The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection |OT| Ueda *bow*

LethaL ImpuLse said:
Well I just started playing SotC off this collection for the first time in 3 years, but damn, is it just me or are the controls significantly worse? Like, when I first played it back then it was a breeze, but now I'm having a REALLY difficult time just keeping ahold of the colossi and jumping across their body structures. It's bad to the point where it got extremely frustrating, and the third colossus just made turn off the game in frustration.

I don't understand, I really enjoyed this game when I first played it three years ago, but now these controls are kind of getting on my nerves. Anyone else feel similarly?
Click to expand...
Years of automated platformer this gen will do that to you lol. The camera can be a pain because it resets behind you automatically but once you get re-accustomed to it, you'll have no problem. Camera management will become second nature.

Oh, and it is a bit tougher holding on in this collection. You'll find numerous people complaining or pointing that out here and speculated reasons as to why.
 
LethaL ImpuLse said:
Well I just started playing SotC off this collection for the first time in 3 years, but damn, is it just me or are the controls significantly worse? Like, when I first played it back then it was a breeze, but now I'm having a REALLY difficult time just keeping ahold of the colossi and jumping across their body structures. It's bad to the point where it got extremely frustrating, and the third colossus just made turn off the game in frustration.

I don't understand, I really enjoyed this game when I first played it three years ago, but now these controls are kind of getting on my nerves. Anyone else feel similarly?
Click to expand...

The grip mechanic is completely FUBAR. You will flail around from the slightest movement. I've confirmed this by playing the PS2 versions straight after the HD rev.
 
Finally picked this up having never played either game.

Played Ico for 2.5 hours and it's pretty good, but I understand that it's short and that I could possibly already be past the halfway mark? I'm up to
the East Arena
, about how much further do I have to go?

Itching to try SotC, but I'll wait until Ico is completed.
 
Phonomezer said:
Finally picked this up having never played either game.

Played Ico for 2.5 hours and it's pretty good, but I understand that it's short and that I could possibly already be past the halfway mark? I'm up to
the East Arena
, about how much further do I have to go?

Itching to try SotC, but I'll wait until Ico is completed.
Click to expand...


Both of these games are excellent. lol yeah, there's a trophy for beating ICO in under 2 hrs so its a short game if you know your way through it. I tried for that trophy after beating it once before and my end time (after the unskippable long ass ending and credits) was 2:01..... I swore id never try again, and i wont....lol

I cant immediately recall how far in that place is, but you're well on your way!!!
 
sloppyjoe_gamer said:
Both of these games are excellent. lol yeah, there's a trophy for beating ICO in under 2 hrs so its a short game if you know your way through it. I tried for that trophy after beating it once before and my end time (after the unskippable long ass ending and credits) was 2:01..... I swore id never try again, and i wont....lol

I cant immediately recall how far in that place is, but you're well on your way!!!
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks.

Under 2 hours? Jesus. Think I'll give that a miss for now :P
 
jett said:
The grip mechanic is completely FUBAR. You will flail around from the slightest movement. I've confirmed this by playing the PS2 versions straight after the HD rev.
Click to expand...

Oh so i'm not imagining things.

Well, it's not so bad it's broken i guess, since i'm unto the 13. Colossi.

There won't be a patch, right?
 
I noticed the grip mechanic not being as solid as the PS2 version as well. I was stuck on Colossus #2 for half an hour at least, always falling off trying to climb.
 
So I finished Ico in what was pretty much one sitting.

What was all the fuss about?


Actually..

+ Great setting and atmosphere
+ Music used to good effect
+ Some fun platforming
+ Unique premise
+ Felt like a Sega game
+ Satisfying endgame

- Wonky platforming
- Animations can last for too long/running animation is hilarious
- Yorda can be a pain
- Next to nothing is explained about the games characters or setting outside of the first 30 minutes
- Very easy
- Combat may as well have been absent
- The camera is a complete abomination in a lot of places
 
So I've never played either of these games, largely due to being a PC gamer for most of my life, and by the time I jumped on the whole console thing that seems to be taking off with the kids, I was far too used to smooth framerates and high resolution to play that choppy ass Shadow of the Colossus nonsense. Then the HD collection was announced after hearing so much about how great it was, and I finally found a reason to play the game. But then I forgot about it.

