Iconoclasts

 PC
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Ars Technica
    Jan 24, 2018
    The wonderfully well-tuned bosses alone might be worth your while. But in a currently crowded pantheon of exploration-heavy 2D platformers, Iconoclasts is one that doesn’t fire on every cylinder. That alone might be an excuse to check out your other options.
  2. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Jan 23, 2018
    Unless you plan on speedrunning the game, Iconoclasts has relatively limited replay value. Still, in the end Iconoclasts wasn’t quite what I expected, but I greatly enjoyed my time with it, and would recommend it to any platformer fan.

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best PC Game of 2018
87
#87 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
82
#82 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 85 out of 115
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 115
  3. Negative: 12 out of 115
  1. OmegaFujin
    Sep 19, 2018
    4
    Yes, yes, I know everyone praises this game for being developed by one person. That is cool and all, however I, unlike many other reviewers,Yes, yes, I know everyone praises this game for being developed by one person. That is cool and all, however I, unlike many other reviewers, will not use kid gloves to rate this game. Moving on:

    Story: 4/10
    This is a reasonably complex narrative that honestly reeks of pretentiousness or a lack of understanding in what makes a good narrative. It is pretty obvious that only one person made this, as the characters have no depth. The overall story regarding the One Concern, Mother, the characters, and overall lore is just not interesting or told well at all. Loads of dialog that is very, very boring. I can read logs in Metroid Prime, Axiom Verge, or other games all day. These other games have no voice acting also, but have a strong narrative. I feel like this person should have gotten a volunteer friend or family member to help with the story to ensure that it made sense before release. The game would honestly probably be way better if the game play elements existed without any of the story being included. It is really that bad. For readers, this is an honest review, not a "favor" to the creator like so many others have posted to support the developer. The story should be better or removed period.

    Graphics: 7/10
    The graphics are retro style 8-16 bit-ish. Overall, pretty good. It is animated very well. I like many of the character designs. I will note that some of them are pretty bland, but some aren't. Particularly, the main two characters are my favorite of the entire game and have the overall best designs and art. The overall art style of the game is kind of bland and not very creative looking. No area will look impressive to you, even compared to previous games of a similar style. Due to being the most consistent part of the game, I gave it a decent score.

    Sound/Music: 3/10
    I love good music and sound. This game has neither. The is one or two areas where the music is kind of catchy, but not because it is that good, so much as how it loops very quickly and is easy to remember as such. After I stop playing for a few days, I won't be remembering or looking to purchase or download the soundtrack. I feel like this could have been done much better even if only by a single person.

    Gameplay: 3/10

    The 3 is for the fact that some of the bosses are pretty fun, challenging, and unique. Otherwise, the entire game is a giant chore. The powers and abilities are very infrequent. Collectibles in the game can be very challenging to get and sometimes involve fun puzzles, but amount to nothing. They are typically just pieces used to buy and equip tweaks. Tweaks allows all sorts of different abilities, but there are only a handful of them in the entire game. I spend the whole game collecting everything possible and was only able to buy a few tweaks. There are many more items to build tweaks, and puzzles surrounding those items, then actual tweaks to build. When I realized this, I was not happy to say the least and it really feels like a completely wasted opportunity.

    All abilities usually involve your wrench or a few other weapons. Eventually you kind of start looking for more movement options or weapon powerups. Move movement options never come like they do in Metroid and Castlevania games, but instead a few weapon mods come and most do very little besides one in particular that is received near the end of the long, meaningless dialog fest. There are one or two little mini-games that are included. One in particular involving boxes was pretty fun and definitely should have been expanded on more later, but nope. Two minutes and it's never to be seen again. Combat outside of bosses is tragic, kind of like Super Metroid, until you reach actual Metroids. Enemies typically just **** there and do nothing or move very slowly. A few shoot projectiles or get aggressive towards the very end game, but are never close to being a threat even on the hardest difficulty. Platforming is sometimes a bit addicting, but not fun, as there is nary a challenge to be had in the jumping around. Don't expect any crazy moving platforms like Mario, or difficult jumps at all. The primary gameplay involves dropping bombs to open doors or finding a way to go up or down. Most puzzles feel exactly the same as the last, so the game gets boring very quickly. I was excited to see how the puzzles would progress as I got new abilities, but it seems the the developer lacked creativity or time to execute.

    Lumping in controls here, they are solid and there are no bugs, but a few minor frustrations with how you move in the are or when shooting. You can run and shoot, but not use your wrench for some reason. Another character cannot run and attack at all. The game is not buggy in my experience, so another plus I suppose.

    Overall: 4.25

    Iconoclasts can be fun sometimes, but overall is a missed opportunity. Compared to another similar,solo developed game, Axiom Verge, this is very underwhelming. Don't believe the hype.    … Full Review »
  2. beebo42
    Aug 9, 2020
    4
    The game gives a great first impression with the bright colorful pixel art and fast breezy gameplay, but it quickly goes downhill. The storyThe game gives a great first impression with the bright colorful pixel art and fast breezy gameplay, but it quickly goes downhill. The story and characters are just god awful, and there's way too much of it. After about halfway through the game I started skipping the cutscenes just to get it over with. It's way too grim for the setting it's in. And the writing just feels...off? Like it's not from a native speaker. The collectibles and upgrade system are very disappointing. There's no reason to explore or collect anything, as the "tweaks" system is almost completely useless. Seriously, I ignored it after awhile and had no difficulty finishing the game.… Full Review »
  3. mastergamer770
    Apr 12, 2018
    10
    This game remind me why i'm playing video game
    so clean and neat and enjoyable game
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