Iconoclasts

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 72 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 72
  3. Negative: 14 out of 72

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  1. Twistedretro
    Jan 25, 2018
    7
    This game excels in presentation. Like Cave Story, it’s amazing just how much effort was put into the sprite work and the universe these characters live in and that “wow” factor is compounded by the fact that only one person worked on it. The boss battles and instances where Iconoclasts is an action platformer are also major highlights.

    That said. I feel as if the game is falsely    This game excels in presentation. Like Cave Story, it’s amazing just how much effort was put into the sprite work and the universe these characters live in and that “wow” factor is compounded by the fact that only one person worked on it. The boss battles and instances where Iconoclasts is an action platformer are also major highlights.

    That said. I feel as if the game is falsely advertised to an extent. As other reviewers have noted, this feels more like an open world epic although it’s listed as a platformer or metroidvania. It does have some of those elements, but the plot is incredibly thick compared to something like the Metroid or Shantae series. If you were looking for something along these lines or a truly old school experience, you may be disappointed by the amount of plot and oftentimes lengthy character monologues. I’m willing to sit through these for the most part...but some really do drag. If you like this kind of thing, you’ll probably enjoy it. I can’t say I did.

    Also, not every one of the dozens of boss encounters that are used as a selling point are winners. While there are plenty that are creative and enjoyable firefights, there are some that give next to no indication of what exactly you’re supposed to be doing. They’ll take a death or two before you even have a clue as to how to damage them, which does become annoying. Even in Cuphead, a game that also has emphasis on bosses and the “repeated failure leads to success” approach (albeit to a greater extent)...knowing what you needed to do to take down the boss was almost never an issue...solely a matter of doing it.

    Expect to spend about 10-15 hours on the campaign. I’m currently about 12 hours in and am nearing what I suspect to be the end of the game. Even with it being quite different in gameplay than what I expected, iconoclasts has more positives than negatives. Again, if you’re expecting an old school like experience because of the presentation and how it’s listed in genre...you should probably stick to some of last year’s heavy hitters (sonic mania, Cuphead, a Hat in time, wonder boy) for now and wait for a sale.    … Expand
  2. Gameress
    Jun 18, 2018
    7
    i love pixel jump and runs and this is one of my favourite because it has a nice, balanced difficulty and super nice graphics. There is no 2-player mode but despite that it is very nice!

Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Best PS4 Game of 2018
92
#92 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. TheSixthAxis
    Mar 2, 2018
    70
    Perhaps Iconoclasts just tries to do a bit too much of everything, which is stunning considering it has come from a single person’s creative drive, which is so compellingly impressive. A decent edit of the script, fewer bosses and puzzle repetitions, and the rest could have been refined even more.
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  2. GameCritics
    Feb 6, 2018
    90
    It’s still kind of incredible to think that a single developer working alone made something like Iconoclasts, but after playing, it’s easy to see why it took as long as it did. Rough patches might remain, but Iconoclasts is a singular effort that, had it lived in the time of its inspirations, might have stood tall alongside them to inspire future generations of creators. In present day, it’s a sharply contemporary work that incorporates those lessons to result in a brilliant, unique experience.
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  3. Gamer.nl
    Feb 4, 2018
    80
    Iconoclasts might be the most beautiful Metroidvania we have played these past few years. The concepts are not very original, but this game feels like a love letter to the ‘90’s in many ways.
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