The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection Review (PS3)

[Chaos Raiden]

Perhaps one of the highly anticipated HD collection of two popular games by Team ICO, especially Shadow of the Colossus. I will try to review both games into one review. This HD collection comprises of two highly acclaimed PS2 games, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus.

Story (ICO)

​

A horned boy by the name of Ico met a mysterious girl, Yorda in a castle and tried to escape from the castle.​

A boy with horns by the name of Ico was captured by the people at his village, whom considered Ico as a bad omen or a curse. They placed him in a stone coffin, and suddenly, a tremor collapsed. Ico took the chance to escape, and met a mysterious girl by the name of Yorda on the way. Shortly after Ico released her from a cage, Ico took her and plan to escape the castle, alive.

The story is very interesting, despite it's minimal dialogue and exposure to the character's background. There are only 3 main characters in the game. Ico, Yorda, and Queen. I'll try to summarise their backgrounds without giving out much spoilers. Ico is a boy with horns, and has some amazing acrobatic skills that allows him to climb walls, etc. Yorda, is a mysterious girl that can't speak Ico's language, and is constantly hunted by shadowy beings. The Queen, is Yorda's mother, who herself can use strange powers and wanted to keep Yorda from leaving the castle. I love how the game's story carried out, as it makes every dialogue spoke by each characters rather quite important to understand the game's story well. It is interesting to note that the game uses it's own special language, for Ico and Yorda's language.

Gameplay (ICO)​

​

If Yorda is taken by the shadow monsters and you are too late to save her, then it's game over!​

The game is an action adventure with puzzle-solving and platforming elements. Ico can run, climb ledges, climb ladders, and others like most other action platform games. He can also attacks using an equipped weapon such as a stick and a sword. You need to solve puzzles in the game with Yorda, as she is vulnerable to the shadow monsters' attacks. She can be easily captured by them and she will be taken by the darkness if you are too late to save her.​

The puzzles in the game are incredibly well-designed and can be challenging, as the game is not really linear despite it's 4-6 hours playing time. You have to explore and try stuffs in order to solve the game's puzzles effectively in order to proceed, since there ain't any guide or hints to help you in the game.​

The game's camera is fixed, but can be rotated using the Right Analog Stick to view the whole area for any tips on solving puzzles, etc.​

​

Drag Yorda around to quickly travel in the game. You can also beckon her to come to you by calling her out.​

There is no tutorial in the game, so it would be best if you quickly view at the Options at the Pause menu to quickly learn the game's control. You need to drag Yorda around in order to proceed to another area, because if you left her in another area for too long, shadow monsters will capture her and you have to save her. It would be wise to always bring Yorda around whenever you going somewhere.​

The shadow monsters in the game can't kill you, but you can get Game Over if you fall from an extremely high place, Yorda is taken completely by the darkness, and if you turned to a stone. They are not extremely hard to defeat, but requires certain aggressiveness as they always try to capture Yorda if they have the chance. Also, they will try to knock you down in order to get to Yorda faster. Be mindful of the enemies' attacks as well as be aggressive in killing them if you have the chance. There are also no bosses in the game except the final one, as this game is more focused on platforming and puzzle-solving instead of action. There are save points in the game, shaped like benches. Use them to save your progress as there are less than 20 save points in the game.​

The game's gameplay is great, but the controls scheme are a bit... old and difficult. Yorda's AI can also be difficult to manage, as she won't respond to your actions correctly at some times. Regardless, the game's gameplay is solid.​

Graphics (ICO)

​

Well-done HD remaster of the game.​

ICO has beautiful graphics, especially the environments. The characters also looked great, especially after the HD remake.

