Ico is really good. It didn't click with me at first, mostly because I didn't know how to save or use weapons, but now that I've figured it all out I can get the love. The sense of scale is incredible and the interactions between Ico and Yorda are really cute. This is why I'm all for these HD remakes, otherwise I would have never played this game.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection |OT| Ueda *bow*
- Thread starter alr1ght
- Start date
Finished Ico at the weekend, tooke around 5 1/2 hrs, fantastic game but will hold back on the speed run due to the impending Uncharted play-through in readyness for U3. Does anyone have a 'pace guide' for the last 30mins of Ico? Be nice to know at what time you should be at which stage as the last 30mins is quite a long stretch!
Also on the 14th Colossus @~7 1/2hrs, completing this faster than expected (esp. considering I've saved at every shrine I've found and got the lizards (also spotted a turtle!) - utterly fantastic game - really looking forward to platting both
I'll end with a bit of a show off - my Ico & SotC collections:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11534160@N02/6250691361/in/photostream/
Also on the 14th Colossus @~7 1/2hrs, completing this faster than expected (esp. considering I've saved at every shrine I've found and got the lizards (also spotted a turtle!) - utterly fantastic game - really looking forward to platting both
I'll end with a bit of a show off - my Ico & SotC collections:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11534160@N02/6250691361/in/photostream/
goonergaz said:Finished Ico at the weekend, tooke around 5 1/2 hrs, fantastic game but will hold back on the speed run due to the impending Uncharted play-through in readyness for U3. Does anyone have a 'pace guide' for the last 30mins of Ico? Be nice to know at what time you should be at which stage as the last 30mins is quite a long stretch!
Also on the 14th Colossus @~7 1/2hrs, completing this faster than expected (esp. considering I've saved at every shrine I've found and got the lizards (also spotted a turtle!) - utterly fantastic game - really looking forward to platting both
I'll end with a bit of a show off - my Ico & SotC collections:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11534160@N02/6250691361/in/photostream/
Absolutely stunning collection mate, I salute you!
PooBone
Member
I've been so busy with music and stuff I got completely sidetracked after the 11th colossus. I picked it up again yesterday morning and played through the 14th. Will finish it up later this week and move on to Ico. I have no other game purchases until 11/15 so I should be able to get through it. SOTC is still a beautiful and amazing game and the art style hold up as one of my favorites in any game ever. I could run around the forbidden lands for hours.
gentlemanfinn
Neo Member
Just finished sotc for the first time, really loving the end but have a question about it:
When you get turned into Dormin and fight, is it possible to win?
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Awesome Ico moment #1749:
Realization that those big rotating wheels that you need to push around in circles to lift yourself up etc. move slower if you push them closer to the axle, and faster/easier if you push them near the edge. So basically they are physics based as well. Is there a single action game other SotC that integrates physics in such seamless and logical ways?
In every single game that I can think of that has this kind of pushing wheel moment (GoW games for example), your character just snaps to where he's supposed to be and then you move it around in consistent speed.
Realization that those big rotating wheels that you need to push around in circles to lift yourself up etc. move slower if you push them closer to the axle, and faster/easier if you push them near the edge. So basically they are physics based as well. Is there a single action game other SotC that integrates physics in such seamless and logical ways?
In every single game that I can think of that has this kind of pushing wheel moment (GoW games for example), your character just snaps to where he's supposed to be and then you move it around in consistent speed.
Man, I just love ICO.
I accept that Shadow of the Colossus is the more impressive achievement on many levels, but something about ICO is just perfect to me.
I think I bored my poor girlfriend to death yesterday gushing to her about this game. I've played it through twice before, I have a huge stack of unplayed games and downloadables staring at me, and I can't resist leading Yorda through the castle one more time.
Awesome ICO moment #1750:
I'm climbing over ledges and shimmying around the side of a cliff face. Yorda is on the other side of a wide chasm. Suddenly the oh-shit-shadow-creatures music cue starts up. Now normally I would head back to protect the poor girl. But I realize there is no way I can get back over to her before she is sucked down into that inky hole. So I continue onward, climbing through an open window, hoping beyond hope that I'm making the right choice by not doubling back. Sure enough, I drop through the opening into a dark room where the creatures are spawning from.
Team ICO games have a way of telling you you're on the right path without ever actually telling you you're on the right path. Around every corner I'm stunned by the love and attention slathered on every facet of the game, not just the art but the overall design.
I accept that Shadow of the Colossus is the more impressive achievement on many levels, but something about ICO is just perfect to me.
I think I bored my poor girlfriend to death yesterday gushing to her about this game. I've played it through twice before, I have a huge stack of unplayed games and downloadables staring at me, and I can't resist leading Yorda through the castle one more time.
