This is a page where I share Bluesky posts I have made about e-ko.
Not everything from these posts will be completely unaltered, but the source is always found under the 'Read Replies' link. (Unless Bluesky is gone, in which case, that's what this page was made to defend against!)
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #1:
A mid-boss was planned for the West Arena. As shown in this art, it seemed to be a large amorphous shadow with dark tendrils emerging from it. In a 2002 interview Fumito Ueda had with Nice Games Magazine, he mentions that this segment was impossible to make, due to time restrictions.
— November 19, 2024 at 12:39 AM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #2:
Placeholder data for a cut weapon, labelled as the Insect Net, remains in the game files. It's a bare wireframe that was never modeled or button mapped. While we know it was going to be a secret weapon in place of the Spiked Club, its intended use remains unclear.
— November 19, 2024 at 5:52 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #3:
As first uncovered by dark0ssx in a YouTube video now 15 years old: Activating the 'Skeleton' feature of ICO's Debug Menu reveals a developer in-joke. An invisible wireframe office fan was placed in each map to help display the direction and speed of the wind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf0vlvAhe_s&t=25s
— November 20, 2024 at 11:19 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #4:
Junichi Hosono, who has worked alongside Fumito Ueda for each of his projects, says that Ueda derived Yorda's name from Hilda, a character from the 1968 Toei film, 太陽の王子 ホルスの大冒険 (The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun).
Image taken from Page 84 of the art book: 神話を紡ぐ
— November 21, 2024 at 9:25 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
While not stated, we can infer that ‘Yorda’ came about because Hilda, in Japanese, is pronounced ‘Hiruda’. 昼 (hiru) is a Japanese kanji character meaning ‘daytime’. Its opposite would be 夜 (yoru) meaning ‘night’. Thus, switching out the ‘hiru’ in Hiruda for its opposite gives us ‘Yoruda’.
— November 21, 2024 at 9:25 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #5:
In the final battle against The Shadows, the spirits emit a set of pained sounds when struck. In previous battles, they did not make a sound upon their defeat.
When you listen closely, the new sounds seem to be distorted copies of Ico's own pained grunts.
— November 26, 2024 at 12:45 AM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #6:
According to an IGN Preview, there was a point in development where: "[Yorda] has been placed under a powerful spell. She cannot see well, if at all, and she's incapable of finding her way out of the dungeon."
-Douglass C. Perry, June 14, 2000
https://web.archive.org/web/20010606032733/http://ps2.ign.com/previews/14833.html
— November 28, 2024 at 6:42 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
Douglass would later clarify in a follow-up posted to the same page on May 25th, 2001:
"Back then, American Producer Darren Yager gave us as much information on the game that was comprehensible..."
So we can infer that this information about the spell on Yorda came from him.
— November 28, 2024 at 6:42 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
While not the most direct source, Darren Yager was presumably sharing info about the game that he gathered from Kenji Kaido and/or Fumito Ueda’s translators. What might’ve been lost in the game of Telephone, we can’t say. But an ounce of truth likely remains in this statement.
— November 28, 2024 at 6:42 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
Addendum: Fritz Fraundorf from GIA corroborates this
"Your mission is not just to escape a castle, but to guide a captive princess out as well. The catch? The princess is blind, so your hero will have to carefully guide her through the many traps and hazards."
— December 2, 2024 at 6:33 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
Addendum: Russian gaming magazine "Страна игр" corroborates this on Page 33 of Issue 72 (August 2000).
"Дело в том, что девушка находится под воздействием хитрого заклятья и в данный момент практически ни черта не видит."
— July 5, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #7:
In Co-op Mode, Yorda can throw pots, bombs, and barrels at enemies to deal very light damage to them. This can also hurt Ico, prompting a unique hit animation. But surprisingly, he was also programmed to be capable of blocking the damage from these ranged attacks.
— November 30, 2024 at 8:14 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #8:
The Queen's Sword has a scabbard in the game's opening cutscene. But later, the scabbard is missing. As a result, an oft forgotten aspect of the blade's design is that the upturned end of the S-shaped crossguard is meant to connect to the scabbard, forming a cog-like handle.
— December 7, 2024 at 7:06 PM
Mystic_Ode
@icoshrine.neocities.org
ICO Trivia #9:
Shadow Creatures disintegrate instantly when they make contact with most bodies of water. This is not easily noticed, because maps with water are where the Shadows tend to avoid ambushing players.
https://youtu.be/APfu3hUy0GU
(It's easy to tell this is my oldest video, isn't it?)
— December 10, 2024 at 10:33 PM
