Ico:
The game is not exciting, nor does it have an amazing story or smooth gameplay, yet I find myself strangely wanting to go back and continue onto the next section. I wouldn't use the word addicting to describe it, but I just felt compelled to continue onto the end. I won't say it's the masterpiece or 'best game ever' as other people have been calling it, but it's different and very enjoyable. If you don't know what Ico is about, then I would call it a puzzle platformer. You control Ico with two basic moves, jump and attack. I disagree with
whoever said the puzzles lack the cleverness of more recent games. I thought they were very well done, the difficulty of the puzzles were balanced, they were hard enough to provide a challenge and easy enough so that you won't get frustrated as you slowly try and work it out. There's a sense of satisfaction after solving each one. For some reason, I felt that
God of War's puzzles have a similar feel to Ico's, however, Ico's puzzles doesn't feel contrived and is much clearer on how to attempt them. I really like how the objects you need to interact with to go to the next section doesn't feel out of place, or stand out a lot. The graphics are impressive too, considering that the game was released right after Playstation 2 had launched. My breath was taken away when Ico was running along one of the outer walls and you could see the environment outside of the castle, it was stunning. The mysteriousness of the castle environment as you explore a good portion of it, and the good subtle use of music and sounds, it does create a nice atmosphere. On that note, I would recommend playing it in a quiet surrounding, with no one else around, to truly enjoy the game and what it has to offer.
Then there's Yorda, the sense of mysteriousness and the feel that you have to protect her from the shadow monsters right from the start is unlike anything you've played before. You start to feel the bond between the two characters grow and care for their fates. Every time the shadow monsters come out, you get a short thrilling moment where you feel you must defeat them before they grab Yorda. The way they creep and the wispy nature of them portrayed their nature very well. Considering that there are only really three story cutscenes, it's a fulfilling story experience that feels that it had gone for much longer. Rather, the time spent while you're solving the puzzles and exploring feels like extending the story. While the story is simple, it has it's charms. The controls can be clunky, not too much of a problem, but if you're going to aim for the 2 hour speed run trophy, it's going to be annoying. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put in that trophy, because you only have a buffer of fifteen mins from a perfect run (takes around 1 hour 45 mins if you were pretty much
perfect), and that includes unorthodox shortcuts. You'd probably need a video guide in order to complete the game in that short a time (as well as multiple attempts for various areas). However, it's not as frustrating as it first seems and it's kinda satisfying when the trophy finally pops after all that effort... Yorda may seem cute with her actions while you're playing it leisurely, once you try for the speed run, it's a whole new level of frustration as her AI is not that great for this kind of stuff. You'll hate her with a passion
I loved how there's no UI in which it shows health and all that stuff, the simplicity of it makes the game much more impressive. The camera navigation takes some getting used to. The ending sequence was excellent, in terms of both how it executed and how fitting it feels. I loved the theme song "You Were There", it suited the mood a lot. Wished we had a longer ending though, would have loved to see what happened after that last scene. That said, they really needed to have placed another save point nearer to the end, often in my first try, I died some stupid deaths (I knew what to do, but for some reason, Ico would just die, the platform elements that involved jumping sucked) and it was very annoying starting 'that far back'. Sadly, the replay value isn't that great due to the nature of the game, since you know the puzzle solutions already, you lose the moments where you contemplate on a new puzzle, and the game becomes significantly shorter. Either way, an amazing game that provides a very different experience.
Shadow of the Colossus:
While Ico's gameplay is more quiet and gives you a fragile feeling, Shadow of the Colossus gives you the complete opposite. I was surprised at the striking difference, Shadow is more of an action adventure game than Ico ever was. I'm sure you know what the aim of the game is, but if you don't, it's just basically tackling 16 bosses in a row, with travelling and optional exploring in between. Don't be fooled though, if you take your time, it'll last long enough for you to feel you've got your quantity of play time. It took me 10 hours to finish it the first time, and that's without doing everything that I could have done. I found it fascinating how the game manages to survive on what is basically just boss battles. You don't get lesser enemies to practice your skills on, right from the start, you're thrown into fighting the Colossi. While it's true that with each Colossi you defeat, the next one is harder, even the first time takes some time to study and figure out what to do. I love how the game manages to train you without making it obvious.
