Yeah, it is. Very ambitious, and I think it came together nicely. From my writeup back in 2018:
14) Iconoclasts (PC) (9.0) (1/27) (11 hours)Yeah,
Iconoclasts turned out quite well. Good on Mr. Sandberg to get this puppy out after seven years.
For folks that might not know, Joakim Sandberg is the sole creator of this game. He's worked on other games for WayForward before, like
Contra 4 and
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, as an animator. He's got some serious skills, because the game is gorgeous.
Really, the nuts and bolts gameplay (ohoho, see what I did there) consist of using your various weapons and wrench to progress through areas, somewhat Metroidvania-style. The game feels more akin to something like
Monster World, though, in that while there is some poking around for treasures, you're not constantly mining for upgrades like
Metroid or sitting there leveling up and getting new equipment all the time like
Castlevania. Many rooms present puzzles, not unlike
Zelda's dungeons, just presented within a 2D platformer context. Figuring out where to go, and how to get there, is where the fun is.
And again, man, does this game look good. Combat feels excellent as well, with some really slick bosses that require a lot more than just blasting away. Make no mistake, there
is blasting, but you also have to suss out weak points, making them often puzzles as well.
The treasures you do unearth are used to craft upgrades, but they're not terribly necessary. Somewhat useful, but not necessary to beat the game. Depending on your point of view, this could be a good or bad thing.
I really don't want to get into the story, no sense in spoiling things. I think the way things are presented is done extremely well, unraveling the mysteries of this world a bit at a time. I do have some quibbles with some ambiguity with a particular character, and a
big quibble with just how
dark the game gets. The game sports a bouncy art style, sure, but there's some seriously messed up stuff. There's also a bit of an anti-religion element to the game (which, in context, makes sense, and seriously, look at the game's name!), but strangely it didn't turn out too overbearing.
Overall, this might be one of the best puzzle platformers to come out in recent memory. It ascends to the heights of
Owlboy's presentation, but also happens to be a lot more fun to play. Highly recommended.