A fine and charming little game, in a big genre
Iconoclasts is a 16-bit 2D Action-Platformer, focused on puzzle and exploration. It has a really cool look to it, very charming, having a lot of dialogue, with some character to its design. The game has a Metroid-like map for you to go around and explore, in a futuristic setting, where you are placed in the shoes of Robin, a young girl who is a mechanic, and lives in a alien world where the authorities despise that line of work. The story is actually pretty deep, but it loses itself on how deep it tries to be, what's easy to follow and not spoil is that you'll quickly become a fugitive and have to deal with lots of trouble.
It's really hard to understand the action parts of this game, the boss fights are really awesome, really creative and well done. But throughout the rest of the game, the combat seems just unnecessary to even exist, the enemies are just in your way to slow you down. They don't really give much of a challenge, or even try to come after you most of the time. It just feels like they didn't want to make a game without some action in there to feel the gaps. The environmental puzzle design is pretty cool, with a increased difficulty but not as much variety as it could have.
What ends up being the biggest problem for Iconoclasts is the fact that it was released in 2018. A year filled with 2D Platformers and Action-Platformers that were just on a top notch level, making it hard for other games in the genre to stay out. I really enjoyed my time with the game, but it's not as well put together as some other competitors, specially when it comes to pacing.
