This game is as mediocre as RPGs come; why it scored over 5 I have no idea. Strictly bargain bin material.
I was looking for "mediocre" in the classification section; it isn't there, so it was a toss-up between "boring" and "uninspired". I chose to be kind and picked the latter. It's not AWFUL, it's just unexciting, another forgettable fantasy jaunt.
The anime-style graphics are really the only thing going for this game. Truly. I'm the type who absolutely must find out what happens in the end, which is why I bothered to slog through the game all those years ago (I played it around '2000, only once, right to the end, and forgot about it). The isometric perspective is sorta nice to look at, and all those maps could really have been great if the game itself was any good. The spell effects aren't flashy but somehow stand out, although to say they're good or great would be a stretch.
Unfortunately, it's as tedious as strategy games go, and the linearity is pretty much like in the original Vandal Hearts: you get into a battle, go to town for the next bit of story, then repeat. Enemies actually increase in level quite a bit between maps, so towards the end, not only are you outnumbered but also outgunned. The AI as I recall was nothing to write home about - basically as your party gets closer, they swarm you. That's it. Oh sure, using your various characters might be fun (everyone has a unique class), but 2-3 hour-long battles quickly puts a damper on that since you're wasting a lot of time just getting through giving commands or watching them slowly move around.
In all honesty I don't really have that much material for a review, but since nobody else has, and I AM certain of what I played before, this is it. Icarus is okay to look at, and if you don't care terribly about quality the storyline isn't unbelievably stupid, although the music and sfx in general is lacklustre. Oh, and the opening animation still sticks in my mind as being designed by someone horribly unskilled - looked like a programmer did it, not an artist. It's like an alpha render lifted from the 3D tool it was created in - it was merely a camera pan over the cringe-worthy crude 3D constructs which was supposed to represent the village in the introduction.
I don't recall the specifics of the ending but rest assured you aren't missing anything groundbreaking. I'm almost certain it was just a page of text talking about your accomplishments and something about the gods which the game occasionally alludes to.
If you happen to stumble across this game (unlikely) in a bargain bin for under $10 (I suppose for you americans and europeans I'd say 5 bucks or 5 euros), I suppose it's worth picking up IF you enjoyed the PSX's Vandal Hearts, since it's about as old, and somewhat similar. I don't exactly remember how many maps long it is, but rest assured it isn't all that long (may be either good or bad, depending on your tastes). I suspect an average completion time of around 20+ hours. I think it took me a little over a week (since I only played a few hours a day back then).
By the way, I own Vandal Hearts and have replayed it on occasion; it's not as great as some make it out to be, if you can look at it objectively. Icarus fits in the same mould; it's also a linear turn-based strategy RPG, although there's even less strategy in it compared to Vandal Hearts.