Ico Retrospective

If you haven't played Ico then I highly recommend not watching this video. This video was written without an intended goal, I just wanted to write about this game. Please keep in mind it was not written to be a review, if anything it turned out more like a retrospective of sorts.
I hope to tackle Shadow of the Colossus in a similar fashion but I can't make any promises.

[@ChristopherRoss.]

One thing I noticed about the game was a VERY subtle hint system; this came to mind when you mentioned that the developers will never directly tell you what to do. A couple of times when I got stuck on the puzzles, I did what I normally do: stop and think. It was then that I noticed that Yorda would turn and stare at something, and kind of fidget. After a while she would make a sound an point to something. It was Yorda alerting Ico to the next step in the puzzle. If there was a lever I couldn't find, Yorda would point me in its general direction, for example. I thought that this was ingenious, particularly from a game design perspective. This cemented all the more, how much care and attention and passion went into the core design of the game.

[@chazzergamer]

You bring up one of my favourite aspects of the game but forget one important detail. Yorda doesn't outright find the next objective and point to it, she kinda wonders around, studies the area then alerts the player. Its all a way to get Yorda to feel like a companion who is actively seeking the next objective just as the player is. She doesn't immediately know the solution but will come to it naturally just like anyone would, all within the limitations of both characters not speaking the same language.

[@doublebassman123]

I noticed something about Yorda that makes her really innovative as an element of interactive storytelling. Yorda is almost never used as just a puzzle solution. A good example of the opposite use of a friend character would be the Zora Princess from OoT, she acts as less of a companion and more of a weighted object to push buttons down, which is fine but the what they use Yorda is much more clever. Yorda is only used a few times in the whole game to stand on a contraption to move it but the majority of all the puzzles involving Yorda consists of you using the environment to get her from one place to another instead of using her to get from one place to another. This imo makes her feel like less of a tool and more of a person and frees her up to interact with you and the environment in more meaningful ways than being just a prop in a puzzle. And even her main use as the magic door opener makes her feel more valuable as a partner as well because she is the only one who can do that.

[@erikhumphrey2653]

I beat the game

[@HardDiskDog]

this feature was actually removed from the NA ps2 version

[@PotrzebieConolly]

@@HardDiskDog Well, my understanding was that the NA version came out early, so it wasn't actually removed from that game - it was added to all the other, later, releases. And even then there were instances where Yorda does show the way. After the first time we meet the queen by the gates, I saved. When I resumed Yorda got up and walked directly over to one of the posts. Following her I figured out that the posts could be pushed.

[@DouchebagChocolat]

Hell yes, this was perfect.

[@Techn0taku]

DouchebagChocolat Oh wow,,,, Ch-CHOCOLAT?!?!

[@quintenweits7694]

D...demo senpai..? Hmmm sugoi (＞人＜;)

[@TheREDBahamut]

so then dance, music and theatre are not art?

[@TheREDBahamut]

dwarfplayer so why do you not consider games as an art when it covers the definition of art and the criteria that music/fine arts/theatre follow. What you're saying would also apply to movies not being art which would heavily contradict you agreeing that theatre is art since movie making is just a contemporary evolution of theatre.

[@Grubiantoll]

IS it an argument- ''if something is entertainment it's not art'', which would basicaly be a statement that strikes out all films from art catagory, and all of the music out of art, and almoust all of the books, and sort of all the stories , all the meta stories,fairy tales (this includes bible and other religious texts), and most of paintings, which would hardly leave anything for us to call art, and definitely non of the performance art is art, because will its entertainment aswell

[@Darkman9000]

Actually, Yorda's birdcage does seem to have a purpose. If you look near the switch, there's a large metal shutter, just big enough for the cage to go through. And if you look up near the ceiling of the Queen's throne room at the end, you can see the same kind of shutter door. It's fair to assume that the Queen was bidding her time until she was ready to swap bodies with Yorda, and then move the cage into the throne room. Ico just happened to mess up that plan. That was really one of the coolest things about the game, how the castle's layout was consistent. No area was disproportionate from what you saw of it from the outside going in, or vice versa. If they could do a full on remake, I'd imagine having seamless transition from one area to the next (like in most open world games) would be something they'd try to do. Considering how the upcoming Last Guardian appears to be borrowing from Ico's "locked in a fortress/castle" setting, I can bet we'll see that some kind of design where, even hours after passing through an area, we'll see it from a vantage point and go "wow, so this is that ledge I glanced at earlier"

[@NickJerrison]

Almost a decade old comment, but someone tried porting the entire castle to Unity and merging it into one big seamless area to explore. It is absolutely astonishing to fly around and realize just how much everything is connected. It was one of the biggest highlights of the game to me too, the castle was as big a character as Ico and Yorda.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

Well we don't know WHAT the Queen was going to do with Yorda at all, the cage that Yorda could have been sent to the queen's throne room, yeah sure, but that doesn't mean that the queen wants to "Swap bodies" with the girl at all. We don't know WHAT the queen was going to do.

[@Darkman9000]

@@Gadget-Walkmen But we do, the Queen quite literally says that her goal was to use Yorda in order to be reborn in a new vessel, as her original body was nearing its end. She says this just before the boss fight in the throne room.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

@@Darkman9000 I gotta go check that scene out again because looks like I forgot what she said if that is what she said.

[@The_Ninja_Tree]

It is strange all three games have a protagonist trapped somewhere unfamiliar. That's gotta mean something even if Wanda did it to himself.

[@peelsreklaw]

The atmosphere and gigantic architecture of Dark Souls 1 reminds me so much of ICO.

[@Bobsss64]

+peelsreklaw ''it's like Dark Souls''

[@loudrockacdc]

Ico is a souls-like :^)

[@marcbraun5342]

You're not wrong, Ico was a main inspiration for a lot of games after that. One of the Designers was Mijazaki, who said somehting like Ico showed him the possibilities of the medium. And you could see that in so many ways. Astetically just look at the Boletarian Palace in Demon's Souls, the textures, the structure, even the lighting. The level design, where you have to open up a place, those closing circles, the minimalistic way of storytelling, even the fairly grounded actions you perform for a fantasy game. A green lighting magic sword inclusive! The Souls-games wouldn't be the same without Ico and just think what influence these games now have!

