Fumito Ueda may not be a name that is on the tip of the mainstream gaming public’s tongue compared to Shigeru Miyamoto or Hideo Kojima. However, his (soon to be three) games and role as the spearhead of Team ICO have not only carved out a sub-genre of their own, they have truly challenged the balance between video games being entertainment as well as art. To fully realize how unique these games are, you only need to look around at what else was on the market during the last 15 years.
ICO was released on September 24th 2001, on a console that was barely 18 months old. I would argue that 2001 was one of the most significant years in the industry’s history, but not because of ICO. Grand Theft Auto 3 was as revolutionary to sand box open world games (and the evolution of the franchise into 3D) as Mario 64 and Metal Gear Solid had been five years previous. The fact that the latter got a blockbuster sequel that year, combined with the introduction of Xbox’s own game changer in Halo, meant games were growing up, becoming more sophisticated and more connected than ever before. It’s a trend which has only expanded in recent years; competitive shooters like Call of Duty or even Bungie’s own Destiny established a huge fan base and infrastructure to maintain user connection.
It’s even more resonant that ICOs subject matter and themes are centered on companionship, protection and reliance in a time where the real world was suffering from fear, danger and paranoia after the 9/11 attacks. The aforementioned MGS2 was heavily edited regarding its content to be more sensitive to the situation. Regardless of the drastically contrasting games on a thematic level, GTA, MGS2 and ICO have all played a major role in being a creative and technical catalyst for bigger, more ambitious and more sophisticated video games. Ueda has a style and a vision that is so unique that it is a gross disservice to simply call his games “action”, “adventure”, or “puzzle” games, in a similar way that skeptics would simply call ICO “one long escort mission”. While the objective is simple, the construction of the world and its grand architecture is intrinsic to building the sense of isolation and reflection.
In an interesting symmetry, 2005 was also a truly epic year for video games. World of Warcraft was just starting to take over the world and Modern Warfare 2 (which eventually did, becoming the best-selling video game of all time in the UK and the second best-selling in the US, depressingly) was still 4 years away.
The Playstation 2 was holding its own against the imminent release of the XBOX 360, and by the time the red-ringed machine launched, Sony’s mighty but soon-to-be replaced rival still had no less than 10 AAA titles released from the back end of 2004 and going through 2005.
Today, the market is flooded with sequels, updates, DLCs, maps and probably other things I care not to know about. But in November 2005, Microsoft’s big black box SHOULD have been overshadowed by a game that is always challenging for the coveted title of the best game ever made. Anyone who says video games cannot be art need to experience this game.
Its name is Shadow of the Colossus.
Like ICO, the game concept is pretty much as simple as they come. No multiple playable characters, weapons, or levels (as such), no complex dungeons to navigate or lengthy dialogue to endure. It is about a boy, with a sword, a bow and a horse for company. His task is to resurrect a girl due to her being sacrificed because she had a cursed destiny. He and his faithful steed must scour the games vast over world in search of 16 Colossi and return to the Shrine where the girl lies in order to lift the curse.
This synopsis does little justice to a game where the plot and characters have infinitely more resonance by actually experiencing the game (which I encourage you to do). Notice that I didn’t use the word play. To just ‘play’ this game is like saying you just “hear” Mozart or just “see” a Picasso. The analogy might be difficult for some to comprehend, but I believe Shadow of the Colossus is one of the few cases that exemplifies that video games CAN be either an aesthetic or interactive art form.
Rarely does a game portray a genuine sense of isolation, self-reflection, and a magnificent orchestral soundtrack generating an atmosphere normally associated with film, whilst technically showing what the Playstation 2 could do, in both environment, scale and character models. Some of the Colossi are exactly that, creating a sense of scale truly unrivalled, arguably, still to this day. God of War may have gone mental in the boss department, but Shadow of the Colossus still maintained a story and characters that take the player on an epic journey of discovery in a subtle, emotional and gorgeous manner. Ueda’s mantra of “subtracting design” ironically puts the elements in his games to the sword. Removing anything that could be seen as distracting to the player, or takes the focus away from the story or characters was the focus. Leveling up your grip is inconspicuous to the point of potentially being missed entirely. There’s no heads up display, except in the heat of battle. Even more resonant is the game appearing in 2007 drama ‘Reign Over Me’, tackling themes of loss, grief and friendship.
The high definition re-release of Shadow of the Colossus along with its spiritual prequel ICO is further reason to either discover or rediscover them before The Last Guardian – Fumito Ueda’s third game – comes out. In my opinion, both of Ueda’s games rival anything that Peter Jackson has committed to celluloid. This simple story of one boy and his horse is just as epic.
And so we are three weeks out from the release of The Last Guardian. A console transition and internal creative friction has marred what will hopefully be the perfect thematic and technical synthesis of his two previous masterpieces.