History VideoGame / Ico

* AcclaimedFlop: Reviews and players immediately fell in love with the game, but it was way too unique and strange to be a big seller.
** The fact that it got almost no promotion didn't help either.

* {{Leitmotif}}: The few notes when Yorda steps out of her cage can be heard in several other tracks, including the ending song (if you listen closely) and Castle In The Mist.

A novelization of the game, ''Ico: Castle in the Mist'', was released in Japan in 2004, with an English translation by AlexanderOSmith finally coming in 2011.

While not commercially successful, ''ICO'' is a frequent flier on lists like "100 Best Video Games Ever Made" "Top 25 Most Artistic Video Games" "Top 39 Games that Show that Video Games Don't Have to be Mindless Frag-Fests" etc. This, combined with its minimalist concept and certain visual tropes, has led to it having a surprising amount of influence. The makers of ''[[LegendOfZelda The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', later additions to the ''MetalGearSolid'' series, ''[[PrinceOfPersia Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time]]'', ''{{Knytt}}'', and the director of ''[[PansLabyrinth Pan's Labyrinth]]'' have all said that they consciously imitated some aspect of its theme, tone, or aesthetic in their works. ''VideoGame/{{ICO}}'' itself drew much of its influence from ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'', both in gameplay and design. It also was largely influenced by the [[TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]] series, before the game influenced the series back.

* SequenceBreaking: A jumping glitch in the PS2 PAL version can be used to skip about 50% of the game. See SpeedRun below.

* AcclaimedFlop - Reviews and players immediately fell in love with the game, but it was way too unique and strange to be a big seller.
* AllThereInTheManual - The novel explains why Ico doesn't have a health bar; Yorda has healing powers which are maintained by physical contact. The novel even explains why the Queen is a LoadBearingBoss, reveals the ancestral heritage of the Sacrifices, shows the amount of time that Yorda's been imprisoned, expands on what happened to Yorda and Ico before they met, and shows the reason the Queen got her powers to begin with. See AdaptationExpansion below for a few of the details.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign - Both Ico and Yorda speak rather elegantly creator-designed gibberish; Ico's sounds vaguely Korean-based, and is subtitled in English. Yorda's language sounds just a bit like French (and is subtitled in nonsense glyphs that call to mind Central American indigenous art) but is in fact mostly "translated" from Japanese by writing the words in English letters, then spelt backwards, then tweaked.
* BenevolentArchitecture / MalevolentArchitecture - The [[PrinceOfPersia Sands of Time trilogy]] took inspiration from the BenevolentArchitecture aspect, and it shows. But on the other hand, one can wonder why such a ridiculously complex and difficult to access mechanism is needed to open a door (a huge one, but still)…
* {{BFS}} - the Queen's Sword
* BiggerStick - Ico doesn't power up, he just finds better things to smack monsters with.
* BossArenaIdiocy - [[spoiler:The Queen is probably regretting those lovely decorative pillars she put up in her throne room]].
* BossBattle - A rare case where there is only one boss in the entire game.

* BrokenBridge - The bridge breaks while Ico and Yorda trying to make use of it, rather than being broken before they get there, but the result ends up being the same.
* CheckPointStarvation - Or rather Save Point Starvation in the last part of the game. You need Yorda to save by sitting on the stone seats. Then you get separated from her and have to go through a very long jumping puzzle to get back into the castle… just hope it's not dinner time when you arrive at the final battle.
* CherubicChoir - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFX2bDATGU4&hd=1 "You Were There"]], the closing song of ICO, sung by the then [[http://www.libera.org.uk Libera]] boy chorister Steven theGeraghty.
* ChristmasRushed - Arguably the reason why the NTSC version is stipped down compared to the PAL and Japanese versions of the game. This was corrected in the re-release.
* ChunkySalsaRule - Getting punched around by shadows or falling off medium-height ledges only stuns the player. Falls higher than three stories and certain magical effects are an instant game over.

