Team Ico

Today, I'd really like to blog about one of the finest game developers the world has come to see. This would be Team Ico, and they have continuously released masterpiece games. Most likely, you've never even heard of the games Ico or Shadow of the Colossus. Sadly, these games are overshadowed by many popular game franchises, such as Halo, Guitar Hero, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts; the list could go on for days. Team Ico will never let anyone down, their games are designed and made with precision and great care. To me, they are more than just video games, but works of art that changed the way I view video games forever. Team Ico takes you to fantasy worlds, and carries your imagination far. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are both very short games, and contain minimal characters and dialogue. They have similar themes of friendship, isolation, and sacrifice.

Ico is about a boy with horns, who has been taken from his village to a lonely castle far away as a sacrifice. The boy manages to escape death, and meets a girl in the castle named Yorda, who is also trapped. Together, they solve puzzles in order to break free of the malevolent witch that resides in the vast castle. Although being one of the first games released for the Playstation 2, they push the system to its limits in graphics, which are beautiful and seem to pull you right into the game. It's a very unique game, however, it's extremely rare to find.

Shadow of the Colossus, although significantly different than Ico, has the same theme of isolation and love. This game is about a man named Wander, whose girlfriend has been a sacrifice in his town. He travels to a forbidden land to revive her. In order to complete this task, he must defeat the 16 colossi that reside in this incredible, desolate land. It focuses more on combat than Ico did, but there are only a mere 16 fights in the entire game. Again, this game takes the Playstation 2's graphic capabilities to new heights. Team Ico's second masterpiece.

Recently, Team Ico has revealed its third installment: The Last Guardian. As seen from the trailers, this game looks as beautiful as the last two. It's about a boy and his giant pet griffon. They solve puzzles together, that's about all I know right now. I'm sure it will take the Playstation 3 very far, and I'm greatly looking forward to it.