ICEY Reviews

[h3]Story: 9[/h3] [h3]Gameplay: 7[/h3] [h3]Overall: 8/10[/h3] Must play unspoiled.

It's good

I hate the narrator, so I never listen to him,

It's charming and the action is fun, albeit repetitive given the lack of enemy types. Unfortunately it's quite short, and the runtime is bloated by nearly every requirement for the true ending needing you to be afk for minutes at a time. The story wasn't super engaging and there's next to no replayability beyond one optional time attack area. The narrator bits were funny at first but quickly lost their luster given they lead to the afk simulators. The exploration is practically nonexistent as well given basically every optional room is accessed by ignoring the narrator's instructions. The game constantly reminds you that it’s a 2D action game but many of these segments are entirely out of place and would be genuinely funny in another genre

it's been 10 years but i just want to say this was the best game of my childhood and it's still the best game today

Short and fun doesn't overstay it's welcome have the same concept as "Stanley the parable" and "Slay the princess" only this time you have this hack & slash gameplay which isn't really deep but is pretty good especially for an indie game but I need to warn that it takes time to get used to it as it doesn't have the typical hack & slash gameplay as the enemies don't really react to being hit so just get used to using the dash mechanic in the game. It was fun to try and find every secret and complete all achievements, All in all the game is great for a 4 - 6 hours depending on your progress and it might be even less if you aren't willing to get all achievements which will be a shame as there are many different unique scenarios here. It is definitely worth your time as long as you like as simple hack and slash gameplay with the choice of doing what the narrator tells you to or to go against him.

Recommended on sale, probably not at full price, if you are picking this game up in 2025 and beyond. I think there are other indie 2D action games with better value for the bucks. An enjoyable, if short, side-scrolling action game with a fairly enjoyable combat experience. I will say it is not a particularly well-designed one though, despite the flashy, DMC Vergil-like stylish katana girl video you may come across online. While ICEY's moveset is cool and feels good to practice/execute, the interaction with enemies (both mobs and bosses) isn't particularly well-thought out. Throwing around never-stopping hyperarmored mobs is [i]not[/i] a fun experience, especially when your avatar's damage animation does not seem to have i-frames, leading to frequent stunlocks. It's still an overall fun combat flow (trying to clear that secret room without using the "cheat" felt good), but it's a missed opportunity when experimenting with majority of the moveset simply increases your risk with very little reward. I will say the combat being very lenient with animation cancelling was nice though. I could chain a launcher + helmbreaker so quickly that it's like I was standing on the spot, chopping up and down with very high flexibility. Reminded me of some techs from X4 Zero after all this time. The "story" is...enjoyable, I guess? I played in Japanese, and the Narrator's VA was pretty good, so maybe that helped too. But it's definitely "not for everyone," and in my view not in a good way. It's something you [i]may[/i] enjoy if you're sort of in on the joke kind of deal. Let's just say phrases like "not for everyone" mentioned above, or "play it without spoiling yourself" usually invokes an expectation of some serious, dramatic story experience but...temper your expectation, this game ain't it. Overall, a nice cheap, short action game to pick up for a chill fun.

This game is an action game with a narrator that tries to be like the one from the Stanley Parable. Except he isn't quite as good or interesting on the delivery and sounds like he's just complaining a lot of the time... Most, if not all, of the game, you are making decisions by your actions based upon whether you want to follow the narrator or not. Each of the off-path choices tends to unlock a different "end" and shows some lore about the story. The action parts are ok. There are a lot of skills you can get and upgrade. The game doesn't use a skill tree system, and you can upgrade whatever skill you want to, if you have the money. However, it is well beyond me to see how you can earn enough money to upgrade even more than a handful of skills to max, even in a 100% achievements playthrough (which I did), unless you farm like crazy (which I won't do). I ended up just increasing her base stats and base combo - I guess it was enough, but I feel like I missed out on a lot of the interesting fight potential of the game. The fighting wasn't so exciting that I feel like I'd go back to upgrade all the skills, though. The story.. well there are different layers to it. Maybe I just didn't quite get it. The narrator, himself, is a bit confusing as he seems to play different roles in the story at times (though he is always trying to guide you/ICEY/UCEY?). I won't spoil anything, but I feel like the makers of the game were trying different ideas, but couldn't decide which one to stick with. Honestly, I can't recommend this game at full price ($10.99). Maybe get it when it's on sale, and only if you enjoy Stanley Parable-like narrator style. (I did enjoy that style, so it's ok by me). For other people looking for a pure action game, it might be better to play something else. P.S. If you do enjoy the action, there is a free DLC that adds a survival mode(?) in an alley to the left of the metro entrance.

I am not usually into side scrolling hack and slash games with the exception of rare gems like Dead Cells and Dust:An Elysian Tail. But I am enjoying this game even though I am not great at it on normal difficulty. A lot of people comment on the wanting to turn off the narrator. Maybe its because it is my first play through, but I am loving the commentary and find a lot of it amusing. Especially the easter eggs you can find.