The Chief of Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann, has just made public his most favorite gaming moment of all time, and surprisingly, he is not talking about his game?? He openly cites as one of the classics, ICO for PlayStation 2, a personal favorite with lots of affection. The head of Naughty Dog, in one of his recent tweets that went viral among the gaming community, seemed to have referred to the saying “C’mon, kiddo, gimme your hand” as the greatest moment in gaming history. The encouraging hand-holding of the character now appears to be one of the everlasting impacts that the creator of The Last of Us has.
So what is this ICO incident all about? To those not in the know, ICO was a little hard but stylish puzzle-platformer where players took the role of a boy with horns helping a mysterious girl named Yorda escape the great castle. The objective of the gaming session was to protect the girl at all costs and lead her through dangers, literally, by holding her hand. Initially, players might be hesitant and ask why they need to be pulling this girl along. However, after quite a bit of playing, well, players were actually saying it hurt to let go of that digital hand. A game design that can elicit such feelings has got to be incredibly powerful.
BAFTA Games posted the tweet regarding Druckmann’s comments and that tweet brought all sorts of reactions in the replies. Some players were very nostalgic over ICO, one of them commenting “Ico needs to be played by more people” and another one calling it “ABSOLUTE CINEMA of a game”. There seems to be a consensus that this old classic is not getting the recognition it deserves and, at the same time, that modern games’ ability to make you connect with a character through the very simple act of hand-holding is very rare.
Nonetheless, quite a few were not so favorable. The comment section was colorful, to put it mildly. Some posts were totally rude, one saying “Israeli zionist trash” and another, “This hack destroyed Naughty Dog” back to back. Ouch. The conversations surrounding the creative director of Naughty Dog have always been quite divisive. However, many of the unfavorable remarks still appeared to be more about the man than the ICO mention.
The most fascinating aspect is that the legacy of ICO still continues to be in the works at Naughty Dog. One very perceptive player stated, “And that inspires the giraffe scene TLOU1 using planks and ladders the whole time.” They sure are right; the scene where Joel helps Ellie cross the broken down building is indeed similar to ICO. The gamers understand that the emotional giraffe moment has struck them much harder because of all the cooperation leading to it. Another response reminded that Bruce Straley and Neil had both mentioned the influence of ICO in The Last of Us documentary, and it was actually causing “many of the game’s dynamics.”
The timing of this is indeed very interesting. With the Factions multiplayer mess still very fresh in everyone’s minds – you know, that conflict which supposedly grew too big and eventually got cancelled according to some replies – it’s great to remember the time when people first fell in love with Naughty Dog’s storytelling. Simple, human, moments that connect. Not every moment needs to be spent gaining an encounter with a live-service monster.
There are players who are hoping this ICO love affair might bring about something good. One comment cleared that Bluepoint Games should be able to apply their “remake magic on ICO as well it’s too good to leave it in ps2 gfx.” What an amazing opportunity! A complete ICO remake with state-of-the-art graphics while still keeping the minimalist gameplay! On the other hand, another user inquired, “why not play the remaster in the meantime?” Good point, the ICO & Shadow of the Colossus collection is right there on PS3 for anyone who doesn’t want to miss out on the experience.
Amazing how just one tweet about a game that has been around for over 20 years can lead to such a huge conversation! The talk went from the genuine appreciation of game design history to… what were those political arguments really about? At times gaming communities are not just about the games. But if you turn it around to the basic view, it is simple human bonds that created the most unforgettable gaming moments, even if those moments were in a decaying castle between a horned boy and a magical girl.
And you know what? Maybe we all should replay ICO. Or even try it for the very first time if you’ve never had the chance. Because if it was the seed of some of the most moving moments in modern gaming history, then it is definitely worth your time to check it out. Just get ready to attach way more importance to holding hands in a video game than you would have ever imagined.
