Iconoclasts | PS4 Review

Iconoclasts is not what it appears to be. It looks like your ordinary Metroidvania made by any number of indie studios. It even has the classic pixel art and chiptune music. Beautiful as both the art and music may be, and they are beautiful, it’s the story that makes this game shine.

First, let’s talk about the gameplay. It plays like many other Metroidvania titles, exploring a large map with plenty of combat and puzzles. Thankfully, Iconoclasts falls more to the puzzle side of that equation, and they’re both tricky and fun. Puzzles are perfectly in the sweet spot; never too frustrating, but difficult enough to make you feel smart.

A Metroidvania to Write Home About

Combat is mostly there to fill time as you cross the game’s world. The weapons at your disposal have a generous auto-aim, letting you know that this game isn’t focused on tough-as-nails battles. Even the boss battles frequently veer more towards puzzles.

Iconoclasts features a great number of boss battles, coming at you fast and regularly. But no two feel alike for the entirety of the 12-15 hour campaign. These fierce enemies vary wildly but always look incredible. Sometimes you’ll get lost with the hectic screen effects and take some damage that doesn’t feel entirely your fault, but it’s a small complaint.

As is par for the course in Metroidvanias, you’ll regularly encounter new tools and weapons that open up more of the map. Plenty of hidden treasures lay about, encouraging backtracking as the best games in the genre do.

It might be hard for you to find the desire to explore for these hidden items, however. This is because of Iconoclasts’ incredible story, lore, and characters. This game is dripping with interesting world-building and complicated characters. I can’t think of a single underdeveloped character in the entire game, including all of the antagonists.

Everyone Needs a God

I honestly worry about giving too much away, because I had so much fun discovering all these things on my own. But I can give a brief setup. You play as Robin, a young woman with a dangerous profession: mechanic. In this world, “He” forbids any but the chosen from fixing things. Robin is not amongst these chosen, but can’t stand by as neighbors and friends need her help. This may sound silly on the surface, but it illustrates the control One Concern (the government) has over its people.

The games starts with the simplest of setups: you’re the plucky rebel fighting back against the tyrannical government. It’s a tale as old as time. But Iconoclasts refuses to be that simple. Robin gets caught up in an adventure that will see religion abused, good people making bad decisions, and lives being cut short too soon. It’s a brave and bold story, unafraid to challenge your perceptions of people and the world. There are endlessly memorable characters and moments.

The only fault I can really find is that the “tweak” system is largely superfluous. This mechanic sees you combining materials to grant yourself small buffs, such as stronger melee attacks or holding your breath longer underwater. You can only equip three at a time, and they break once per hit. So after three hits, all your buffs go away. But considering your health bar far exceeds allowing three hits, it doesn’t feel particularly punishing. Most of the optional pick-ups and hidden items relate to this mechanic, but thankfully the puzzles to get them are reward enough.The “tweak” system may be largely unnecessary, but just as with a boring multiplayer mode, I found it easy to ignore.

You Won’t Want to Stop

The pacing in Iconoclasts is perfect. I never felt bored, I never felt rushed, and I never wanted to stop playing. I needed to know what was going to happen around the corner, needed to solve just one more puzzle, and needed see what the next boss would look like. It’s a perfect melding of gameplay to story, clearly the result of years of passion from developer Konjak. When you realize one man made all of this, the results are astounding.

You need to play Iconoclasts.

 

This review is based of of a PS4 review copy provided by Konjak for coverage purposes.