Posted on: June 22, 2019

Coreusa

Games: 298 Reviews: 8

Joakim does it again

A fantastic puzzle platformer with hard, but fair boss battles. Many of the game's mechanics are explained during the way, while some require you to use them before they've been properly introduced. They both blend into an experience that demands players to actually do some thinking themselves. Game seems lengthy as well, with 5 hours and only 25% or so progressions. If you've played any Joakim Sandberg's game before (Noitu Love, Legend of Princess) you know the attention to detail and animations are superb. According to Konjak's website Iconoclasts took a mindbonkingly 10 years (!) to make - and he made it all by himself. Bows and hats off and respect. That's not something anyone can do and joins ranks with masters like Dean Dodrill (Dust: An Elysian Tail), Daisuke 'Pixel' Amaya (Cave Story), Thomas Happ (Axiom Verge) and Lucas Pope (Paper's Please). If you enjoy platformers that require practical thinking, fun dialogues, a lengthy and somewhat dark story and screen filling bosses that won't go down the first time you try, this one's for you.

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Posted on: January 14, 2021

chest

Verified owner

Games: 107 Reviews: 5

Overly long

There were at least 3 times I expected the end, but the game went on and on and on... Although it's a solid metroidvania with fun mechanics and puzzles, the setting is boring and half the game you're just waiting for it to be finished.

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Posted on: February 9, 2018

Messerkobalt

Verified owner

Games: 428 Reviews: 1

Don't pass this up.

I think this may be the first review I've written after years on the site. Thank you, Iconoclasts, for breaking me out of my shell. The game is too good not to talk about. The visuals are stellar, able to stand up next to things like Owlboy and perhaps even Metal Slug, with vibrant color and smooth animations. There's a huge amount of subtle character put into the way people and creatures stand, walk, and attack, and a level of detail in backgrounds and environments that is almost too much to handle. The gameplay is tight, responsive and clever. Everything has a place and a purpose-you do not get stronger as you progress, you just get new tools, and then new puzzles and enemies to use those tools on. Simply moving from point a to point b is a simple joy, and though there were moments of frustration in bossfights and level exploration, it was usually enough to just come back with fresh eyes and ace the thing the second time around (And that is from someone terrible at videogames in general.) The story is just great. The world is fascinating, with interesting lore detailed societies. Every character is likable, or at least understandable, with a few even being downright tragic. And, as in some of my favorite games ever, the stakes start small and relatable, but spiral outward into something grand, but still with personal weight for our main cast. Final note: yes, this game was made almost in its entirety by one person, and for that alone it deserves a little attention. The fact that it is so good besides just makes it a no-brainer, at least to myself. I'm always one to stick up for the talented little guys in this world of bloated, bland major releases. Short version: This game is a masterpiece. If you have any interest in sidescrollers, Metroidvanias, or just well-executed games, you really, really ought to check this out.

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Posted on: April 6, 2018

Zoidberg

Verified owner

Games: 770 Reviews: 47

Not unlike Owlboy in its shortcomings...

Currently in the final phase in harrd difficulty. I agree with the review named "Diminishing Returns" in mostregards. It is, like Owlboy, made by people who did it willingly and lovingly and during years, so there's something that pushes you to go to the end. I sense a big subject behind but it seems a bit convoluted (maybe due to the bad french translation) but the parts I like the least are big parts of gameplay. To put it simply: the game most often feel quite unfair. As in when failing it is quite easy to put it on the game and not the player. The broken save/checkpoint system annoys to no end, not knowing where we'll have to resume the game from. Bosses with strange convoluted patterns that a human player can't sensibly follow and read (sometimes the same pattern won't even play the same way). Special note to the utterly useless craft system, that is not quite 100% understandable either. Apart from these big shortcomings, I'll most probably finish it (I've come all that way) but I will not come back to it, it doesn't respect its player enough I find. But again the work put into it for the last decade really shows, beautiful music and pixel graphics included.

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Posted on: March 1, 2024

Jorge3596

Verified owner

Games: 327 Reviews: 26

It tries way to hard to be deep.

I´m talking about the story. I was seriously not expecting how full of "reflections" and "deep dialogue" this game was. It failed in both making me take it seriously and making me have fun. I´d say the thing I hated the most was the boss fights: most of them are in phases and fast, I had no idea what I should do in many of them. There´s just too much going on on screen for you to stop and analyze the environment and discover what switch to activate, which part of the boss to hit and which character you should switch to in order to hit said part. Maybe if you can ignore the story, you can consider it an acceptable game.

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