In the first few battles, the way to figure out how to get onto those things and then climb up to stab them is fairly straightforward. In later battles, the puzzle element kicks into place, and you gotta figure out which specific actions (whether it's luring the Colossus somewhere or just waiting for the opportune moment to shoot an arrow) you have to do in order to create that opportunity for the next stage of the battle. Naturally, these puzzle elements in the later battles are harder to figure out, and you'll probably get stuck for a few moments. Usually after a while, a hint is given, but even these are given cryptically. These puzzle elements makes it much more satisfying once you've defeated the Colossus, it makes you feel like you've completed a huge challenge. The designs of the Colossi are amazing, their aesthetics radiate mysteriousness and power, you get the feeling that these beings are akin to divine beings. No matter how different each Colossi is from each other, they share similar design elements, and this gives a sense of cohesion and consistency. It's the sense of overwhelming power that makes you feel kinda scared to meet the next one, not knowing what to expect, but you also feel the urge to find it, to overcome it. It's a very nice balance.
That said, the normal mode of the game is somewhat easy once you've figured out the puzzles, Wander (the character you're controlling) rarely receives fatal damage in the battles (unless somehow you didn't manage to dodge the heavy attacks), not complaining though, as each battle is epic enough already. The fact is, it doesn't frustrate you, it makes you want find out more. Anyway, onto the story, there are more cutscenes and plot points presented here when compared to Ico, but it's still fairly bare. There are still basically three points in the game where you get major story elements (beginning, middle and end), but what's in between is very predictable. What you basically do is find the Colossi, scale it, defeat it, and you're returned to the middle of the land, where the cycle begins again. Perhaps the best part of this is that you have all the skills you need to defeat the Colossi right from the start, it's a basic set, this makes it very interesting when you're puzzling over what to do next, as it makes you use those skills differently each time. The ending was interesting (and the final Colossus battle does not disappoint, it gives off a solemn and despairing feel) The area is varied enough to be interesting, but gives a sense of emptiness (but doesn't take away your breath, the Colossi does that instead). The graphics are good but the music! It has some of the grandest and more appropriate music I have ever heard, the music that plays when you're actually on the Colossi, it is unmatched by anything else (in other games or movies). I fell in love with it instantly, very very impressive, I highly recommend just checking out some of the "~Battle with the Colossus~" songs from the soundtrack).
The controls, however, take A LOT to get used to. Wander himself isn't too bad, you just have to adapt the way he grips and scales, as well as jumping while you're gripping something. Agro, his horse companion, is another story. While as a companion, he's very likeable and care for him, controlling him is a nightmare. Basically, once Wander is on him, the controls are not typical, the left sticks actually controls his reins, while it's more realistic, the execution of this aspect is very frustrating. Turning him works most of the time, and once you're on a narrow path, you can just let Agro make his way along it, but if it splits or you need to direct him more towards where you want (and especially in a forest), he just stops, or turns around, it's very annoying. Wander's jumping mechanics aren't that great, considering it is a compulsory part in one of the battles. The Platinum trophy is ridiculous, there are two trophies for finishing the game on normal and hard, then for each mode, there are also two trophies for completing the Time Attacks (basically, killing each Colossus within a time limit), and then for another trophy, you need to complete the game for something like 4-5 times. That's just overkill. Anyway, this is a great game, very exciting, the Colossi are majestic, and overall, just amazing that a game as grand as this could be conceived.
Bonus Content:
This Collection boasts five 'exclusive' videos, they total to around 40-50 mins or so, it's not that long. It's behind-the-scenes stuff, and if you liked the game, it'll interest you as they talk and explain some of the things that happened. Perhaps the gems are the three videos showing prototype versions of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Ico is interesting since it was initially planned for the Playstation, and it's insightful to see how the familiar environments of the Castle looked on Playstation hardware (although most are pre-rendered concept scenes). It was also interesting to see that Shadow was initially planned as an online game. There are two XMB themes you can install if those are your thing. Very awesome that they bothered to include these extra content.
Overall:
Worthwhile package especially if you haven't played those games, to see what all the talk was about. They are very different, one is a quiet and peaceful game, while the other is more action orientated, both have numerous puzzle elements. The music is amazing, and the extra content is just icing on top. These are not the type of games for everyone, but it's very unique and different.
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