[@marcbraun5342]

@Shaman Xeed Ico is my favorite game of all time, even one of the main reasons I studied game development, so you are right but you don't have to tell me that. And just so you know, I don't like the the first Dark Souls either, that's why I wrote about the much better Demon's Souls [...Boletarian Palace in Demon's Souls...] and Mijazaki actually said that through Ico he saw the possibilities of the medium and brought him to delelop games.

[@IanZWhite00]

Shin Shaman Dark souls’ influence on gaming’s bred a lot of garbage, but the games themselves are nothing but phenomenal works of art, to the point that I feel silly even feeling the need to defend them here. Good games can cause bad trends, by virtue of being so uniquely good at what they do that they’re near-impossible to imitate effectively, at least within the same generation.

[@littlekitsune1]

As ultimately simplistic as the combat is, I think it deserves more appreciation than it gets. The enemy AI is actually rather good at getting you away from Yorda. They will bounce backward if you're obviously going to attack them, which can bait you enough distance for another shadow to grab her. I find that the best strategy is to turn my back to an enemy giving me trouble, which always prompts them to move in to try to knock you down. This shows they are actively opportunistic about catching you off-guard to get you out of the way so that they are free to grab Yorda. Simplistic combat, yes. A pretty good awareness of enemy management and AI for the time? Also yes.

[@thomasscott6146]

Its also nice to point out Ico isnt a warrior hes a child either early or preteen and i like the attention to him only having basic swing ability with swords too heavy for him. (Ik im late but i finally played the game and just want to appreciate it with others lol)

[@littlekitsune1]

@@thomasscott6146 No prob! Always glad to see people loving this game!

[@Crooked_Mantis]

Goading the shadows in that way is my favorite thing to do, and it’s also one of the only ways you’ll get to see a hidden feature of combat: The Parry. Yes, Ico can parry attacks, with any weapon. No, it is never stated he can do this in the English manual. But basically, if a Shadow begins to attack you from behind and you quickly turn to face it while holding O or just standing still, the attack will collide with your raised stick and neither of you will fall over. This is easiest to test with the early fights, where there’s only one Shadow to interact with. I think this only works in this instance because the Shadows are programmed to be smarter than to attack you from the front when you’re standing still, because that’s an easy parry. You can also sometimes parry if you and a shadow attack each other on the same frame, though this is much harder to test. Combat is way more complicated but even American localization teams had no idea.

[@littlekitsune1]

@@Crooked_Mantis That's a cool factoid! I've been doing it, but I never knew it was an actual parry.

[@dalgusmaximus4557]

I thought the combat was way more engaging than most games Ive played tbh.

[@freneticgamer4174]

Thank you for uploading HIGH QUALITY reviews. You are fair and you even go so far as to point out the flaws in things that you love. The gaming industry really needs more reviewers like you. You analyze different views and subjects coming to your own well rounded and educated conclusion. I am glad to have found your channel and I hope that you continue to make videos. My one little critique is to sound less like you are reading off a script (still the quality is so good that it doesn't matter).

[@HardDiskDog]

sounding like you're reading off a script is called a video essay

[@sefret]

I thought it was kind of odd that you didn't specifically talk about why people don't mind that the whole game is an escort mission. You touched on it a bit with the combat, but not really. Maybe it's just really obvious and I'll sound like a dumbass, but I thought it was actually *because* the whole game was an escort mission and there was not much else to the gameplay. Usually people dislike escort missions because it's only one mission from the game, and it takes away focus from the combat or some other more fleshed out and fun aspect of it. In ICO, however, there was really nothing else but to protect Yorda, and I think the combat being repetitive added to that. You didn't want to actually fight these monsters, you wanted to end the fight as fast as possible and get her to safety. Yeah, I dunno how to end this shit, fuck it.

[@WDSimp]

There are a few other games that have come out since ICO that have tried to make escort elements work in conjunction with combat, though were somewhat less successful at it. Resident Evil 4 was very much an escort mission for the bulk of the game and managed to avoid having that be a problem by letting the player hide the President's Daughter in a bin while they focused on combat. The Last Of Us was concerned that making Ellie killable during combat would become a problem, so nearly all of the enemies in the game ignored her to somewhat comical results. Enslaved took the bold step of giving the character you're escorting the ability to blow your head up if you wandered too far away from her, which tended to make things worse.

[@CasualShinji]

***** Resident Evil 4 also had the "huddle" mechanic, where Ashley would instantly take shelter behind Leon whenever he drew a weapon. I would honestly put this on par with Ico's handholding, because not only was it an effective way of keeping her out of harms way, as she would pivot along with you no matter what, it also totally fit the characters' motivation. It's one of the most clever little mechanics I've ever seen in a game.

[@sofakingimmature]

Cerulily Agreed. Ico never felt like a game with 'an annoying Escort' mission inside it. It felt more like two friends trying to escape a bad situation.

[@Arcananine77]

I was fine with ICO's combat being what it was because I think it made sense within the context of the game. The combat mechanics really help reinforce that Ico (the character) is just a young boy with little to no combat experience as opposed to a slick badass for whom killing is as easy as breathing.

[@prismsage3957]

It seems u missed the strong story this game had... That's y only u feel that way so.. Sis try again 😂🍶💆

[@jamesh7411]

More than 18 years later... ICO is still one of the best gaming experiences I've had.

[@garomastervideos]

17:09 I didn't know Yorda was more prone to falling over after opening the castle gates until I watched this video. At this point, she seemed especially drained, so I felt it was better to just walk with her in this part. The in-game character animations do a great job at communicating the state of the characters and giving them more life. The fact that the impression of Yorda's frailty in this moment is actually something that affects gameplay, and not just a wrong impression or visual flourish, made me appreciate this game more.

