Clattertron

[dc]T[/dc]he ending of a video game is emotional, and Ico was no exception.

Any video game can lead to an emotional connection. Heck, I’m sure there are folks who tear up at the Pac-Man kill screen.

You spend hours with the characters, sometimes months, it is difficult not to get attached in some way.

Last week I said I didn’t feel too strong of a relationship for Ico or Yorda. That was last week. The last leg of Ico changed my mind.

Spoilers, Ahoy!

I feel I don’t need to offer up a spoiler warning for a game dating back to the early 2000s, but as someone who only learned about Ico in the past year, I suppose fair is fair.

Panic in the Fortress

Ico always offered up a sense of panic, as I said before, a sort of slow-burn, suspenseful panic—not an explosion every ten seconds, yelling bad guys panic. The empty surroundings, the high cliffs, the musical cues of the shadows intent on stealing Yorda away: it all creates a sense of silent panic and tension.

Like I said in my first post, there’s a saying in radio broadcasting: if you want the audience to pay attention, be quiet.

Because, when you start to talk again, the audience really notices.

Or in Ico‘s case, when the crap hits the fan, the audience really notices.

Escape Tease

Near the end of Ico, there’s a big escape tease. I thought I was about to escape the Fortress with Yorda, but no. Everything goes to hell in a few seconds, and I got separated from Yorda, who I spent a good 4+ hours of gameplay protecting and guiding.

I saw it coming, of course. I’ve watched enough movies, read enough books, and played enough video games to usually see an escape tease coming.

Still, my prediction didn’t make the bridge scene any easier to handle.

He Rises

The bridge scene: the bridge out of the Fortress separates, causing and Ico and Yorda to also separate. Ico tries to rejoin Yorda, but instead falls from the bridge.

Down. Down. Down.

I honestly thought the game might be done at that point. The mood of the game didn’t make an unhappy ending seem too out of the question.

The scene shifted. Ico wakes up on a swinging cage, far below the bridge. He should be dead.

Yet, Ico is not dead. It is a similar plot point in stories following a mythic structure, the ‘hero’s journey.’ The protagonist ‘dies’: Ico gets knocked down and may as well be dead. The hero is ‘resurrected,’ and continues his quest.

Remember in The Road Warrior how Max leaves the compound, his end of the bargain kept, and is all but killed during his escape? Same thing, really. An escape tease, the hero ‘dies,’ the Gyro Captain saves Max, Max heals (mostly) and continues his quest.

Pick a story, really. This is a common plot element: a hero dies (or is beat down near death) and rises. Heck, pick a video game too. You see this in, off the top of my head, Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger, and more recently The Last of Us.

Ico awakes in the dark depths beneath the bridge, an underworld of sorts (complete with spike covered jails). Ico climbs his way back to the Fortress, ‘resurrecting’ himself, rising, and continues his quest.

Usually, the hero ‘grows’ or changes in a journey story. Ico changes, for sure: he loses both his horns in the final scenes of the game. Ico is not who he was at the start of the story.

I didn’t see that bit coming: Ico losing his horns. I honestly gasped.

And speaking of horns…

The Horned Shadows

I entered the Casket Chamber, and saw dark shapes dancing (or moving, whatever). Shadows. But, different.

These shadows had horns, like Ico. I cringed as a possible, horrible, revelation filled my mind: were the shadows I fought the entire game, the spirits of the other sacrificed horned boys?

Was Ico fighting the dead spirits of his own people? The game does not, thankfully, explain. It gives the player a few pieces and lets them figure it out on their own.

It is possible the ‘curse’ of the horned boys runs in one bloodline of Ico’s village, meaning, he could be fighting the spirits of his sacrificed ancestors.

See: Teen Wolf. Michael J. Fox gets the werewolf ‘curse’ from his dad—who tells Michael J. Fox, “Sometimes it skips a generation.” The same could be true with the horned boys in Ico. The pageantry surrounding Ico’s travel to the Fortress suggests his condition is a rare event—or at least in the present day of the video game’s story.

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Ico never fully explains the curse, so all I can do is wonder. The scene with the dancing horned shadows is a simple one, and yet twisted at the same time–which makes the eventual final ending even happier. Yes. I got misty when Ico finds Yorda on the beach.

Final Thoughts on Ico

Would I Recommend Ico to others? Yes, absolutely. Play this video game.

I will say though, Ico is not a game for everyone: Ico is a love or hate video game. You will either think it is beautiful masterpiece, or find it incredibly boring.

On Ico‘s play control and camera:

The controls and camera make Ico a very frustrating game. I can’t speak for Gavin or Sara, but I yelled at my TV several times. The camera makes it difficult to see where you need to go, and the controls make it difficult to do what you need to to continue your adventure.

On the design of Ico: This video game is a minimalism masterpiece. The story. The sound. The level design. All of Ico is a great example of less is more: be quiet, and people will listen.

As I said: Play this game.

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Read Sara Clemens’ Project Ico posts on Videodame

Read Gavin Craig’s Project Ico posts on GavinCraig