Ico / Shadow of the Colossus / The Last Guardian Retrospective

Examining the merits of video games as an art form through the works of Fumito Ueda and his staff at Team Ico and GenDesign.

Thumbnail by @hotcyder
Special thanks to my brother for the breakdown of how animation works in these games, as well as the FK and IK visual demonstration @daylight707

Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:39 Ico
28:09 Shadow of the Colossus
59:48 The Last Guardian
1:27:27 Conclusion

Sources
Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection - Bonus Content

[LiamTriforce]

57:03 was a rendering error that I somehow never caught. I have no idea why it happened, but it was kinda cool lol

[fmsyntheses]

Give Trico a lot of positive reinforcement through petting, and he's a lot more receptive to your commands.

[Drakull_Art]

I will never forget Shadow of the Colossus, i played when i was young and my grandma watched me play all of it, in fact she stopped what she was doing to watch it and if i wasnt playing it she would ask "when are you going to play the game with the guy that fight the giants?". I'll never forget the bond this game allowed me to have with her.

She is still alive at 82 but has dementia. I take care of her everyday. ❤

[schmecklin]

To me, team ico is like the studio ghibli of videogames

[nezuminora]

The really beautiful thing about the Team Ico games is that they were clearly inspired by certain Zelda elements, and modern Zelda games in turn have been influenced by them. The cyclical nature of artistic influence is so apparent.

[greyblenaut]

Shadow of the Colossus is the first game that connected the dots of "here is a big world with a big story, we are only going to give you maybe 10 percent of that story". Now its my favorite type of vibe for any kind of gaming experience and it taught me that atmosphere is probably the thing I find the most important for any game. Sometimes a lack of details will engage you far deeper and more profoundly than something that beats you over the head with information

[Future_Doggo]

ICO's Japanese box art is still one of my favorite in gaming. We don't talk about the US one though.

[josec.]

I love the world building, lore, art direction, and music in these games. I wish we could get more from team Ico

[ryanadolfi]

I absolutely cried like a baby when I got to the finale of The Last Guardian. I just felt so absolutely helpless watching my friend (hell, i'd call trico family at that point) getting hurt just made me feel horribly desperate to help. And then when he helped return me to the village and we had to part ways for the last time, it's making me teary eyed just writing this down. Maybe I played it at a pretty formative time in my life, but this game has genuinely stuck with me ever since I first played it. Thanks for reminding me of why I really, really love that game. And also, why I'm so grateful to everyone who helped bring TLG to life.

Life's been pretty hard these past few years, so I also just wanted to thank you so much for this video, Liam. I don't know for sure if things are going to get better, but being able to take some time (even staying up late on a work night!) to watch this was really a joy. It reminded me why I really love video games. I hate to say it, but I sometimes feel ashamed to admit that out loud, like it's something I should feel guilty of. Maybe because, deep down, it's become something that so ingrained in my mind (videogames are a waste of time, or they're something you should grow out of, some b.s. like that) due to a number of factors I can't really explain.

That stuff sucks though, and you're absolutely right: games ARE art. They're these beautiful, messy, human things that have the fingerprints of HUNDREDS of people who genuinely love what they're doing... everywhere! It's just wonderful. Even though I feel lonely now, they helped me feel a connection to something (if that makes sense).

So yeah, long winded comment wrapping up, thanks for this Liam. This is probably my favorite video of yours, and I can't thank you enough for making it. Gonna be thinking about team ICO for a long time, and I can't wait for what's next. 🙂

[sunnyaliceart]

A small detail in the Last Guardian is that when you first meet Trico, his horns are broken, but over the course of the game, his horns slowly grow back to the point that they never looked broken in the first place. I like to think it's a callback to how Wander would look worse and worse over the course of his game, but in this case, it's Trico healing and growing a closer bond with the boy. Fun, subtle ways like that to show you're progressing through the adventure makes me so happy and is such a cool detail

[Curt_Randall]

The Last Guardian was highly underrated. Many people dismissed it because it took forever to release and the graphics looked relatively dated. And that Trico often did not follow your orders. But I thought that was part of its charm, and behaved much like a puppy that is still learning. Some of the best moments in the game is when he unexpectedly comes through for you.

[GarnetBlazeAnimator]

As an animator, I can really appreciate Team Ico's dedication to keyframe animation and inverse kinematics.

[NomadColossus]

Great video! Must have taken a long time to reseach and create all the details of Team Ico's games! Appreciate your efforts!

[RainbowMan]

I have never played a final boss like the one Shadow of the Colossus has. Throughout the game, I've noticed that the music tends to run in a cycle. Some colossi have a pre-fight piece, often reflecting the environment you've galloped into. Once the colossus is revealed, the piece that plays reflects your first impressions (my personal favorite being #8's, which starts out ominous before turning into a piece perfectly designed to put you in a state of panic when #8 notices you. When you start winning the fight, the music turns triumphant. And then you kill it, and the music turns mournful. This musical cycle repeats for 15 of the fights. And then you reach the last one. And the music comes in. No first impressions, no feeling of triumph. Just mourning. It's the only time that I've felt that the final boss was something to be sad for, rather than a final test of your abilities.

[mattcy]

The last guardian destroyed me emotionally. What a freaking masterpiece. Its criminally underrated.

I understand people's frustrations with the game, but if you realize trico is its own creature with its own mind, it just makes your bond that much stronger.

[Gnorkadork]

Trico gets confused if you spam commands. Wait for him to look at the boy, give your command once. That's how people speedrun the game.

[AMTRAX]

Crying like a friggin baby hearing you talk about these games. These are beautiful pieces of art, and thank you for your words about them. You’re my favorite video essay creator on youtube and I always get excited to see what you do. I hope that wonderful things come your way, Liam. Thank you for being you.

[gnore_me.]

I think what makes the storytelling in these games so effective, is how simple it all is. ueda somehow tackles extremely complex topics with just conveyance alone, in a way that's immediately understandable. he's a master of tone.

[benwasserman]

The amount of games inspired by Ico alone is massive. Dark Souls, The Last of Us, A Tale of Two Brothers -- Fumito Ueda is an underrated genius.

[caelanb]

I've been a waiting for a video like this for a long time. These games, especially SOTC, have such a special place in my heart and they're not talked about enough. I played Shadow of the Colossus as a kid and it made me cry, and even still does almost every time I complete the game as an adult. When I got a little older, I started appreciating the music, vague storytelling and overall atmosphere of the game a lot more. There really isn't another game out there like it, and the same goes for Ico and The Last Guardian too. All of these games are so beautiful and need to be played by so many more people. I hope this video encourages people to go out and give them a try.