I'd also like to take this moment to recommend Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons to anybody that enjoyed Ico. That game was pretty special.

I like escort missions, or at least they don't annoy me as much as other people. Ico was really easy, just give it anohter go.

I said the cheap deaths were frustrating and how half the time you're  at the mercy of Yorda's reactions. This is whats annoying that you can get a game over when it isn't your fault but the fault of her AI.

As far as I can remember, the only tough part about Ico was figuring out the puzzles. The combat was basically just running to the enemies and wailing on them with a stick. Yorda would always get grabbed if you wander too far away from her but saving her was always an easy task. If you do things right, she's never really a burden. It's when you wander off from her trying to figure out what needs to be done that she gets into trouble.

I really like that people are coming to the defense of Ico, I really am......But fuck that game. It really doesn't hold up well, and it was frustrating when it came out and it's still frustrating today. My most favorite games came out years before Ico, and were way more unforgiving, but at least they were fun to play. Ico just wasn't for me.

To answer the thread question, no it isn't the most frustrating game I've ever played though.

The game is not forgiving as most games are today, but cheap deaths there aren't. Your job is to protect Yorda, not wander off and leave her by herself. It's meant to heighten the suspense when you eventually have to leave her for brief periods of time. They nailed that uneasy feeling of wanting to run back to check up on her.
If you play it carefully and like a puzzle game, which is what it is, you won't have any problems. Figure out where she can be left safely for a couple of minutes.

Going back to it in the HD collection I found it a lot easier then the first time around. Shadow monsters are also easily defeated if you drive them against a wall. Otherwise get the timing right and stay in sigh of Yorda in case you have to rescue her.

Blaming her AI for getting a game over screen is completely missing the point of the entire game.

Jak 2 was harder...

But Jak 2 was fun even though i died alot. I would say Jak 2 is far superior to most games released today it really has aged well.

Now, let me think....what was the most frustrating game I've ever played?

Off the top of my head, Ninja Gaiden, Battletoads, and Castlevania III from the Nes.

In recent history, any game that had an unpatched glitch that made me have to replay something repeatedly before realizing it was even a glitch (Tomb Raider, Brothers; A Tale of Two Sons, The Walking Dead: 400 Days). Games of today aren't really that tough.

Ninja Gaiden is a real beezy