mysticode54

[mysticode54]

I have a new video up. Enjoy!

[mysticode54]

This iceberg chart serves as a table of contents for the ICO encyclopedia I've long been building up in my brain. Feel free to reach out and ask me about any of these entries (but don't anticipate a quick response, especially when I need to gather a lot of sources to fully explain the entry). Transcription of the image under the cut. Higher resolution image

Tip of the Iceberg

Connections to Shadow of the Colossus

US vs Japanese Box Art

Watermelon Ending

You Fight the Sacrificed Children as Shadows

Design by Subtraction

"Mono is the Queen" Theory

Inspired the Gaming Industry

Below the Surface

(a.k.a "What you might learn in a video essay about the game")

Inspired Hidetaka Miyazaki's Career

Hidden Weapons

Originally Developed on PlayStation 1

The ICO Novelization

Amiga Game Inspirations

Scrapped Human Enemies

Yorda's Language is Japanese with Each Word Spoken Backwards

Yorda's Tattoos (PS1)

The Cut Dialogue

Regional Version Differences

i-c-o.net

Yorda's Hints

Ueda's "Pilot Movie" for ICO

Bottom of the Iceberg

(a.k.a "What you might learn from a speedrunner about the game")

50 Hertz Super Jump

Shouting Makes Ico Faster

The Shadow's Names

The US Version Released First

Shadow Phasing

The Unseen Commercial that Inspired Ueda

Shadows are Weak to Water

Ico Can Block Attacks

Below the Ice

(a.k.a "What you might learn from research and repeat playthroughs")

The Pipe Between Upper and Lower Cogwheel

E3 2000 Articles Claim Yorda is Magically Cursed with Blindness

The Staff Exclusive ICO Merch

The Queen's Sword Has a Missing Scabbard

Ico's Handcuffs

Scrapped Shadow Types

R1 to Find Queen's Sword

Dark Water

(a.k.a "What you might learn through translation and sharp eyes")

The Horsemen are Priests

Scrapped Bats and Geckos

Yorda's Name Comes from Hilda (from "Horus, Prince of the Sun")

UEQ Website

The Castle Has Some Electric Lightbulbs

Kabutomushi

The Graves Have Horns

The Deep

(a.k.a "What you might learn over the course of many years")

Scrapped Backstep Maneuver

Idol Statue Children are Based on Yorda's Pilot Design

GPL Violation

The Queen and Yorda Share Face Textures and Body Proportions

The Queen's Concept Design is Still in the Game

Yorda's Dress is Partially Inspired by Cicadas

Midnight Zone

(No clever title. You're too deep for clean categories.)

The Pattern is Everywhere, Even the Sofas

Scrapped Mid-Boss Fight

Yorda's Shadow Form Briefly Has a Forcefield in the Storyboards

Luz y Sombra

Ramsès Younan's "Tropique du Cancer" is the True JP Cover Art Inspiration

Prototype "Nostalgia of the Infinite" Cover

Abyssal Zone

Yorda's Cage Neighbors the Throne Room

Wireframe Office Fans

Insect Net

November 5th, 2001 at Shibuya's "Museum 1999 L’eau à la bouche"

Subtle Alterations to End Credits' Flashbacks

Yorda Sings in Early Concepts

Below The Abyss

Ico Calls Out Yorda's Name (8/06/01 Prototype Build)

Scrapped Queen Statue

Scrapped Heroine "Reaction" Mask

イand コ Buildings

Scrapped ICO Numerals

Hadal Zone

Throne Room Bloodstains

The Saddle Blankets

Scrapped "Torture Chamber" and Other Stages

PS1 Ico Operating a Mounted Gatling Gun

[mysticode54]

In a playable build created just two weeks before the final NTSC-U disc was mastered, Ico shouts Yorda's name as they're being separated. Due to the lack of both captions and visible mouth movement, it's likely this was a short-lived, experimental adjustment to the established scene.

[mysticode54]

My final video of the year is up! This one is a bit more speculative than usual, but that just leaves it more open to audience interpretation. I'd love to hear what people think of this late-game R1 function and why it works like this.

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New video is up! This one is a rare cut content video. Not many have heard this track before now.