Until Target had it for $20 and I nabbed that shit like it was going out of style.

Never cared to try ICO, but figured I ought to at least play a bit of it first before SotC and after half an hour I put it down, stared at my TV and said audibly "that was the best fucking half an hour of gaming I've ever had. Holy shit." and decided I would wait until after all the dick and fart jokes of Saints Row the Third had been exhausted before playing what appeared to be a masterpiece.

That was last weekend. Now it's this weekend, SR3 is done, and I'm taking a break from killing orks in Space Marine and Russians in Battlefield 3 to play this fucking game, and holy shit I'm loving it. Still only like an hour and a half in, but this is why I love games. I always considered action/adventure games my favorites, and after years of Demon's/Dark Souls and Darksiders and Zeldas and Elder Scrolls, I assumed I was more of an action guy, but I think Ico has show me what I really love- exploring amazing detailed environments. That was why I loved those games, and this game takes that element and basically creates an entire experience out of it, with combat only being a small part of it.

Ico might be my favorite game ever made, and I've played like 10% of it.

Can't fucking wait for SOTC.

God I hope The Last Guardian is good.

I'll do an RTTP for Ico once I beat it and get full thread-making privileges. Until then, I thought I'd post these initial impressions here.
 
Well, I got off track with other games so I ended up pushing the collection to the side while I dealt with the holiday madness. So I finally got back into this, and I can't believe this game still gets to me. Not going to lie, cried like a fucking baby again when
Agro comes walking up the steps.
Like, I don't think any other video game moment has that big of an effect on me.


Time to for Ico now!
 
I must be doing something wrong, since to me Ico is really frustrating due to the terrible mechanics. The shadows seem to have random hit detection. Sometimes I hit a shadow and it registers as a hit, other times I can swing the stick through the shadow over and over again and it never gets hit or knocked away. And when a shadow grabs Yorda its pretty much game over, since all my attacks just go through the shadow until it disappears into the vortex or whatever it is. And outside of combat I can stand five feet away from Yorda and hold the 'grab my hand' button and she just sits there doing nothing until the boy calls for her four or five times. So am I missing something here? Ico seems like it could be a good game, but so far the lousy controls are ruining the game for me.
 
I don't remember not being able to hit the shadows.

My tip would be to try to run into them while swinging, see if that helps.
And the Yorda AI is not that great, call for her to stretch her arm out, run to her to dock.
 
wastedyears said:
I must be doing something wrong, since to me Ico is really frustrating due to the terrible mechanics. The shadows seem to have random hit detection. Sometimes I hit a shadow and it registers as a hit, other times I can swing the stick through the shadow over and over again and it never gets hit or knocked away. And when a shadow grabs Yorda its pretty much game over, since all my attacks just go through the shadow until it disappears into the vortex or whatever it is. And outside of combat I can stand five feet away from Yorda and hold the 'grab my hand' button and she just sits there doing nothing until the boy calls for her four or five times. So am I missing something here? Ico seems like it could be a good game, but so far the lousy controls are ruining the game for me.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a timing issue.
Trust me, once you get it down i.e. when to swing your stick, you'll never have a problem fighting them again. The game becomes actually very easy once you get this.

Don't keep hammering the buttons, hit them slowly and precisely.

The Yorda not coming issue seems odd, she generally comes after one or two calls by Ico.

Square Triangle said:
Got my package in the mail!

http://touch.lockerz.com//s/173646237

http://touch.lockerz.com/s/173648578
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You jammy dodger. Very nice.
 
Jharp said:
So I've never played either of these games, largely due to being a PC gamer for most of my life, and by the time I jumped on the whole console thing that seems to be taking off with the kids, I was far too used to smooth framerates and high resolution to play that choppy ass Shadow of the Colossus nonsense. Then the HD collection was announced after hearing so much about how great it was, and I finally found a reason to play the game. But then I forgot about it.

