Recenzje Iconoclasts

XD

I love Iconoclasts. I hate Iconoclasts. I'm glad I played it, but after finishing the last achievement I'm also relieved I'll most likely never play it again. I guess that must mean it's good, right? Greatness is characterized by polarized opinions, or something. Perhaps the main problem is that the game conceals what it really is. Especially at the time when it was released, indie sidescrollers were kinda EXPECTED to be metroidvanias. So Iconoclasts masquerades as one. But there's really only bare bones of that kind of game here. No, Iconoclasts is mostly very linear, gleefully locking doors or putting invisible walls behind your back. And it's not even as transparent as in, say, Metroid Dread. There's collectable items for that sweet 100% completion, but frankly, they're mostly kinda useless and/or forgettable. There isn't really any incentive to completing all the item hunts and side quests aside from bragging rights, maybe some plot if you really care (more about that later). Furthermore, the level design, its biggest challenges and the way the characters control practically screams "puzzle platformer" - and I kinda don't like puzzle platformers, okay? Especially ones like this, where you're immediately thrown into solving problems you haven't really seen before. Sure, there's plenty of tutorial stuff to get you going. But I don't think Iconoclasts CONTROLS like most 2D platformers I've played before. There's considerable delay and even stutter to a lot of things you do. The first few minutes lure you into a sense of familiarity, but very quickly you're forced to learn your place and unlearn. Contrast this with Cave Story, which is also largely on the rails, only pretending to be a metroidvania, but is generally a very simple game where you mostly jump and shoot with tight controls. Iconoclasts layers mechanics upon mechanics, which I guess is fitting since you play as a mechanic? Well, most of the time. There's a few moments where you play another character, and boy. Does THAT suck. The other girl is a bit clunkier to move, and more importantly, has shooting ripped straight from classic Worms. It REALLY doesn't work in the kind of game THIS is. Worse, she reloads immediately after each shot, which locks her in place for way too long. It's dreadful. There's one more character that controls even worse, but at least then the game accounts for this and the section is mercifully brief. Having beaten the game a second time in challenge mode, I've found some more appreciation for how the game plays, since after all the hours I've put into it I can finally more or less make it do what I want it to do on a whim. But at the same time, I haven't warmed up to the story much more, which is a problem because Iconoclasts is clearly story first, gameplay second. It's incredible how much shorter it feels when you skip most of the dialogue, like it's Metal Gear Solid or something. I've seen plenty other players say that this game touches on delicate subjects without sounding preachy, and maybe it's just me, but I disagree. Characters will drone on and on about what's right and what's wrong, and SOMETIMES this is posed as a question, but more often than not it's a statement. These statements are characterization devices, sure, but in the end what that results in is a lot of grey vs. grey morality, where I find it hard to sympathize with ANY character. Even Robin, who doesn't say a single word all game! While a silent protagonist, she's hardly a blank slate, and you can read a lot from her actions and body language. Right, here's where we get to the really good stuff, though. Iconoclasts looks and sounds gorgeous. Animations are extremely fluid, and game merges hand-drawn pixel art with image manipulation masterfully. Environments and obstacles switch up often, there's always something new, there's always a twist around the corner. You think "oh, this must be the final area" time and time again, and every time you're proven how wrong you are. Ohh, how wrong you are. Seriously, I'm in awe of the fact that this is all done by one person. It's truly inspiring! In the end, the story is wholly competent too. Even when the writing got on my nerves and when there was way too much of it, I still have to say the characters sound very natural and have their moments. There's some really cool scenes and fights in here, and the dial just keeps turning up. It truly is an experience. It's just a shame that it has to take its damn time to grow on you first, and then it still ends up being very exhausting. But hey, sometimes art is precisely about making the recipient feel terrible. So give it a try, take your time, don't give up. You might just like it a lot more than I do - and even if not, that's still definitely above average.