My bookshelf is kind of like a cursed land...
May 17, 2010 1:49 PM Subscribe
I desperately and deeply love ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Can you recommend other works of art with that same feeling?
I'm open to anything: Books, Films, Music, Paintings. The anticipation for Trico is getting insane and I can only replay the two original games so much.
I'm open to anything: Books, Films, Music, Paintings. The anticipation for Trico is getting insane and I can only replay the two original games so much.
Best answer: Adolphe Appia was a scene designer who designed a lot of the original Ring cycle staging. He was also one of the first guys to really understand stage lighting as an art form. I find that his designs have that same empty, enormity of Nature feeling I got from Shadow. Maybe find a book on his work? There's 6 listed in the references section of the Wiki link.
posted by edbles at 1:58 PM on May 17, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by edbles at 1:58 PM on May 17, 2010 [5 favorites]
You're probably already aware of it, but just in case: Team ICO have a ps3 game in the works called The Last Guardian.
posted by Merzbau at 2:14 PM on May 17, 2010
posted by Merzbau at 2:14 PM on May 17, 2010
When I've asked this question in the past, I have been pointed towards Okami but I haven't found it cheap enough.
Ico and Colossus remind me of playing super metroid- big world, story that's mainly told through gameplay. I thought the first Metroid Prime kinda had the same feeling. But those are completely different in terms of art and emotional content. Maybe lost Lost Planet, it's 3rd person and more action oriented but has great atmosphere and design. It feels slightly melancholy. Heck, maybe one of the Monster Hunter games, though dislike all of the tedious equipment management and how pointless they feel. Or Ocarina of Time.
Honestly, though, nothing really compares to Colossus. It just has a clarity and depth that no other game has. Simple and huge.
Maybe you could read the reviews at actionbutton.net- pretentious, sure, but they offer a pretty interesting approach to reviewing. (see their Gears of War review.)
Huh. Upon preview,
That's all I got.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:18 PM on May 17, 2010
Ico and Colossus remind me of playing super metroid- big world, story that's mainly told through gameplay. I thought the first Metroid Prime kinda had the same feeling. But those are completely different in terms of art and emotional content. Maybe lost Lost Planet, it's 3rd person and more action oriented but has great atmosphere and design. It feels slightly melancholy. Heck, maybe one of the Monster Hunter games, though dislike all of the tedious equipment management and how pointless they feel. Or Ocarina of Time.
Honestly, though, nothing really compares to Colossus. It just has a clarity and depth that no other game has. Simple and huge.
Maybe you could read the reviews at actionbutton.net- pretentious, sure, but they offer a pretty interesting approach to reviewing. (see their Gears of War review.)
Huh. Upon preview,
That's all I got.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:18 PM on May 17, 2010
Giorgio de Chirico was a big influence on the visual style of the games - the European cover art for Ico was designed as a homage to him, in fact.
If you're after other games, Another World (which was another strong influence on Team Ico), Syberia and Myst might be worth looking at.
I also have to strongly recommend Beyond Good and Evil, which is quite different from the minimalist game design of Ico but for me captured the same sense of beauty and human warmth.
posted by fearthehat at 2:21 PM on May 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
If you're after other games, Another World (which was another strong influence on Team Ico), Syberia and Myst might be worth looking at.
I also have to strongly recommend Beyond Good and Evil, which is quite different from the minimalist game design of Ico but for me captured the same sense of beauty and human warmth.
posted by fearthehat at 2:21 PM on May 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
2nd beyond good and evil
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:33 PM on May 17, 2010
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:33 PM on May 17, 2010
Have you seen the film Reign Over Me? It has Adam Sandler in a dramatic role dealing with grief by playing SOTC repeatedly. I have not seen it but have heard SOTC is a very prominent part of the plot. And where else could you see Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle playing video games together?
posted by mattholomew at 2:35 PM on May 17, 2010
posted by mattholomew at 2:35 PM on May 17, 2010
Best answer: kittensofthenight: "When I've asked this question in the past, I have been pointed towards Okami but I haven't found it cheap enough. "
Okami is like 16 or 10 dollars on amazon. And one of the few Wii games that seems to stay in stock at the library. And yet it's a great game.
As far as ICO/SOTC art style goes, Zelda: Twilight Princess sprang for a lot of the bloom filters you get in Shadow of the Colossus. There's a lot more story and text though. And the gameplay is similar -- ICO was often compared to a stripped down Zelda game. (And some joked SOTC was just the boss fights they forgot to put into ICO).