Until Target had it for $20 and I nabbed that shit like it was going out of style.

Never cared to try ICO, but figured I ought to at least play a bit of it first before SotC and after half an hour I put it down, stared at my TV and said audibly "that was the best fucking half an hour of gaming I've ever had. Holy shit." and decided I would wait until after all the dick and fart jokes of Saints Row the Third had been exhausted before playing what appeared to be a masterpiece.

That was last weekend. Now it's this weekend, SR3 is done, and I'm taking a break from killing orks in Space Marine and Russians in Battlefield 3 to play this fucking game, and holy shit I'm loving it. Still only like an hour and a half in, but this is why I love games. I always considered action/adventure games my favorites, and after years of Demon's/Dark Souls and Darksiders and Zeldas and Elder Scrolls, I assumed I was more of an action guy, but I think Ico has show me what I really love- exploring amazing detailed environments. That was why I loved those games, and this game takes that element and basically creates an entire experience out of it, with combat only being a small part of it.

Ico might be my favorite game ever made, and I've played like 10% of it.

Can't fucking wait for SOTC.

God I hope The Last Guardian is good.

I'll do an RTTP for Ico once I beat it and get full thread-making privileges. Until then, I thought I'd post these initial impressions here.
Click to expand...
Nice post :) Good luck with your thread-making privileges and enjoy the rest of the game. Doesn't sound like either ICO or SotC are going to disappoint.
 
I was one of the few people to play Ico back when it came out a decade ago, and have always considered it to be my greatest video game. So it's odd that I never got around to playing Shadow of the Colossus, and having long since given away my PS2, it saddened me to think I never would.

Naturally I was elated to hear of this collection, and only just recently picked it up. Replaying though Ico with my wife beside me was a fantastic experience. The game looks great, the nostalgia pulled at my heartstrings hard, and when we were done my wife teared up a little and simply said, "What a beautiful game."

Tonight was the first time we were able to spend a couple of hours with Shadow of the Colossus, both of us realy looking forward to it, and so it breaks my heart to say this, but man.. what a disappointment it has been so far.
 
DEO3 said:
Tonight was the first time we were able to spend a couple of hours with Shadow of the Colossus, both of us realy looking forward to it, and so it breaks my heart to say this, but man.. what a disappointment it has been so far.
Click to expand...

I realize that everyone is entitled to their opinions and know how subjectivity works, but for the life of me I just can't wrap my head around anyone not liking or being disappointed by either Ico or SotC. It's mindboggling to me.
 
I love these games. I never finished Ico but I loved what I had played off it. Now I own the PS2 versions but seeing how both titles are now on the US PSN Store, I am tempted on DLing them.

ScOULaris said:
I realize that everyone is entitled to their opinions and know how subjectivity works, but for the life of me I just can't wrap my head around anyone not liking or being disappointed by either Ico or SotC. It's mindboggling to me.
Click to expand...


Did you play them when they came out? Peoples expectation will be skewed after playing games this generation and most of us praising the game are still cherishing the memories of the first time we experienced the titles.
 
Bought this in December, and finished Ico a few days ago.

It was.. as an experience, it was interesting. A story told with virtually no dialogue or verbal interaction between the characters. But as a game, it was mediocre at best. Bad controls, terrible combat, so-so puzzles and awful camera. I sort of enjoyed it, I guess, but I really wouldn't consider it a great game by any means.

Started SotC the other day, and while the camera is better, I still find the gameplay to be janky and not very satisfying at all (I'm at the third colossus by now). The story (I read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia years ago) is very good, and makes you question who's actually the monster, but as a game it's not all that great. I'll trudge on through it though, but I'll have to let it rest for some time.

Overall I feel like Team Ico are much better at creating interesting settings, concepts and stories than at wrapping good gameplay around their ideas.

Back to shooting Mexican wrestlers in the face in Saints Row 3.
 
