Ico (stylized in all caps) is a 2001 action-adventure video game by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who wanted to create a minimalist game based on a "boy meets girl" concept. Originally planned for the PlayStation, Ico took approximately four years to develop. The team employed a "subtracting design" approach to reduce gameplay elements that interfered with the game's setting and story in order to create immersion.
The player controls Ico, a boy born with horns, which his village considers a bad omen. After warriors lock him in an abandoned castle, he frees Yorda, the daughter of the castle's Queen, who plans to use Yorda to extend her life. Ico must work with Yorda to escape the castle while protecting her from enemies, assisting her across obstacles, and solving puzzles.
Ico introduced several design and technical elements that have influenced subsequent games, including a story told with minimal dialogue, bloom lighting, and key frame animation. Although not a commercial success, it was acclaimed for its art, original gameplay and story elements. It received several awards, including "Game of the Year" nominations and three Game Developers Choice Awards. Considered a cult classic, it has been called one of the greatest video games ever made, and is often brought up in discussions about video games as an art form. In 2006, it was re-released in Europe alongside Shadow of the Colossus, the spiritual successor to Ico. A high-definition remaster of the game was included in The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection for the PlayStation 3.
Gameplay
thumb|left|Ico (right) calls out to Yorda (left) while she waits on the ruined castle. The game's graphics feature [[soft light techniques.]]
Ico is an action-adventure video game. The player controls Ico from a third-person perspective as he explores the castle and attempts to escape it with Yorda. The camera is fixed but swivels to follow Ico or Yorda as they move; the player can also pan the view a small degree in other directions to observe more of the surroundings.
Plot
Ico, a horned boy, is taken by a group of warriors to an abandoned castle and locked inside a stone coffin to be sacrificed. A tremor topples the coffin and Ico escapes. As he searches the castle, he meets Yorda, a captive girl who speaks a different language. Yorda is magically linked to the castle and has the ability to open various gates using white energy that emanates from her body. However, she is physically incapable of defending herself. Ico helps Yorda escape and defends her from shadow-like creatures. The pair make their way through the castle and arrive at the bridge leading to land. As they cross, the Queen ruler of the castle appears and tells Yorda that she cannot leave the castle. Later, as they try to escape, the bridge splits and they get separated; Yorda tries to save Ico but the Queen prevents it. He falls off the bridge and loses consciousness.
Ico awakens below the castle and makes his way back to the upper levels, finding a magic sword that dispels the shadow creatures. After discovering that Yorda has been turned to stone by the Queen, he confronts her, who reveals that she plans to possess Yorda's body. Ico slays the Queen with the sword, but his horns are broken in the fight and loses consciousness afterwards. The castle begins to collapse around Ico, but the Queen's spell on Yorda is broken, and a shadowy Yorda carries Ico safely out of the castle to a boat, sending him to drift to the shore alone. She says "Nonomori" (translating to "thank you") to Ico as he drifts away from the castle.]]
Lead designer Fumito Ueda came up with the concept for Ico in 1997, envisioning a "boy meets girl" story where the two main characters would hold hands during their adventure, forming a bond between them without communication. He also cited his work as an animator on Kenji Eno's Sega Saturn game Enemy Zero, which influenced Ico<nowiki/>'s animation, cutscenes, lighting effects, sound design, and mature appeal. Ueda was also inspired by the video game Another World (Outer World in Japan), which used cinematic cutscenes, lacked any head-up display elements as to play like a movie, and also featured an emotional connection between two characters despite the use of minimal dialog. He also cited Sega Mega Drive games, Virtua Fighter, Lemmings, Flashback, and the original Prince of Persia games as influences, specifically regarding animation and gameplay style. In the three-minute demonstration reel, Yorda had the horns instead of Ico, and flying robotic creatures were seen firing weapons at the castle. Ueda stated that having this movie that represented his vision helped to keep the team on track during development. He reused this technique for the development of Shadow of the Colossus, the team's next project.
Ueda, at the time an employee at Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, began working with producer Kenji Kaido in 1998 to develop the idea and bring the game to the PlayStation. He was granted his own unit as the studio primarily assisted on games from other Japanese developers. Ueda also brought in a number of people outside the video game industry to help with development. These consisted of two programmers, four artists, and one designer in addition to Ueda and Kaido. Ueda commented that he purposely tried to distance Ico from conventional video games due to the negative image video games were receiving at that time, in order to draw more people to the title.
An interim design of the game shows Ico and Yorda facing horned warriors similar to those who take Ico to the castle. The game originally focused on returning Yorda to her room in the castle after she was kidnapped by these warriors. Character animation was accomplished through key frame animation instead of the more common motion capture technique. The game took about four years to develop. Ico and the Queen's words are presented in either English or Japanese subtitles depending on the release region, but Yorda's speech is presented in a symbolic language. Ueda opted not to provide the translation for Yorda's words as it would have overcome the language barrier between Ico and Yorda, and detracted from the "holding hands" concept of the game.
Many scenes in the game feature no background music, and many scenes will be accompanied only by sounds in the environment. The main theme song of the game, "ICO -You were there-" composed by Michiru Oshima was used in commercials to promote the game in Japan. It was used for the releases in Japan and PAL regions. The North American version was released two months earlier; due to time constraints, it lacks the cover art intended by Ueda, as well as additional features such as the two-player mode. The North American cover has been considered one of the worst video game covers in contrast to the game's quality. In 2016, Polygon called it one of the worst video game covers of all time.
In PAL regions, a limited edition of the game was available; this included a cardboard wrapping displaying artwork from the game and four art cards inside the box. In 2006, the game was re-released across all PAL regions (except France) following the release of Shadow of the Colossus, Ico spiritual sequel, to allow players to "fill the gap in their collection".
Despite the positive reception by critics, Ico did not sell well. By 2009, only 700,000 copies had been sold worldwide, with 270,000 in the United States,
A novelization of the game titled was released in Japan in 2004. An English translation was published by Viz Media on August 16, 2011.