The Game Tutor Grades ICEY

Ever had a game that you didn’t really intend to play but did and in the end it was an amazing surprise? Developed by the amazingly named Shanghai “FantaBlade Network Technology Co., Ltd.” ICEY is a 2D hack and slash game that sees you pay ICEY a robot girl with a mission to kill Judas a being that is hellbent on… something…something bad… but in reality, this game is so much more than meets the eye.

A month ago I likened “One Night Stand” to a visual novel meets Stanley parable well this is a 2D hack and Slash meets Stanley Parable.

At its core, ICEY is an excellent 2D hack and slash with a fantastic combat system, excellent upgrades and a fantastic set of enemies to get your teeth into killing but what really makes this game stand out is the branching story with many different endings.

Like Stanley, Parable ICEY is a self-aware meta style game that has you follow (or not) the narrators commands you travel through the game. Replace first person walking sim with 2D hack and slash and you are pretty much there. Usually ignoring the narrator leads you up the garden path but sometimes it leads you to secret areas and interesting plot twists. The reality is that even though it took me about 2-3 hours to beat ICEY with one ending the reality is that there are so much more endings to go back and discover. In fact, the achievements in the game come from achieving multiple endings.

Graphics wise the game is beautiful to look at and the soundtrack is equally as awesome. What really makes it amazing is even without the Stanley Parable style narrator and story twists this would still be an excellent game but the interesting meta twists turn a great game into and the excellent one.

I really cannot recommend ICEY enough and I for one cannot wait for a sequel.

2016 has been quite a surprising year for some excellent indie games and ICEY really has come out of nowhere and is one of my fave indie games this year. Roll on GOTY in a few weeks.