ICO is pretty much a straight up adventure game experience.
 

I bought the game yesterday and I was mesmirised by the incredible detail, outragously beatiful graphics, extremely fun puzzels, and great storyline. The only difference I found it from being an EXACT entry into the adventure game genre was the fighting machanics and none of the usual interfaces you usually find. Other than that, there's no reason adventuregamers.com to not to review this game. It's works perfectly, and if there were more games like it, adventure games might not be in the situation it currently is....and it reminds me why I'm buying a PC just to keep up with the genre.

ICO is one of my all time favorite games, but I'd hesitate to call it an "Adventure" game in the classic sense. It certainly doesnt share most of the mechanics of a good old point and click game, but it does share good storytelling and puzzles. I would recomend the game to any "Adventure gamer" as I think it is a good bridge between the pure adventure and action/adventure hybrids.

Besides, whether it's a purist adventure game or not, it's one fantastic experience!

I, too, love ICO, but I agree that it isn't an adventure. There are many similar elements, but the excessive use of wraith fighting would deter many adv gamers from playing this wonderful game. It is truly the most beautiful console game I've played. The only other thing I didn't like was the save feature. You should be able to save wherever you want to.

Lynsie

i love ico, when i played it was like i was reading a beautiful and great fantasy and adventure book :D one of my all time favorites.

I personally think it's an adventure game. I mean, get rid of the occasional combat and you have a direct control Myst-alike.

I disagree. Maybe this is because I started gaming as a console fan, but I've always felt that allowing the player to save anywhere removes the challenge from many games, and allows designers to be lazy regarding pacing and level balance ("hey, if they die from something incredibly stupid, it won't hurt them because they should be saving every five seconds anyway!"). But that's another discussion. :)

in some way i agree with you but.... sometimes i0m playing and need to go out, anywhere, and u dont want to replay what i already did, i started adventure gaming some years ago on the pc and.... frankly speaking i just love to save when i want to

That's why I like temporary saves. They're one time only... you save, and the game shuts off. When you start it up again later and reload that save, it's then erased. Great for when you need to shut the game off suddenly, without screwing up the pacing or letting the player quicksave his way through the whole thing.

I prefer a mixture, I want the game to save at points when I'm starting something new, or just before a harsh point where I could have to start from way back. I also want to save at points when I want to stop playing, where I had problems doing something before, when I've actually done something that has taken quite a long time.

Having saving points on consoles is about the limitation on space and power. I think replaying something you've already done has already ruined the pace of a game, and although it depends on how good the design is, not many games don't have problems with where they place saving points. Auto saving can a problem in freeroam games like RPGs, where you might need to go through a point lots of times, each time doing a full save that is time consuming and a lot of the time unnecessary (for example, VtMB), where being able to save when you want to bypasses this.

The Cold Hotspot part 1 - Written in stone?

:D <-- pimp

I think games like ICO (and Beyond Good & Evil, etc.) demonstrate how insistently we think about game categorizations primarily (only?) in terms of gameplay style to the point where it could just become a technicality, preventing us from truly discovering these games for all they perceivabely can be, for all they can offer us. The story in ICO, imo, is so simple and unforced in its narration, but at the same time trumps most any adventure game story I've played thus far in style and design; it surpasses them in emotional impact.

In all honesty, I'm actually glad that ICO doesn't give a damn about arbitrary or even historically epistemological notions of 'adventure game', lest it be strangled by those notions.

I still think it's an adventure game, just not the kind were used to.

i think that an adventure game doesnt need to be a classic point n click, so it can be AN ADVENTURE.
most ppl think,,, "bahhhh no point clicky... no broken sword class.. NO ADVENTURE, begone devil"
i love point and click, but, an adventure is an adventure, and ico showed that a real adventure needs to be telled in a way that beneficts the story in itself, is it a point n click, a platform, or whatever u call it :D
so i agree with "Intrepid Homoludens" back there

ICO is a wonderful game - it doesn't need to concern itself with being an adventure. I don't feel it is, because of the incessant, repetitive wraith fighting. If that were minimized, I might agree with it being called an adv game, but as is, as wonderful as it is, I can't agree with it being an adv game. When I need help to get thru the fighting, then it isn't just a side event, it is major. And major amounts of fighting remove it from the realms of adventures. That doesn't stop me from loving it, but I couldn't in all justification recommend it to anyone without that disclaimer.

Lynsie

ICO belongs more or less in the same Adventure subgenre as Flashback, Prince of Persia (the original to a much larger degree than the new series), OnEscapee, Another World and Heart of Darkness. I can't bring myself to put them in the same folder as games like Monkey Island, Indiana Jones Atlantis and Crusade, Zak McKracken, Still Life, Broken Sword, Gabriel Knight and so on.

very true, i still remember flashback :D

Trep, this makes no sense. I doubt that their intention was to create an innovative adventure games. Ico is wonderful not just becasue its different from the traditional AGs. It's a good game because it's designed well. Really, the way your ststement reads is just another jab at AGs that follow the traditional formula. Enough already.

:frusty:

Since my definition of AGs follows what's outlined in this AG article written by Marek, I do not consider Ico an adventure game.

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,149

Damn, this is the second time I'm quoting this article this week.

I've just realised how out-of-date that article could be, given that it refers to Mario and Rayman as side-scrollers :D.

So true, it's written such a long time ago, I think Marek was wearing diapers when he wrote it.

:D

It was actually posted on 10/15/2002 so it's not even theree years old but it might not be a bad idea for Marek/Jack to do an update of the piece.

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/.../rolleyes1.gif So? With due respect to your opinon, I'm perfectly grounded in mine. And as much as I agree with Marek's idea, for me it's still not enough and it's very constricting.

Perfectly right you are. I don't think they were trying to create an Adventure Game (http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/.../rolleyes1.gif) using the severe standards communities like this so ardently 'worship'. And what are you gonna do about it? I have my own criteria for what an adventure game could be, for the possibilities it could offer beyond what you want to clamp down on it. So with due respect can I not post my thoughts on it without you attacking me all time? SHEESH!

I always thought of Ico as a platformer with adventure elements. Felt more like Prince of Persia than Myst or King's Quest to me.

Interestingly, Jordan Mechner did say Ico was one of the inspirations for The Sands of Time.

ICO is a breathing prove that games can evoke complex emotions.. just as strong (or sometimes even stronger) as movies.. it was the first (and so far only) game, that i would call art without a second thought.

I don't think it really matters if it plays like adventure or not.. as some have already mentioned the gameplay itself is not so unique (Prince of Persia, Flashback, etc. come to mind) it's more the way they handle character interaction and storytelling that set this game apart from the others (and confuse players when they try to categorize it).
Completely minimalistic, with almost no cut-scenes.. but still so powerful it hurts.
Not to mention it has one of the best and most satisfying conclusions in games ever.
Yes, i'm a fan ;)