[@severalgecko]

I think the part when you realise that the shadows are other prisoned children is work of genius and it is handled in such a way that is completely unique to video-games. It was one of the moments that really made me think of games as art.

[@swimon]

Wow I totally missed the fact that the monsters are other children with horns like Ico

[@Guccibear100]

I'm almost done enjoying all of your content. I honestly wish you could do a critique or review of every single game I've ever played.

[@mrreyes5004]

19:55 "After all, it's hard to think of a concept more simple or effective than a boy and a girl holding hands." Little Nightmares 2's Six & Mono: *_Hold RT to hold hands._*

[@gilgamesh310]

The level design in this game feels the most natural of any game, outside of the Souls series. The location itself is one of the best things about the game.

[@aleks19971997]

Ok, so, I know that you'll probably wont read this comment but I just have to say:You have to be the best game reviewer/analysis In the history of KZbin.I can't even start explaining how hard it is to write reviews like you do. You manage to get all your points acrossed in a simple yet sometimes witty manner that I utterly adore and respect, writing all your points in a well systematic order is something many reviewers don't do well. Many reviewers often just tell everything they can randomly without any thought behind it. You address your problems unlike any other: You don't just showcase general points. Many other people would present a certain topic and then break it down. You, however, do the opposite- You take few broke down points and create a general point with the pieces. This create a sense of following a story rather than listening to someone's rant. My last point, is how well you are able to make all your videos to sound and look objective while clearly having an opinion about it.I really appreciate your work and effort and I cant thank you enough for all the videos you made in the last couple years.

[@hiimmeurnot]

I completely agree, I did a search for an Ico review, and when I saw that this one was by Matthewmatosis, I was very excited. Keep up the awesome work Matt :)

[@Parris360XP]

Completely agreed. I just spent the last day and a half watching all of his content. An unparalleled reviewer in my opinion. I wish he could review every [good] game honestly just so I could hear an honest and well thought out opinion on so many things in gaming as a whole. However that's extremely selfish to ask of someone and I'm sure Matthew is doing important things in life at the moment.

[@remembertotakeshowerspleas355]

+Hiddenforever69 If you like this style of review/analysis that I highly recommend checking Joseph Anderson's channel. He basically reviews games in the same way as this guy. He's also the most like Matthewmatosis. Other channels like this include: Super Bunnyhop. His reviews are shorter and less thorough than these and he's more of a journalist, but he talks about similar games and his videos are just as well written and witty as these. Errant signal. He's more like bunnyhop and he tends to use videogames as a jumping off point for more complicated topics, but if you're into intelligent discussion regarding this medium than you'll probably like his stuff. Noah Caldwell Gervais. More like errant signal that anyone else I've mentioned and his videos are long as shit. He tends to focus more on western rpgs. Mark Brown/Game makers toolkit. Underrated channel that goes into insane depth on video game design. Worth checking out if you're into that stuff.

[@crono3015]

I prefer SomeCallmeJohnny. His reviews are also honest. Honestly, I'll take his MGS and Zelda reviews over Matthew's.

[@intheairex]

pttoau Weldezion After watching some of Joseph Anderson's videos, I've always felt that the somewhat extreme length hurts the quality of them. There has to be some mental roadblock when writing, recording, and editing a 2 hour video every month, and it's made some of the points he's brought up in his videos feel somewhat repetitive and contrived.

[@JosefTrejbal]

That last line was solid gold. :-) Fingers crossed that you'll find time to tackle SotC. :-)

[@John_Locke_108]

This game blew my mind the first time I played it. No game has ever come close to making me feel what I felt playing Ico.

[@JonDaye07]

There's a book written by Miyuki Miyabe called Ico: Castle in the Mist which is based on the game. She was given creative freedom by the creators for it. The book isn't canon, but I enjoyed her view and expansion on the story.

[@freejrs]

He does mention it in the video but yes I also enjoyed it for what it is. Seems a lot of people dislike it.

[@greenieboi5486]

When you tryna get the Oonspah but she hits you with the Yannen

[@b0tster]

Oh gosh the fact that all the enemies were sacrificed horned children totally flew over me :0 The\ enemies in the final room looked so much like ICO that I just assumed they were clones of him and it symbolized the internal struggle of the loss of Yorda... Dammit!

[@DreamInSongs]

Interesting take on it

[@subprogram32]

I just thought that these children were *different* shadows and not related to the more monstery ones elsewhere that you fought beforehand. I never connected them together without this video.

[@Crowbar]

I had the Shadow of Colossus HD collection for a very long time, but only played SotC, never touched Ico. This week I finally played Ico, after many years, and I'm so glad that I did. Inspiring game.

[@JJJackson777]

just been scouring through the top search results for Ico review, & i don't need to look any further now. as an english lad i'd much rather listen to a crackin irish accent than a whiney smiley american talk about a game that has genuine sentimental value to me - my mam used to work in Choices (blockbuster before blockbuster) lots of VHS, lots of 5th and 6th gen of gaming, some DVD's. as things were in the early 2000's. Remember playing Ico with her at a very young age & loved the world it created. funnily enough we rented shadow of the colossus shortly after completing Ico, found it way too hard and ambiguous and never finished it before returning it's a bit mad really, when silly things like games stay in your mind nearly 20 years later & become warm & fond abstract memories

[@ramasamystudios4101]

It's 2023 and I still love playing this on my PS2...

[@peterkeleher]

beautiful analysis of a beautiful game. thank you.

[@barrongeddon4462]

Great, profound analysis. I don't remember seeing one other youtuber wit h approach you are using. You're well informed, invested and know how to keep a viewer entertained. All of my praise.

[@Qwarky]

Wonderful video. Also always pleased to see when the name is actually pronounced correctly instead of eye-co.

[@Smilephile]

Ive been calling this game Eye-co my whole life

[@joshuazastrow9881]

I'm glad I found this channel. You are an excellent critic of video-games. You should unquestionably be hired by someone somewhere in a capacity that puts you in charge of game creation direction. Your ability to describe the loves and grievances I've felt with each aspect of a particular game is more accurate than my own. That is intense. Keep it up man, love your work.

