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Ico Hints

The Queen still managed to turn me to stone!

  • 1 of 12: First, you need to know what protects you from the Queen's attacks.  There are actually 3 "shields" from her attacks.  Make sure you know what they all are.
  • 2 of 12: Timing is often quite important here.
  • 3 of 12: If you don't have your sword with you, wait behind the statues until one of the attacks is over before going for your sword.
  • 4 of 12: Then run straight for the sword and don't stop along the way.
  • 5 of 12: In other words, it's always a good idea to know where the sword is before you go for it.  You don't have time to search while you're vulnerable.  Do your searching from behind a statue.
  • 6 of 12: If you're not fast enough to reach the sword, there are a few tricks you can still use.  (The "fifth" sword is particularly tough to get in time.)
  • 7 of 12: First, notice that you don't have to be standing *right* behind a statue -- the blue shield extends a few "feet" behind each one.  You may want to get closer to the sword by standing in that "tail" if the sword's behind you.
  • 8 of 12: Also, jumping, particularly down stairs, seems to be slightly faster than running.
  • 9 of 12: Finally, you may be making yourself run more than necessary.
  • 10 of 12: You can do more with the statues than just stand behind them.
  • 11 of 12: You can push or pull them as needed to get closer to the sword while you're still covered.
  • 12 of 12: Pulling the right statue back will help you quite a bit in getting the fifth sword.  It is possible to reach it without moving the statue if you jump down the stairs and start from the very tail end of its blue shield, but you don't have a lot of margin for error.  You'll probably find it easier to move the statue first.