RGT Nostalgia Society #11 - Ico

[ThatOneLum]

April has arrived and it's time for another iteration of the RGT nostalgia society! This month: Ico!!!

(i know the GIF is from Shadow of the Colossus but its the closest they had)
​

Grab this absolute classic from the repo and shove it in your favourite emulator and we'll get playing:

ICO (USA) PS2 ISO – The Repo

ICO (USA) PS2 ISO Game ID: SCUS-97113. Languages: English. For Sony PlayStation 2.

retrogametalk.com

Ico (Europe) PS2 ISO – The Repo

Ico (Europe) PS2 ISO Game ID: SCES-50760. Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish. For Sony PlayStation 2.

retrogametalk.com

If you're wondering what's going on, check out the links below to learn more.

Previous RGT Nostalgia Society Runs
#1 - Parasite Eve (PSX)
#2 - Vagrant Story (PSX)
#3 - Einhander (PSX)
#4 - Shining in the Darkness (Genesis/MD)
#5 - Clock Tower Deluxe (SNES/PSX)
#6 - Pepsiman (PSX)
#7 - Zone of the Enders (PS2)
#8 - Banjo Kazooie (N64)
#9 - Sonic Adventure (DC)
#10 - Crystalis (NES)​

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

New Nostalgia Society game means new Userbars, so here's a couple I drummed up for anyone who wants to collect them!

Also, for anyone planning on going for the Retro Achievements like me, you will want to play the European version. This is one of the rare titles where an achievement set has been made exclusively for the PAL regions (so you know it's gotta be good! ;D)

Good luck, all runners!

 

[DanCalibur]

 

[Deleted member 897819]

Ico mentionned, I’m here. It’s my absolute favorite game, in case you hadn’t noticed (though I doubt it). Ico is the godfather of cinematic video games, giving rise to other puzzle-platformers in the same vein, like Limbo, Inside, and ESPECIALLY Little Nightmares, all of which I highly recommend to you. It’s also the only one I’ve speedrun and unlocked all the achievements for. Man, I was so surprised by the super jump you can pull off in the 50Hz version to bypass all the obstacles.

It's also the only game that does the girlfriend simulator genre better than dating sims themselves the kind where you get to hold your waifu's hand and she reacts to your calls.

The only Team Ico game I absolutely hate is The Last Guardian my God, that game's AI is a total nightmare, worse than any game released in the 2000s

 

[Elwiwi]

Rip resident evil 3

 

[DanCalibur]

The Pal version is the way to go, it let you select 60hz mode in the beginning if you don't want the super jump exploit. And apparently you can start a 50hz new game plus after a 60hz game by removing the memory card, selecting 50hz mode and then reconnecting the card.

 

[TheOneEV]

Gonna have dinner and jump into the game....and maybe think about dabbling in the RA, but not to full completion.

Will have to grab the PAL copy, and dive in blind.

 

[Deleted member 466]

 

[ThatOneLum]

I've got the game installed on my PS2 HDD but I don't want to jump in too quickly.

IIRC it's not the longest game in the world so I feel like holding back a bit is the right call.

 

[diapered]

This should be fun ^_^ I've had this one on the backburner: this is one I have nostalgia for but never played it. I remember wanting it after seeing it on toonami, but I guess I asked my parents for something else >_<

 

[Crashbandi]

Also, for anyone planning on going for the Retro Achievements like me, you will want to play the European version. This is one of the rare titles where an achievement set has been made exclusively for the PAL regions (so you know it's gotta be good! ;D)

Well shit, thanks for the heads up before I actually started playing. Now i gotta download again.

 

[diapered]

The Pal version is the way to go, it let you select 60hz mode in the beginning if you don't want the super jump exploit. And apparently you can start a 50hz new game plus after a 60hz game by removing the memory card, selecting 50hz mode and then reconnecting the card.

Huh didn't know a difference between them. Interesting. Eh, I'll still go with USA (and looks like only I will be ), it's the version I would have played at the time, so I guess that goes with the nostalgia theme >_< Also, I'm not a RA person, so that doesn't matter, and I already have had that version downloaded for a while, so might as well go with it ^_^

 

[solnK!]

All right, I have this game bundled with SotC on PS3, I already have a savefile but I've never beat it, so this might be my chance to do it.
I'm so excited to finally finish it, I love this game

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

Taking ThatOneLum's advice, I'm gonna take this game somewhat slowly.

I will probably still finish it early, but that gives me time to think about maybe checking out more side-content and bonus stuff from Japan Studio.

I started the game earlier, and my initial impressions are:

Spoiler

Holy shit, is this taking place in the same place as Shadow of the Colossus?
It's not a 1 for 1 comparison, but the room in which the moonlit girl is caged looks an awful lot like the spiral staircase room in SotC. Also, the bridge into the game's ruins looks reminiscent of the bridge in Shadow, although that bridge seems huuuuuuuuge.

