History VideoGame / Ico

%%* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen

%%* WomanInWhite: Yorda

The titular Ico 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 escapes by chance, and while exploring his prison, Ico encounters [[FallenPrincess Yorda]], a mysterious young [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princess]] who speaks a strange language.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: The European and Japanese cover was inspired by the surrealist art of Giorgio de Chirico, with Ueda painting his own take for the game, and expressed the loneliness of the setting and the importance of the companionship. The North American cover, on the other hand, features generic shots of a [[RaceLift Race Lifted]] Ico, Yorda, and a windmill, and lacks any emotional depth (though it does show Ico looking about as bad-ass as one can with a wooden sword). The NA cover was so famous for being bad that its badness gained an acknowledgment in some interviews with staff in the [=PS3=] re-release. The only reason this cover was used in North America was due to its fixed release deadline; Ueda wasn't able to provide the more abstract cover in time for release.

->''The island bathes through the suns bright rays\\

->''You know a brigher day's just a way ahead, what we need are some heroes\\
With wheels of iron and hearts in the stars \\
through the darkest of days, they'll ride out into the sunset\\
Hope overflowing, they'll construct a new day from the bad....''

->''The island bathes in the suns bright rays\\
Distant hills wear a shroud of grey\\
A lonely breeze whispers in the trees\\
Sole witness to history...''

* {{Protectorate}}: Ico views Yorda as this since [[spoiler: he goes ''back through the castle'' to save her when she's kidnapped at the exit.]]
* RedIsHeroic: Ico is all dressed in red (apart from his poncho). [[WaxingLyrical Betcha five dollars]] [[PintsizedPowerhouse he could kill you dead]].

* BookEnds: The first scene of the game is a pan of the castle in which the game takes place [[SceneryPorn in all its glory]]. Ico is taken ''into'' said castle on a small canoe; several doors are opened with the help of a magic lightning sword. The player takes control of Ico in the prison room, and after a short amount of platforming, meets Yorda. Shortly after, they cross a bridge hand-in-hand, which gets divided as they cross, and the only reason they don't get split up is because Ico keeps ahold of Yorda's hand. [[spoiler:After opening the main gates, they cross a bridge hand-in-hand, which gets divided as they cross, and Ico almost misses the jump until Yorda takes his hand. He gets separated from Yorda, and after a short amount of platforming, ends up in the prison room due to opening several doors with the help of a magic lightning sword. Ico is sent out of the castle on a small canoe, and the last scene of the game (bar [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming the post-credits scene]]) is a pan of the castle in which the game takes place [[SceneryGorn as it falls apart]].]]

* Bizarrchitecture: The castle can come across as this. While the rooms generally make sense in relation to each other and many of them can be guessed to have had a reasonable function at some point in the past, the path a normal person would expect to traverse the castle is convoluted and nonsensical at times, as if they were designed specifically to be puzzles rather then actual passages. Some parts of the castle also don't really make sense compared to rooms right next to them and there's even a trolley line that seems to serve no real purpose at all.

* 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"]].

* FamilialBodySnatcher: The Queen’s main plan for Yorda.

Sole witness to history\\
Fleeting memories rise\\
From the shadows of my mind\\
Sing "nonomori" - endless corridors\\
Say "nonomori" - hopeless warriors\\
You were there...''

* UpdatedRerelease: Released as ''The Ico & VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus Collection'', as well as a standalone digital download on the PlaystationNetwork, it features widescreen HD graphics and a few other goodies. More importantly for North American players, the re-release has all of the features from the PAL version, finally averting BadExportForYou.

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]]. This means that the gameplay is realistic, with actions such as climbing, hitting things and making difficult jumps being limited to what a child would actually be capable of.

* MultiMookMelee: 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]].

* {{Protectorate}}: Ico seems to view Yorda as this.

* SmashingWatermelons: [[NewGamePlus On your second play-through]], there are watermelons growing at the edge of the beach at the very end. Ico can smash them by throwing them. And if he's carrying one of them [[spoiler:when he walks over to Yorda to trigger the final cut scene, then the shot of her waking up is followed by a shot of Ico and Yorda, sitting on the beach together, eating watermelon.]]

* SmashingWatermelons: [[NewGamePlus On your second play-through]], there are watermelons growing at the edge of the beach at the very end. Ico can smash them by throwing them. And if he's carrying one of them [[spoiler:when he walks over to Yorda to trigger the final cut scene, then the shot of her waking up is followed by a shot of Ico and Yorda, sitting on the beach together, eating watermelon.]]

** There's an alternate ending that's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOXF5yDmhKE&feature=related ever-so-slightly less ambiguous.]] Fans like considering ''that'' as the real ending.

* CameraScrew: Awkward camera positioning sometimes lends a frisson of FakeDifficulty to some of the platforming sequences.

* ObviousBeta: The original, [=PS2=] North American version. Yorda's AI is almost entirely unresponsive, puzzles were completely different and too easy, and several bonuses were missing. Fortunately, the HD version released for [=PS3=] in NA is based on the more polished Japanese/PAL version.

Note that the game's title is always written in capital letters, but the character's name is not. Also, it is spelt "IKO" in katakana, and thus pronounced "ee-ko", not "ai-ko". (Although many Anglophone people still say it like that anyway.)

* UpdatedRerelease: Released as ''The Ico & VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus Collection'', features widescreen HD graphics and a few other goodies. More importantly for North American players, the re-release has all of the features from the PAL version, finally averting BadExportForYou.