* CuteGhostGirl - Yorda is about as close to a ghost as you can get without actually being one.
* DifficultyByRegion: the North American version was considerably easier than other versions. A few puzzles had the tricky bits cut out, and enemies were slower and less aggressive.
* DoesNotLikeShoes - Yorda was never seen having shoes on.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The bonus ''lightsaber'' weapon (previously only available in the Japanese/PAL release) only works by holding Yorda's hand, causing the [[AccidentalInnuendo ''blade to grow'']]
* EscortMission - Almost the entire game is one big escort mission. The developers put in a massive amount of effort to avoid the more annoying elements of the trope and play to its strengths. Yorda doesn't do anything infuriatingly stupid, she unlocks doors (with the added bonus blowing up any nearby monsters real good in the process), and her relationship with Ico is so endearing that you actually WANT to protect her (see the VideogameCaringPotential examples below).

* GrandTheftMe - [[spoiler: The reason the Queen keeps Yorda around is to get her new body and presumably continue to BodySurf.]]

* HeyItsThatVoice: MisaWatanabe as The Queen! You wouldn't recognize her from [[OnePiece Vivi]]'s voice… better from [[MetalGearSolid3 EVA's]]. The fact she has to speak in two different {{Conlang}}s doesn't help…

* {{HUD}} - [[AvertedTrope Averted]]; there is no inventory or health meter or anything, so no heads-up display.

* InfinityPlusOneSword - Lightsaber [[BadExportForYou (but not in the North America release!)]]
* [[ItsUpToYou It's Up To You]] - Yorda's not much use in a fight, and there aren't any other playable characters, so good luck, Ico.
** So you say. [[spoiler: Using Yorda as a stalking horse is one of the most effective tactics in the game. When Yorda opens an idol gate, all black spirits present get zapped. Go, go, gadget Yorda!]]
** [[spoiler: In the PAL and Japanese releases Ico can get an energy sword on the second playthrough that becomes almost all-powerful ''as long as he's holding Yorda's hand.'']]
** In the PAL release Yorda is a playable character in a second playthrough.
*** In the PAL version Yorda would sometimes figure out solutions to puzzles if you took too long, pointing at whatever you needed to focus on.
* JumpPhysics - Averted, Ico can't jump particularly high, he is just very scrappy (but not '''[[TheScrappy scrappy]]''', that would be horrible).

* {{Leitmotif}} - The few notes when Yorda steps out of her cage can be heard in several other tracks, including the ending song (if you listen closely) and Castle In The Mist.

* LostInTranslation - The entire cast speaks a nonsense language, but what Yorda's saying is subtitled in the same runes found on the walls of the castle. In the Japanese and PAL versions of the game, localized subtitles for Yorda are an unlockable feature, but [[BadExportForYou not in the NTSC version]].

* MultiMookMelee - Subverted in a way that suits the game at the end: you will start fighting these hordes of shadows, trying to keep them away from Yorda… before realizing they don't even try to attack you. Add to this a magnificent SoundtrackDissonance, and [[PlayerPunch this scene really makes you feel uneasy]].

* NeverSplitTheParty - Wander away from Yorda at your peril.
* NonstandardGameOver - Kind of. Ico is hard to kill -- only falls from a great height and the queen's stone attack kill him. The monsters he fights so often aren't trying to kill him (although they will push him off a ledge given the chance); they're trying to keep him away from Yorda, because if they get their hands on her, the whole world goes gray and it's Game Over.
** If the black spirits completely capture Yorda, [[spoiler: the Queen's stoning wave sweeps over the tower, petrifying Ico. It's as if only the danger of stoning Yorda is holding the Queen back. Yet the Queen ends up petrifying Yorda anyway after Ico falls from the bridge]].
*** [[spoiler: This could be interpreted as a side effect of the process of the Queen moving her consciousness into Yorda, and slightly different from just plain petrifying her (though she may not fear that, and just not consider Ico a threat, given she had a pretty decent chance to do as much to him earlier on). Further evidence for the change going on may well be the 'shadow' state Yorda was in when she recovered from being petrified at the end.]]