As an aside, I don't know what it is exactly, but this team create ruins which are more engaging and mysterious than any other from any other games I've played. I was instantly transported back to playing SotC on PS4 for the first time. It's not the largest world map, but that game seems like it absolutely crammed with secrets, either out-of-bounds or otherwise. I'm already getting that same sense, that a joy of exploration that few games besides SotC and the Souls titles can match.

I also LOVE that the game doesn't tutorialize a single damn thing. They just leave you to it, and trust the player to take the time to figure it out. It's a risky design philosophy, I understand that, but it's one that is so worth the pay off.

I went to take a screenshot and skipped a cutscene, so I'm gonna go back and watch it on YT before I continue. xD

Also, I'm not a RA person

You should create an account dude, I think you'd dig it! You don't have to go for all the achievements, but I think it adds an extra element to older games that's so rewarding. :D

The only Team Ico game I absolutely hate is The Last Guardian my God, that game's AI is a total nightmare, worse than any game released in the 2000s

I got stuck on The Last Guardian and my PS+ ran out so I couldn't play it anymore, but it was the first Team Ico game I ever played and I thought it was excellent! Trico almost always behaved how I expected him to as well...I'd heard the bad AI criticism a bunch so I was very skeptical, but I didn't have any problem with that aspect of the game (must've just been lucky I guess!)

 

[PupinDaTurd]

Alright. I've never played ICO despite being a huge SotC fan. I've wanted to try it out so glad it won over something I've played a lot like some other nominations.

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2026

Huh didn't know a difference between them. Interesting. Eh, I'll still go with USA (and looks like only I will be ), it's the version I would have played at the time, so I guess that goes with the nostalgia theme >_< Also, I'm not a RA person, so that doesn't matter, and I already have had that version downloaded for a while, so might as well go with it ^_^

Maybe want to reconsider. There's missing content (including an ending cutscene), altered puzzles, and unnecessary difficulty adjustments in the USA version.
The reason the Achievements were attached to the PAL version only is because the American one is a bad version apparently.

 

[ThatOneLum]

The reason the Achievements were attached to the PAL version only is because the American one is a bad version apparently.

Yeah this is basically why most PAL versions dont have achievements in retroachievements ironically lol the lower framerate makes them sub-optimal so most people only bother making achievements for NA versions of any given game.

Kind of cool to see it the other way around for once.

 

[diapered]

Alright. I've never played ICO despite being a huge SotC fan. I've wanted to try it out so glad it won over something I've played a lot like some other nominations.

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2026

Maybe want to reconsider. There's missing content (including an ending cutscene), altered puzzles, and unnecessary difficulty adjustments in the USA version.
The reason the Achievements were attached to the PAL version only is because the American one is a bad version apparently.

So you're telling me this is the shitty version? Now I gotta go with the USA version >_<

 

[Megarockman _1987 Megarockman _1987]

 

[solnK!]

So, I already started a new game, been playing for 40 minutes and got to that part where you have to move a cage and climb its chain to advance.
God, this game is breathtaking, sometimes I can't believe it's a 2001 game, it looks so pretty.

I even noticed a leitmotiv between the "castle in the mist" song and the one that plays when Yorda left her cage...interesting.

 

[Deleted member 466]

These is one of the games that made me believe games could be art.

 

[DanCalibur]

And all they needed to fit all that beauty was a single CD.

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

Man, I'm so back to NS...

 

[medisinn]

Hell yeah. I nominated Alundra and voted Final Fantasy, but I am down with this. I'm just gonna ignore all that stuff about how the US version sucks, as I have the Ico/Shadow of the Colossis duo on PS3. Maybe it got the missing things added but I presume it's just a remaster. I'm old enough to have played the Ico demo at the time, I'm excited to finally play the actual game and have a reason to dust off my PS3.

 

[diapered]

Hell yeah. I nominated Alundra and voted Final Fantasy, but I am down with this. I'm just gonna ignore all that stuff about how the US version sucks, as I have the Ico/Shadow of the Colossis duo on PS3. Maybe it got the missing things added but I presume it's just a remaster. I'm old enough to have played the Ico demo at the time, I'm excited to finally play the actual game and have a reason to dust off my PS3.

I also voted FF, but this would have been my second choice. And yea, I'm also going ahead with USA version. Since this game is short (allegedly, games take me longer than most I think >_<), I might play the PAL version after for fun to see the differences.

 

[ThatOneLum]

I have sat down for a single session with Ico and managed to make it well past the activation of the first reflector... oops!

I will probably be finishing this one relatively quickly, so I'm tempted to either play through twice or track down some of the extras you can do/get.

I don't remember at all but is there a way in NG+ to read the language that Yorda speaks?

Edit: I just found out. Part of the reason people recommend the PAL version is because in NG+ you actually get the Yorda language translated, while in the NA version you have to do it manually using a wiki page... damn they really short-changed the NA version huh?