[@j0hn19986]

"Iconic boxart", i see what you did there.

[@jimjoerobinson]

'ICOnic'

[@hamachibeans4471]

His brain is broken, he just can't seem to comprehend it after 3 months

[@amotimeplayer8229]

I remember playing the demo on the PS2 when I was maybe 5 years old and I wanted the game so bad, and finally at the age of 22 I have the game and can play it on my PS3!🤩

[@arthurwild6563]

I'm impressed you mentioned Another World, but not the more obvious choice of inspiration; the PSX Classic "Heart of Darkness" it even has the same enemy types (visuals are also nearly identical) and also features a teenage boy as the protagonist.

[@deanfieldhouse]

Another World has an alien companion who you form a bond with over the course of the game - despite not speaking each other's language. You meet the alien as a prisoner (within a hanging cage, no less), escape together while assisting each other in progressing / evading capture, and in the end, your alien friend carries your damaged body to safety.

[@cones05]

pls keep makin vids, i found ur channel today and have spent the rest of the day watching all ur vids

[@vopop30]

I really love Ico's jump animation. To me it looks like something is pushing him further up in the air than what he was expecting. Great video by the way. I'm always excited to see someone give their thoughts and interpretations on the story and characters. This game needs more love these days.

[@undercurrent32]

great last sentence

[@JayTohab]

Still a better love story than Twilight. (Even if it's not a romantic story)

[@EverythingWithRay]

Your pronouncitation of numbers is so bizarre xD

[@Shifter-1040ST]

This game is so beautiful, I just had to buy a copy. I don't even have a Playstation lol

[@djamericanboy1]

dude I feel you. I started the Last Guardian and started crying. i have not been able to touch it for 2 years.

[@PingPongFilms]

@@djamericanboy1 have you tried playing it again?

[@forbiddenspiral]

I've finished a second playthrough and wanted to explore and know more about this impressive game. Thanks for creating this video, and many thanks for the English subs.

[@MetalHearts100]

I dont know how the fuck i did it, but the first time i played this game (It came as a gift when i purchased my ps2 back in 2009) I I got to half the game without realising you can actually hold her hand to run faster, as you could imagine, this complicated the whole half of the game for me, since shes really slow and not too good in a fight .

[@jameswebber359]

+MetalHearts100 I didn't realise for quite some time that you could pull Yorda out of the black pool that the shadow creatures took her into. That is until is was impossible to get to her in time before they did so. This point is actually shown in the video at 6:45 where +Matthewmatosis says it's obvious that you can do so! :)

[@vidjagameenjoyer]

+MetalHearts100 This is impossible since you are forced to pull her out of a hole right after you release her from the cage.

[@MetalHearts100]

William Hitchens That's a cgi, you don't have to press anything.,

[@cordia96]

+MetalHearts100 Who needs manuals anyway?

[@timmadone8930]

+crewmate It's nice to have them when they contain lots of pics or beautiful artwork in color. Such as El Shaddai did.

[@Lassenissen]

If there's anyone I'd want to make a modern day sequel to the PS1 "Heart of Darkness" game, its Fumito Ueda.

[@HamsterPants522]

I think you were probably one of the most appropriate people to review this game.

[@krombopulos_michael]

I think the reason it didn't spawn imitators was less out of a fear of challenging Ueda and more because of financial reasons. The game is a cult classic and people like devs or more enthusiast gamers who have actually played it generally love it but it still took a lot of work to make and didn't make a lot back. It would be very hard for a studio to get financing with the premise of "we're making a game that's like Ico".

[@MasterGaming234]

I would like to know if you will be doing a review on the recently released Bioshock Infinite: Bural At Sea. I would like to hear your opinion about it

[@justaguy600]

I wish I could play Ico. It gives me ASMR and I fall asleep within twenty minutes of play time.

[@NatStarlight]

I truly hope you continue to do this for as long as you can, Matthew. I appreciate your thoughtful analysis so much, and it truly stands out in the world of video game critique. On topic, Ico is a game I played once during the year that Shadow of the Colossus came out. For me, it was a build-up to SotC, or a prerequisite before playing that game, which I was anticipating very greatly. Therefore, I guess it makes sense that Shadow of the Colossus is one my very favorite, and objectively speaking what I believe to be one of the best, video games I've ever experienced, while Ico, despite me enjoying it, sort of faded from my memory. I need to go back and give Ico the attention it deserves, because this video made me feel guilty for forgetting about such a clearly brilliant work.

[@vhoro4514]

Yorda: *exists* Me: *must protect* On the day of writing this I finished my playthrough of Ico. This game I can honestly say is one of the best video games that I have ever played. I knew little when coming into this game, and i understood even less upon playing it. My mind was not bothered by the questions of lore and what had become of the fortress. For me, I was captivated and immersed by one feature: "save my friend". I know that everyone hates escort missions. They are tedious, slow and all together poorly executed, but I felt nothing of the sort when it came to protecting Yorda. In fact, I can summarize for one particular reason why this feature was not wretched. I am referring to the feature of "holding hands", this small ability allows for the complete guidance of Yorda. This action both builds the attachment to Yorda as well as act as primary tool for traversing safely. This action is so genius; in fact, that I have no idea why modern games do not rely on this more. Without some kind of redirection for the character's A.I a great game can easily become one of loathing. And it can allow animosity to be attributed towards a character. I apologize for my rambling, and I am aware that these points have been stated time and time again. Although, I thought that it was appropriate for me to bequeath these aspects from my own perspective. Farewell and protect Yorda...

[@connorcorn7309]

If you liked Ico, I can't recommend The Last Guardian enough. It gets overlooked because people wanted another Shadow of the Colossus, but if you wanted something more like Ico it was great. The button prompts are my one real issue with the game, other than that it's pretty perfect. Oh, and hail Boognish.

[@jamesliu8101]

I have just finally played it(curse the exclusives!). And my god was I blown away.

[@Machu4]

If you haven't, I would highly recommend that you play Shadow of The Colossus. If you have played SoTC, I would love to see a review of it.