I haven't played it but Darksiders seems to play a bit like Zelda and the visuals you seek. But I also get the impression it's roughly targetting Marvel comic book take on the book of Revelations.
posted by pwnguin at 3:37 PM on May 17, 2010
Okami is like 16 or 10 dollars on amazon. And one of the few Wii games that seems to stay in stock at the library. And yet it's a great game.
As far as ICO/SOTC art style goes, Zelda: Twilight Princess sprang for a lot of the bloom filters you get in Shadow of the Colossus. There's a lot more story and text though. And the gameplay is similar -- ICO was often compared to a stripped down Zelda game. (And some joked SOTC was just the boss fights they forgot to put into ICO).
I haven't played it but Darksiders seems to play a bit like Zelda and the visuals you seek. But I also get the impression it's roughly targetting Marvel comic book take on the book of Revelations.
posted by pwnguin at 3:37 PM on May 17, 2010
Best answer: Having more time to think about this, I've got a few more scattershot suggestions. These are all things that have some of these qualities: beautiful, melancholy, lonely, slow-paced, and thoughtful.
This is way out of left field, but Pattern Recognition has a quiet, reflective main character. Nothing to do thematically with ICO or Shadow. But (re)reading that book makes me feel chill the way wandering around on the horse does.
Everything Is Illuminated (I'm referring to the movie because I haven't read the book) has a quietish narrator in a ridiculous beautiful world. Miyazaki's movies follow a similar pattern. When people do speak it tends to be dramatic, but there's a lot of silence to. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are my favorites and if you just want something calm and pretty they will do the job. (Spirited Away is less calm than Howl's, it has more fighting and yelling). But Princess Mononoke is thematically focused on the natural world and humanity's place with respect to that, so if that's more what you're after start with that one.
Okami is great in it's own right. Be prepared for campy over the top narrative, but gorgeous visuals. (I've heard that the Wii didn't map the controls all that well and that the PS version is better, but I don't remember where so it's possible that that is false).
Hopper's paintings have a lonely quality, William Turner's works depict great forces of nature. Maxfield Parrish also focuses on Nature, but more on Nature and a woman, an argument could be made for that being Shadow and Ico's theme as well.
The Buddhas of Bamyan sort of look like the more architectural Collossi.
I feel your pain. I can't wait for The Last Guardian. I spent the week after E3 watching that trailer once a day.
posted by edbles at 6:11 PM on May 17, 2010
This is way out of left field, but Pattern Recognition has a quiet, reflective main character. Nothing to do thematically with ICO or Shadow. But (re)reading that book makes me feel chill the way wandering around on the horse does.
Everything Is Illuminated (I'm referring to the movie because I haven't read the book) has a quietish narrator in a ridiculous beautiful world. Miyazaki's movies follow a similar pattern. When people do speak it tends to be dramatic, but there's a lot of silence to. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are my favorites and if you just want something calm and pretty they will do the job. (Spirited Away is less calm than Howl's, it has more fighting and yelling). But Princess Mononoke is thematically focused on the natural world and humanity's place with respect to that, so if that's more what you're after start with that one.
Okami is great in it's own right. Be prepared for campy over the top narrative, but gorgeous visuals. (I've heard that the Wii didn't map the controls all that well and that the PS version is better, but I don't remember where so it's possible that that is false).
Hopper's paintings have a lonely quality, William Turner's works depict great forces of nature. Maxfield Parrish also focuses on Nature, but more on Nature and a woman, an argument could be made for that being Shadow and Ico's theme as well.
The Buddhas of Bamyan sort of look like the more architectural Collossi.
I feel your pain. I can't wait for The Last Guardian. I spent the week after E3 watching that trailer once a day.
posted by edbles at 6:11 PM on May 17, 2010
Best answer: You might enjoy the novel Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.
posted by trunk muffins at 8:03 PM on May 17, 2010
posted by trunk muffins at 8:03 PM on May 17, 2010
Okami has the same epic beauty and intensity, albeit very different from SotC. I think the part of Shadow that sucked me in was the empathy I had for all of the characters, Okami feels similar.
posted by JimmyJames at 8:32 PM on May 17, 2010
posted by JimmyJames at 8:32 PM on May 17, 2010
Zelda: Majora's Mask.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 10:21 PM on May 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 10:21 PM on May 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 1:53 PM on May 17, 2010