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What a character design. They look so atypical, and yet, its very clearly a Fumito Ueda concept.

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My newest video is about the ICO Pilot Movie. A 1997 LightWave 3D animation that has never been released in full by Sony. Here, I share all the info we have about it.

[mysticode54]

I may or may not have posted something cool to my Ko-Fi.

[mysticode54]

I mean, I'm sorry to shoot down the possibility so quickly, but the automatic translator has likely made a mistake. Now, I'm far from a Japanese expert, I've only been learning the language for a little less than a year and I've been making slow progress. I've done some amateur translation work. But when I did so, I admit that I was occasionally assisted by machine translators for phrasing purposes, because Subject-Object-Verb sentence structures continue to throw me off. But I always double check machine translation results, applying my own knowledge and an actual Japanese-to-English dictionary, which can be especially helpful when machines misinterpret a sentence's context. And that's exactly the problem here, context. One of the first things you learn about the Japanese language is that plurality and singularity are only implied, unless made explicit by the presence of a number, or a suffix if it's a pronoun. For example: 塩里はゲームを持っている。 [shiori wa gamu o motteiru] In the most literal translation, this reads: "Shiori has game." But not in the English slang sense! The meaning of the sentence is that Shiori is in active possession of one or more games. We don't know how many though, because there is no clarifying adjective. And the language is not equipped with articles like 'a' 'an' or even 'the'. English speakers unfamiliar with the language might assume that either は ('wa') or を ('o') take on that function somehow, but I assure you they do not. We have to add articles and plurality into translations ourselves to make sense of these things. And this is where machine translations have a chance of messing up. Cause if you put that example sentence into Google Translate right now, it'll give you: "Shiori has a game." This is not what a Japanese listener is likely to infer based on context though. If you say this to your friend as a reason to go over to Shiori's house, they're going to assume Shiori possesses many games. Because who the heck just has one game in their entire house? And why would that be a convincing reason to visit? The genDESIGN tweet you've described phrases it as such: 「 現在、genDESIGNでは新しいタ��トルを鋭意開発しています ぜひご期待ください」 In green, I've highlighted the part that matters most. "atarashii taitoru" or "new title". This is the object of the Subject-Object-Verb sentence. It's easy to tell with the presence of は ('wa') and を ('o') beside it. The only adjective attached to the object here is 'new'. So nothing about it actually signifies a second title. It's vague, but we as humans can assume they only meant one, because that's a more reasonable assumption. I think the machine is just used to a different context than game production, likely dealing with 'Please look forward to more' sentences that are meant to imply several products. So it added the 's' based on that past data.

TL;DR: Japanese to English machine translators guess at what's plural or not, often badly, because they are not human and it's not already provided in the language's text.

we are not discussing the fact that gendesign mentioned in their latest tweet (according to the automatic translator!) that they’re working on new gameS. PLURAL. WHAT.

[mysticode54]

More discoveries about the design of the Castle! Something I forgot to mention in the video. The sofas in ICO also seem to include just the smallest portion of the Main Gate's design on them, in the very bottom right corner of the texture work. At least, it seems that way to me. The third image is edited for comparison.

[mysticode54]

My biggest undertaking yet. In this video, I curse you with the ability to look at any clip of the game and know which version is being played at a glance.

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Some my favorite video thumbnails thus far. In full quality, rather than the compressed images required for YouTube uploads.

[mysticode54]

The game is so much richer for having these emerging character moments. The ability for AI to behave differently when exposed to certain stimuli feels like a pretty undeveloped concept, even in modern game releases.

The only other series that I remember really setting out to deeply explore emergent NPC reactions is the Half-Life series. It seems to me that ICO stands out even now because it shares that attention to detail.

[mysticode54]

New video up on my channel! First real analysis video in some time. I have a lot of cool stuff to share this time around.

