TSA’s Top 100 of 2011 – #4 ICO/Shadow of the Colossus

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.