[@TheToodinho]

I remember when I first played ICO and found it really boring but then going back later on and finding it utterly brilliant but I could never put in into words properly why I found it so good,well now I can =D

[@KoalaMarch77]

The upcoming game Rime for the PS4 has some aspects of ICO I think.

[@wanadeena]

Dear Mathew, I think you should add 'Analysis' in the tittle instead of just Ico. It'll attract more views I'm sure.

[@Jackald]

I wonder when Last Guardian is ever going to come out...

[@nicolasradrigan21]

The Last Guardian? I thought it was just a legend, passed down for generations...

[@LesterRamos]

ChuckPalomo Just like Half Life Episode 3.....

[@doalwa]

You can say that again...I can't believe that another E3 passed without a single mention of this game...but I haven't given up hope...yet!

[@Rhodesbysea]

I come from the distant future, unfortunately it's not fucking out yet.

[@krombopulos_michael]

***** People should take bets more often on which one comes out first, The Last Guardian or Half Life 3

[@DrDolan2000]

Now we can only hope Ico gets a graphical remake. The Shadow of The Colossus remake by Bluepoint was very well-received so if they did an Ico remake, the game would be given even more love, which is what it deserves

[@LongSinceDead1]

I really hope they don’t. The SoTC remake, while technically impressive, failed to capture the atmosphere and aesthetic of the original. Blue Point’s Demon’s Souls remake seems to be even worse in that regard. A remake of Ico isn’t necessary, especially if they’re going to alter the tone and experience to that degree

[@WaddleDee105]

Excellent video. I always love how in depth you are. By any chance, could you (or anyone in the comments) recommend me to a channel that also does these kinds of reviews and analysis? I love seeing people go in depth on various games but so many "reviewers" either make their reviews too short for them to say much or our just idiots.

[@TMTLive]

BunnyHopShow has some great Critical Closeup videos. Besides them and MrBtongue, I can't come up with anyone.

[@patrickward7975]

TMTLive Errant Signal perhaps?

[@TMTLive]

***** I'll give you a try, I can at least understand some German.

[@chrstmascarnage]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais has a style similar to Matthew's so people here will probably enjoy him.

[@moofFTW]

Allosaurus Rex is pretty good, but his videos are usually pretty short

[@tokyobassist]

Man. I wish I liked ICO. I never could finish it. I want to power through it but playing something you're not enjoying is stupid.

[@TheButterShave]

OH MY GOD MATTHEW IS ALIVE. I really appreciate the amount of effort you put into analyzing the games you review, Matthewmatosis; it's always a pleasure to see your videos pop up in my subscriptions list.

[@thesimpsoan7946]

Posted 9 years ago and still true to this day, man's upload schedule is non existent

[@SolusBatty]

God, i recently disabled adblock for your channel since i read you wanted to start doing this fulltime and i've just watched 8 minutes of some, german-esque teenager talking about sneakers i guess. I forgot ads exist, and this wasnt very pleasant. The things i do for love. Hehe, now back to your soothfull voice and slipping into sleep for me.

[@SolusBatty]

***** There was an annoying ad that lasted 8 min. Some teenager tried to sell me shoes. I think i was clear enough.

[@VanishedDecoy]

Maybe odd for me to say, but I would ADORE sitting down to have coffee with you. Picking your brain sounds way too great.

[@yunarose84]

Love these memories... And always got this queasy, uneasy feeling when I lost Yorda to the shadows. There's an unofficial prequel novel, ICO-Castle in the mist. It's a great read!!!!

[@ALocalClown]

A fantastic review, it's great that you focus on the gameplay elements that back up the theme and tone, much as they do in the context of the game itself. Probably the best review of Ico I've seen so far.

[@AzureSymbiote]

I can appreciate some of the aspects of this game but so much of the game is just a boring escort mission. I almost had no hope for SOTC because of this.

[@elegantcat1496]

The game really relies on you getting attached to Yorda to make its gameplay work. For me it did a pretty good job but I can understand if someone else would find that irritating, it's kinda subjective, honestly. I think Ico works better as a work of art than an actual game...but this is not a BAD thing for me...it's just a...thing. I don't know, George from Super Bunnyhop makes the same reasoning over Metal Gear Solid 1, he probably could explain it way better than me.

[@AzureSymbiote]

***** No, not the entire game. And I don't understand your point.

[@AzureSymbiote]

***** No, not the entire game. And escort mission may not mean bad but ICO didn't do anything with it that I can consider too positive. A good escort mission is short like the one in MGS3.

[@FurryMeatloaf]

'Which, at worst, can result in death' So, no biggie.

[@jessepbigjdp]

That last line truly was perfect and is probably the best single sentence summary you can give about the game. No game has ever really had such a profound impact on me immediately after finishing playing it as Ico did. For hours afterwards I played "You Were There" on repeat while looking up articles on the game, wondering how after playing it I could find the resolve to play other games on my backlog when they would probably be so shallow in comparison. Its not my favorite game of all time(that would be Majora's Mask) but its one of only a few games that just thinking about it for a short while has a fairly significant emotional effect on me. While games are art in general like films and books, Ico is one of the games I consider to be high art. The only thing that disappointed me a bit in this review is not talking about "You Were There", how perfectly that song tells the story of the game and mixes with the ending cutscene.

[@shaunseh]

In my opinion, sir, you are the most precise and critical game reviewer I know. Your work is impressive and thorough and I enjoy this channel very much. Thank you for your work.

[@glossedghost]

Look at all of you who were here all those years ago and especially look at Matthew who was also there to put so gracefully to words our feelings about these games when we couldn't. The environmental inspiration for the Souls series, even without prior knowledge, I think, is clearly visible, among other things.

[@lemming9984]

This is definitely favourite game from the PS2 era. I wish Bluepoint would remaster it.

