So I'd heard lots of good things about this game and decided to finally give it a go. I picked up the PS3 HD collection, which includes Ico and SOTC.
From the get go, it felt like a frustrating experience. Very little is explained to you about how the mechanics of the game work. I found myself trying to grab ledges on the colossi that weren't intended.
The game clearly wants you to experiment to find out the different ways in which the colussi will react, but it's often such a slow process that it starts to feel like a chore for half of the battles. And often I was so close to a solution but some small thing would be off, so I'd try something else instead. Then it would turn out that I had it right the first time, I just needed to be standing a metre to the right. So many times the solution felt illogical.
And whilst holding on to the head of a colossus and getting that final hit in is extremely satisfying, on some occasions the window would be so small that I'd get shaken off and have to repeat the whole process to slowly chip away at its health. Knowing exactly what I needed to do, but having to do it multiple times soon became quite dull.
About half of the colossi were genuinely fun to fight. The bird one in particular stands out - soaring through the air as you climb along his wings was incredible.
I will say that the atmosphere, music and story were beautiful. It's a great piece of art. But a lot of people claim that this is one of the greatest games ever made, and I feel like the 'game' part is lacking quite a lot.
Is there something I'm missing? I actually enjoyed Ico a lot more.
I'm interested in what you mean in saying it's one of the first games with lots of conscious design choices. Are you saying that they didn't let the restrictions of the PS2 hold them back from their creative vision?
Sorry I didn't see your comment sooner. I am not very good at explaining myself but I'll try: I think it was a point in gaming where the PS2 was capable enough so that they were able to put the artistic vision first, instead of looking at the platform first (i.e. SNES) and then designing the best game for the system.
Ah yeah I understand what you mean. I guess that must have really changed the design philosophy - having an idea first, and then a game second. I admire what they created as it's a beautiful experience, but slightly lacking as a game. Almost as if the 'game' part was an afterthought.