Clattertron

[dc]I[/dc] am nearly finished with Ico. According to Gavin, I only have about an hour of video game fun left.

Of course, this assumes I don’t fall off a bunch of cliffs. Or get stuck and need to restart. Or lose Yorda to a gaggle of shadow monsters.

Ship It

In Gavin’s post last week, he wondered what I thought of Ico and Yorda’s relationship, specifically compared to Cave Story and Curly Brace.

I’m not finished with the game yet, but while I feel there is a strong relationship between Ico and Yorda, I felt more ‘attached’ to Curly Brace in Cave Story. Chalk this up to actually interacting with Curly Brace, versus merely guessing what Yorda is saying (her dialog is only translated as strange symbols).

Compare this also to the relationships of Ness and Paula in EarthBound, Cloud and Aerith in Final Fantasy VII, and Crono and Marle in Chrono Trigger. These all felt stronger to me, especially Crono and Marle. There wasn’t any hand holding, but there was plenty of talking with one another (well, one-sided conversations in the case of Ness and Crono).

For recent comparisons, look at The Last of Us and BioShock: Infinite. Both are ‘escort’ games like Ico and feature strong interaction between the main characters.

Granted, I still have a way to go in Ico and the relationship could grow on me even more. I don’t dislike it by any means, the relationships in the other games just felt stronger.

Let’s Go Clubbing

Gavin tweeted me the steps to find the Spiked Club weapon. Sweet-Mother-of-Batman, does this weapon work great. Shadow monsters are much easier to fight with the Spiked Club—I can take most of ’em out with only a couple of hits. The Spiked Club is better than the stick I used for most of the game.

Although, there is something amusing—and satisfying–about fighting monsters with a giant stick.

See also: why Donatello is my favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

When and Where Are We?

Something I noticed about the level design of Ico: it mixes old timey architecture with somewhat modern technology.

I noticed some diamond plate in one part, which stood out among the crumbling castle ruins. Then there are the elevators and other machines. This isn’t really anything new when it comes to fantasy games though. You see this kind of design a lot in the Final Fantasy series: medieval surroundings with dashes of modern technology or materials (especially Final Fantasy VI).

I don’t mind. I write fantasy myself, so I’m not one to judge these stylistic mixtures. Such a mixture of materials and technology adds to the wonder, or escapism. It doesn’t cement the game (or story) in one time period and keeps the player guessing about the world: it fuels the imagination.

Boom!

Despite Ico‘s willingness to make the player’s death an easy one, I was happy to learn this does not apply to bombs. Yes, you cannot blow yourself up with a bomb in Ico. Most games, such as Legend of Zelda, you at least take damage if you are too close to a bomb when it explodes.

I about screamed at the TV when a bomb went off in my arms the other night. I waited for the game over screen to arrive—but it never did.

Ico merely dusted himself off and got to his feet. Phew.

Next Week: Finishing Ico and final thoughts (unless ninja keep me from finishing the game. IT COULD HAPPEN).

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Read Sara Clemens’ Project Ico posts on Videodame

Read Gavin Craig’s Project Ico posts on GavinCraig