made it to a secret garden. Pretty cool. Thanks for watching.
Ico is known for inspiring so many games....The Last of Us, Journey, Uncharted, Halo, Metal Gear Solid 3, The New Prince of Persia,
Ico is an absolute titan when it comes to game design and it's accomplishments are remembered by a scarce few nowadays ❤
It was certainly a source of inspiration! What a beautiful game it is. It is a gorgeous game with great mechanics. Thanks for watching buddy!
I must get around to playing this! Looks beautiful. Shadow of the colossus too which I’m sure I’ve seen bundled with it.
Have a great one pal!
It is so beautiful buddy, it holds up really well. Oh you definitely need to play Shadow of the Colossus!!! Both are great games. Thanks for checking this out my guy!
I really enjoyed playing ICO on PS2 and picked it up again on PS3. I'd like to revisit it for Lady Laci and her sister as I think they'd both really like it.
If this game had been any MORE Fresh, it would've needed a sidekick named DJ Jazzy Jeff.
It's so fun to introduce games to our significant others. I'm sure "fresh" was my hot word of the review lol Probably said it a 100 times. Glad you enjoyed Ico, I know I did. Thanks for watching buddy!
Nice review Seth!😊 I'm surprised you didn't give it a lower score. Back in the day I couldn't get past the beginning of the game lol.
It is definitely a tough game but I thought the atmosphere and music were so great. Give it another shot when you have time! Maybe get your cat and turn on some metal and sit back and play through it haha.
One of the games I have yet to play but heard so much about. I'll need to play it some day
@@orangeblitz4786 you should buddy!! Always appreciate you taking the time to watch my videos. Thank you for all the support. Ico is worth your time if you ever pick it up.
Nice review! I've never played this one, but after your glorious review, I will need to put this one on my radar! I'll try to get the PS3 version that also included Shadow of the Colossus since I've also never played that one either! I was an rpg snob back then, so if it was something different, I wouldn't play it... which is why my backlog now is so big, lol! Great video and keep up the good work!
I think you'll be happy if you pick it up, especially since you'll be getting a two-for-one with the Shadow of the Colossus bundle! It's a stellar game and a good change of pace. Thanks for watching buddy, let me know what you think of it when you play it.
Never seen this game before, Love the concept , Definitely sounds like a interesting and fun game, Very different from many of the games from the time Fantastic video I really enjoyed this
The concept is so much fun for this game. Wow, I'm surprised you haven't heard of this, but that's awesome. It's always fun to introduce gamers to new games. Give it a shot sometime my guy. Thanks for watching!!
Wait a minute…what’s the name of that mosquito game..? 👀
Penny Arcade are legends! I’ve read EVERY strip(…at one point😅)
Maybe you were subconsciously afraid of those ‘shadows’ because you’ve seen the movie _Ghost_ before… 😝
Great review, TC! Much love, dude! 🤘
That game is called "Mr. Mosquito" Haha, I still need it in my collection but it would be real fun. That's super dope you know who Penny Arcade is!! Big bonus points, Frank.
I have not seen the movie Ghost so.... : (
Thanks for watching my guy.
This is one that's withering away in my backlog. Sad, now that I've seen this review! Such a typical, tropey "save the princess" idea that has a twist all its own.
It's such a great game that deserves a playthrough! It's not too long either. I thought they presented the "save the princess" in a very unique way. Thanks for watching, pal.
Nice review. I've never played this game but it sounds interesting. The shadow guys remind me of the ring wraiths in lord of the rings and I think it's a cool take on typical bad guys in a game
They do kinda look like the ring wraiths! It was a fun game, I think it's one that you might enjoy. Thanks for watching!
Never played ico and probably never will. I agree the European cover is much better. I do remember when this was released though it was kinda a big deal. I just never checked it out. A 9.2 is a pretty great score but Ico just doesn't grab my attention.
Never get why people click on a video about a game to tell you how they're never ever gonna play the game. Cool? Tnanks?
Your right, I could have been a douche bag and ignored a video my friend put together because I don't want to play Ico, or I could just watch the video and comment. To be honest TC could film himself lighting a bag of dog s*** on fire and id still watch, laugh and comment. @@TrashQueenAndKing
I think it still holds up pretty well today but if those types of games aren't your style... then I don't think you would enjoy them. They look great but if you don't like the puzzle aspects... well haha you've got plenty of other games to play in your backlog. Thanks for watching, LD.
Don't spoil my next video bro...