* NowLetMeCarryYou - See CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming above.
* PantyShot - In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64UreO2z5xI this video]].
** Which doesn't show much since Yorda is all white anyway…
* PlayableEpilogue - You thought you had a TearJerker BitterSweetEnding? Look, she's here, sleeping peacefully on the sand!
* ThePowerOfBlood: In the climax, [[spoiler:Ico's horns are snapped off, and he bleeds pretty well from the wounds]]. Comes like a punch to the gut after a game full of nothing but intangible Smokemen.
* SceneryPorn - A good deal of it is architecture porn, to be more precise.
* SequenceBreaking - A jumping glitch in the PS2 PAL version can be used to skip about 50% of the game. See SpeedRun below.
* ShoutOut - The original cover is painted in the style of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirico Giorgio de Chirico]], particularly resembling [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nostalgia_of_the_Infinite "The Nostalgia of the Infinite"]].

* SwordOfPlotAdvancement - Ico eventually finds a sword that opens the doors that only Yorda can previously open. Good thing he didn't find it until after her inevitable kidnapping, otherwise she would have been redundant.

* TakenForGranite - if Ico fails to save Yorda from a shadow vortex in time, a wave of the Queen's magic flashes out from it, [[GameOver petrifying Ico]]. [[spoiler:Later, the Queen petrifies Yorda after recapturing her at the bridge.]]

* UpdatedRerelease - Released as ''The Ico & ShadowOfTheColossus Collection'', features widescreen HD graphics and a few other goodies. More importantly for North American players, the rerelease has all of the features from the PAL version, finally averting BadExportForYou.
* UseYourHead - If Ico's unarmed, he'll headbutt the shadow-monsters.
* VideogameCaringPotential - So damn much. You WILL worry about what is happening to Yorda everytime she is out of sight.

** Just as much with Ico. The kid's obviously doomed and in way over his head. His unthinking acceptance of and childlike attempts to deal with his fate recall the LittlestCancerPatient. Then he finds Yorda and automatically takes the role of her rescuer when it's doubtful he can rescue himself. A kid trying to shoulder adult responsibilities.

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway - So Yorda can open doors in that one castle and maybe also do some specialized magic? That's great and all, but it would have been nice if she had some eldritch way of keeping the shadows from grabbing her.
** She (kind of) ''does''. Taking Yorda to one of the doors and having her open them kills all of the shadows in the area.

* WomanInWhite - Yorda

* AdaptationExpansion - Necessary, considering the minimalist nature of the game itself. A good quarter of the novel consists of Ico's life before coming to the Castle as a Sacrifice, and Yorda's before her imprisonment, as well as elaborating on the world beyond the castle.
* AncestralWeapon - the Queen's Sword
* GeniusLoci - the eponymous Castle in the Mist. The Queen's spirit is explicitly tied to the Castle, explaining her status as a LoadBearingBoss.
* GodOfEvil - the Dark God, one of many gods in the [[AdaptationExpansion expanded backstory]]. The Queen is apparently blessed by it, being born on the day of a solar eclipse.
* HeroicLineage - [[spoiler: Ico, as well as all the other Sacrifices. Their horns mark them as descendants of a knight who helped Yorda before her imprisonment in the castle.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard - the shadows protect Ico in the final battle with the Queen, allowing him to retrieve his sword when it's blasted away from him.
* SealedEvilInACan - the Queen
* TimeStandsStill - for the Castle in the Mist. Yorda has been imprisoned for ten to twenty lifetimes, long enough for generations of Sacrifices.

** Another case happens in other versions: sometimes, when going down on a long ladder, just before touching the ground she will stop and go ''back up'', for no apparent reason. Especially annoying because you have to wait for her to arrive at the top and to come down again; and she's ''painfully slow'' when climbing ladders.

* ConLang

* HeyItsThatVoice: MisaWatanabe as The Queen! You wouldn't recognize her from [[OnePiece Vivi]]'s voice… better from [[MetalGearSolid3 EVA's]].

* {{Leimotiv}} - The few notes when Yorda steps out of her cage can be heard in several other tracks, including the ending song and Castle In The Mist.

* {{Leimotif}} - The few notes when Yorda steps out of her cage can be heard in several other tracks, including the ending song and Castle In The Mist.

* Leimotif - The few notes when Yorda steps out of her cage can be heard in several other tracks, including the ending song and Castle In The Mist.

* SequenceBreaking - A jumping glitch in the PS2 PAL version can be used to skip pretty much 50% of the game. See SpeedRun below.