Combichristoffersen said:
It's certainly better than the gameplay in Ico and SotC, even though SotC and Ico trumps SR3 in terms of story :lol
Click to expand...

well, it's certainly different, & more conventional & familiar. but, for anyone who 's grown tired of, or bored with it (& its bazillion iterations), i'm not so sure it's necessarily 'better' (or 'more fun', for that matter). more like 'more comfortable', i'd say...

now, if you want to compare sotc's gameplay with those of all the other '15 stories tall monster climbing/killing' games out there, that's another thing :) ...
 
As I've written here before, I totally loved ICO from start to finish, and I didn't like SotC much.

I think the story in ICO was great and I didn't mind that the combat wasn't that good. Combat is a small part of the experience, and as someone else stated, the way Ico fights seems appropriate for a 6 years old kid. The combat throughout the whole game isn't really a gameplay mechanic in the standard sense we are used to think at it, but it's more a way to convey the story. You aren't supposed to be or become good at it. It's nearly impossible to get a game over screen once you understand how it works. It's there to make you feel concerned about Yorda and to strengthen your connection with her. This fact is highlighted even more
in the final battle with all the shadows, since you aren't with Yorda anymore and therefore it's totally impossible to get a game over screen
.

After thinking about it a little, I've come to the conclusion that the reason why I didn't like SotC as much is that it is more a game in the strict sense of the word. There are mechanics you have to learn, boss battles and in general you feel like you are repeating several times the same set of actions, eventually getting better at them, like you do in pretty much every other videogame out there. The story and the way it is presented are still unconventional and great, the visuals are still artistic and minimalist, but, unlike when I played ICO, while I was playing SotC I was always well aware that I was playing a game.
 
semiconscious said:
well, it's certainly different, & more conventional & familiar. but, for anyone who 's grown tired of, or bored with it (& its bazillion iterations), i'm not so sure it's necessarily 'better' (or 'more fun', for that matter). more like 'more comfortable', i'd say...

now, if you want to compare sotc's gameplay with those of all the other '15 stories tall monster climbing/killing' games out there, that's another thing :) ...
Click to expand...

I meant better as in not janky controls and terrible combat ;) The gameplay in SR3 vs. Ico and SotC is so radically different it's no point in even trying to compare them, really.

I actually enjoyed the colossus climbing in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow more than in the HD version of SotC, but I guess that could be due to the climbing being borked and broken in SotC HD, going by jett's post furter up on this page.
 
Syn23 said:
After thinking about it a little, I've come to the conclusion that the reason why I didn't like SotC as much is that it is more a game in the strict sense of the word. There are mechanics you have to learn, boss battles and in general you feel like you are repeating several times the same set of actions, eventually getting better at them, like you do in pretty much every other videogame out there. The story and the way it is presented are still unconventional and great, the visuals are still artistic and minimalist, but, unlike when I played ICO, while I was playing SotC I was always well aware that I was playing a game.
Click to expand...

while this didn't really bother me at all, you're right - sotc has a 'learning curve'. ico doesn't. which makes sotc more 'game-like'...

your post also points to what i'd say is the 2 most common 'problems' i see with late-comers to these games:

1) wanting to 'get better at' ico 'because that's what you do in games', when getting better at it really isn't the point...
2) wanting to already be good at sotc 'because i'm a pretty good / experienced gamer', rather than deal with its unique mechanics & learning curve...

the first is pretty counter-intuitive, & i can understand the resulting confusion. the second is just a reflection on how gaming has changed: it's much more common now for games to 'share' mechanics, which lets you carry over skills from one to the other, than it once was...
 
I think these have (or are?) finally coming to the PSN Store. But they don't have the "extras". Are the extras worth the effort? I'm not really in to limited editions, the only one I own is Alan Wake, and don't think I'd ever look at the extras... unless someone can convince me otherwise?

That said ICO/SOTC (haven't finished the first, never played the second) are pretty special so who knows. I just wanna get my paws on the games as soon as possible.
 
The extras are just the doc-style videos and some behind the scenes stuff...all of which you can probably watch free on the internet. That and two free dynamic themes which aren't that good, anyway. The disc is worth picking up if the the prices on PSN add up to the same as the disc.
 
