To commemorate the launch of the new “Da Vinci” magazine, Miyuki Miyabe, author of “The Castle of Mist,” the novel based on ICO, talks with game director, Fumito Ueda, about his latest title, Shadow of the Colossus.
Miyuki Miyabe: I’m really looking forward to playing Shadow of the Colossus, but is this new game’s world connected to that of your previous title, ICO?
Fumito Ueda: Yes they are, even though it was not our intention to connect both worlds when we started working on the game.
MM: From the footage I’ve seen, looks and sound are very close to those of ICO. Especially the sound of the wind around you, it felt like playing ICO all over again.
FU: I see. We weren’t aware of this when creating the game. I guess it comes natural when you use similar development techniques on different projects.
MM: In ICO, the story was set so the player could interpret it in as many ways as you can imagine. Why is it so?
FU: Video games are different from other media - they are interactive. In order to move the players we have to create a believable world and then let them imagine everything else. I don’t want players to try and think what my ideas for the story were. I want them to direct the story themselves.
MM: Generally, to present a story, games use narration and a lot of energy is spent describing those happenings to the player. However both ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are games of a few words…
FU: That’s right. I want my games to have believable stories but narrative imposes a set plot, predetermined ideas. That would be an obstacle to interaction. I want players to approach the story however they want.
MM: I do like the style of your games, but it was difficult for me to write the novel for ICO, there were too little words! (laughs)
FU: Shadow of the Colossus does have some more lines of conversation. But, like I said I want every player go through their own story and arrive to their own conclusion. This is no different than the way I approached ICO’s plot.
MM: Well, that means it will be more fun coming up with ideas for another novel! I want to do that as fast as I can, but first I have to finish the novel I’m writing now. (laughs)