[mysticode54]

I stumbled across a Japanese article where Fumito Ueda, Yoko Taro, and Keiichiro Toyama had a publicized discussion about their careers and the video game industry as whole. This discussion was organized primarily to celebrate ICO's 20th anniversary in late 2021. So the folks over at Den Faminico Gamer requested concept art from all across ICO's development cycle to present throughout the 3 pages of conversation. And I don't know who was responsible for the task of transferring that, but they gave them A Lot of concept art. Many of these sheets have not been shared by genDESIGN's twitter, or really seen on any other site to my knowledge. There's some exclusive stuff in here. And even if they were seen somewhere before, I still want to translate them to the best of my ability and share the info. So I'm going to guide you through the sheets I found the most interesting. I'll also try to provide context for any cut content and musings on the lore elements being spelled out on the page. [Spoilers for ICO under the cut]

CUT AREAS

Jail

[I've decided to leave the original page untouched in all my translation images, and keep all added text to the black bars at the sides. I'm also including plain Japanese text in dark grey, just so everyone is clear on how I am interpreting the handwritten notes.] This area is titled "Jail" or "Prison" and it was to be put on the second story of the East Arena. This means that, in early designs, the leftmost door was meant to be opened on arrival. It seems you would navigate the diagonal water slope, make it up to this area, and briefly move outside for the sake of slipping into one of these locked cells. After doing so, you move a shelf aside, find the sword, enter a fight, and then use the sword on the rope holding the far right arena door. Having a jail cell next to the arena is very intriguing from a narrative standpoint. Were the cells for those who broke the rules set in place by the arena's organizers? Or was the arena always intended to be sparring matches between criminals and outcasts? Why is the only way onto the balcony found through one of these cells?

Boatshed

[In the black bars, text relating directly to the contents of the sketch will have drawn elements next to them, so you can better see what translation is paired with what part of the drawing. If it ever gets confusing, shoot me an ask and I'll clarify/edit the post.] The day after drawing up the concept for the Jail area, the team sketched the Boatshed, which was also cut. This area is reflective of an earlier, less bombastic ending to ICO, which Ueda briefly mentioned during Sony's "Great Scene Sharing" campaign in 2011.

Also, to be honest we weren’t planning to have the castle collapse entirely like that. We were originally thinking to have the ending of ICO be much more modest, but somehow it didn’t give you a feeling of resolution that way. And so we decided “Ok, let’s make everything crumble into the sea then.” (laughs)

The most intriguing aspect of this cut concept is a kind of Idol Fence Gate that reacts to Yorda in the same way as the Idol Doors, only in this case it is powered by a mask. The mask's face shape is somewhere between a man and a bull, with the moderately sized horns completing the animal resemblance. There seems to be a gem or circular marking embedded into the forehead as well. The text makes mention that the gate 'listens' to the mask (assuming I'm translating that correctly), so perhaps it had a specific auditory or musical cue planned for when it reacts to Yorda? But perhaps not. A concept page like this would be the perfect place to write that idea in clear detail, after all.

Heroine Room Connection

This is not exactly a cut area, but it is certainly a heavily altered one. This spot would later become the floor of Spiral Staircase, where Yorda is held prisoner in the first act of the game. We can see this intention by its proximity to 'The Heroine's Room' and the series of Idol Doors set up as the introduction to Yorda's unique power. (There's even a sketch detailing how this arrangement of four idols are supposed to part when opened, and it matches up with the movement of the idols in Spiral exactly.) The most notable feature of this area seems to be a set of stairs leading up into a small room with a trench in it. In the trench is a box and a small crevice in the wall. The crevice is labelled 'Heroine', which, to me, implies that Ico might have been able to see or hear Yorda through this crack in the wall. But since this room is a dead end, I imagine you use the box in some way to activate the other set of stairs, which seem to have both a upward and downward status depending on whether you've solved the puzzle or not. This is very similar in concept to a puzzle presented elsewhere in the final game. At either ends of the room are two doorways. One direction is labelled 'Ko Building', which we will discuss later in this post. But the entrance to this room is through the Ritual Room... which we also have concept art for!

Ritual Room

Similarly to the last sheet, this sketch depicts elements that would end up placed elsewhere, but the overall design of this room was cut. The Ritual Room was seemingly designed before the team had come up with the final design of the Altar Room. The Ritual Room bears many of its elements, but has a much larger scope and seems to serve as a junction between several parts of the building.

Common elements include:

The floor raising and lowering to open a path to the Stage 13 Elevator. The notes even clarify that this will only occur in the game's "2nd act". In this version of the mechanism, a handrail rises up when the floor lowers.

