I like that from the get go you're literally smashing the statues of the one they call "mother" whilst using her as a save. You're already an iconoclast.

i'm at the endgame for Iconoclasts and have found myself extending the game... running around trying to 100% everything just to keep the feeling going. I played the metroids, the castlevanias.. even owlboy which is fantastic. but there's something about this game that not only hits just the right notes of nostalgia, but does an incredible job at building a world and a story. even the small details like humanizing the one concern soldiers (a bonus quest shows the soldiers were organizing a game night but it's no longer happening because the organizer died) give this little pixel game a very similar emotional pull as the epic Breath of the Wild. Brilliant takeaway and explainer. Thanks for the video!

As Iconoclasts is basically one of my favorite games ever, I am so glad your review did it justice. I have only ever heard people say good things about this game, and yet so few people I know have actually PLAYED it, long after I burned through my hype for this masterpiece. More people need to know about it. XD

To quote Micheal Pruski from the Sonic Adventure video comment section, "I'm not sure where you just took me but that was a journey nonetheless". When I see another one of your Videos post I always like to set time aside, to watch without distraction. Your art deserves nothing less. You don't just give us a review, you give us a quick window into you. And to me, that's one hell of a journey to be on, and I'm happy as hell to be part of it.

Hot darn that wasn't bad at all! I appreciated my secret cameo and I always love it when Karl makes an appearance. I love to get to see things from your perspective in these and I love that you make it accessible even to people who aren't really gamers.

Really well done! I just finished Iconoclasts- loved it!- and I've been meditating on its themes and such since. You made a lot of cogent points- I especially liked the way you articulated how the characters existed before the player interacts with them and the way that existence continues with characters off screen. And I didn't even see past the video game facade to notice that Robin is making a map- one of three people doing it illegally! Overall, great stuff, well earned follow, and I'm looking forward to more 😁

Oh man, I don't what the sales are like on Iconoclasts, but they're way too low regardless. I never hear people talk about this game and yet it's one of my favorite games of all time and easily one of my favorites to come out in the last 10 years. I'm glad you made this and I hope the video sees success and gets at least one person to play the game. I beat it in one day because I couldn't tear myself away from it and when I hit the last four hours, I just stayed up all night to make sure it got done. Seeing someone go over the game like this is nice, and got me to notice things I definitely missed the first time around. I also realized from checking out the wiki I never checked out that this game had a limited run release that I missed out on and I'm legit kind of mad I missed that and am totally not tempted to spend $150 to get it from ebay. Nope, totally not tempted. Robin, despite being a silent protagonist, is a great protagonist that says everything she needs to in her animations and actions. Other characters speaking with her or about her speak volumes more. And it's brilliant how you don't really see how much depth the character has until after you've beaten the game, sat down, and thought about it. She and Agent Black were my two favorite characters. I'm also totally fucking tempted to buy that limited run games edition of the game for $150 on Ebay. Shit.

I really did like the video, its always nice to see someone's perspective on Iconoclasts. That said, I felt you were pitching this game as something incredibly young that was inspired by a sea of indie releases from the last decade, when really, this game had been in development since the year 2010. It is even older than that, if you consider the prototype Ivory Springs from 2007. I think this game definitely takes a lot from Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, a little bit of Symphony of the Night, and I can even believe it was inspired by Cave Story. However, anything beyond that... I'm not so sure. Konjak has been a powerful force in the indie game scene for a long time. Chalk, Noitu Love 2, which are both pre-2010, are incredible examples of solid game design. Of course, I'm not trying to shame the idea that being inspired by things is bad, and in a way, every piece of media is undeniably inspired by what came before it, but I also think Konjak deserves a little more credit. Hell, I'm pretty sure him and Simon Andersen of Owlboy fame are super close friends that grew up together, based on their Twitter interactions. I'd see this less as a child of Owlboy, but rather Owlboy's sibling. Sorry if this came off as confrontational at all, not my intention. I just felt like pointing this out. I enjoyed your review a ton, and I wish more people would give this game a chance. It really is something special. Also, the scripting and video editing was superb. Thank you for the content. Hoping you get more viewers throughout the rest of the year.

This was a very good video. After I finished the game I was in shock and imediately searched for videos and this one was amazing

I love this game. It definitely owes to the dozens of Metroidvanias that came before but it masterfully comes together as its own thing. Story-wise it reminds me so much more of SNES/PSX era RPGs though. Specifically Xenogears: The story revolving around a religious order that controls the world, with various factions fighting against it or for it, the main character facing "God" in the end, and the reveal that the God was some sort of extra-terrestrial being that has almost nothing to do with the conflict the humans have been engaged with for centuries... It's all very 90's Squaresoft. I described Iconoclasts to my friends as the greatest SNES game ever made that wasn't for the SNES.

