Near the beginning of Ico you find yourself leaping across a broken bridge before gesturing to your companion – a ghostly, glowing girl named Yorda – to take a leap of faith and join you. When she hesitantly jumps but falls short, you reach out and haul her away from the deep chasm below to safety. The scene plays out like an impressive setpiece on first encounter. But you soon discover there are many surprising, dramatic moments like this on the paths Ico leads you down, giving the experience a cinematic feel that stood out in the PlayStation 2 era and feels more akin to modern game design when you play it today.
That has influenced the creation of some huge contemporary games is in auteur Hidetaka Miyazaki described as, “The game that changed my life,” while creator Neil Druckman called it, “A source of inspiration and my favourite game of all time.” It’s often celebrated as an exemplar of minimalist design, offering very little dialogue, no health meter and no immersion-breaking guidance on how to play. You’ll also find that every object you come across as you explore the atmospheric castle is there for a reason. The environmental storytelling and subtle puzzles are held up as part of what made the game so quietly special.
