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Post by Sarge on Oct 22, 2022 15:13:33 GMT -5
SotC was like a 10/10 for me. It just hit me the right way thematically and aesthetically. Even if it, too, was a bit janky in the controls department.
Truth be told, I didn't replay SotC since the experience was so astounding. I didn't want to dull it with repeated plays. Although I should pick up the remake.
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 22, 2022 15:32:54 GMT -5
I wasn't that hot on SoTC back in the day. Thought it was just fine. The remake improved my take on it and I enjoyed that version way more. So for you yeah, maybe it'd ruin some of the magic? lol. It's amusing how it feels like a "compact" open world now. There's not much going on it any of it aside from finding those fruits and stuff to extend your stats. But I still thought it was soaking in unique/mysterious atmosphere and the scope still felt very big in a way. Playing Elden Ring especially was just like, wow yeah I see some SoTC here now. Love making that connection. I really liked Yorda in Ico though. I thought not being able to communicate with her verbally made it such a unique and deeper experience than it would have been otherwise.
Now who's playing The Last Guardian first? Too bad that one sounds like the weakest of the three.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 22, 2022 15:39:28 GMT -5
I started in on The Last Guardian, might eventually get back to it.
I think the forlorn world worked well for me in SotC. I didn't need a ton to do other than keeping an eye out for the lizards and fruits.
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Post by Ex on Oct 22, 2022 21:29:16 GMT -5
Sarge >IcoA 7/10 in 2022 for a 2001 game is fair enough... Not to be overtly argumentative, but I think you approached Ico all wrong. At first you were disappointed it wasn't on par with Sands of Time from an action-platforming perspective. Later you were unenthused about its graphics and controls, and criticized other mechanical aspects. All those are fair criticisms objectively, but they miss the finer point of Ico. That point would be, it's a love story steeped in melancholic mystery and tangible emotion. Meaning this video game was legitimately striving towards being art, rather than a "technically fun commercial video game". In other words, that's like criticizing an abstract watercolor because its brush strokes are irregular, and its frame is made of balsa. Not ideal when you're used to renaissance oil paintings with mahogany frames. Yet the more important aspect is the painting's subject matter and its portrayal thereof. In that regard, Ico is high art indeed. That's my opinion anyway. I'm still happy you played through Ico, even if we disagree on its merits. I also loved SotC and would give it the same score you did. So we agree there at least.
Xeogred I fell off TLG last year. It's "OK" but hardly as evocative as Ico or SotC. Didn't help I was playing it unpatched (unknowingly) so Trico barely even listened to me. Maybe patched it's funner.
As for SotC's open world being empty, did you dudes know about this area?:
It's in the PS2 original version also.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 22, 2022 21:34:50 GMT -5
Not a big deal - I recognize it was trying to be an "art" game, much as SotC did, but it just didn't land for me the same way. But in a lot of ways, this (and SotC) prove that games really are art, because there's so much subjectivity in their evaluation. (Not that I'd argue otherwise, although a game's goal may or may not be high art.)
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Post by Ex on Oct 22, 2022 21:36:20 GMT -5
Yes some games are just trying to be pure spectacle and/or entertainment, whereas other aims towards legit art. This is the same of movies, music, books, all the entertainment mediums really.
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Post by Sarge on Oct 22, 2022 21:41:59 GMT -5
Hmm, can't remember if I visited there or not. I may have. It's been a long, long time!
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Post by Ex on Oct 22, 2022 21:51:42 GMT -5
Missed this part, yeah that's super low for you. Amazing what a GF will do to your free time. I just checked my HLTB, I'm at 43 beats so far this year. RDR2 has been a huge time sink lately, I'm edging towards 80 hours invested in it, and I'm only 50% finished (according to the game's progress tracker). Who knows I may still be playing it in December at this rate. Massively awesome game but it is seriously content dense and plays at a realistic pace (which many considered too slow).
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Post by Xeogred on Oct 22, 2022 22:25:13 GMT -5
Ex : I remember stumbling upon that right after I beat the remake, hah. Man, such a treat just looking at this game again. The art direction is incredible in these and in SoTC's case, I think the remake did a good job retaining the same vibe (and then Bluepoint dropped the ball big time on Demon's Souls 2.0 from what I've seen...) and again, really felt the Souls vibes when I hit up Ico this year. You can tell the architecture was inspiration as well. By the end of the day, I still think Flashback is the peak of "cinematic platformers" for me. If we want to weirdly rank some of these all around.
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