MightyHedgehog said:
The extras are just the doc-style videos and some behind the scenes stuff...all of which you can probably watch free on the internet. That and two free dynamic themes which aren't that good, anyway. The disc is worth picking up if the the prices on PSN add up to the same as the disc.
Click to expand...

Ahh, thanks. The PSN prices aren't great (I think around $20 a pop) but I'm a lazy bastard so I'll just go ahead and get them now. Cheers!
 
cpp_is_king said:
I wish I could say I even got to the first one. Couldn't even figure out where the hell I was supposed to go. I guess it had something to do with holding the sword up to the light and it "telling me where to go", but all I got was a whole lot of nothing when I held it up. Regardless of which direction I was facing, it would always just point in the direction I was facing. A few times it would actually cause the camera to turn when I held the sword up, and when I tried to go in those directions, I just ended up at a literal dead end.
Click to expand...


The game is called Shadow of the Colossus. If you want the sword to reflect the light shining the way forward, be sure you are standing in light and are not indoors or in the shadow of a canyon or, say, a colossus.
 
Just started this collection, didn't play the original games but I loved both the god of war and the sly collection so...

First thoughts were that the pacing and premise for ICO are great and so is Yorda. It's a little clunky, but hardly a pain in the ass. The first time I took a swing at a random wall with my stick her reaction actually made me wince, I haven't gone running around hitting everything like an idiot since.

On the downside, my brain must not work like the developers' because after a frustrating half hour I had to look up the solution(if you can call it that) in one case where I simply didn't know you could SWING on the damn chains and later that you had to simply lower your hand through an opening in a sewer to pull Yorda up. One of those things where there's nothing to work out, you see it or you don't and end up wasting time. Kind of a bummer, I'm hoping the quality of the puzzles improves.
 
Is there a list out there of all the oddities present in the world of SotC? I sought out the Giant World Tree and apparently passed by Ico's beach on the way, but... just wondering if there's more weird stuff aside from the garden atop the Desert Shrine.
 
Since released..played an hour or two of ICO, still haven't touched SotC. My backlog..and I blame Dark Souls for making it worse.
 
Started playing ICO. Its fun. Some clever puzzles, and really nice atmosphere.

But the combat - my god is it garbage. Its clunky, boring and worst of all, LONG. It takes like a million hits to kill the stupid shadows.

The game as a whole is very clunky as well. Jumping is stiff, Yorda's AI is non-existent and inconsistent (She can jump across a broken bridge but can't climb down a rope? What?) and the camera is terrible.

So far however, the pros have outweighed the cons. i hope it stays that way.
 
I finally bought a 3DTV, and decided to try SOTC, thinking that it might not be as bad (in 3D) as I was fearing. As it turns out, it's fantastic in 3D. It may be the best use of 3D I've seen in a video game at this point (I've tried Crysis 2, Arkham City, and a few others). I was riding along behind the Shrine of Worship, and I nearly jumped out of my chair when I saw the enormous gorge between the northern, and middle halves of the forbidden land (where the bridge goes over). The sense of depth, and of height (looking up at colossi, the SOW, etc) is fantastic, and it made me okay with having spent a bit more to get a 3D model (Panasonic ST30) over a regular model (S30).

The only problem with the two disc set is that the 3D in Ico really isn't living up what I was expecting, having played SOTC in 3D. The effect is much more subtle, unless I'm missing a menu setting somewhere that turns the 3D up. Ico is easily my favorite game of the two, so I was a bit disappointed by that. Edit: Turns out that the problem was really with my settings. I was using the 2D calibrated settings, and they just weren't bright enough for 3D. After adjusting, I can tell that the 3D is definitely there. It's still more subtle than SOTC, but that's probably because the backgrounds are so low-res (looking out into the distance from one of the bridges in the game, for instance.)

I can't wait to get to the top of the SOW and look down at the land below. Should be stunning.
 
Finally got around to starting SOTC today and I'm really enjoying it. The horrible PS2 version (where I only beat the second Collosi, I think) really soured my view of the game and I was apprehensive to even try it again.

