MysticOde

icoshrine.neocities.org/theory/english_manuals_com…
The project I mentioned last month is now public! It's basically a video, except I could only feasibly create and finish it in text format! That's how big it is.
So many discoveries and tangents got involved somewhere along the way, and I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I did uncovering them!

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 25

MysticOde

I have been working for a long time on a new project, but it won't be manifesting as a YouTube video. A webpage is better suited for what I want to present, so ICOshrine is where it will be when its ready: icoshrine.neocities.org/

If you want to help bolster the project and receive a written credit for your contribution, it would really help to find more copies of ICO's manual in different languages. Not even proper scans of them, necessarily, just documentation*.

At present, I have scans of two English manuals (North American and European), a Spanish manual, and an abridged Dutch manual. An Italian manual may be shared with me at some point.

Si vous possédez un manuel pour ICO en français, veuillez me contacter par e-mail.

Falls Sie ein Handbuch für ICO in deutscher Sprache besitzen, kontaktieren Sie mich bitte per E-Mail.

mysticode54@gmail.com

Or if you have access to a manual in any other languages I haven't mentioned here, you can also contact me by email. I'd love to hear from you.

*Pictures taken via phone camera, for instance, would suffice as long as each page is legible. Scans are better for preservation, of course. So if you can, I would prefer it. But it is not a requirement.

2 months ago | [YT] | 28

MysticOde

If you haven't checked it out in a while, the Team ICO Wiki has been seeing updates to a lot of their ICO pages. The Shadow's page in particular got a massive overhaul with data that further clarifies how each enemy works! A lot of cut enemies are being detailed there too.

teamico.fandom.com/wiki/Shadows

Work is also progressing on pages to detail what little we have on the early design and placement of stages. Did you know a secret torture chamber was included at one point? Check st11a.

teamico.fandom.com/wiki/ICO_Stages

They also have transcribed some Japanese exclusive interviews that remain untranslated. If anyone with more experience in translation than me wants to take a crack at that, be my guest. They run pretty long.

teamico.fandom.com/wiki/Interview_Archive/ico

Also, happy 9th Anniversary to The Last Guardian! And it's the 24th Anniversary for ICO in Japan. Both of them will hit a big milestone next year! It makes me excited.

8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 26

MysticOde

Happy 24th Anniversary to the US PS2 release of ICO!
Here's a brief update:

Right now, the best place to keep up with me and what I'm uncovering is my Bluesky account.
bsky.app/profile/icoshrine.neocities.org

But if you don't want to engage with that particular platform, I have you covered! I've been creating editorialized versions of my most informative Bsky posts on my fansite, since I want this information to be accessible to everyone.
icoshrine.neocities.org/skylight

I've also been busy building out a virtual tour of The Castle in the Mist! With sidebars to provide commentary and display concept art, textures, even some photos of the original Lightwave3D models for various props! If you like the Unearthing the Castle videos, this is more of that.
(Note: This page is best viewed on desktop or tablet screens. Any smaller and it has difficulties.)
icoshrine.neocities.org/castle_tour

Obligatory reminder that I have a Ko-Fi for donations.
ko-fi.com/mystic_ode

And I hope everyone reading this has a good day!

10 months ago | [YT] | 22

MysticOde

If I told you that "Shadows can have different approaches to combat", what would you assume I meant?
Reflect on any gameplay experience you recall as you consider this. Then read the options below.
[Please stick to an answer that's closest to what you had in mind before reading the options.]

If none of these fit your assumption well, please feel free to explain further in the comments.

1 year ago | [YT] | 9

MysticOde

I’m uploading preview videos to Ko-Fi now! No one has to pay for anything (though donations are always appreciated), these are just unlisted short videos (likely to be just observations without a conclusion) that I’m putting there primarily to avoid clutter and pair well with the written updates I was already putting on that platform. There’s one already uploaded, if you want to check it out.
ko-fi.com/mystic_ode

1 year ago | [YT] | 13

MysticOde

[New Video Tomorrow (6/25) at 10:30 AM PDT / 1:30 PM EDT!] It's 27 minutes of theories, observations, and a lot of meandering topics. It's also a companion piece for my first 'Unearthing the Castle' video, and since only ~800 people saw that video, now might be a good time to check it out!

1 year ago | [YT] | 10

MysticOde

I made an iceberg chart:
mysticode54.tumblr.com/post/783006486463922176/tip…



(The next video is on just one of these topics, and its on the horizon... maybe. It keeps getting longer each time I go back to it. I hope everyone's been doing well!)

1 year ago | [YT] | 13

MysticOde

I've known about these FMV previews for a while, but ASapphicKitsune is much quicker at extracting this kind of stuff! I'll be covering them in an analysis, likely sometime after I finish up the current video, but check out her upload first and see all the interesting differences you can find!

1 year ago | [YT] | 21

MysticOde

I've been creeping up to 1,000 subscribers for weeks now, and I still have no idea what to do when I actually hit it. (It might even happen later today!)

For those who haven't checked in with my Ko-Fi updates, my next video has been in production for a bit, but I have a tendency to get side tracked with more research, rather than actual video creation. All of that research, of course, just means the videos overall are more accurate in their information.
I don't assume anyone has a real problem with that. Considering most of you are long time Team ICO fans, you've probably developed a lot of patience.

But it means a work celebrating the milestone may not be 'on time'. Just a heads up.

I'm still posting on Bluesky if you're interested in hearing from me on some research topics. I just recently found a few in-game screenshots of an earlier design for The Queen's outfit.

1 year ago | [YT] | 90