Capsules in which to place sacrifices. Though they aren't clearly depicted, they seem to be embedded into the ground, rather than standing up.

Restricted access to the high up Idol Doors. In the final game, they lead to The Queen's throne room. Here it leads to Proto, the earliest room designed in the game. It's unclear how you earn access to the doors, but the 'OFF' label indicates that the stairs must rise, or else it remains a vertical wall.

But one big difference that stands out is the palanquin-like structure at the center, which reminds me of the structure that surrounds The Queen's throne. Given the title of the room, we can infer this was meant to be the spot where the Queen's ritual would be held.

Notes in the margins indicate two innocuous, but fascinating things: - The note regarding what might open the Idol Doors for the village men likely marks the conception of The Queen's Sword. - Yorda's voice was meant to be heard from this room, and she would've been singing. She doesn't get to sing to herself in the finished product, though I think that characteristic fits her well.

Flowchart of the Second Half

Once it became clear to Ueda that the ending had to be more resolute and bombastic, they devised the Main Gate Event and laid out a plan for all the places you would traverse on your journey to the throne room. You might notice that locations like Cliff Cage, Cogwheel, and Pipe have different prototype names and some visual differences. The first location on the journey back, later known as Cage, is titled 'Ruins'. It seems to feature a series of overhang structures jutting out from the cliff-side. Presumably, these would catch Ico after his fall. The titular cages of the present incarnation seem to be absent, but we can see them close by, in the area that will become known as Cogwheel. Instead named 'Subterranean Lake' in this document, Cogwheel seems to lack any of its characteristic mechanisms. In this sketch, one of the cages seems to have fallen from the ceiling into the water below. In the final game, we move from Cogwheel to the outer edge of the island, where Ico clings tightly to the ridges of the cliff-side. But in this concept art, all of that distance is spent on a new area, completely cut from the final release, called 'Trolley Jump'. It seems the trolley would make a second appearance in the game's puzzle design and Ico would have to build up momentum to make it over a huge gap in the tracks. The Pipe area is named 'Ravine' instead. And the metallic platform is set far lower than it is in the final game, where you can just walk across it to make it to the elevator. Here, you must descend onto it and then climb up into a cavern, once you make it to the other side. You might've also seen that the the Old Bridge is titled 'ICO Bridge' in this document. This is especially interesting to me, as the name ICO seems to serve a different purpose here than you would expect.

What is “ICO (イコ)”, really?

Kenji Kaido has stated in the Japanese Guidebook for the game that the name 'ICO' was just the title, and initially, was never attributed to the boy protagonist (Page 82). He was nameless and only referred to as 'Boy', much like the protagonist of The Last Guardian is currently. The game's filenames, the concept art, and even Kaido's own presentation of the E3 2000 demo to PlayStation Underground, back this sentiment. The term 'ICO' is never attached to the boy before June or July of 2000, when US gaming publications reporting on E3 2000's demo started conflating the title with the protagonist's name. Seeing as this is dated in March of 2000, it's safe to say the use of 'ICO' here has nothing to do with the boy. So what is it about? Ueda did also say that the name was a shortening of the term ICON... but I have additional evidence suggesting that in this specific instance, it was not serving as an abbreviation for 'ICON Bridge'. Take a look at this rough overview sketch from the margins of a different concept art page.

Aside from the points that indicate land and sea, the labels that plainly stick out are "イ棟" and "コ棟".

"I Building" and "Ko Building". We saw that last label earlier in the Heroine Room Connection section.

Knowing this, we can safely infer that it's called イコ Bridge because it connects the イ and コ buildings... But then why are they split in that way and labelled イ and コ? I still don't have an answer for this, though I do feel like the divide is related to the separation of class. The イ building is dedicated to The Queen. It contains both her daughter and the sacrifices she needs to complete her ritual. It's where her throne is. It's where she resides and does her work. Meanwhile, everything on the other side of this bridge seems to have been built for a larger populous.

Benches, recreational areas, spectated arena matches, a waterfall, a courtyard, a ballroom with a massive chandelier! You don't build a front gate and a bridge to the mainland if you never wanted people to enter... This place undeniably once had people who lived and worked here. They were all designated under the コ building. I have to imagine this is why a distinction is being made, but beyond that, the reasoning for the titles remains a mystery. If someone has further insight into Japanese linguistics or culture, and have additional guesses as to why, please let me know.

