They may very well be mere remakes, but for those of us who have already played the first two games in Team ICO’s oeurve and fallen madly in love with their style, depth, and how each title is infused with an emotional core rarely found in the gaming medium, the prospect of playing through the precious pair again in glorious HD is easily enough to warrant such a high placing on this list.
For those of you who have not played either ICO or its spiritual successor, Shadow of the Colossus, for whatever reasons when they first came ’round on the PS2, you’re not only in for a treat, you’re in for a masterclass in game design; a veritable lesson in how games can transcend both the boundaries of art and entertainment and illicit something both wonderful and evocative. If you haven’t realised by now, we kinda have something of a crush on a certain Fumito Ueda and what his studio, the eponymous Team Ico, have produced so far in gaming. To think we will get the opportunity to experience them again in remastered format, with 3D and trophy support on one brilliant Blu-ray disc, is truly decadent. Not to mention we’re also getting the EU versions of the games which includes Yorda’s translation and the two-player mode.
We’ve known about the remake of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus for some time now. In fact, if you cast your mind back to May of this year, TheSixthAxis were one of the first sites to unofficially confirm the existence of the bundle before going so far as to give it a tentative date of Q1 2011. Of course, we know now that this date has broadened slightly to include a possible Q2 release, the tactic at play here according to our source (yes, that one) to release the package as a way of building momentum for The Last Guardian, Team ICO’s third game set for a Q4 release. With this in mind, we wouldn’t be surprised if the return of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus slips even further into the latter half of 2011 as a way of promoting its spiritual follow up. After all, when we were secretly told “Q1 2011” there was an underlying belief that The Last Guardian would be out in the first half of 2011 and not Q4. Hence, though Sony are officially quoting “spring 2011”, we’re saying these things have a way of changing. Spring would suit us fine, of course. The fact is, we just want it. Now would also be nice.
For the uninitiated, Ico focuses on the titular character, a boy afflicted with the unfortunate situation of having horns on his head, something his village considers a curse. Trapped in a castle, Ico attempts to find his way out, coming across the daughter of the citadel’s Queen, Yorda, in his explorations. Caught in something of a predicament herself, Ico must solve puzzles and traverse the dangerous environment while helping the less nimble Yorda in the process. It’s pretty simple fairy-tale stock, but it’s ICO’s use of bloom lighting, key frame animation (the movement of the game’s characters are completely under the influence of the artist – there is no tweening in ICO) and unique artistic expressionist vibe that elevated ICO above the sum of its rudimentary parts and into gaming legend. Critically it was a success, though the game faired a lot worse in the sales department – leading to the scenario where crazed fans are willing to part with €40 on eBay for a copy. And no, I don’t regret it. ICO is a milestone in gaming, only equalled in this particular arena when Ueda-san and his band of artisans moved on to the intrepid and genre-breaking Shadow of the Colossus.
SOTC, as it became known, tore up all the rules of adventure game-play. It’s the embodiment of minimalism, as Wander journeys the land in search of the sixteen colossi he must defeat. There are no minor minions to fight, no secondary characters to meet and parley with. Just Wander and the sixteen mammoth challenges he must figure out how to surmount. Following on from ICO’s artistic style, SOTC really struck an emotional chord with the many gamers who took up its quest. It’s difficult to describe the emotional investment SOTC invokes from its audience, a game that is truly heart-rending and poignant at the same time. It’s for these reasons that we can’t wait to play both ICO and SOTC again, the allure of experiencing the masterworks once more, this time with the games’ often criticised frame-rate improved and their saturated visuals now in high definition.
With Bluepoint at the helm of the remakes – the same studio that handled the God of War Collection – we’re confident that what we’ll get in the coming months will be nothing less than spectacular. If you missed either ICO or Shadow of the Colossus during their first run, you owe it to yourself to discover these lauded gaming gems in their spruced up guise. No apologies here, the ICO/Shadow of the Colossus is entirely deserving of its lofty position on this list. They’re that good.
Serebii.Net
Never played either of then… So yeah, I’ll definitely be picking this up xD
supernova
Great pick!! I will definitely be picking this one up! Though I must admit I did not see it coming, being an HD remake and all, it is definitely worthy of its position on the list. Now I am confident TLG will take the crown, but there are two spots left and three great games, ME3, Uncharted 3, and Skyrim. Question is, which ones were known to TSA when the list was created, as all are worthy and have a Q4 release window.
bunimomike
UC3 could easily not make it as ND hadn’t firmed up a release date until recently.
TSBonyman
The character animation in Ico was superb for the time, i recall spending some time just zooming in and maing him climb up and down a chain to watch the animation, then making him run one direction and reverse so he would skid before turning, and his jumping was almost sloppy looking but endearingly so. There’s so many reasons to love this game i can see why the HD remake is in TSA’s top anticipated games.
SotC had less of an impact on me (i didn’t finish it but played Ico several times) but it’s also a unique experience and was a remarkable feat on PS2 at the time, although framerate did suffer at times. I’m looking forward to playing it on a machine with a bit more grunt under the hood !
linkavich
havin never owned a ps2 i ashamedly missed these two absolute gems of gaming, (Ueda san is surely considered along side the great designers) I cannot wait for these to appear i had been considering taxing my old housemates ps2 and finding copies of these but alas net trawling is no longer needed, !!hurrah
a inferior race
It amazes me how two games with such naff gaming prinicples are so good. Ico- where you must protect and help an NPC for the entire game, to me sounds awful but it is easily in the top 10 games of the last generation for me. SOTC- 16 boss battles, this sounds even worse but it was amazing and I felt the PS2 really held it back.
YOURMUMANDME
This is the one my tv wants, could actually explode with excitement !
online4ntagonist
oeurve? you mean oeuvre, right? :)
ICO–>best game on PS2. Won’t do to bad on PS3 either. SOTC->very good on PS2.
I wouldn’t mind buying Okami on PS3, too bad Clover is not doing too well.
Awayze
Never heard of it, remakes shouldn’t be in the top 100.
UC3 just has to be number 1.
Tanzil
I’ve got both. Greatest experiences ever. The worlds are so immersive in a way i can’t describe, and the very light but at the same time very deep story had me thinking for months. I’m worried that replaying these games might not be the same as that first time. Also, i’d go gay for Ueda. Guys a genius.
Samiro05
HD Classics, I have them all so far! This, Tomb Raider and Splinter Cell upcoming and looking forward to but ofc none of them I’m looking forward to more than this (of all the remake choices) unless I hear Ratchet and Clank getting a QUAD remake, then I will just be speachless and mega giddy and excited at the same time.
Back to the game though, I, like many others, have been wondering why on earth you all rave on about this game! It MUST be good or is it just going to be LOST on me :p [see what I did there? XD]
Tanzil
Sorry I didn’t