ICO
I never want to let go of that hand...
I'd been meaning to play Ico for just about a year now, especially interested since I've heard such high praise, and I'd not tried any of Ueda-shi's games until this point. To be honest, I just didn't ever own them, and in the case of Ico, I could tell it was a game I wanted to play in one whole sitting. It was well worth it.
Visually fantastic, the heavy bloom and harsh brights/darks have such a unique feel and express the themes of the story really well, I can absolutely see where Twilight Princess, Dark Souls, Nier, etc pull from.
Especially of note are the offsets between the harsh, cold walls of the castle, both inside and out, and the patches of green trees and grass now and then, primarily in the cemetery and in front of the gate door. They appear so vibrant and so full in those moments. Additionally, the harsh whites make Yorda feel all the more special and somewhat fragile, and its all the more striking as she’s consumed by darkness both when grabbed my enemies during fights and during the bridge scene.