Sound (ICO)​

​

Great sound design, effective soundtrack and good voice acting.​

The game have minimal soundtrack, but the themes played during certain scenes and parts in the game are great and fitting with the situation. The game have also good voice acting, despite the voice actors speak the game's fictional language.​

Replay Value (Ico)​

​

Minimal replay value, if you don't play the game second time to get an extra ending.​

Unfortunately, the game has low replay value, as it does not have long playing time and alternative modes to play the game. However, you can try to play the game second time to get an extra ending of the game.​

 

[Chaos Raiden]

Story (Shadow of the Colossus)

​

Wander is tasked to defeat 16 colossi in order to revive his beloved one, Mono.​

Wander travelled to a forbidden land where it is possible to revive someone from the dead, with his trusty steed Agro and the body of Mono. Shortly after placing Mono's body on an altar of the shrine, he encountered a being by the name of Dormin. The being can revive Mono, under the condition of that Wander must defeat 16 colossi. Without any hesitation, he went on a quest on to defeat every colossi in this forbidden land.​

The game's story is simple, but wonderfully told. Wander's quest on defeating each colossus in the game is simple epic and breath taking, despite minimal dialogue like ICO. There ain't much to tell about the characters in the game, except that Wander is bent on reviving Mono despite any obstacles. The game also uses' it's own language, just like it's predecessor, Ico.​

Gameplay (Shadow of the Colossus)​

​

You will only be fighting 16 colossi. They are counted as the only enemies of the game.​

The gameplay is a bit of action adventure and open world. You need to traverse in great distances in order to fight a colossus. As you have access to a horse, use her to your advantage as it allows you to travel great distances with minimum time.​

In order to fight a colossus, you need to use your sword to find the direction where it uses the sunlight to pinpoint the colossus's direction. After getting the correct location, you can travel there to fight it, or you can wander around and enjoy the beautiful environments of the game.​

​

Each colossus has it's own weak point(s) and strategy to defeat them. They can be easy or difficult to defeat depending on how good you are.​

Most colossi in the game are extremely big. I mean big. So what you have to do in order to kill them? First, you need to find their weak points using your sword. When the light directed from your sword points directly to a spot, that is your weak point. But how you want to get up there if the enemy is too big? Each colossi have their own patterns of attacking, moving, etc. For example, when the colossus punches the ground, you can climb on it's hand. Moving around while grabbing on climbable surfaces of the colossus is vital in hitting their weak spots.​

Unfortunately, Wander has his own HP and Stamina. If his HP is depleted, then it's Game Over. His Stamina decreases whenever you do a stamina-consuming action, such as grabbing on ledges, holding onto the colossus while it shrugs it's own body to throw you off from grabbing it, rolling, etc. Be mindful of your Stamina while grabbing on the colossus, because if you fall back from the ground, you need to repeat the process in order to make the colossus lower down it's guard for you to climb it again.​

As each colossi are unique, you need to know how exactly each colossi behaves in each fights. In order to bring a colossus down, you need to use everything at your disposal. You have a sword, a bow, and a horse. The sword allows you stab into the colossus' weak points, and the bow allows you to hit the colossus from far away. However, it is not reliable and useless in order to hit a colossus' weak points, except for a few colossi fights. You also need to use your horse, Agro to distract or escape in some colossi fights. If you take a long time in fighting a colossi, Dormin will give you a hint on how to defeat the current colossus, but not all hints are very reliable. If you are stuck, refer to Youtube videos or a guide on how to defeat it.​

You can also increase Wander's HP and Stamina in the game optionally. Defeating a colossus will increase your HP and Stamina, but there are other ways to do increase them further. Firstly, you can shoot fruits from a tree and eat it to increase your HP. You can also kill lizards with shinning tails and take the shinning tail to increase your Stamina. The game's camera can be rotated to view the surrounding environments. You can also lock-on to the colossus that you are fighting with.​

The game's gameplay is effectively great and awesome. Although there aren't any regular enemies in the game, fighting colossi in the game are extremely breathtaking and gives you great satisfaction after fighting them. This game is not really an action game, as fighting colossi in the game is more akin in puzzle-solving and platforming. In short, the game's gameplay is awesome.​

Graphics (Shadow of the Colossus)

​

Excellent HD remaster of one of the most best looking PS2 games ever.​

Shadow of the Colossus on the PS2 looks awesome, but it has it's own graphical problems such as frame rates issue. However, the PS3 HD remaster makes it look even better, more beautiful, and also eliminating the graphical issues. Personally, Shadow of the Colossus HD looks much better than Ico HD, and some of other PS2 HD remasters, such as Splinter Cell Trilogy. The environments of the game and the colossi looked extremely spectacular in HD.​

