Line #28 YMMV/ICO - TV Tropes


1	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Iconically so. ''ICO's'' gorgeous visuals and strong art direction went on to inspire many other games as described in GenreTurningPoint and still holds up long after its original release in 2002. This is interestingly achieved by cleverly taking advantage of the Playstation 2's blurry texture rendering to allow the environment much more detailed than they actually are. The Playstation 3 remaster is no slouch either, with its upgraded models and textures working together with the new light engine to make the game look even better than the original.
2	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
3	** "Castle in the Mist" and "Beginning" are incredibly beautiful pieces of music, both fitting for a game like ''Ico''.
4	** The ending song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWVij6r4QBw You Were There]].
5	* CompleteMonster: [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen The Queen]], a [[HumanoidAbomination shadowy being who was once human]], is an [[AbusiveParents emotionally abusive monster]] to her daughter Yorda. Having systematically cut Yorda off from all others and left her broken and dependent on others. The Queen is responsible for Ico's village sacrificing their own children for her own power, [[YourSoulIsMine enslaving their souls after death]] as her slaves. When hero Ico arrives, the Queen intends to take and destroy him and Yorda, [[ImmortalityImmorality seeking only to live forever]].
6	* CameraScrew: You don't have direct control of the camera. Rather all you can do is pan the camera around Ico temporarily to maybe see what's around you, which sometimes lends a frisson of FakeDifficulty to the platforming sequences.
7	* FridgeHorror:
8	** Ico's character design can inspire this. If you look closely at where his bandages meet his horns, it looks like they've been torn, as if the horns sprouted abruptly. He also seems to be wearing normal children's clothes. He must've been taken away suddenly, without giving him, his family, and his friends any time to cope emotionally.
9	** There are numerous graves throughout the castle, seeming to have been built all at the same time. They're just curiosities until you remember that [[spoiler: they're all meant for the Queen. Just how long has she planned for her immortality and]] how long has she been alive?
10	** The only reason Ico was able to escape his coffin was because the ground underneath it just so happened to give way due the castle shaking as the soldiers left, and the coffin just so happened to fall in a way that Ico got knocked out of it. If the coffin hadn't fallen over (or even if it had just landed facedown), Ico would have never escaped, and he and Yorda would have both died because [[spoiler: [[TheBadGuyWins the Queen's plan would have gone off without a hitch.]]]]
11	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: The alternate ending. [[spoiler: Ico awakens on the beach after the Queen's defeat, happens upon a patch of huge watermelons, and decides to pick one and lug it around the beach. The sight of Ico running along carrying a watermelon almost as big as him is certainly a hilarious and random sight. Crosses over with SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming}} after he finds the unconscious Yorda, and the game ends with the mundanely amusing yet endearing scene of Ico and Yorda sharing a watermelon on the beach, likely their first meal in a long time.]]
12	* GameBreaker: The lightsaber will clearly save you a lot of trouble, considering how tedious the shadows can be to fight with a normal weapon.
13	* GenreTurningPoint: ''ICO'' is credited with ushering in the arthouse game, and for its mammoth influence on visual and environmental storytelling over cutscenes and dialogues. The mix of puzzles, platforming, and combat in both games was a huge influence on the revived ''[[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime Sands of Time]]'' trilogy of ''Franchise/PrinceOfPersia'' and the ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' games, as well as codifying the importance of a supporting NPC companion, inspiring the likes of Alyx Vance (''VideoGame/HalfLife2''), Elizabeth (''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite''), and Ellie (''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''). Its cinematic presentation, heavy emphasis on art direction and visuals for atmosphere and setting has likewise been cited as a major influence on Creator/FromSoftware's ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' and ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''.
14	* GoddamnedBats: All the shadows are this. They won't do any significant damage (except if they push you off a ledge), but will get in your way, and you spend much time waving your stick in the air while trying to hit them.
15	* GoodBadBugs: In the original PAL version, setting the framerate to a certain setting allowed you to jump amazingly high with carefully-timed button presses. This made it possible to finish the game in less than an hour.
16	* IronWoobie: Ico has been through a lot. He's been taken away from his family to be sacrificed for God knows what reason, he is trapped in a castle without knowing a way out, and he probably hasn't eaten or drank in a while. However, he is still strong-willed enough to find a way out of the castle, fight monsters, and help a girl--whom he doesn't even know--from getting her body taken over by her powerful and evil mother even if he has to fight her.
17	* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: More on the developer's part. The fact that they were able to take [[EscortMission one of the most reviled tropes in video games]] and make it one of the best parts of the game.
18	* MoralEventHorizon: At first, the Queen seems to be a worried, if arrogant mother who just wants her daughter back. But once it's revealed that [[spoiler: she plans to kill Yorda and use her body to extend her own life...]]
19	* ObviousBeta: The original, [=PS2=] North American version. Yorda's AI is almost entirely unresponsive, a few 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.
20	* PlayerPunch: [[spoiler:Returning to the hall of pods where Ico started the game from after Ico is separated from Yorda -- only to find her surrounded by shadows of horned boys like himself and turned to stone. Then, killing all those shadows who mean Ico no harm at all.]]
21	%%* SacredCow
22	* ScrappyMechanic:
23	** Some players think that the EscortMission aspect of the game is no better implemented and just as annoying as in any other title, significantly damaging a potentially quite effective platforming game.
24	** The camera system can be outright nauseating and frustrating for players, and most of the time it doesn't really help you, either. It also makes looking at something distant a total pain, since you can't hold the camera steady with a joystick, and releasing the joystick will only cause it to jerk back towards its predetermined angle. At times, it also doesn't account for obstacles blocking you from the camera angle's line of sight.
25	* SpiritualAdaptation: The castle of ''ICO'', with its vast spaces and {{Bizarrchitecture}} and the difficulties in leaving it is a good substitute for Literature/{{Gormenghast}}.
26	* ThatOneAchievement: There's a trophy in the [=PS3=] version that requires clearing the game in under 2 hours. It can be done with practice, but the annoying part comes from the fact that the timer does not stop until the events on the beach after the credits and the timer continues to run ''during the credits''. Meaning you have to beat the final boss in about 1:45-1:50 in order to make it.
27	* UnintentionalUncannyValley: Ico in the game's concept video looks weirdly human.
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Context YMMV / ICO