ICO

Completely boring in concept, completely great in execution. on May 02, 2007

If I read a basic synopsis of this game, I would think it was was of the most boring ideas I had ever heard. It would sound something like this-

"Boy wakes up in castle, sometimes hits stuff with a stick while guiding around a helpless girl who can't do anything for herself. Also, you shove some boxes around to get up to higher places wherein you shove some more boxes. Some exciting moments include -

1. Swinging from a chain and then jumping off the chain.
2. Lighting a torch "

While the above is entirely true, it is also entirely inaccurate. In that context, the game sounds like a 3d version of those countless 'shove crates here' games. It most certainly is not. Lighting torches actually feels like an accomplishment, as does finally getting somewhere after shoving a box around. Instead of feeling like a puzzle game, it feels like you really need to get the hell out of Dodge (or in this case get the hell out of Castle), and that the puzzles just happen to be a weird security measure.

This may not be a main point of interest for anyone at all, but the water by the windmill is the best water I have seen in any game to this day. Whenever a game has water, I compare it to that tiny pond in Ico, and nothing tops it.

If you want to play a game with a great pond, play Ico.