Iconoclasts

I've been expecting this game for a long time, maybe i didn't hear about it from the beginning, but it's been a few years and it has been one of my most anticipated games for a while now, today i finally finished it 100%. Gotta say, while i didn't absolutely loved it, i leaves a very good taste in my mouth in the end. I personally love the "Metroidvania" kind of game, might be my favorite, and this is one of the more story focused ones i've played, thankfully it manages to make every character pretty charming and interesting in their own way, thanks to some good writing and excelent animations, in general the graphics are fantastic, some of the best 2D art you'll see come out of the indie scene. Gameplay is pretty solid in general, the controls feel really tight, but i'm not a big fan of the tweak mechanics and losing the abilities you get from them when getting hit, the item collection isn't very interesting either as i'd rather get the abilities right there and keep them, it's a much more customizable experience, kinda like Hollow Knight, but it's not much my thing. Enemies can be varied but get old after a while, i love counters in games and using the wrench to do so feels great, but there isn't enough variety. Overall i'm satisfied if not blown away by the game, it's definitely worth experience and i recommend anyone interested in 2D platformers, action adventure games and looking for a cool story with charming characters to play it.

In terms of mechanics (exploration, puzzle-solving, combat, etc), I found it to be a solid Metroidvania with most of the joys and frustrations typical of that genre. It’s enough to support the game as a whole, but may leave you disappointed if you have no interest in the storytelling. The boss battles are the most exciting and creative parts of the game and add a lot of weight to the story beats. On the other hand, they also throw a lot of visual information at you all at once, and it sometimes felt impossible to learn how to deal with a boss without the trial and error of repeated defeat. The story will either hook you or lose you by the end. The characters and the world are given a lot of depth, with protagonists being as often charming as they are flawed or unlikeable. I found the conflict driving the plot was, for much of the game, less engaging than the world-building and character development that takes place along the way. Overall, it’s a really ambitious story in a genre that is characteristically lightweight or opaque narratively. The art, presentation, and game feel is consistently great and really speaks for itself. The music is overall good, with a few standout tracks that really amp up the scene and a few duds. Ultimately, there’s something uniquely engaging about the game and it succeeded in the ways I find the most exciting, which is why I’m rating it 5 stars.

Solid platforming and combat - check Engrossing world building - check Beautiful pixel art - check Give it a shot if you think this is your sort of jam. Worth the price tag in my opinion!

Iconoclasts has emotionally affected me more than any other piece of media in recent memory. This game has a phenomenal story, and I'd recommend you get it now for that alone. You should be warned first though, it gets extremely dark, and you're going to feel helpless, and if you don't think you can handle that kind of thing you might want to look for something a little more lightweight. There's a lot more that I could say, but I won't in the interests of keeping this spoiler free Aesthetically the music is pretty great and the visuals are stunning, though you have to like the 2D 16 bit aesthetic to really appreciate it Gameplay wise its well above average. Controls are extremely tight and Robin has an arsenal that expands at a decent rate without ever becoming overwhelming. Bosses and even normal enemies are very unique, memorable, fun to fight, and take a bit of thought to defeat. That said it isn't perfect. There are some puzzle rooms that require you to effectively solve it twice by making you go through the motions again to get through the door you just opened. Control will occassionally shift to robin's shotgun wielding friend, but for some reason she lacks a lot of robin's basic abilities like being able to crawl or grab ledges or stomp on things. It's also a bit of a missed opportunity you never get to really properly control the rest of the party, since they already added these sections where you play as the shotgun wielder. The different zones of the game are also connected in a very linear fashion, each area has one entrance and one exit, which is a bit odd for a metroidvania game, and you are usually given little reason to return to previous locations. There's no option to rebind keys, and the game doesn't tell you which keys perform which actions, but I got used to it pretty quickly. All in all these are pretty minor issues, but they are things I wish had been improved, though the overall experience is still extremely enjoyable. Would highly recommend.

For those who like platform games with clever puzzles and a narrative that really makes you think, this is the perfect game. Set in an utopia of sorts, things start going wrong when the government discovers you are an illegal worker, from that point, tough battles and a deep narrative with complex characters awaits you.