ICO and Shadow of the Colossus

rgiller

Just bought both these games second hand yesterday but I haven't started either yet. What are anybody's feelings about which one to play first or does it even matter...

tba

play ico first, it came out first, therefore it should sit better for you as a whole that way.

the-lad

I don't think it really matters what order you play them in as they are not sequels of the same story. I have completed ico and its one of my all time favourite games, have only just began SOTC but loving it as well.

Kiith

i recently cleared shadow of the colossus, and i have to say it was one of the best games i've played in a long time. the feeling you get when you kill some of the colossus' is great, a mix of satisfaction, and sadness that you killed such cool looking creatures (at least for me). also the music in it is brilliant.

never played ico though...

grimloch

Kiith wrote:

the feeling you get when you kill some of the colossus' is great, a mix of satisfaction, and sadness that you killed such cool looking creatures (at least for me). also the music in it is brilliant.

I thought that the sad music they played after you killed one of them pretty much removed all the satisfaction from the process. You feel like a right little bastard for killing them.

Kiith

grimloch wrote:

I thought that the sad music they played after you killed one of them pretty much removed all the satisfaction from the process. You feel like a right little bastard for killing them.

well, i suppose it was more the satisfaction of finally figuring out how to kill them, rather then actually killing them. like the big one in the water that shoots lightning at you (no.13?). took me ages to figure out how to kill him. some of them definatly made me feel **** for killing them, especially any of the flying ones. bloody great game.

CiDeRmAn

Ico and SOTC, two games that actually stirs the emotions, Ico making one genuinely concerned about Yordas well being, was that her shout, will I make it back in time? Getting those shadowy bastards before they drag her to her doom, then SOTC and the palpable feeling of tragedy when you down a colossus, as the creature crashes to the earth there is rarely a feeling of elation, as stated before the soundtrack makes sure you know what you have done, and for selfish reasons too, the destruction of these creatures in exchange for the life of the girl.
This is proper grown up gaming, along with a real sense of scale, of adventure and peril, wonderful.
And as for which one first, has to be in the proper order, Ico then SOTC, I know they say that one isn't the sequel of the other but the guy in SOTC looks and dresses a little too much like the hero of Ico, although sans the horns of course!

tman

Both of these arrived in the post earlier today... problem is, i'll be sans ps2 on the 1st of August:(
should be enough time to finish one of them if i get stuck into it i suppose...

BLITZ_Molloy

Ico is the shorter, and easier of the two. It's also my favourite. It's a very polished old school platformer, bit like Another World crossed with the first Tomb Raider. The castle is practically a character of its own.. incredible fun to explore.

SotC is harder, longer and more experimental. It's the sort of game I'm really impressed with. The fact that it works as well as it does is incredible. Didn't quite touch me in the same way as Ico did though.

Retr0gamer

The creator of Ico and SotC has stated stated that SotC is a prequel to Ico despite denying it for so long. I'd still play Ico first.

sprinkles

Retr0gamer wrote:

The creator of Ico and SotC has stated stated that SotC is a prequel to Ico despite denying it for so long. I'd still play Ico first.

I haven't finished SOTC yet but how do they tie in with each other?

lardboy

You will find out, it's a major spoiler if we just tell you. It's worth the wait. I had a big grin on my chops when I found out!

Brow

Hmm i was told SOTC was pretty brutal even though i played ICO. I'm more keen to play it now though after hearing some of these comments.

CiDeRmAn

I have found the enviroment a lot more sterile in SOTC than in Ico.
The wonderful Castle in Ico, as has already been stated, is a game character in its own right, the sounds of bird call and the gleam of the sunlight from the brickwork as you hang from its towers and prominences, SOTC on the other hand seems an antiseptic scoured place, the only life you, your horse and the beasts you must level.
Its the brutality of your character that shocked me, especially when you kill the knight, seemed, well, not right, like you are a poacher at large in Africa, bringing down the last Black Rhino, and then realising what you have done.

hotnipples

It's a very different game to ICO, just travel to a location - find collosus - kill it. That's all the game is, dont expect any more. There are no other characters or enemies to fight in the game but the 16 collosi. The collosi fights are very impressive however. It's fun trying to find out how to kill them, but it really can be the most frustrating thing ever at times. Some of the methods of killing some of the collosi are ridiculously vague,

the collosi you had to get on his head and steer him around by firing arrows at the stone teeth on his head anyone? I was soo close to using a guide here until pure perseverance got me there in the end, but there was a good 4 or 5 completely not-fun hours spent finding this out, you had to wait for an animation where he lowered his head to grab onto him, which I found pretty hard to spot. The clue given told you to "get to higher ground" and with the bridge over-head the area you fight the collosus really confused me and had me wandering around the map. Maybe im just stupid and you all found it easy but it was a right pain in the bollocks

When push comes to shove though, it is a good game and worth your time but it is far from perfect.

Also,

did anyone find the final collosi to be a huge disappointment? (excuse the pun ). My favourite was the sand snake

CiDeRmAn

Its kinda ironic that the company that gets the most flak for commercialising gaming and practically inventing the infernal "casual gamer" should also have released some of the arguably most obtuse, arty games in the business, Katamari, Ico, SOTC etc.
Maybe the PS3 will be worth geting after all, and after about 2 years of its release when I can finally afford one.

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Its kinda ironic that the company that gets the most flak for commercialising gaming and practically inventing the infernal "casual gamer" should also have released some of the arguably most obtuse, arty games in the business, Katamari, Ico, SOTC etc.
Maybe the PS3 will be worth geting after all, and after about 2 years of its release when I can finally afford one.

Well Katamari was developed by Namco and published here by EA. However I have to agree with you about Sony. Despite some of it's experiments not being up to scratch yopu really see a Sony game that doen't try something different. They also give free reign to a lot of their first party developers much like Capcom does. The Eyetoy really shuck up Nintendo since it was an innovation that would normally be associated with them. Also the PSP might be full of rehashed rubbidsh but the best games have all mostly come from Sony first or second party developers.

Chumpski

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Its kinda ironic that the company that gets the most flak for commercialising gaming and practically inventing the infernal "casual gamer" should also have released some of the arguably most obtuse, arty games in the business, Katamari, Ico, SOTC etc.
Maybe the PS3 will be worth geting after all, and after about 2 years of its release when I can finally afford one.

Very good point. Im definetly getting the PS3 at some stage for the follow up to SOTC. Plus theres MGS 4 as well. Im sure therell be other innovative games during the next couple of years. Until it gets affordable ill settle with the Wii though.

The only thing that bothers me about PS3 is the loss of the vibration in the controllers. I thought that really added to the immersion in a game like Gran turismo when your tyres go over the rumble strips...