'Ico' and 'Shadow of the Colossus'
This pair of games from Fumito Ueda not only showed us just what the PlayStation 2 could do graphically, but how video games can convey emotion and solitude. Both adventures drop the player into empty, mysterious worlds with few friends and an almost overwhelming sense of mystery. The visual design and curiously quiet narrative of both titles are simply brilliant, and evoke powerful emotions in players without actually saying much. Whether the game throws a confused princess or a massive giant at you, it's hard not to react from the heart.
Artistic relevance: Romantic heroes struggle with futility and near-isolation in beautiful, sparse settings.
Related artists: Lord Byron, Francisco Goya
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BarryJones
15/10/2007 12:40 PM
This is the worst list I have ever seen in relation to computer games. It's like it was written by a man-boy who can't leave his limited teenage ideas behind. For god's sake, BioShock? And where the hell was the Nintendo stuff like Wind Waker. You even included a poor Zelda clone (Okami), ironically only because of it's surface level aesthetic.
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