Awesome ICO moment #1750:
I'm climbing over ledges and shimmying around the side of a cliff face. Yorda is on the other side of a wide chasm. Suddenly the oh-shit-shadow-creatures music cue starts up. Now normally I would head back to protect the poor girl. But I realize there is no way I can get back over to her before she is sucked down into that inky hole. So I continue onward, climbing through an open window, hoping beyond hope that I'm making the right choice by not doubling back. Sure enough, I drop through the opening into a dark room where the creatures are spawning from.
Team ICO games have a way of telling you you're on the right path without ever actually telling you you're on the right path. Around every corner I'm stunned by the love and attention slathered on every facet of the game, not just the art but the overall design.
Supervlieg
Member
Im gathering all the fruits in SotC. I've got them all accounted for except the last one of the four on the main tree in C6. Any tips for that one? There are supposed to be four in that tree, but I've only found three. I've climbed the tree, shot numerous arrows at the main branches, to no avail.
Anyone else remember this one being hard to spot?
Anyone else remember this one being hard to spot?
RadioHeadAche
Member
Two colossi down and I can tell what a difference this is from the original. I remember the stuttering frame-rate during the first colossi fight, but it was smooth in this version.
An-Det said:
spooky, this is exactly where I am - glad to get shot of 15 (must have taken 40mins!) and now having a gander around - saving at save points and killing the lizards...also trying to find where the ico beach is...once completed are you able to continue where you left off with fruit/lizards/saves (etc)? I'm a bit worried about finished and then losing the markers of where the save shrines are.
goonergaz said:
All the shrines will disappear from your map after a new game. In a way, that's too bad. But it's also helpful if you want to farm lizards in your next go-round. You'll know where you haven't yet been in that playthrough.
Edit: In case you want a map of where all the shrines, fruit, and lizards are, here's a good one...
http://teamico.wikia.com/wiki/The_Forbidden_Lands
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Another great moment in Ico is realizing how amazingly well the final battle scene still looks. The light and shadow volume effects they pulled off there, the
, the colors use. Just amazing, and I can't even think of another game that has something similar. It looks fresh and innovative even ten years later. The battle itself is perfectly thought out too, with that
making you clench your teeth.
Am I crazy to think that during the final cut scene the song now starts sooner than it did? I kind of remember Yorda saying her last words in silence, but now the music was playing over them. Maybe just my memory playing tricks on me.
Queen's force field distortion
last run for the sword
Am I crazy to think that during the final cut scene the song now starts sooner than it did? I kind of remember Yorda saying her last words in silence, but now the music was playing over them. Maybe just my memory playing tricks on me.
Your memory is not playing tricks on you. The PAL version (which is what they used for the HD Collection) had a slightly different edit for the ending. The U.S. version was much better, IMO, because they had the far more affecting track (Collapse on the OST) playing whileLord Error said:
Yorda carries Ico down the elevator and places him in the boat.
Here's the original U.S. edit of the ending.
And here's the PAL edit.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Holy Shit, that IS much better. I wasn't crazy after all. The US ending is more chilling and really music works better with what's on display. You were also right that the US version didn't have the green outline on her shadow attack, but I thought the outline looked good in that scene, and highlighted how there's volume to her attack, and not just fade to black. But I suppose it does look more organic and less 'computer' without outline. Maybe not better or worse, just different.ScOULaris said:
I'm still happy that the the EU version was ported, just for the Yorda being smarter and able to do more things.
I was just thinking... I still can't get over the fact that this collection exists. It's fanservice on a level that I think rarely occurs in this industry. Neither of these games sold anywhere near the numbers of other HD remasters (GoW, Sly series, MGS, Silent Hill... etc.), but Sony recognized how beloved these two titles were and made this happen. Together with BluePoint Games, Sony delivered a package that makes the strongest argument for HD remasters to date.
We now get to play two of the best games ever in beautiful HD with a smooth framerate, and the package comes with an awesome game-select menu and a slew of bonus videos including interviews with Team Ico. How freaking cool is that? I mean, seriously. We were all begging for this to be made years ago after the first God of War Collection was announced, and it's actually here.
I dunno. I just felt like expression my appreciation for this collection. Who's with me?
We now get to play two of the best games ever in beautiful HD with a smooth framerate, and the package comes with an awesome game-select menu and a slew of bonus videos including interviews with Team Ico. How freaking cool is that? I mean, seriously. We were all begging for this to be made years ago after the first God of War Collection was announced, and it's actually here.
I dunno. I just felt like expression my appreciation for this collection. Who's with me?
GillianSeed79
Member
ScOULaris said:
I own both the PS2 versions of Ico and SoTC. I'm debating picking this up tonight. On the one hand I really want this game, but on the other I'm going back and forth debating whether an HD remaster of two games I already own is worth $45 during this time a year with so many games coming out. So are all the improvements really worth it in your opinion?
