Iconoclasts - Review

I was recently looking at a list of all the games released this year, among them was a game called Iconoclasts, available on PS Vita and Steam.  I recently played Detroit Become Human and wanted to go for something lighter before engaging in the next big game.  I watched the trailer for Iconcoclasts and thought it looked fun so away I went to download it.

Mint is great and has many uses, my favorite being when it's used in plain old mint sweets.  They are a great palate cleanser, whether you have just consumed garlic and don't want to kill someone when talking to them, or if you have just got sick and want to forget you did.  Playing Iconoclasts I found myself asking was this the refreshing cleanse I needed to get my mouth feeling right?

Story

The game is set in a world that is controlled by one belief system.  Doing anything outside of this system will get you hurt, maimed, re-educated or killed.  This fanatical group called Concern,  after years of harassing people on the streets for money to send to the third world which then actually goes towards paying their wages they got bored, added a 'The' to their name and took over the world.  I'm joking, of course, that would never happen...they have spies everywhere so I can't say anything further.  The Moon is cracking apart and people are losing it, they feel that their god referred to as 'Him' (spoiler alert it's not music group) is a little upset at the non-believers and is coming to reap vengeance on everyone.

The game has you play as Robin, a mechanic, that in itself makes her a rebel.  In the early part of the game you are interrogated by Agents Black and White, one complains of their head hurting, the other throws out statements like 'someone's been twisting nuts - harlot!'.  That doesn't stop Robin wanting to investigate recent events and generally ends up throwing a spanner in the works.  She does have 'help', I use the term lightly as your sidekicks disappear frequently and don't ever seem to provide any real support.  The biggest pain is Royal, A.K.A. Dead Weight, A.K.A. Pain in the Ass, he is supposed to be powerful but gets knocked out a lot.

Overall I found the story to be pretty underwhelming, there is a lot of dialogue in the game but it feels drawn out, unnecessary and in more than a few places dull.  The companions you have are pretty annoying, occasionally you will be able to take control of them but they are so underpowered by comparison of Robin it just feels like a slog using them.

Visuals

The visuals are done in a cutesy 8-Bit style, trees and bushes have either a cube or pyramid design which is quite fun.  Playing through the game some it reminded me of Zelda and Metroid, which wasn't a bad thing.  I liked the look of the Isiligar, a town under the sea, almost like a fish tank but for people...a people tank?  Some of the enemies were really great, two of my favorites being; The Silver Watchmen, a Samurai with a purple laser katana and Mother who has the ability to make a giant tiger out of concrete and cars.

Overall the visuals were really good and were definitely one of the stronger elements of the game.

Music

I found the music interesting as it had the ability to switch from cute and peaceful to dark and sinister in a heartbeat.  What was impressive to me was that it was done so seamlessly and gave the game an interesting feel.  The music was written, produced and composed by Joakim 'Konjak' Sandberg,  who is also the creator and developer of the game, a Swedish man with many talents.

The soundtrack runs at over two hours which I found to be pretty amazing for a smaller game, especially when everything was done by one person.  My favorite tracks included:

'Nuts and Bolts Title'

'Robin (Blockrock)'

'Controlled Cacophony (Battle 1)'

'Whiteout (VS Agent White)'

'Indoctrination (The Tower)'

'The Greater Good (One Concern)'

'Jet Black (VS Black)'

'Mother (VS Oedipus)'

'Castle Doctrine (Final Battle)'

Overall a strong soundtrack that manages to blend light and darkness together without missing a beat.

Gameplay

The game can be best described as a 2D side-scrolling puzzler and playing through it I could definitely tell it took its cue from games like Zelda and Metroid, unfortunately, it doesn't do it nearly as well.  The puzzles, for the most part, don't feel like puzzles but more annoying obstacles.  The controls are not always as responsive as they should be and sometimes basic movements like climbing a ladder or picking up a box feel like a hardship.

Robin can upgrade and collect new weapons throughout the game, the wrench has some great abilities, and the gun has a cool swapping mode later in the game.  Outside of this, you can collect schematics which are used for creating tweaks, in honesty I found them to be disappointing and did not enhance my experience.  If you never used them you would not miss them.

During my time playing I found there to be a few points where it felt like I was on a desert island and somehow managed to stand on a plug and I thought to myself 'why the hell is that there?'.  There is an area where you have to be stealthy or you fail, not only did it feel out of place but it was supposed to be training for something that you never need.  The other point was where you play as Mina, she has a slow firing gun, moves slowly and can't crawl, so playing as her was infuriating and felt like a handicap. 

Complaints aside I did enjoy many of the boss fights and felt this is one of the stronger parts of the gameplay.  The final boss was interesting and offered a challenge without being frustrating.  Overall the gameplay wasn't great and I found myself way too often wanting the game to be over. 

Final Thoughts

So, after eighteen hours of gameplay how did I feel?  Underwhelmed and happy for my journey to be over with Robin and Co.  The story was a little all over the place, the other characters, for the most part, did not enhance the experience but instead diminished it.  The visuals and music were really good and were by far the strongest part of the game.  The gameplay itself was lacking and I feel a little more polishing could have made it a far better experience.  It is important to note that this game was built from the ground up by one person and I greatly respect that as I do Fez creator Phil Fish.  While I had to really debate this one the game narrowly scraped a 3 out of 5