Does ICO get any better?

[Light]

Started playing this game yesterday, have gotten up to the part where Ico meets Yorda's mom. Have got to say... I'm not really digging it so far. I find the game a bit boring to be honest... just running around solving puzzles and fighting creepy little "spirits" with a stick isn't really my idea of fun. I also am a bit surprised that there's barely any music in the game, which makes the idea of roaming around a palace even less inspiring. I'm trying to get into this game, but find it really hard, as there's little that I like about it. What I'd like to know is... does it get any better? Should I continue playing this or move on? I'm looking forward to Shadow of the Collusus and I heard that it semi-concludes Ico somehow as well, so would prefer to finish Ico, but on the other hand don't know if I can play another 8-9 hours of the same thing. Any advice, chaps?

[MonkeyWrench]

ICO is one of the greatest action adventures I've played, but the first time I played it I just didn't 'get it', nothing clicked. 6 months later I fired it up again and played it solidly over two days. There's always talk of having this elusive emotional connection with game characters and ICO is the only game where I've ever had this connection, it's a rare thing! So yeah stick with it, it will grow on you.

[Lebowski]

My advice would be to stop calling it a palace when its quite clearley a Castle stick with it and if you hate it you can at least say you played it hated and have no soul

[Light]

My advice would be to stop calling it a palace when its quite clearley a Castle

That's the very first thing I thought once I posted the message. The reason I called it palace was unintentional.... I was thinking about prince of persia: sands of time whilst I was writing the post, as people seem to compare Ico and Pop.

[Magnakai]

One major difference between PoP and Ico that I noticed (apart from the wall-running, etc.) is that the puzzles in PoP seem very placed... like you reach a part and It's Puzzle Time, whereas in Ico the castle itself is a big puzzle, which feels much more organic.
Not that that's any slight on the quality of PoP, just an observation.

[Ady]

You wait until Concept see this thread!

[Xephon]

If you're the sort of person that can suspend disbelief for the duration of a movie, you'll love ICO.

If you're the sort of person that can become emotionally involved with fictional characters, you'll love ICO.

If you're the sort of person who loves a good story, you'll love ICO.

The opening few hours can try your patience-ignore everything you've read and been told about this game, and instead experience it for yourself-take in the surroundings, enjoy the adventure, and by god, look after Yorda... It's worth it for the pay off at the very end...watch until after the credits roll...

[Sketcz]

It doesn't get any better. I played through the entire game, and bitterly hated it, personally. Certainly the most overated and boring game I've played this generation, without doubt. There's just nothing happening, gameplay wise.

As for the atmosphere? Personally I wanted to kill off Yorda, annoying high-maintainance wench that she is.

It's basically like a dull 3D version of "Another World", with the burden of an idiotic vegetable following you.

If you don't like it now, you probably never will.

Still, as one of it's official members, I bid you welcome to the unnoficial club of "People who don't like Ico". Beer is over there, bathroom on the other side of the room, make yourself at home.

[Darwock]

Yeah I would also say if you don't like it by that point, give up.

Personally I think it's amazing. But only if you play it without cheating and looking up any solutions.

[Light]

Hmmm.... a mixed reaction I see. I find it pretty hard to keep myself away from a guide especially when I just don't know what to do and feel that I have to force myself to continue playing through. I do like a good story and can get emotionally connected to characters, but at this stage all I see is a boy with horns and a weird girl who doesn't seem to understand whats going on.

I'll stick with it for a just little longer though...

[Ben-K]

You people are dead inside....

[mattSix]

ico is like rez, it's more than the sum of it's parts... when it 'works' for you.

at it's heart it's a fairly simplistic, but occasionally ingenious, platform / action game. it's art style is magnificent & the use of sound fx and music is equally considered. it's storyline is exceptional for a game, although not by literary standards...

what's more important than any one of these aspects individually is how you become involved with all them. there's a sense of coherence to ico that's not found in many other virtual worlds, it's in everything you'll see and do, and all these elements, together with your interaction, combine to create the experience.

if you're a 'run to point A, defeat enemy Y, obtain item N, run to point B' kinda-guy you'll miss the point of it. if you've ever stopped in the middle of a virtual room just to appreciate the architecture you should come to understand why ico works...

[Darwock]

Hmmm.... a mixed reaction I see. I find it pretty hard to keep myself away from a guide especially when I just don't know what to do

No wonder you're finding it a flat experience then. What is the point in playing a puzzle game and not allowing yourself to get stuck at any of the puzzles...

[Light]

No wonder you're finding it a flat experience then. What is the point in playing a puzzle game and not allowing yourself to get stuck at any of the puzzles...

What I meant was there are some puzzles which take quite a while to figure out... one of them took me a good half hour.... ... but that every additional minute that I spend trying to figure out that puzzle makes the whole experience less entertaining. For example I'll spend 15 minutes trying to solve something, after which the more time I spend, the more boring the whole affair becomes because I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere and because I feel like I'm simply wasting my time. But, puzzles aside, I find fighting the spirits much less entertaining. You just whack at the same things, get up once they knock you, go rescue yorda, then continue whacking them. I know combat isn't exactly the main focus of the game, but being able to accept that fact doesn't make the game any more enjoyable.

[t-dog]

problem with rez and ico is that alot of people buy these games after reading alot of threads of OMGZ REZ I5 PWNS!11!!!!!!11 and they have these high expectations of out-of-this-world graphics and sound, only to be met with minimalistic gfx and gameplay. i think the issue is that people dont allow themselves to be immerzed in the gaming experience of these great games, but rather wait for the "greatness" to somehow "kick in".
It has to come from the inside.