![]() He was loyal, but not robotic, and the result was strong empathy. For most gamers, such a fear proved unfounded – Agro felt more natural because of his instincts, and for his ability to veer towards the most comfortable path to his destination: his behaviour felt dynamic and alive. ![]() Such a feat would come with an obvious sacrifice of control, and Ueda has spoken of his concern in intentionally delaying input reactions in order to simulate the control of a man who is controlling a horse. In fact, he's probably the only believable one. Agro would go on to improve on this, and remains the most believable horse in any game to date. Her pathfinding was impressive, and her cautious wandering believable. There were numerous things that could be considered standout in Ico, and towards the very top of the list would be Yorda's artificial intelligence. More importantly, Ueda's fascination with companionship in the face of lonely circumstances would be upheld thanks to Agro, one remarkable steed. There would be no female companion to accompany the hero on his adventure, either – instead his quest would be to restore her life-force, no matter the cost. This time, the landscape would no longer be walled off by a beautiful but sorrowful castle replaced, instead, by a beautiful but sorrowful collection of open grassland, forest and desert. Wide open expanses in which to roam in Shadow of the Colossus. To use a dirty word, Fumito Ueda provided sophomoric evidence of being a genuine auteur. Fast-forward a few years and Shadow of the Colossus would go on to achieve the near impossible: it would break out of Ico's mould, become its own game, but still retain the spiritual quintessence of Ueda's debut work. To leave her alone is to risk her capture by shadow creatures, and to allow this capture is so conceptually heartbreaking that every swing of that block of wood matters, each blow backed by a weight a thousand times more powerful than the petty demoralisation inspired by game over screens. The attempt to escape from the castle – the game's straightforward, ultimate goal – palpably brings Ico and Yorda closer together, a common human reaction to shared hardships. Ueda intentionally set up a language barrier and introduced a mechanic for holding hands. More significantly, however, she becomes a defenceless friend in a world of abandonment, and by turn an object that must be protected. Ico was one of the most stunningly atmospheric and unique-looking games on PS2. There are moments where young Ico needs her assistance, but there are many more when she will need his. As a gameplay device, Yorda is both a tool and a walking obstacle. ![]() Ico's creator, Fumito Ueda, carries an Art School pedigree and it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that this man has a strong fondness for themes of isolation and companionship. Not only is this acceptable, within the context of the rest of the game's story and mechanics, it's often beneficial – resulting in some truly nail-biting moments. Compared to games such as Devil May Cry, Ico's combat feels loose and imprecise, but this is only befitting of a young boy whose only instinct is to wildly swing a piece of wood a boy who, when knocked down, stays down until some pain subsides. The difference is a matter of expression: the flapping of cloth the eerie convincingness of the shadow monsters. But then, Ico was a game that thrived on subtlety and understatement, and for all the cold logic that one may be able to reduce its puzzles to, the overall experience simply wouldn't have been possible on earlier generation hardware. Within the context of the above paragraph, it may seem ironic that Ico started its life as a PSone project – and one that was looking impressive by the standards of its hardware at that.
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