[@MasterGaming234]

I would like to know if you will be doing a review on the recent DLC release Bioshock Infinite Bural At Sea. I would would like to hear your opinion about the game

[@CountAbel]

This video really brought me back. I remember completing this game over 10 years ago and being so emotionally gut-punched, that I felt it days afterwards. I might be more of the sensitive type, but this video really brought me to tears. Have you ever considered reviewing the original Silent Hill series? At least the first two games contain some genius programming decisions, which you might have a lot to say about.

[@vonFiedler]

I think you've got the filter on death in video games backwards. In typical movies, we usually know that the hero will live to the end and defeat the antagonist. We have to filter that information out, and pretend that they are in danger. In video games this isn't the case, the danger is very real and I don't necessarily think that the 30 some times Ico dies aren't "true" versions of the story, just simultaneously existing versions. In this way Change and Death suit video games well in the same way that Love is often the subject of music.

[@Proctor_Conley]

I perceive games as being dreams. Sometimes I progress without interruption, sometimes reality just isn't correct, sometimes nothing makes sense, sometimes I can't escape a moment, sometimes I change my past decisions, sometimes I can't stop wishing I could, and most times I can't recall events after waking up... just the emotions.

[@LuckeeStrikee]

I was expecting a deeper reflection on the bridge section and the jump, which is the climax and the conceptual core of the entire game. Excellent review as always, tho.

[@Monkeyninjaghost]

One of the few truly emotional experiences I've had in games, no surprise that Shadow of the Colossus is also among those. Ueda might just be too much of a perfectionist, at least I think that is a large of why we haven't seen The Last Guardian yet.

[@epigeios]

It almost looks like many mechanics of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time were heavily inspired by Ico.

[@hyperdeath84]

+epigeios Yeah I thought that when I played Ico as part of the HD package. As interesting as Ico is for its time, Sands of Time executed its mechanics and gameplay a lot better than Ico did and is a better game overall in my opinion. I appreciate Ico for its charm and legacy - Shadow of the Colossus is one of my all time favourites and I'm really looking forward to The Last Guardian too.

[@psychobanditco.7064]

+hyperdeath84 would you say you value a "game" game like Prince of Persia more because of it's defined rules, or because of the execution of the mechanics? if neither of those then what would you say made you like PoP more?

[@hyperdeath84]

PsychoBanditCo. That's a good question, I guess a bit of both. There is no denying that as charming as Yorda and Ico's relationship is, she annoyed the hell out of me as she had no agency and literally needed her hand holding for most of the game. Farah and the Prince had witty dialogue that gradually softened and really sold their relationship. Plus she actually tried to help during combat and wasn't annoying to escort around; that is a major part of what makes SOT more enjoyable. The swordplay in SOT isn't the best but it's leagues ahead of the combat in Ico. The climbing and acrobatics in SOT are still some of the best 3D gaming has ever provided, it feels good to execute a wall run and then jump up to a ledge every time. Ico is a good game in many ways (beautifully bleak design, occasionally nice climbing and good puzzles) but my immersion in the art and atmosphere was broken by frustrating mechanics too frequently for me to love it the way I love SOT. I may enjoy it more a second time around when I know what I'm in for - being a huge fan of Shadow, I was totally on board for enjoying it as an experience, as a piece of art, but those frustrations kept interrupting that experience. I think Shadow executed its mechanics with just the right amount of looseness (if you've played it you'll know what I mean) and I found it incredibly immersive, fun, challenging and emotionally engaging. To my mind Shadow delivered upon the promise of Ico as an experience and as game. It's for that reason that I am eagerly anticipating The Last Guardian and the trailer shows it to potentially have the best of Shadow and Ico in one package.

[@psychobanditco.7064]

hyperdeath84 having played Shadow of the Colossus just two days ago, the atmosphere is still fresh in my mind and that's definitely because of how well it plays, While I don't usually have any trouble with Yorda I can understand a reasonable amount of frustration with her strange AI behavior. I can't speak much on whether or not SoT and Ico should be compared in terms of the combat system, as Ico is much less combat oriented, I will say Ico is at about the bare minimum of a combat system but enough for me to have no problem fighting most of the enemies, SoT however has a much better pay off than Ico since killing an enemy serves more than two functions unlike Ico...

[@hyperdeath84]

PsychoBanditCo. They are very different but there are some things about them and certain moments that really feel similar. Towards the end of Ico you scale the broken outskirts of the castle and get daunting yet majestic vistas which is very similar to what happens in SOT towards the end. I think time plays a role in regards to when you play a game - if I played Ico when it came out I would probably have been more forgiving as it was unique for it's time and I had no SOT to compare it too.

[@BriHarded]

Then fucking Toren happened and tried to be Ico 2. Goddamn I hate that game.

[@squelchotron8259]

What's wrong with it?

[@strategist9]

Watching your review, there's lots of subtleties to Ico's design that I didn't catch during my time with it, but that said I honestly didn't enjoy playing it. The combat scenes, combined with the fact that Yorda relied on the player so much, added up to something that, for me, was more irritating than engaging or fun. I respect Ico for what it does, but I still didn't enjoy it that much.

[@larrykellogg6797]

Thank you for giving this game the praise it deserves. This and Okami are two of my all-time favorite PS2 games.

[@Andromeister27]

ICO is PURE ART and one of the greatest video games ever created.

[@Solaire_of_Astora13]

DruMeister Hell yes!!

[@slowmercy69]

I like Ico more than Shadow of the Colossus It is much much simpler and unlike Shadow of the Colossus, it keeps the momentum rather than hey! you just killed a boss! Let's teleport you back because it already took you so long to get here, ya know!

[@shizuwolf]

SLowMercy then you may like The Last Guardian

[@yabo_san]

i feel like i would've enjoyed ico a lot more if there wasn't any combat. the combat is just so tedious and boring it literally forces me to stop and put down the controller

[@Arkanthrall]

I had the exact same feeling and that's why I stopped playing Ico mid-game.

[@pimastr317]

I felt it added a lot to make the player feel the need to protect Yorda; I myself felt that stress throughout most of the game. It was bare-bones, but team Ico took a minimalist approach to the game and only left actions that they felt were absolutely necessary to tell the story.

