Even though this is a remastering, I do want to talk about the actual games for a moment as many people who are interested may not have played them.
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ICO
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Ico is one of my favorite games of all time. It was a game I knew I would love when I played the first demo but it still caught me by surprise when I got my hands on it. It is atmospheric, emotional, and absolutely mesmerizing.
It hit me at a perfect time in my life as well. I was 16 and to be honest, I had no problem with most stories in video games even though looking back, a lot of my favorite games have offensively bad stories. Ico barely has a story, and is so much better for it.
When I put this collection on last night, a friend was asking me about what was happening in the beginning, and I explained the whole story in a very matter of fact manner. After playing through a few scenes I realized that a lot of my story was made up, because thats what it was: MY story. I had made it up as I adventured with Yorda to explain what we were doing and who the Queen was.
You can now learn a bit more of the story since this is based on the European version, Yorda's words will be translated the 2nd time through. It is still as minimalist as the rest of the game, and I was happy to finally see what she was saying while playing instead of on a Youtube video.
The gameplay is essentially a huge environmental puzzle to escape the castle safely with Yorda. The castle is absolutely stunning in the way its pathways unfold. Occasionally you will open a door and be completely floored by what its connected to. The castle is entirely traversable and slowly unlocks similar to some survival horror games(RE1 mostly), but with really good puzzles.
The combat is simplistic and attempts to invoke fear as you feel nearly helpless before getting the sword or one of the secret weapons. Its not great combat, but it really isn't a focus either and you can skip all but 5 or 6 battles. It is sure to be the reason some dislike the game(as it was at release), but they are very much missing the point in my opinion. It is not a combat heavy game by any means.
If you like Mayazaki's films, particularly Princess Mononoke, you really have to give this game a shot. It may be due to my age when they were released, but these two stories are very dear to me and feel like they could almost be in the same world. It also laid a lot of groundwork for POP:The Sands of Time, and Jordan Mechner has said as much.
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Shadow of the Colossus
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This is a much more well known game so I will keep this brief.
Shadow of the Colossus is a massive adventure game that was really ahead of its time. The titular colossi basically serve as both the levels and bosses. They are brief when done correctly, but its all about the journey, not the destination. You will spend a lot of time figuring out how to climb up and maneuver them.
It pins the combat directly to the platforming, and it feels amazing to topple these creatures. There really is nothing like it aside from the occasional copycat boss fight we've seen this gen(Castlevania: Lords of Shadow had 2 shameless ripoffs from colossi battles, all the way down to where you stabbed them).
The rest of the world is a bit barren, but its definitely a design choice, and really sticks out to those who enjoy it. When you actually do find something noteworthy, it just feels that much better. You will feel like a true explorer, and no matter how exciting it is, you will feel a slight tinge of fear every time you venture a little further than you've been(I'm really scared of heights also, and this game conveys the feeling almost too well at times). There are a few items you can hunt for, which makes exploring more interesting and productive.
The atmosphere is even more pronounced than in Ico, and the story is similarly emotional with a theme of selflessness and consequences for your every action. I do personally prefer Ico, but even I can admit Shadow is the better game. It definitely holds up better for newcomers as well, but you should play Ico first so you don't miss any connections.
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So what is in this new release to make them worth repurchasing? I don't even know where to start!
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Ico is full 1080p and 60 frames per second. The framerate was never really an issue but it is definitely welcome, and this game looks unbelievable. I really can't overstate this, for a near launch PS2 game it holds up very well. The animations are amazing, even most of the textures hold up well. It doesn't look like a PS3 game exactly, but these are definitely the best looking and most improved HD remasters we have gotten yet. I hope SH and MGS collections have this much work put into them. It is also based on the Euro version so you have New Game+,Yorda's speech is translated, a new secret weapon, a new post ending scene(short but sweet), and a 2nd player can control Yorda after the first playthrough.
Shadow gets an even bigger upgrade, as framerate was a huge problem in the original. It is now "locked 30" though it does dip to 26ish at times on a colossi. It also includes the small changes to the Euro version, such as a small slowmo scene on your killing blow to a colossus. Its resolution is not full 1080p, and upscaled it does lose some fidelity and has minor framerate issues, so it is recommended that you set your PS3 to 720p while playing this one. If you don't manually change it it will automatically go to upscaled 1080, changing the shape of the pixels making up the image. Not a huge issue by any means, but i like my games looking their best.
Shadows graphics look amazing. The only things that really stand out as dated are hair and cloth, and that is to be expected, as most hair and cloth still look really bad in games. The valleys and vistas are expansive, and always visible although there are several models with varying detail depending on how far you are from an object. Its definitely more noticeable than on PS2 but its a small price to pay for the insane level of draw distance. The only noticeable pop in i've seen is in the temple after downing a colossus. After the cutscene when you get control again, you can sometimes see assets popping in off in the distance beyond the girls resting place.
The Colossi in particular are breathtaking, and more detailed than anything else in the game by far. The slight motion blur while riding Agro is also a very nice touch and makes the visuals really pop.
The extras include developer interviews, concept and prototype videos for the original Ico on PS1 and the version we eventually got, and Nico(essentially a multiplayer version of SOTC that was more directly tied to Ico)/SOTC. There is also a dynamic theme for each game but they are cheap and terrible, and flicker constantly. They also both play in 3D but sadly i don't have a 3DTV to experience this, though I have heard they look great, one person going so far as saying Ico was his favorite game so far to play in 3D.
So there you have it, a longwinded and schizophrenic review of some of my favorite games. Just buy them and i'll stop talking, k?
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paul Stephenson
A beautiful game which fully draws the player in
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 12, 2016judd
Awesome remastered games!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 26, 2018SCF_Graphics
really enjoyed it, a worthy classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 13, 2016