12:56 An early minigame challenge (color sorting the explosive chemicals) winks pretty hard at the player about what NPCs are doing during it.

The biggest compliment I can come up with is that you somehow managed to achieve the same miracle as the game itself: not one word too much, not one too little. :) (PS: my interpretation about the bird person and some related events is a little different, or extended i should say, but I'll keep it to myself so that others may unveil the secrets on their own)

I really like the format of your video essay! It's easy for me to remain engaged.

This deserves more attention, 7k views is nowhere near enough. Props to you man, may the algorithm bless this soon.

Great stuff! I definitely struggled a bit figuring out what to praise in this game that goes above and beyond stuff that has existed before (though, I must admit, I am far less versed in platformers than you are). I think you got it 100% right that it's the impact of the story that makes it worth taking a ride in the otherwise pretty standard vehicle of a game. Like taking a Honda Civic to Grand Canyon or something, idk.

Jesus, this video is great. You gave me some food for thought in an entertaining way by talking about a game I didn't even have any interest in before. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw your subscriber count is so low. Normally people would say some phrase like "I know that if you persevere your effort will be rewarded and your channel will be as big as you deserve", and frankly, I can't pretend that it will. Sometimes life just isnt that fair. But I do know that your voice is worthwhile, so for my part, you've got a new subscriber.

Fantastic video! I loved the verbal and visual gags, the pacing, and how insightful it was!

Genuinely my favorite game of all time. Glad to see ppl covering it ✊

Video is 2 years old when I've finally found it and I've watched a whole playthrough of iconoclasts and loved the story and characters but could never verbalize why it resonated so much with me until I found this video!

rendezvous with rama but make it cute

Very impressive review. Love this style of reviewing games. I just purchased it on the eshop since it’s on sale and now you got me hyped!

this is a VERY good video and too few people talk about iconoclasts :( it's got some pacing and game design issues for sure but the character arcs and world are so incredibly interesting. if I could change one thing about the game, I would make agent black the final boss - the actual final boss is more connected to the worldbuilding and overall story, but it has no emotional connection for the players, whereas agent black's character arc is EXTREMELY emotional and built up over the whole game. hers is the story that remains in my mind most strongly, years after playing for the first time. one minor note - the quote from charles manson is one of TWO references to the real world, the other one being the flags of our earth countries painted on the side of the isi ark in the one concern facility!! this implies, maybe, that the isi arks were originally used to transport humans from earth to this new terraformed planet??

This video is so clean Drew stoked to see you making such quality content

Great video about a great game. It is one of the most similar games I’ve played to Cave Story, which is another amazing game. Great job, I hope this reaches a larger audience.

Really well done narrative and video edits! Excellent review

Awesome video!! Really like your voice and train of thought when narrating! 👍🏻

I'm glad this game's stil getting attention. And man, this review was good!

I loved my time with this game, It scratched a gaming itch that hadn't been touched since I played Gaia and Terrenigma on the snes. It's that weird feeling the game leaves in my gut that I have a hard time putting my finger on and that's a good thing. Great video BTW.

I am indeed someone who can google things, and I find it kind of funny that I played through this entire game's story and realized "I should probably know what the title means" and went to check and got a DIFFERENT definition. Mine was basically about people rejecting authority figures, which I took as totally fitting too since [BIG SPOILERS] almost all of Robin's crew reject a personal authority figure beyond just Mother. Robin and her grandfather, who keeps appearing in flashbacks saying "Please god don't become a mechanic" to which Robin responds "no :)". Mina and her parents, Royal and Mother (eventually), but he still falls back on the old ways when he meets Him. Only Elro seems to not fit the mold, constantly parroting their uncle's words to Robin, just to be ignored all the same. I guess I just wanted to make this comment because I had no idea that the religious angle was even something that this game was doing until I watched this video that's been sitting in my Watch Later for years, waiting for me to feel ready to step back into this world, and I think it's really impressive storytelling that it managed to incorporate 2 (at least) definitions of "Iconoclast" into the game.

this was a really great video! thank you for making it

9:38 Welcome. Welcome to City 17. You have chosen, or _been_ chosen to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers. I thought so much of City 17 that i elected to establish my administration here, in the citadel so thoughtfully provided by our benefactors.