[@kirbymaster5]

Precisely why SotC is my favorite game and Ico is something I only played because it was the predecessor. I guess you could argue that the horse riding in SotC is the equivalent to the combat in Ico. I'd say they intended horse riding to be a passive experience to set the pace of SotC, while combat in Ico is intended to be engaging and just fails at it.

[@kgri5009]

I always saw the combat as emphasizing ICO and Yorda as being defenseless children. A frail sickly girl who has never been outside, and a boy with a stick. ICO is in just as much danger as Yorda if not more because like the commentator said, the shadow creatures never do anything to actually harm Yorda physically; meanwhile they have no qualms over attacking and trying to kill ICO. Whenever they show up you're able to experience the dread and fear a small child would have due to how tiny and almost powerless they are. This fear is amplified when Yorda and ICO are separated from one another and are unable to find comfort in holding the other's hand.

[@HeroOfLegend115]

Another moment of role reversal that stood out to me is when the bridge is separating and Yorda holds her hand out for you to jump and grab onto. Also, I like how the enemies push you around through the whole game, in an almost bullying type way, but in the big battle at the end they try to avoid you because of your sword.

[@KnightLincoln]

Handholding and chilling on benches in one large escort quest. Watch and learn, Elden Ring.

[@consensualsenses]

Oh Matthew... you always find the perfect words to end your videos :)

[@Kano61]

I love your reviews, but i wish you didn't sound like a monotone robot all the time.

[@shpladau]

It helps emphasize his positive opinions about the games he reviews.

[@WayToTheGrave]

I think if he were to have a different tone it would affect the analysis, honestly. People tend to pick up on vocal tones to shade the way the speaker feels about whatever he's saying, and considering the way MatthewMatosis attempts to approach games from a more analytical standpoint, I think the more monotone sound compliments it well. I'd rather not have a drunken Irishman cooing in my ear about how much he loves Ico in a slur. No offense Matt.

[@roberttausig9170]

For me, it is important he does. I enjoy he conveys his thoughts through nothing but words. Emotions are often distracting and people nowadays overly rely on them in conversations, thereby simplifying language and leaving things open to interpretation. But the point here IS to interpret, to precisely express thoughts on the subject. I feel everyday-life english is degenerating increasingly, and therefore embrace any opposing effort. (PS: My mother tongue isn't english, but german, which arguably is more monotonous by default.)

[@drunkensailor112]

The proper animated feet movement on steps and other uneven terrain was already done years before on shenmue and much better I might add.

[@dalgusmaximus4557]

This video was great but I wish you would have talked a bit more about how yorda works in the game. One thing that really bothered me at times was yorda's inconsistency in understanding the player. I remember one part of the game where you were in well type area with 2 switches that opened 2 doors and I thought that is I stepped on the switch in front of yorda she would understand that she good go through the door. Obviously that didn't work but what did work was calling her from 1000 ft away to step on a moving platform she has never seen before unlike the switches that she has seen several times throughout the game. Its not like you have to activate the moving platform first to show her what it does she just automatically knows. I know this is a incredibly specific, nitpicky thing to point out but it bothered for much longer than it should have during my play through of the game.

[@SgtCrumpet]

Great review, as always! If you end up doing a review on Shadow of the Colossus, then I cannot wait!

[@artey6671]

Hello, I know your video is pretty old already, but I refused to watch it, because I didn't own Ico at that time. So then I finally decided to buy it a week or so ago and you still might want to hear somebody's thoughts about it. But I can mostly only talk about the gameplay and shallowly about the story. To sum it up right at the start: I'm not really happy with Ico. Firstly, I'm sorry to correct you, but in fact there are invisible walls in the game. Not in many places, but they exist. I also find the camera to be even more of a disadvantage than you said. I died because of it, sometimes it really slows the game down and the angles aren't always optimal. Maybe it's better on PS3, but I only played the original version. But the combat system is a really huge disaster. It's monotonous, slow, unfair, uncreative, annoying and trifling (I'm not sure if that's the correct word, sorry). It comes as close to a silly escort mission as the game allows and adds nothing to the relationship of Ico and Yorda, which is my next point. I really can't build up any friendship or conscientiousness to Yorda, because she speaks another language, obviously. She could also kill you, because you don't know what she's thinking and why she's following you. Her AI is completely broken. Sometimes she can't climb up a ladder until I call her again and she also can't be stopped, if she climbs down right after she reached the top. I suppose it's a bug. And she climbs so slow, that I reentered the screen just to save half a minute, after the bug occurred one time. Lastly, her arm looks like a cheap ragdoll when guiding her and if you suddenly start running, it just looks painful to her and it's being dragged throughout the whole game. Now let's move on to the story. There are many unexplained things, which is quite sad, I think. The village, that's mentioned in the intro sequence, is never being referred to again and the first time you face Yorda's cage, she's just a black liquid. Maybe she was just born? And what teleported Ico back to the beginning? Yorda or one of the monsters? When they are trying to escape, one of those orbs attacks Yorda. Why? And do the people, that brought Ico there, know what exactly is going on in the castle or are they just doing it because they have an occult belief? Her mother also lies twice to Ico, I think. She says, that Yorda couldn't leave the castle and that she wouldn't want Ico to attack her mother, even though Yorda is destined to be a sacrifice as well, to serve as her new body, and the fact, that she also wants to escape. The mother also barely makes any attempt to stop Ico, because the ghosts apparently aren't controlled by her, even though she knows, what they are doing. (I actually noticed not until the long fight, that they also have horns, again, maybe it's just because of the PS2.) The scene before the boss fight doesn't really improve the storytelling either. Firstly, the gate is closed, so it looks like the mother wants to talk to Ico, but she immediately tells him to shut up. Also, why should she want to send Ico away, when he has already ignored her order? And because she lies to him in here (according to my opinion), it's not Ico who makes up the decision to fight. And lastly, I have no idea how Yorda also made it to the coast, but when I saw, that she was alive, I was happy like a little child, because I assumed she died with the castle. I think it's really impressive, how this simplistic story manages to not make any sense at all. Not much is being explained, but I would be fine with that, if the story at least wouldn't contradict itself in about every other aspect. The only thing regarding the story, that I would call "successful", is the parallel of the intro sequence and before the boss fight, even though I already had forgotten about it. All in all, I don't think the game is good. I mostly understand your points, but after my values, it fails. I don't know, if you will read all this, because you don't seem to reply to comments, but thanks to everybody, who spent the time.

