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Ico (PS3)

Status: Stopped playing - Something better came along
I started playing this game on Tuesday 8 January, 2013  //  I stopped playing this game on: Friday 13 November, 2015
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.

November 13, 2015 01:07:33 PM
It was weird to get back to this game (on the PS3) after having dabbled a bit on the PS2. I remembered being intrigued but having some problem where I got stuck. I don't recall if it was a technical problem or an issue of my general incompetence. Probably the latter.

I've now played a fair amount, not enough to finish, but enough to have had what I feel is a much "fuller" experience - some combat, puzzle solving, grand vistas, and saved games (actually, from peeking at an FAQ I know I got halfway through - windmill!).

It's an interesting game in that the pace seems so subdued and tranquil. The combat takes a lot from the experience, for me at least, in that it adds a sense of urgency (and panic, I'm not that good at it) that kind of spoils the experience. There's a certain majesty in wandering these huge environments trying to figure out where to go and what to do. It stands in contrast to, say, the Uncharted games where large-scale environmental puzzles are important, but the places aren't allowed to sit empty and abandoned. Rather, they have to riddled with baddies with guns. More dramatic, but at the expense of contemplative.

It sort made me nostalgic for a (non-existent) past when games allowed you to explore and enjoy the places and spaces they provided.


 
kudos for original design to Rodrigo Barria