So you need Penny Arcade to indirectly hint to us, you didn\'t have patience for Yorda\'s npc Ai or you found it to be plain bad ?
Let me tell you ; masses of games have worse co op npc Ai than Yorda from the Ico game. Besides, even if it was that bad (which it\'s NOT), it\'s missing the point of the game :
(for it\'s time) The Ico game features a robust array of hand animated true 3D movements - in contrast to many games which still rely on an imaginary 2D grid for translation/movement within the XYZ space. For it\'s time, it outdoes Assassin\'s Creed on the same merits.
The key is the combination of that true freedom of movement (customized to) with kinetic puzzles, which become clear via carefull observation & taking hints from Yorda, plus the use of environmental props to tackle the next obstacle (throwing bombs and using barrels as weights). There\'s no "stand exactly here to trigger a on the spot climb-over-crate animation" in Ico.
It\'s essential Yorda didn\'t speak Ico\'s language as it triggers the player to \'read\' her gestures (Yorda didn\'t want to jump ? Well, it\'s because she knew a better way to get to point B, because she knows the castle, the player doesn\'t.)
Having trouble with that ? Then probably, there\'s trouble reading the real world woman as well.
She had a bit of her own will, to get distracted by the birds, but that added a bit of feminine realism to her. At
least she didn\'t fell off cliffs nor stood in line of fire like the stupid swat team from any military shooter.
The observation of the environment tells the player the background story, each bizarre obstacle makes you wonder why the castle was built in that way and slowly you learn about the \'how & why\' the child sacrifices which the old society made, much like real world Aztec\'s did.
The puzzles of the castle are sub metaphores of the Ico story. At the end Yorda & Ico leave the manmade world (the castle) and re-enter paradise again (via the beach to the free woods). So, the game wraps up as a marvelous paradigm to the Adam & Eve story, in a reversed way.
Again, the core point is the free form true 3D moves set which integrate naturally into the very smart kinetic puzzles/level design.
Besides, my MGS4 review stands strong, regardless of me liking Ico - if you ty that together, claiming the review\'s crap ; that is failed \'logic\', a non rational underbelly feeling and going off topic. Weak.