Sound (Shadows of the Colossus)​

​

Has one of the best soundtrack in video games ever.​

The game have extremely well-done soundtrack, creating epic moments in the game. Each song played in the game fits the situation perfectly. My personal highlights of the soundtrack is whenever different themes played when we found the colossus's weak point. The themes are awesome to listen, and listening the soundtrack outside of the game is extremely addicting. The game also has good voice acting, despite they speak the game's fictional language, like ICO.​

Replay Value (Shadow of the Colossus)​

​

Moderate to high replay value. Play Time Attack modes, or play the game in Hard mode.​

This game have moderate to high replay value. Despite the game's slightly short game length, you can play Time Attack mode, where you need to defeat a colossus in a certain allotted time. Or, you can play the game in Hard mode. In Hard mode, each colossi have extra weak points, and are more difficult to defeat. This is a good challenge for those who wants to play the game in harder difficulty.​

Conclusion (The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection)​

​

The collection may have only two games, but both games are great looking with the HD remaster, as well being great games with solid and effective gameplay.​

This HD collection is extremely worth getting. Two reasons why I bought this collection. First, because I haven't play ICO. Secondly, I want to play Shadow of the Colossus in HD. These two games are not like average action-adventure and platforming games, as they are extremely different as the two games emphasises on enhancing player's experience in both games. There ain't much additional contents in the collection, except Trophy support for both games, 3D support, a few behind the scenes video for both games, and two dynamic themes for PS3's XMB. This collection is worth getting for those who have played both games or not.​

Score​

Story: 10/10​

Gameplay: 9/10​

Sound: 10/10​

Graphics: 9/10​

Final score: 38/40 or 9.5/10​

Pros​

- Both games looked great in HD.​

- ICO and Shadow of the Colossus have great gameplay mechanics.​

- Both games have very emotional and memorable storylines.​

- No graphical issues.​

- ICO puzzle mechanics are creatively designed.​

- Shadow of the Colossus's colossi fights are epic, breathtaking, and awesome.​

- Shadow of the Colossus looks incredibly awesome in HD compared with some past HD remasters of PS2 games.​

Cons​

- Both games have rather old and finicky controls.​

- Yorda's AI in ICO can be annoying and stupid at some times.​

- Both games have minimal playing time.​

- ICO has little replay value.​

- Shadow of the Colossus have low replay value if you don't play the game in Hard mode or Time Attack mode.​

- Not much addition for both games itself.​

 

[GamblingGambitCloud]

now...what has been added to the games?

 

[Chaos Raiden]

now...what has been added to the games?

HD remastered graphics for both games, Trophy support for both games, 3D support, few behind the scene videos, and two dynamic themes for PS3 XMB.

 

[wallenb]

i just traded my old ico and shadow in but i was reluctant to get the new HD version. If i had a 3d tv, it wouldnt be an option because i heard SOTC in 3d is beyond amazing. Really wish they would of added in something else. Maybe a little info about The Last Guardian or something.

 

[GamblingGambitCloud]

HD remastered graphics for both games, Trophy support for both games, 3D support, few behind the scene videos, and two dynamic themes for PS3 XMB.

so....nothing really....i heard they added some things....that's pretty much nothing...the graphics for HD remasters aren't very different...I own the GoW ones and I honestly can't tell the difference...if it was like extra in-game content or someting, then we'd be gettin somewhere

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

While it's unfortunate that they couldn't have added more content, I'm happy with this, as I've never been able to play ICO before.

 

[GamblingGambitCloud]

I will probably end up getting this game...maybe a preorder bonus could be like an extra colossus or two ^_^ however, I still woulda preferred a sequel to SotC

 

[wallenb]

I just got it!! And well, the graphics in ico are a huge update and its still has its simple yet mind boggling puzzles. As for SotC, the graphics dont seem all that different. The collosi seem better, but over all it still seems the same, except for wide-screen and in HD. The controls feel clunky like before, more so in ico. SotC's controls a little better. Some of the trophies seem pretty weak too. They are things i was gonna be before i even looked at the trophies, except hanging on a hawk and riding a fish