Summary
Last week,Team Icoannounced a brand-new game called Project Robot in a thrilling but brief reveal teaser that featured an enormous mech decapitating itself to escape a strange, oncoming storm.
Given the patterns on the main character’s clothing, it looks like it follows on fromShadow of the Colossusand Ico. But what’s really interesting is that they might be a cyborg.
As pointed out by eagle-eyed fans such as Reddit user Few-Opportunity-4947, the protagonist appears to have metal hands and legs, as well as a robotic ‘face’ (some speculate that it’s actually a helmet). They even have what looks like wheels attached to their feet.
The New Game Could Be Based On Fumito Ueda’s Old Concept Art
Others, such as Reddit user ralg666, note that the protagonist looks like one of Fumito Ueda’s old, unused character designs from when they were an art student, which could shed some light on the theory that the new protagonist is a cyborg.
The original design has a much more human face, lending to the idea that the ‘robot’ head is actually a mask. They also appear to have metal legs and arms, much like the new character.
Ueda said of the design that it was “way off the mark for an art student” and “could have been more straightforward”, even revealing that devs rejected him because of it. It’s possible that he is revisiting this old design in Project Robot all these years later, making things “more straightforward” by more explicitly making the new protagonist a cyborg.
Another potential inspiration behind Project Robot is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, one of Ueda’s childhood favourite movies. It tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by God Warriors, giant biomechanical beings — ie cyborgs.
Lending credence to this idea is the “Sea of Corruption” in Nausicaä, a toxic jungle that is slowly suffocating the entire world, much like the miasma we see the protagonist fleeing from in Project Robot’s trailer.
Perhaps Ueda is exploring the idea of humanity’s intrinsic ties to technology further in Team Ico’s new game. If so, a cyborg protagonist makes perfect sense.