I don't even know most of the games mentioned here that Iconoclasts is supposed to take from. Still enjoyed it from beginning to end.

very insightful video!

for like the entire first third of the video i wanted to scream at the vid to talk about the story and world and im glad i waited for that payoff. i did kinda think youd talk more about the specifics of the world and characters, this vid was still rly good

amazing video i knew when i beat this game this was going to be a multiyear project for the internet to figure out what this game was actually about i also literally came up with my own head canon for the ending of this game and what the game was making a point about lol....... btw my fav music from the game is indoctrination , i've listened to and sign that one the most it's so smooth.....

Amazing analysis

Nice analysis. Nice production. You should have more subs n views.

I disagree that the game picks up later. The dialogue is real af through and through, and the starting events are just as heavy as the later parts. I found the immediate world building struck too close to home ((lack of) right to repair, and layers of misinformation conspiracy). EDIT: This is coming from a Muslim who hated every other ham-fisted atheist missionary media like NieR Automata.

Another good job :)

I loved this game. The only thing stopping me from replaying is the parts where you have to play as Mina.

I'd be interested in seeing the effect this game's story would have on religious people. Of course there'd be plenty who'd discard it but for those not too ingrained in dogma I'm curious about what lines of thought it would spark. I'd honestly put this game on a list of Must Play for everyone just to see what it could rattle loose.

Love the video

Sold!

Soundtrack dope too

13:45 - I wouldn't say that completely. Describe the premise to someone and it would sound like a cross between His Dark Materials and Dune. With a bit of 1984 thrown in.

16:00 What is the music in the background. I know it somewhere Edit: thank god for you stating which one it was at the end. In my case octopath traveler

amazing game, amazing commentary

good video

Your channel is criminally underpopular

Why does the iconoclast map look akin to that of a metroid map 1:56

Imagine the news though, like after Robin kills the starworm "Breaking News! Local mechanic becomes so amgry she kills our god! We asked her for her comments qnd she told us "Normally, I would have just let us all die. Unfortunately, he had to talk shit on a Wednesday of all days. I hate Wednesdays" what a story!"

You mentioned a wiki page that has a chart of all information each character knows, but I can't find the chart. Where is it?

I appreciated the artwork and music, and 100%'d it to ensure I was giving a fair shake... but can't help but agree with all the Steam reviews on just how bad this story is. I feel like you're really overselling it here, when what players will actually experience is a bunch of melodramatic non-specific tantrums by a cast of angsty teenagers who need to blow up on one another at rather random times. I can't tell whether I disagree with any of the philosophies presented because I genuinely can't tell what they are. You praise it for dropping us into these pre-existing settings and characters, when that seems to just be the fluke of somebody working on the same project for eight years with no editor providing an outside perspective. He really could've used the feedback here and there of "Hang on... every character is unlikeable and I have no idea what's happening."

03:55 lol

Why the fuck does this video not have more views

🚨🚨🚨 philosophically dense banger alert 🚨🚨🚨

You really didn't have to open the video with aping wholesale the Action Button season 1 bit to make your point about Iconoclasts aping other games. Especially if you're gonna throw jokes like "sleeves, pants, etc" or talk about "shamelessness and pride with which it vomits". And so we're clear, I agree with the point.

Well, for me Iconoclasts is as much "Metroid" or "Metroidvania" as Super Mario World was a Metroidvania. In short, it isn't one. It is a super linear game, with forks so you can get secrets. 5:55 Indeed, I'd rather play Super Metroid then Iconoclasts.

welp, u deserve more subs

Also, and this bears repeating: Robin is fucking hot.

I liked the game for the most part and would recommend it but I didn't like the excessive uninteresting and confusing dialogue and I didn't like the constant goal post moving. It felt like the game was going to end on a handful of occasions and didn't which just made me feel like I wanted it to be over as the game turned into a Boss fest, And it felt like a bit of a chore especially in the last 10% where the checkpoints become more punishing. I loved every bit of the game up until leaving the tower yet I would still recommend it to anybody to play it's got everything. The art the music, platforming, combat and puzzle elements are all very enjoyable for 90% of the game in my personal experience. 8/10

Can you please just do a story summary? Would be super useful

Yeah, this game is based.

This felt like an homage to various youtube critics in the same way that the game was. Was this intentional?

too bad this game had to have a stealth based boss that gatekeeped me from the rest of the game

Reminder that this young woman/girl) killed her god because penance didn't let her sleep

I don’t understand your big question “if this borrows from that, why don’t I just play that,” gee I don’t know, maybe bc you can’t get enough of this genre and you play as many of these kinds of games as you can get your hands on and enjoy the different wrinkles each developer puts into the game? What a stupid question that you kept asking as though it were profound

I think this game tried to be way too phylosophical. i couldnt handle and it bored me a little bit. I liked Hollow Knight lore alot more and it is more insteresting imo. But i like iconoclast maybe i will give chance to keep understanding the game story.