25 Greatest Video Game Box Art Of All Time

Conceptual and unorthodox, the European cover art for Ico deserves to be applauded. It’s perfect, despite being the sort of thing advertisers are conditioned to categorically avoid. After all, its doesn’t represent anything of the actual game, appearing more as though a work of modern art than the cover for an action/adventure video game.

Inspired by chiaroscuro master Giorgio de Chirico's The Nostalgia of the Infinite, and painted by the game's designer Fumito Ueda, the artwork is captivating. Emphasising one of numerous areas from the game and obscuring the circumstances associated with the location, the characters are barely distinguishable amidst the emptiness of the illustration. Likewise, the space is perfectly utilised despite the illustrator’s significant restraint. It tells you everything and nothing, and looks beautiful.