This time with a playable framerate it's clicking much more. It's great to try and scale these huge beasts and the last two Collosi have been much more about figuring out how exactly to beat them than just scaling them.

The controls seem a bit... wonky, I guess. I don't have faith in the guy to always grab on where I want him to and the grip meter is kinda confusing. I've tried climbing with just my bare hands but it doesn't seem to increase the duration of the grip meter. Does it? It can also be really frustrating to just hold R1 for 20 seconds as the enemy flails around and I can't move in an inch. In some ways I like the fact that it's not easy to climb them, but it's definitely lead to some frustration where I've been inches away from a safe spot and yet I couldn't reach it in a good 10/15 seconds and just had to wait as my grip dropped and I fell off.

Edit: The 5th was absolutely awesome and the most frustrating yet at the same time!

I think the game would be better if there was more of an adventure. Warping back to the girl and then a short path to the next boss is a bit samey. If it were a more linear game where you had to keep advancing to the next one it would be a bit more interesting.
 
The parts where I played Ico in 3D were small enclosed rooms. When I came to a part with a big drop or a viewing of the background, then I saw some good 3D effects.
 
F**K THIS S**T!!!

SoTC in HD is a total garbage, wtf did they do?

Bluepoint Games has destroied a game, Wanda lose the grip continuosly making difficult to hold the sword for pierce the colossos, the physic is alterated and the dead zone of the right analog stick is so huge, it makes crappy manage the camera.

It's almost unplayable respect the original version.

Who haven't notice this not have played enough the original version o not remember it.

This NEED a patch, but it's will never arrive... f**k you Bluepoint Games...
 
Playing Ico for the first time. Loving it. Wonky controls aside, it's one of the most engrossing and fantastic gaming experiences I've ever had.
 
fabiobad said:
F**K THIS S**T!!!

SoTC in HD is a total garbage, wtf did they do?

Bluepoint Games has destroied a game, Wanda lose the grip continuosly making difficult to hold the sword for pierce the colossos, the physic is alterated and the dead zone of the right analog stick is so huge, it makes crappy manage the camera.

It's almost unplayable respect the original version.

Who haven't notice this not have played enough the original version o not remember it.

This NEED a patch, but it's will never arrive... f**k you Bluepoint Games...
Click to expand...

Yeah I've mentioned this several times before. The game will drive you to the brink of wanting to throw your PS3 out of the window on hard mode. Bluepoint ruined it. It's moronic. I've tried to e-mail them but they never respond. This HD port was a big letdown, sigh.
 
I'd be interested in going back to the PS2 version to see how different it is now.

... except I'd feel sick after 5 minutes when it's running at 8fps like I did last time and quit instantly. Give me shoddy controls over a single digit framerate any day!

I'm "glad" the controls are an issue though, because I thought I might be doing something wrong.

I still have three to go! Might wrap it up tomorrow.
 
jett said:
The game will drive you to the brink of wanting to throw your PS3 out of the window on hard mode. Bluepoint ruined it. It's moronic. I've tried to e-mail them but they never respond. This HD port was a big letdown, sigh.
Click to expand...
Are we sure it doesn't actually play like the Japanese (and PAL?) PlayStation 2 version? It played a bit differently, compared to the US version, didn't it?
 
Just curious, have any of you played the PAL PS2 version of the game? Because the PS3 version of both games are based on the "complete" PAL versions. I honestly had no problem with the grip system in the slightest when compared to the PAL release of Shadow of the Colossus on PS2.
 
I played the PAL PS2 version and if the PS3 version was the same as that version, I suddenly suck at SotC. When playing 15 on the HD collection I just couldn't find some time to stab him in the head without getting staggered. Same with 3 and it's belly. I don't remember the PS2 version being so frustrating, but I guess I should pop that in my ps3 to find out.
 
Of course, I may be wrong because I last played the game two years ago on the PS2 when I replayed through it.

But I didn't find the PS3 version noticeably harder. Of course, I may be wrong but I remember close to release that people were claiming that it was just the PS2 PAL version.
 
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