The Ico Companion

If you're a fan of Team ICO then you are in the right place. If you read this blog you may notice that I have an unhealthy obsession with Team ICO's work. I don't stand alone though, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus both have massive following both critically and throughout the gaming masses and The Last Guardian; the next game from Team ICO is sure to follow.

As well as the more 'mature' of us gaming fellows there is one person whom has taken this obsession very seriously. His name is Redmond and his blog on Team ICO is one of the most comprehensive available on the Internet. As well as regularly posting articles regarding any scraps of news on Team ICO's activities, he has developed a website which is devoted entirely to the games of Team ICO. Due to go live sometime in February, the site will be a collection of his work and writings over the last four years.

In addition to this he has produced a lavishly detailed companion e-book and paperback containing all there is to know regarding Team ICO's games. Due to be released on the 4th February 2010, coinciding with the re-release of Shadow of the Colossus in Japan. A copy of the book can be obtained from either the blog or the website. I have already reserved my own copy and if you are a fan of Team ICO's work it is recommended that you do the same.

Related Links
The ICO Companion
Team ICO Gamers Blog

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The Last Guardian – The First Story

I have a feeling. It’s just an idea born from trying to understand how the latest game from Team ICO could possibly continue the legend of the boy with horns. While watching the announcement trailer I’m aware that Trico (the beast) has horns and while this is not unusual one has to assume that nothing is there without purpose or meaning (except the tortoise in SotC) and that these horns may provide an important clue as to the story behind all three games.

In Ico, the boy with horns is imprisoned within the castle for reasons of superstitious speculation. “For the good of the village” is the only reason garnered from the anonymous figures that guard Ico’s freedom. The boy without horns in The Last Guardian appears to befriend a beast with horns and it’s certain that the due embark on many wonderful adventures as they progress through the game.

The origins of Ico’s horns have been widely accepted as the direct result of Wanders fate in SotC. The horns on Trico are not at all similar and appear to be the horns of a juvenile creature as they are underdeveloped, one even appears to have been cut or blunted. But what if these horns were hiding a dark secret? What if the beast within was Dormin and that The Last Guardian tells the tale of his imprisonment unto the Forbidden Land found in SotC.

There are a lot of questions and, while The Last Guardian may provide some answers I’m sure that we will all be left a little bemused as the plot develops and more questions arise. To be perfectly honest I don’t care, not enough to spoil my enjoyment, because the act of playing Team ICO’s games is such a natural and wonderful experience that any pondering on the fate of the plot or the motivations of ‘the village’ are inconsequential.

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It's a Tragedy...

Studying Greek Mythology as part of my English Degree has allowed me to conclude that the story behind SotC is a tragedy. I have discussed the transcript of the game with a good friend of mine, an English lecturer at Lincoln University here in the UK and we both agreed that the game can comfortably be classified as such and that this tone helps impact the game upon the moral consciousness of the player.

If the protagonist ‘Wander’ had survived the ordeal to resurrect the maiden the story would not have the same impact. Tragic events allow stories emotional weight and deliver messages or carry feelings the characters experienced during the tale to the player.

A similar conclusion can be drawn against Ico. Although in this tale the ‘hero’ did not meet death, his heroin’s fate was not clear and many speculate that she was not resurrected, but her soul became the Queens possession. Her soul therefore became a part of the crumbling castle, never to escape. The ending of Ico requires the player to draw their own conclusions about the fate of Yorda and I suppose it depends greatly on the attitude of the player, pessimist or optimist.

The Last Guardian may also have the same tone throughout, although early observations believe the story to have a warmer feel to it plainly because of the relationship between the beast and the boy. It’s safe to assume from previous experience that The Last Guardian may have some moments of bitter pain or loss equal to the fall of Agro in SotC.

Team ICO appear to portray tragedy consistently and with a purpose, to draw in the player into the game deeper than if it were devoid of tragedy. This is something I have come to expect and indeed revel in experiencing.

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The Last Guardian Official Site Launched

Sony has finally launched the official (Japanese) site for The Last Guardian. In addition to this a flurry of screenshots have been released as well as an interview (see below) with Team ICO on their developement of their latest creation.



Watching the subbed interview it's clear that a great deal of thought is going into the game. The devil is definately in the details in The Last Guardian. There is also a short trailer at the end of the interview which is also worth the wait.

Related Links
The Last Guardian Official Site
The Last Guardian Screenshots (download)

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The Next Generation for Ico & Shadow of the Colossus, Maybe...

Fumito Ueda has hinted in a recent interview with Kotaku that both Ico and SotC may be enhanced and re-released on the PS3, just like the God of War games enjoyed last month.

"I do have an interest in that. Next week, I'll have a meeting [about the possibility] ... But it might not be so easy, because, with both titles we really stretched the limits of the PS2. It's complex. So it's not such an easy transfer to the PS3. But I want to discuss it." said Fumito Ueda.

The prospect of running Ico or SotC on enhanced hardware is so lush. I'd love for Sony to allow this to be developed and I'm sure it would help raise the profile of both games. Team ICO would have involvement but a dedicated team called BluePrint Games would handle a majority of the code as they did with God of War. No official announcements have yet been made but I will be sure to confirm the moment I hear anything.