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
It makes PS2 versions 100% worthless, that's how good this release is.GillianSeed79 said:
Colossus 12
Colossus 13
The biggest double whammy of awesome in gaming history.
First there was the awe I felt at Colossus #3, then came the out of this Planet Colossus #5, then #7 and his splashing antics. I swear it just gets better, better, better and better.
Although I must admit, #10 was a little weird in its explanation, but after 1 and a half hours of trying, I had to get a hint at the solution off google. Still, that's the only small negative I've had throughout.
Colossus 13
The biggest double whammy of awesome in gaming history.
First there was the awe I felt at Colossus #3, then came the out of this Planet Colossus #5, then #7 and his splashing antics. I swear it just gets better, better, better and better.
Although I must admit, #10 was a little weird in its explanation, but after 1 and a half hours of trying, I had to get a hint at the solution off google. Still, that's the only small negative I've had throughout.
Man, I'm playing through ICO here and just passed the waterfall room. I had forgotten about the added puzzles that were present in the PAL version of the game. The moving piston + the water wheel? The piston thing wasn't bad, I suppose, aside from some tricky timing but that god damn water wheel took me a good 15 minutes to pass. The required timing was absolutely brutal and the controls lacked the precision necessary to pull it off easily. Was a pain in the ass that didn't really jive well with the rest of the game. I don't think it was a positive change.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
I actually kind of liked the water wheel. It was difficult to pull off, but more because I was at first going at it leasurely, and then when I started failing I was panicking so that made it even worse. Once I relized that all you have to do is land on the wheel and then pull him away from the bar once or twice quickly before jumping at it, and I stopped doing stupid things, I did it on a 2nd attempt.
Now I see it as a difficult version of the windmill puzzle.
Piston was just kind of dumb, IMO. Not really a puzzle, just required ridiculous timing, to the point that I'd think most people would give up, thinking they're supposed to do something different. Strange that they didn't retime these puzzles for this release (made the bigger jump window on piston, and slowed water wheel down a bit)
Now I see it as a difficult version of the windmill puzzle.
Piston was just kind of dumb, IMO. Not really a puzzle, just required ridiculous timing, to the point that I'd think most people would give up, thinking they're supposed to do something different. Strange that they didn't retime these puzzles for this release (made the bigger jump window on piston, and slowed water wheel down a bit)
About the water wheel..
It's not the timing for me. I took 30+ tries.
I think it's about the order of buttons pressed. At first I tried pressing the stick first and then O quickly. The stick movement changed Ico's direction immediately. I failed every time.
Once I pressed O first and then moved the stick quickly in the direction I wanted him to jump, I got it immediately.
It's not the timing for me. I took 30+ tries.
I think it's about the order of buttons pressed. At first I tried pressing the stick first and then O quickly. The stick movement changed Ico's direction immediately. I failed every time.
Once I pressed O first and then moved the stick quickly in the direction I wanted him to jump, I got it immediately.
Yep, that's what I noticed. I had to change the way I approached it in order to pull it off. The way the game requires you to act is very unnatural for me, however, in that I typically push a direction before jumping. I would jump onto the wheel, grab it, and by the time I could hoist myself up, it would basically be too late and I couldn't jump. It just didn't seem well designed.patsu said:
In fact, based on these two puzzles and the changes made to the ending, I'm thinking the original US release was actually the superior version. The changes made to the ending in the PAL version really hurt the impact of the scene, I felt. The original timing was just perfect.
I agree that the changes made to the ending in the PAL version were BULLSHIT, and the water wheel definitely sticks out as a questionable piece of design in a game with otherwise such smooth progression.dark10x said:
I'll never understand why people have difficulty with the piston jump, though. It stands out from a design standpoint from the rest of the game, but the timing of the jump is dead simple. Took me like two tries? I really don't see how anyone could have such a hard time with it.
Acquiescence
Member
Got the SotC platinum today. Out of the 30 I've achieved, it was undoubtedly one of the most hair-pullingly maddening, and represented the absoute worst that trophies can get. A great trophy list offers a lot of variety in tasks while maintaining a sizeable challenge to get that reward factor. I'd say a perfect example is Mirror's Edge, which is tough but fair, requires only a couple of playthroughs so that tedium doesn't set in, and presents some diversity in time trials and chapter speedruns that eschew any unnecessary monotony.
But Sotc...God almighty. That abomination requires you to complete the game not twice, not three times, BUT FIVE FUCKIN' TIMES! And that's not even including the 2 time attack modes you have to endure, which are essentially extra playthroughs anyway considering that the only portion of gameplay missing is the trek to each colossus. So that's already some extreme grinding, but you couple that with the collectathon trophies for fruit and lizards that don't even have markers - disallowing the common courtesy to tell you if you've actually killed all the lizards or not - and you've got yourself a seriously detestable trophy list that taints an otherwise great game.