Cut Boss Fight

In the West Arena (labelled 'R' for 'Right' in early development), there was going to be another raised cage event. Only this time it would take the form of a boss fight with a massive shadow that overtakes the floor and splays black tendrils through the air. Interestingly, there is already an overhead bridge in this image, but rather than magically appearing in stone segments, it's instead an ordinarily constructed wooden bridge. Here, the notes detail a different kind of puzzle element: Wire. Which, unlike ropes, cannot be cut by the sword. The same note indicates that wire is holding the left and right doors in place. While the concept art doesn't detail it plainly, I believe the only way past this room would be to pull on the "Idol Handle" that the boss is covering. Wire is also presumably being used for the zip-line running across the arena, which is an interesting component to say the least. The vision I'm gathering is that you'd ride the zip-line, hit X at the right time to drop down onto the overhead bridge, run over to the balcony where the 'Cage Switch' is labelled, and activate it to impede the boss. How it is then defeated is less clear. It's also unclear where Yorda would have been throughout this encounter, or if there would be additional enemies trying to drag her into a nest. Its possible the boss itself would be programmed to capture her with a tendril, and itself act as a nest by dragging her into the depths of itself. But we have no evidence one way or the other. [Ok, that's all the stuff I have to present for now. Keep in mind that there's more to see and translate in the article I linked at the very start. This post was only scratching the surface, despite the amount of material we covered. With that in mind, thank you for making it this far.]

Support

Now is as good a time as any to mention I've started up a Ko-Fi, so people can choose to support the work I do to uncover and present obscure info like this. There is, of course, no obligation to give me anything. The tips just help me get a bit of financial security in return for my efforts.

[mysticode54]

ICO's Japanese Manual Translated Into English

Earlier this year, I began the task of translating the Japanese Manual for ICO which, to my knowledge, no one has attempted before. I covered pages 4 through 22 of the original PS2 manual and blocked the text appropriately to match the original manual's structure. Ideally, you should be able to line it up against the real manual and know which paragraphs provide what information. When I last touched this project, I wasn't wholly satisfied with the presentation but I have to accept that I was being a bit too ambitious about it. I certainly didn't have the energy to fill all the gaps with recreations of the original manual sketches, like I initially wanted. Here is my transcript of the original Japanese text (alongside transcripts of the English manuals): https://icoshrine.neocities.org/manual_transcripts#Japan%20PS2 The goal of my translation was to remain as faithful to the original wording as possible, changing things only for the sake of clarity, and the flow of the sentences. I acknowledge my translation is subject to critique. I am a novice when it comes to Japanese translation, though I did my best, revised the draft several times, and consulted someone more experienced with the language for feedback. Beneath the cut are some personal thoughts and theories regarding the various versions of this game manual.

Those paying attention to ICO's lore might notice there are some stark differences to how the Japanese manual and English manuals (both NTSC-U and PAL) present the story. The English manuals give us many additional details about the people of Ico's village and the nature of his curse:

"Ico's nightmare started the day he drew his first breath. In his village, the birth of a normal child is a source of happiness and relief. Proud fathers show off their new offspring, reassuring themselves and others that this time, the curse has not left its mark. But some births bring suspicion and fear. Once in every generation, the curse arrives with the birth of a special child born with tiny horns jutting from his head. With word of a cursed birth, fear leaps from person to person like a plague. The whole village settles into a state of quiet, suspicious panic. Any misfortune that befalls the village is blamed on the child with horns. If a crop fails or an illness strikes, he is blamed. Everyone wishes for the day of the sacrifice and the return to good fortune." - Page 5, ICO NTSC-U Manual

The Japanese manual, meanwhile, speaks as little on the matter as possible:

"Ico had horns.  Ico was the only one in the village with horns. When a child is born with horns, it is the tradition of the village to offer the child as a human sacrifice to a vacant Castle that towers over the sea. This year, Ico was to be brought to that Castle." - Page 4, ICO Japanese Manual