* SequenceBreaking - A jumping glitch in the PS2 PAL version can be used to skip pretty much half of the game. See SpeedRun below.

* SequenceBreaking - A jumping glitch in the PS2 PAL version can be used for massive ones. See SpeedRun below.

** The former isn't actually too difficult - this is about the amount of time many first-time players will need. Two hours is another story, but a gltich in the original PAL version's JumpPhysics made doing a run in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEYhiID8J9w under one hour]] possible.

''ICO'' is an action-adventure designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who wanted to create a minimalist game around a [[BoyMeetsGirl "boy meets girl"]] concept. It is the first game in the TeamIcoSeries. The team employed a [[{{Minimalism}} "subtracting design"]] approach to reduce elements of gameplay that interfered with the game's setting and story in order to create a [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration high level of immersion]]. (In other words: realistic gameplay, ''gorgeous'' graphics.) The [[CharacterTitle titular protagonist]] is a [[KidHero young boy]] born with horns on his head, which his village considers a bad omen. Warriors [[BurnTheWitch lock Ico away]] in a [[BuriedAlive sealed coffin]] within an [[HauntedCastle abandoned castle]]. He manages to escape, and, while exploring his prison, Ico encounters [[FallenPrincess Yorda]], a mysterious young [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princess]] who speaks a strange language.

The goal of the game is to [[EscortMission escape the castle with Yorda]]. While she is physically quite weak, [[MysteriousWaif locked doors in the castle open when she gets close enough]], making her a kind of living skeleton key. Her presence is necessary to save the game. Some pressure plate puzzles require Yorda to open doors for Ico. This is where her utility ends, however: Yorda is unable to climb, lift or fight anything, leaving most of the work involving dexterity or [[NerfArm pointed sticks]] to Ico, [[TheDulcineaEffect not that he seems to mind]]. Escaping the castle is complicated by the shadow creatures sent by the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen evil Queen]], Yorda's mother. These creatures attempt to drag Yorda into their shadowy [[RespawningEnemies spawn points]] if [[NeverSplitTheParty Ico leaves her for any a length of time]], or if she just happens to enter [[strike:some]] [[strike:certain]] [[strike:most]] basically any area of the castle, presumably because [[DoomMagnet she was born unlucky]]. Ico can prevent this by beating the shadows with a [[NerfArm stick]] or sword, and can also [[TakeMyHand pull Yorda free]] if she is drawn into a vortex. While the shadow creatures cannot harm Ico, they can impede him in his attempt to keep Yorda from being taken away. The game practically revolves around the fact that she's a burden, and still, the emotional bond that the gamer develops with Yorda grows and evolves over time.

* SpeedRun: The PS3 UpdatedRerelease has a trophy for finishing the game in less than 4 hours. And one to finish it in less than ''[[BeyondTheImpossible two hours]]''

* FootFocus - Yorda is always barefoot.

* ArtificialStupidity: This was the way Yorda behaved in the original NTSC release. While not as bad as many examples, she had a tendency to simply ''not attempt to escape'' if shadows came after her.

* ChristmasRushed - Arguably the reason why the NTSC version is stipped down compared to the PAL and Japanese versions of the game.

* AcclaimedFlop - Reviews and players immediately fell in love with the game; you wouldn't know by looking at its sales.

While not commercially successful, ''ICO'' is a frequent flier on lists like "100 Best Video Games Ever Made" "Top 25 Most Artistic Video Games" "Top 39 Games that Show that Video Games Don't Have to be Mindless Frag-Fests" etc. This, combined with its minimalist concept and certain visual tropes, has led to it having a surprising amount of influence. The makers of ''[[LegendOfZelda The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', later additions to the ''MetalGearSolid'' series, ''[[PrinceOfPersia Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time]]'', ''{{Knytt}}'', and the director of ''[[PansLabyrinth Pan's Labyrinth]]'' have all said that they consciously imitated some aspect of its theme, tone, or aesthetic in their works. ''{{ICO}}'' itself drew much of its influence from ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'', both in gameplay and design. It also was largely influenced by the [[TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]] series, before the game influenced the series back.