Related Links
BluePrint Games
Kotaku
Buy God of War

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Pans' Labyrinth Director Talks Gaming

Guillermo del Toro, the director behind the dark and enchanting Pans' Labyrinth spoke to Edge Magazine recently. He describes his childhood influences and what he feels makes a great game just that. I really like his films which include the excellent Hellboy series and I value his opinion. I read with great interest the interview, but the defining moment for me was when he was asked, on the subject of current games:

What’s impressed you recently?

I love the engine of GTA IV. I’m not a big fan of the actual game: I’m not into break-ins or running people over, but the engine is incredibly beautiful, and the sandbox is very complete. The same goes for Medal of Honor Airborne, Call of Duty 4 or Army of Two. There are only two games I consider masterpieces: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Good man Guillermo, I for one agree with your opinion, well apart from the bit about the Medal of Honour games and Army of Two, those games were absolute gash. It's refreshing however to hear that Ico and SotC are singled out as masterpieces. This helps reinforce the position that Team ICO are masters at what they do. Now if only he made a movie of either game...

Related Links
Guillermo del Toro talks to Edge Magazine
Buy Pans' Labyrinth
Buy Hellboy 1, 2

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Team ICO Tribute

As the title suggests, a tribute to Team ICO. Put together by ScOULaris, an experienced video editor. Enjoy.

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The Long Wait

The Last Guardian will be one of the greatest games of this decade. Now I can say this with absolute confidence because of Team ICO’s track record. Although only two games old, those two games are quite simply amazing. ICO is regarded as one of the best games of the 20th century, SOTC is one of the most beautifully orchestrated games in history. The Last Guardian is sure to follow the same suit.

Although not much is known about the game, the interview with Famito Ueda gives some indication as to what to expect from the developer. Huge open vistas, an intelligent creature with oodles of personality, an avatar whose past is surrounded in mystery and game mechanics similar to their previous games, this is a recipe for greatness.

The Last Guardian has been in development for the last three years and although I am itching to play the game I am also happy to wait as long as it takes for Team ICO to make this game as richly detailed as their previous games. With the rest of the games development community happy to churn out sequel after predictable sequel it’s reassuring to see that Sony Computer Entertainment Japan happy to allow Team ICO to take as long as they need to completely finish the game properly.

Back in the 1990’s there was a game released for the N64. This game single headedly made the fledgling console a success. The game was called Goldeneye and it was so good that the N64 was saved from an early death because Goldeneye was an N64 exclusive and many people bought the console just for that game. Exactly the same happedened with the X-Box, had it not Halo from launch perhaps the modern games scene would be quite a different place. Although the Playstation3 is not in the same situation as the N64 or the X-Box I’m sure that The Last Guardian will be one of those exclusive titles that warrant some to buy a PS3 just for that game. I only hope that the pressure on Team ICO’s development cycle does not undermine the integrity of the team.

Related Links
Goldeneye, N64

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Ico - The Sequel?

Ico was the first game released by Team ICO and SOTC the second. But this does not necessarily represent the order of things. ICO is possibly the sequel to SOTC, not directly but one can speculate that the boy with horns called Ico is a descendant of the tiny horned child discovered by the princess at the end of SOTC. This of course is only speculation but it is an idea that is widely accepted.

Whether the boy with horns from Ico or the child with horns from SOTC is related is not proven. But I enjoy entertaining the fact that they could be. It makes the stories from both games just a little more intriguing and, when playing either game; I am consciously looking for clues to that relationship. Team ICO’s next game in development; The Last Guardian has a creature which also has horns and while that in itself is not remarkable, it is intriguing to me as to why this creature has horns at all and whether the creature shares a relationship to either Ico or SotC. I suppose I will never know for sure, but that is the way I like it.

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Relationships with a Pixel

Team ICO’s games are enjoyable because they capture a feeling for the player that is seldom explored in games. If you’ve ever played a modern videogame then chances are you will have had a relationship with your on-screen avatar whether it be to shout at them for not doing what you want, to feeling a little sad when they are killed to even feeling fear for them when threatened.

Team ICO tends to exploit this feeling by showing the player this relationship on screen between two characters. By doing this the player can’t help but feel in some way connected to the characters, like a surrogate parent nurturing the on-screen relationship and protecting it. In Ico for instance, the relationship between Ico and Yorda is so innocent and childlike that one can’t help feel for them both and every effort is made by the player to protect them both.

I have played other games where this doesn’t happen. Tomb raider for instance; my time with Lara Croft was quite a dominant relationship to the point where I would find interesting and gruesome ways for her to be killed. I think this happens because I don’t feel protective of the avatar and indeed she is there to obey me. In Ico, Yorda and Ico are relying on each other for protection and look to me for guidance therefore I immediately feel a different kind of connection other than to dominate.

It’s this dynamic which is at the centre of Team ICO’s games and one which I look forward to exploring with each new release. From what I know of The Last Guardian, this dynamic is again exploited in the relationship between the young boy and the creature, Trico.

There are examples of this in other games within the industry. Games of note are ‘Beyond Good and Evil’ for the PS2 and the Gamecube, the relationship between Jade and Pey'j. You may also want to look at the recent ‘Prince of Persia’ game and the relationship between the Prince and the Princess, although this is less successful due in part to the lack of substance the game presents. Team ICO seems to understand this dynamic more than any other game developer and this is one of the reasons their games tend to feel much more human than the crowd.

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