[@skyerune]

I haven't played this game, and probably won't, but I find it interesting that so many players want to know more and more about a video game's world and all the mysteries and nuances. Storytelling that opts to leave out these details (because they're not relevant to the story or characters) is faulted for doing so. I don't know if this point of view is good or bad, but it is interesting.

[@artey6671]

Tyrannosaurus Rex If you are talking about the story part of my comment, let me explain my view on that. The village, that is being mentioned only one time, just gives me an impression of incompletion. If it has no further meaning, then I don't think there is a reason for it to exist. There are other parts in the game that, I don't think, make any sense, which makes it hard to differentiate between stuff, that has a meaning or which is just supposed to look cool. I wouldn't say that I belong to the people you described. If there are elements, that you are supposed to think about, then it's fair to question them as well. I only thought about them, because they were presented to me and all I did, was point out that they mostly don't make any sense. For example Majora's Mask has a lot of unanswered mysteries too, but no logical flaws, that make me believe, that the world is totally inconsistent, and I don't mind the storytelling in Majora's Mask.

[@CountAbel]

Arteyyy The first time Ico meets Yorda is obviously a dream, so Ico is not teleported anywhere. The dream sequence is obviously there to foreshadow the role of Yorda in the story, the role that the players are eager to forget immediately as they see her white form a while later. The reason the Queen isn't trying to stop Ico herself, at least in my opinion, has to do with her age, which is also why she needs Yorda as her new vessel. I see the shadow figures as pawns that she either controls or not, but at the very least they're doing her bidding. Maybe she's simply too weak to fight for herself? The ending sequence seems to underline this, considering she's mostly standing still behind a force field. Yorda eventually leaving the castle at the end of the game was actually kinda confusing to me as well, and at first I wasn't sure what to think of it. All I can make of it is that the Queen was probably just lying to Yorda, in order to keep her in check, and that in reality she had the option to leave any time. I actually fail to understand why you have such a problem with the main villain lying to Ico and Yorda. She's obviously an egoistic witch type of character, who lies to her own child in order to control her. It's not an uncommon theme, is it? I'd probably dislike the game much more if it clearly spelled out the motivations of each and every character. It's the childlike perspective of not understanding the "adult world", which I really enjoyed. The idea wasn't just to tell a confusing and contradicting story, but to tell the story in a way that Ico himself experiences it. The motivations of sacrificing Ico because of his horns have something to do with "the good of the village", but for the character himself this probably makes as little sense as for the player, and this was the point. We could theorize forever what really happened, but in the end it doesn't really make any difference.

[@faterock9876543]

+Arteyyy dude, you got told

[@ianciti]

about the combat, i always interpreted this as intentionally pushing you to want to protect yorda. sort of a mechanics as metaphor sort of thing to metaphorically hammer home to the player the importance she has not only in the narrative but in the world around you showing that some horrible otherworldly powers are unleashed should she be fully dragged into the shadow. this, in my mind, created sort of a feeling that yorda is part of something greater, something more important than YOU, boy, and that you have the chance to stop it.

[@MemoriesLP]

this game is a marterpiece. My top 5 games

[@Golemie]

Awesome, any chance this may lead into a Shadow of the Colossus review/retrospective at any time? Would love to hear your thoughts on that as well seeing as how they're linked in ways beyond just the same creators.

[@WorldFungusChamp]

Very random, but I really wish Breath of the Wild treated it's voice acting the way Ico did.

[@robertsonkev]

The same exact game that came into mind for me when he mentioned that. I think it would fit the fantasy world of hyrule very well

[@mstan59]

Excellent, concise retrospective! I see you did one for SotC as well (which has been added to my 'watch later'), but do you plan to do one for The Last Guardian? In any case, thank you for the effort put into this video.

[@nestorsaronte3387]

Still a great game. Still a great retrospective. Some things you just want to get back to just to check if all is still good. It is.

[@rosegilliland220]

I've lost count of the times I've played this, especially Shadow of the Colossus. I'd love to see you do a review on Baten Kaitos or The last story. Keep up the good work friend.

[@EXHellfire]

Baten Kaitos and The Last Story are both RPGs, right? They are not as focused on gameplay as they are on story telling, so I don't know if he'd do it. If that was the case, then I'd request a 999 review lol

[@rosegilliland220]

EXHellfire Haha! You have a good point! :D

[@EXHellfire]

Thank you n.n I'm just saying, it would probably be best to expect Matt not to review those games at all and instead go for others that focus more on gameplay design. I guess he's not that kind of reviewer. I would like to hear his thoughts on RPGs though.

[@Betrix5060]

you must do Shadow of the Colossus!

[@Betrix5060]

Good news he plans on doing Shadow of the Colossus next!

[@ThePresidentOfChina]

I certainly hope he doesn't use the PS3 version as his playthrough considering how bugged it got with the climbing.

[@Betrix5060]

ThePresidentOfChina explain, I had no problem.

[@retractingblinds]

ThePresidentOfChina felt the exact same as the game on PS2, and in PCSX2.

[@albertmax132]

This is a old jem of a video

[@Phantron]

You forgot a word there. I think it's "Review".

[@FeelingSoFresh]

Will we also be seeing one of these on Shadow of the Colossus?

[@nicolasradrigan21]

I wanna play this game so bad, if only to explore the castle, but my shitty old ps2 crashes on the second room.

[@JudgeBane]

If you have a PS3, they released a HD remake along with Shadow of the Colossus.

[@pirwzy]

watching this, I just noticed that the letters of the title in the opening are horns >

[@LevelUp9001]

I jumped out of my seat when I saw this. Love both Ico and you.