This game is one of the first games released for the Playstation 2, and despite its rather simplistic gameplay it is still a very fun and visual game to play. Sad that a game so old looks so much more amazing than games released to the newer consoles these days. The story has a boy named Ico being escorted to what one could call a prison, this happens to any boy who is born with horns as Ico is. Well he escapes with a little luck as the castle he is locked in is now in a state of decay. He soon stumbles upon a frail girl named Yorda and now with her by his side he must make an attempt to free him and her from this rather large castle. The gameplay consists mainly of figuring ways to get from point a to point b. None of the puzzles are to hard to figure out as long as you do not over think things. There is combat in the game and that is one of the games weaknesses in my mind. Combat usually consists of shadow like creatures coming for Yorda and you fighting them off, sometimes it just seems to take forever for you to get rid of all these annoying creatures. If they pull Yorda into one of their shadow warps the game is over. The combat becomes a bit more fun if you can get your hands on the mace, and the final fight with the queen is also rather good. Lots of amazing scenery to be seen as the makers of the game seemed to really make a nice environment for Ico to move around in. Near the end of the game you get separated from Yorda and I have to say this was a more enjoyable part of the game as all you had to do is worry about getting through the various jumps and winding gears and such. I prefer the prequel though as Shadow was a bit more epic and the combat was very fun in that one. This one ended better though.
