Ico Review/Analysis – 20 Years of Ico
Hey, this is Table 53 and this is my Ico review / analysis / retrospective for the Ico 20th Anniversary later in 2021. Ico was Fumito Ueda's first project as a game director and one of the most influential titles of the 21st century. This video is a fair bit longer than most I have written, but there's a lot about Ico that was worth saying - its themes, characters, art, and design philosophy all needed mentioning, as well as a look at Ico's legacy and impact. As Ueda's debut game was released in 2001, we are approaching Ico's 20th Anniversary and so this felt like a good time to write this video.
I understand that YouTube is becoming a place for long videos, but if 1 hour + is too much for you, this video is watchable at 1.25x speed (though 1.5x and 2x are a bit odd).
Thank you for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video!
My Links:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Table53_YouTube
Steam Curator - https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33990401-Table-53/
Intro and Ico – 00:00
The premise and the opening cutscene – 05:20
The Gameplay and the immersion – 09:31
Saving Yorda and fighting shadows – 21:40
The lonely castle and design by subtraction – 29:53
The apex of the relationship and the most Iconic moment in video gaming – 43:00
The legacy and “inspired by Ico” – 49:56
Ico alone and the end of the game – 1:02:16
Outro and NICO - 1:15:40
#Ico #FumitoUeda #Table53 #Ueda #IcoGame #Ico20thAnniversary
Hey, this is Table 53 and this is my Ico review / analysis / retrospective for the Ico 20th Anniversary later in 2021. Ico was Fumito Ueda’s first project as a game director and one of the most influential titles of the 21st century. This video is a fair bit longer than most I have written, but there’s a lot about Ico that was worth saying – its themes, characters, art, and design philosophy all needed mentioning, as well as a look at Ico’s legacy and impact. As Ueda’s debut game was released in 2001, we are approaching Ico’s 20th Anniversary and so this felt like a good time to write this video.
I understand that YouTube is becoming a place for long videos, but if 1 hour + is too much for you, this video is watchable at 1.25x speed (though 1.5x and 2x are a bit odd).
Thank you for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video!
My Links:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/Table53_YouTube
Steam Curator – https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33990401-Table-53/
Intro and Ico – 00:00
The premise and the opening cutscene – 05:20
The Gameplay and the immersion – 09:31
Saving Yorda and fighting shadows – 21:40
The lonely castle and design by subtraction – 29:53
The apex of the relationship and the most Iconic moment in video gaming – 43:00
The legacy and “inspired by Ico” – 49:56
Ico alone and the end of the game – 1:02:16
Outro and NICO – 1:15:40
#Ico #FumitoUeda #Table53 #Ueda #IcoGame #Ico20thAnniversary
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Hey, thanks for clicking on this video! This is a fair bit longer than any other video I’ve written before, but there was a lot about Ico that was worth saying. This video contains spoilers and covers the entire plot of the game, and so you may want to play Ico first and watch this video another time – but really I think the game will still hold up regardless of whether or not you know the story and ideas. Subscribe to the channel, leave a comment, all that stuff, and thank you for watching!
I am not a die hard gamer, but this one has to be the greatest game I ever played, along with the new doom eternal.
just played ICO for the first time and came to watch this video. Amazing vid my dude. I hope a remake is made someday as well, it really deserves it.
I have read some theory that Mono from sotc has become the queen 🤔 Do you think it could be true?
Still waiting patiently for the sotc video. 🙂
I just wanted to comment to say this is one of the best deep dives into a game on this platform not done by Noah Caldwell Gervais or Matthewmatosis. Honestly, I think your video surpassed the latter for this game, especially as you look into the aesthetic choices made by Ueda (such as the camera) instead of focusing purely on the mechanical.
Great job. I hope you are still working on that SOTC video and hope to see more.
This is real quality work and would love to see this effort extended to other games.
Subscribed and will be keeping an eye on your channel
I had watched a playthrough of the other game by Ueda, and a lot of people suggested learning about Ico. I'm glad I did, this game is really unique. I did not realize how influential it had been either. In some ways it's like an anti-videogame, it does the opposite of what most triple-A games would do in telling its story. Yet, that's what makes it so beloved, even all these years later. Anyway, great video! Thanks for sharing!
Damsell in distress wouldn't fly in these days of the feminists! Now it's all about strong women and pussyfied soy estrogen filled men!
Jim Ryan:
"Fumito WHO? Also what the hell is a 'passion project'?"
🙁
I'm working on an Ico review and came across this video. Excellent content. Expect a severe uptick in subs in the coming years.
beutiful video. Amazing analysis. I finished ICO in a blind playthrough today and immediatly looked for a review or retroespective and found yours. It was really conforting seeing someone that identified some of the things that made this game special for me as well. For the record I have played infinite amounts of games but never cried with one. Until today 🙂
Thank you for creating this wonderful video. I first played Ico as a little 6 year old back in 2001 and it made me fall in love with video games. 20 years later this still is truly the most magical game and one I will hold very dear to my heart
Thank you so much for such deep observations on this truly special game! You helped me relive the moments that amazed me in 2001, and turns out they still are as emotional now as they were then. The bridge scene and the decision to jump, the handholding mechanic, the constant dread of leaving Yorda alone, the isolating atmosphere and sound design — all are things I thought about a lot later, when I noticed them in other games.
Also the beach ending is such a stroke of genius, — I felt a slight glimmer of hope, I ran forward, then I saw a dark speck by the water far ahead, and thought "No, it couldn't be! I am kidding myself." But i still ran forward, and could not believe my eyes. That ending gave me such needed closure. Ueda is like a master musician who's instrument is human emotions. Also, the watermelons 🙂
Funny story, I played this game together with my future wife, and a year later, when walking along the rocky seashore in the wild, we came upon a stone couch someone constructed out of boulders, very much like the one in the game! Needless to say, we sat down holding hands and decided to save that moment forever 🙂
I know it’s just for the catchy title, but I was really proud of the fact that I could click on this video because I ‘have’ played this again, actually the original title on the ps2, I have the cringy American box art and all. When I first played it , it gave me a wonder around the world of video games that I have gotten me hooked for years now, also one of my go to personal emotional drivers for the impact of art on people as an artist myself. Love hearing an in-depth on its themes and it’s importance in game history.
I did a search for "Ico review" and found something better than I would have expected for YouTube. Thank you for reminding me what an incredible experience it was to play this game so many years ago.
parabens! gostei muito.. ja tinha jogado ele para Ps2 e quando joguei me apaixonei.. nao tive o prazer de jogar shadow mas tenho aqui.. porem ICO e sem comparaçao ( nao dizendo que shadow nao seja bom kkk ) mas foi como vc falei e disse ( a forma como foi criado e formado o jogo para vc e a yorda ficaram juntos faz vc esquecer a tematica das guerras e so querer um final feliz tirando dali uma unica pessoa viva ) agora to na procura das ligaçaoes do ICO com Shadow ( pq temos muitas refecencias usado no shadow que tinha no Ico kk )
How does this wonderful video not have more views? Thanks so much for your excellent video on Ico. I love this game so much and its often in the 'shadow' of its younger brother. Such a great and detailed analysis, thank you for all your hard work.
I found this video by looking up 'Ico Review' as I'm prone to do every 4 months or so, though I'd stopped expecting to see new results on this search ages ago. Thank you for being a welcome surprise and bringing more attention to this game. An hour and a half long discussion is absolutely what this game deserves.
If someone is working on a modern remaster of this game, they need to watch this video for an essential understanding of its themes and design for sure