Throw a stone at the catalog of PlayStation first-party games and you will hit a title that falls into what games critic Tim Rogers dubbed the “big friend / baby child” dynamic. In short, the player takes on the role of an older stronger character “the big friend” that protects a narratively important NPC, the “baby child.” Critically acclaimed games like The Last of Us and God of War (2018) both follow this dynamic, a dynamic that owes itself to Ico. The 2001 Japan Studio adventure’s influence can be felt throughout PlayStation, but the heart of the original game is no longer alive in the Sony of today.