Hard time attack wasn't as excruciating as I had anticipated fortunately; all were a cinch apart from #15 and #3. I mean, it was a mode ultimately hindered by Wander's newfound refusal to stand still from the slightest shuffle of a colossus, but after searching for all 48 pieces of fruit in that secret shrine, I felt like I could endure anything.
Essentially though, I can't see myself ever wanting to play the game again. Out of the collection though, ICO came out still smelling like roses; love that game to bits.
But Sotc...God almighty. That abomination requires you to complete the game not twice, not three times, BUT FIVE FUCKIN' TIMES! And that's not even including the 2 time attack modes you have to endure, which are essentially extra playthroughs anyway considering that the only portion of gameplay missing is the trek to each colossus. So that's already some extreme grinding, but you couple that with the collectathon trophies for fruit and lizards that don't even have markers - disallowing the common courtesy to tell you if you've actually killed all the lizards or not - and you've got yourself a seriously detestable trophy list that taints an otherwise great game.
Hard time attack wasn't as excruciating as I had anticipated fortunately; all were a cinch apart from #15 and #3. I mean, it was a mode ultimately hindered by Wander's newfound refusal to stand still from the slightest shuffle of a colossus, but after searching for all 48 pieces of fruit in that secret shrine, I felt like I could endure anything.
Essentially though, I can't see myself ever wanting to play the game again. Out of the collection though, ICO came out still smelling like roses; love that game to bits.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
To get back to this, I'd almost bet that if people were more vocal about it, they'd possibly redact it for this release. I mean the reason they took the PAL version in the first place was that there was a complete consensus that it's the better version in every way possible. I never even heard of anything being better in the US version until I read your post.ScOULaris said:
No, you can still jump the 'normal' way. You just have to step back a step or two away from the handlebar, then jump towards it. This needs to be done quickly and precisely though. I did it that way, it definitely works. I think I could do both of these with relative ease now.dark10x said:
I think it's the thing that you have to notice that Ico crouches down first a bit before jumping up. You need to account for that in the timing.ScOULaris said:
Honestly, I never knew about the changes to the ending in the PAL version until this release. It's strange that nobody ever mentioned it before. Everyone knew about the other changes (water wheel and piston puzzles, enhanced Yorda AI, watermelon ending, light saber... etc.), but I never heard a word about the ending being altered. I noticed it right away when I beat the HD Collection version of ICO, and I was not pleased. I feel sorry for PAL players who had to watch this version of the ending all along. They didn't get to experience the superior original ending on their first playthrough, and that's a crying shame.Lord Error said:
Lemming_JRS
Member
dark10x said:
Totally agree.
The song started way, way too early - it drowned out Yorda's farewell to Ico as she pushes the boat.
Also, f
unk
Oh, the piston jump is not difficult, but the timing is awkward. You would typically expect to press the jump button just as the piston is launching upwards, but this game demands that you press it BEFORE this point. It feels as if you are pressing jump too early when, in reality, that's what the game expects.ScOULaris said:
For me, I tried it a few times and failed only to be left wondering what to do next. I could see where it wanted me to go, but I thought my timing was perfect yet wasn't getting results. I didn't expect this game, of all things, to suddenly demand such specific timing. It just doesn't jive with any of the other challenges that had come before. Once I concluded that the piston was the only way forward I started to mess with the timing only to find the proper method (which still doesn't feel right).
I just think both puzzles feel out of place for the game.
Agreed. At this point, I don't mind having the other ending as I was curious to see the differences, but when I first saw the US ending back in 2001, it left a very strong impression. The music usage played a big role in this and it definitely doesn't feel quite the same in the PAL version.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Yeah, I don't mind the sugary song that plays at the ending all that much, but US version made it more fitting. It really starts too early now, it's really kind of a... why did they... moment.dark10x said:
Maybe if someone from Bluepoint is reading this they can add some options that would toggle these US/EU things on and off in a patch, or in an inevitable download release. Really just the "North American Ending On/Off" would be enough.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
ScOULaris said:
It would be more intuitive for me (and I'm assuming some other people) if you were supposed to press the button as the piston is going up. But you have to press it earlier than that which makes less sense. Not to bring reality into this, but if you were to jump just before the piston went up, it would just slam into your feet and crumple your legs. It just defies our intuitive physics so people are having problems.
edit: Oh I said the same thing as dark10x. Well, at least I'm not alone.
ScOULaris said:
Without a point of comparison it probably didn't hurt their experience much at all. You should feel sorry for everyone who knows it's the worse ending because they've seen the better one. For those people, ICO HD is less than it could have been and a missed opportunity.