The narrative has been put into such succinct terms that no details about the village, or Ico's parents, can really be extrapolated. It doesn't even mention that horned children are born once every generation, which I thought to be a critical factor of ICO's worldbuilding. This manual also keeps quiet about Yorda's name, only indirectly mentions The Queen, and doesn't provide any insight into either of their powers. It treats these elements as reveals you should uncover yourself as you work through the game. As opposed to the English manuals which fill you in on everything, leaving little to no surprise aside from the final stretch of the game. Another minor alteration: Ico is labelled as 13, rather than 12. I doubt that was a mistake however, because we can see from the credits of this manual that Kei Kuwabara (桑原 慶) was responsible for the text (文). Kuwabara was a Planner for the game (alongside Junichi Hosono and Tsutomu Kouno), and he's come to be known as the man primarily responsible for creating the hieroglyphs that make up Yorda's Runic Language. ----- This manual was written by a member of Team ICO itself, so why does it differ so much from the English manuals? Who actually wrote the English manuals? I have a theory regarding this: The English manuals may have been based upon an old game design pitch document, produced and sent to Sony around the time of game's transition from PS1 to PS2. I believe this because both English manuals make reference to a confrontation at the East and West Arenas (collectively referred to as "Symmetry" in the manuals) that never plays out in the final game.

"Symmetry is really two sides of the same riddle, one left and one right. You will confront the other side later in your quest. [...] Take great care in this place, for another cage awaits, and a hidden enemy is about to reveal herself." - Page 19, ICO PAL Manual

"Symmetry is really two sides of the same riddle, one left and one right. Ico will confront the other side later. [...] Another cage awaits and the Queen prepares to take a personal role in stopping the escape." - Page 26, ICO NTSC-U Manual

In the early PS2 storyboards for ICO, there were two scenes of The Queen intervening at East and West Arena. These cutscenes were part of ICO's original script, which was reduced significantly at some point during development, likely before January 2001. So why would these concepts be found in the manuals if they were cut at least a year before publishing? How did this happen? We know for a fact that Team ICO released the game to North America first, albeit in a state they weren't satisfied with. It was clear they had been pressured by the American market to release the game far sooner than they wanted. During the months of July, August, and September 2001, they were likely putting their all into finalizing the version of the game that would ship overseas. This left them no time to handle the packaging themselves, so they left it to Sony, who in turn hired Beeline to design the game's US box art and manual. Reflecting on this, I don't think its a stretch to suggest that Sony was also left with the responsibility of what text to provide Beeline for the US manual. But, seeing as they did not know ICO as well as the team creating it, Sony picked up an old pitch document made by that team, translated it to English, and handed it off to Beeline for printing. This would explain a few things.

The wordiness of the US manual's backstory would be a reflection of the original script's wordiness and willingness to hint at lore that the final game would leave to the imagination.

Ico's age would change from 12 to 13 over the course of development, as a minor tweak the developers decided on after their initial pitch.

The detailed descriptions of enemies in the English manuals give misleading information, including the claim that Shadow Sentries can create 'protective shields' around themselves. In the final game, they functionally accomplish this by ducking under attacks, but there's no indication of visible force fields. Thus, this could be another scrapped concept.

When localizing for the PAL region, I imagine Sony either handed the same Japanese pitch document over to be re-translated, or the PAL packaging team decided to copy the text of the US manual while changing the wording. TL;DR: The English manuals may actually be based on an older iteration of the game's storyline. All extra information gained from English manuals were likely not meant to be revealed to players. Whether you consider this information "canonical" is up to you. The Japanese manual seems to be the only one written around the time of the game's (December 6th) publishing, and is what Team ICO likely wanted to present to players of the game.

[mysticode54]

Just bought and uploaded a Japanese PlayStation 2 Promo disc from Fall of 2001 to the Internet Archive. There are promotional videos for the following games:

Toro to Kyuujitsu

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

ICO

Mad Maestro!

Yoake no Mariko

Legaia 2: Duel Saga

Wild Arms 3

PoPoLoCrois: Adventure of Beginnings

Train Simulator Real: The Yametone Sen

Formula One 2001

Genshi no Kotoba

Seigi no Mikata

If you're interested in the early years of the PlayStation 2 or haven't heard of some of these Japanese exclusive titles, I highly recommend checking them out!