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Fumito Ueda-- the next Kojima?

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:00 pm
by Skycladiana
I've been playing the overlooked PS2 gem Ico recently. For those who aren't familiar, it's a stately, pared down adventure game in which you play as a young boy with horns who endeavors to escape from a mysterious castle with a silent, supernatural princess in tow. The emphasis is on protecting the princess from shapeless evils, solving puzzles and navigating through the castle's many maze-like passages. It has gorgeous sun-drenched graphics and might be one of the best pure gameplay oriented games since Jordan Mechner's original Prince of Persia.

What's got me so excited now is that Fumito Ueda, the writer, designer and director of Ico, has a new PS2 game coming out this October: Shadow of the Colossus. Again, it looks like an exciting title with simple gameplay and breathtaking graphics, in which you must hunt out and destroy 16 giant monsters in order to save a young woman-- presumably a princess. While Ueda's titles so far certainly lack in original stories, his minimalist approach to games is refreshing, especially for somebody like me who's been immersed in the plot-heavy titles by Kojima for a long time. I find that in an environment of endless repetition in gaming Ueda is one of the few original creators, and may very well be the best new talent since Kojima or Miyamoto.

Anybody's thoughts about these games, or their maker?

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:19 pm
by Artemio
I love ICO, and what I played from Shadow I love so far too. (BTW, this months' Playstation Magazine has a playable demo of the game).

I do agree with you, I have loved every minute I've played ICO due to it's minimalistic feeling. It creates an atmosphere of reality around it, inmersing the player completely in a fantastic world. Very refreshing and liberating, and shadow has done this too. I've only played Shadow for 10 minutes, as with all the demos I've ever played I hate destroying the experience with an incomplete game.

I do have faith in Fumito Ueda's games, and am pretty excited about it. It is the only new game I am excited about for now.

Also, be sure to read the dreaming in an empty room article by Tim Rogers.

There is one last thing though... Although I follow creators and their work (Kojima Hideo, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Miyamoto Shigeru, Murata Shuyo and Fumito Ueda to name a few) I don't believe it is a good thing what the *industry* is doing, *searching* for talent and selling it as the game. I know I am ambivalent with my feelings in the subject, I just don't want these beautiful creatings to end up maintream with part XII in the shelves. =P

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:10 pm
by Skycladiana
Well, considering that I'm preparing to apply to the Tisch's ITP program at NYU with an eye to get an MPA in Game Design (Goddess willing), I'll hope that the *industry* keeps searching for talent. Or at least will settle for talent with a Bach. Degree in creative writing.

I'm saddened that there aren't too many great American game designers-- at least ones people know about. Jordan Mechner (sic?) provided the single-best platformer outside of Miyamoto's work with Prince of Persia, but aside from that franchise, which he's been less and less involved in lately, and an adventure game or two, he hasn't done anything else in the game medium. He's essentially the interactive arts version of Terrence Mallick. Tim Schaffer's a fine talent with a wide breadth of work, but as a creator of comedic games I feel people tend to approach his stories with less serious consideration for art and asthetics than his more "mature" contemporaries.

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:12 pm
by 87th
Although I believe that Ueda is a great new talent in the gaming world, I don't think the Kojima comparison holds up. Where Kojima makes thoughtful, plot-heavy games with many clever ideas, Ueda seems to make beautiful, atmospheric games where you remember the environments more than you do the characters. I loved ICO, and it's a shame it didn't get the sales it deserved, so I'm really looking forward to Collossus.