Indika is a recreation of untamed contradiction. It is compelling, considerate, and bold, but additionally tedious, rote, and by-product. It is the form of online game that ruminates on the character of religious religion, free will, guilt, disgrace, temptation, and morality, after which asks you to resolve boring field puzzles. It is the form of online game that asks you to resolve boring field puzzles after which leaves you earnestly questioning whether or not the field puzzles have been deliberately boring simply to mess with you.
You play as a younger nun at a convent in nineteenth century Russia — she’s additionally named Indika — who does not appear to be widespread among the many different nuns, maybe as a result of she’s awkward, fidgety, and odd. She’s in common communication with the satan, too, which we suppose does not assist, though whether or not that is literal, a metaphor, or an indication of psychological well being issues stays up for debate.
The satan is an amusing presence, incessantly difficult Indika on her religion and posing her moral quandaries in an try and illustrate the inherent absurdity it sees in Christian fundamentalist teachings. The entity does not a lot mock her or her religion, however somewhat pokes at loopholes and appears for contradictions, chipping away on the foundations of her beliefs with every barb.
At one level the satan asks Indika to rank sins. Absolutely, it posits, if after a confession a priest can assign a penance primarily based on the severity of the transgressions confessed then there should be a hierarchy to sin. If the priest calls for you say a ‘Hail Mary’ after confessing a theft, and ten after a homicide, then are ten thefts equal to a homicide within the eyes of God? Is a rapist higher than a assassin, it asks? Correctly, the sport by no means makes an attempt to reply these questions.
Near the start of the sport, Indika is given a letter that should be hand-delivered to a monk in a far-off monastery, however she’s instructed to not learn it beneath any circumstances. She units off on her journey throughout Russia with solely the voices in her head for firm, however she quickly meets an injured jail escapee and begins to look after him, and the 2 turn out to be travelling companions.
The convict — Ilya — is a typically well-meaning however quixotic type; a person who believes himself to be chosen by God after dishonest loss of life. Ilya, just like the satan, serves as an attention-grabbing counterpoint to Indika, and the interaction between them types the idea for a few of the recreation’s most attention-grabbing narrative ponderings. Because the satan pokes holes in Indika’s beliefs, she too jabs at Ilya’s conviction that his survival might be attributed to a miracle, that God has chosen him for one thing better.
The sport touches on some fairly critical subjects and it left us slack-jawed on a couple of event at simply how bleak it is keen to get, however it breaks up all the bitter and the dour with some true moments of levity. There’s an absurdist ingredient to the sport, and it incessantly drifts into surrealism. As talked about beforehand, the satan is a supply of comedy, however Indika herself is humorous too, with an sometimes biting wit.
The writing of her character is robust, however Indika can be splendidly animated and acted. We performed the sport utilizing the Russian voice performing, however we tried it in English too and it is a wonderful translation. The best way that Indika strikes is unsettling in simply the correct methods. She’s continually fiddling together with her fingers, biting her nails, twitching awkwardly. She appears fully uncomfortable in her personal pores and skin, and nevertheless you select to interpret her relationship with the satan — be it supernatural or all in her thoughts — it really works.
What works rather less nicely is the moment-to-moment gameplay of Indika, which we might charitably consult with as serviceable. Many of the recreation is spent strolling from one level to a different with some gentle platforming parts and a few pushing round of bins, none of which is something particular. Brevity works within the recreation’s favour right here, as whereas the puzzle-solving and platforming stays the weakest a part of Indika from begin to end, at 5 – 6 hours the sport merely is not lengthy sufficient for it to ever turn out to be an actual drawback.
However for all of our disappointment with some elements of Indika’s gameplay, on occasion the sport will unexpectedly shift style, or play with conventions in a means you won’t anticipate. For instance, all through the sport you may earn expertise factors by discovering artefacts or fixing puzzles, and you need to use these factors to work via a ability tree to unlock expertise which are completely nugatory.
A number of video games have ability timber that really feel nugatory on account of poor planning somewhat than design, however right here it is intentional. You’ll be able to unlock nodes on the ability tree to extend rank in issues like disgrace or guilt, neither of which enable you to in any respect within the recreation. At one level, very early on, you are tasked with accumulating water from the nicely and also you’re requested to do that over and over to fill a barrel, your exhausting work for the convent incomes you extra Jesus factors to spend on the ineffective ability tree with every pour.
There are moments like this peppered all through Indika, and we’ll go away it as much as you to attract your personal conclusions as to what the sport is making an attempt to say. That is a part of the enjoyment of Indika, actually. It asks a number of questions however solutions few. It is ambiguous in simply the correct methods, proper right down to the considerably astonishing finale, which could possibly be seen as devastating or hopeful relying on the way you interpret it.
Conclusion
Whereas we have got points with a few of the lower than adventurous gameplay mechanics, in most different regards Indika is an absolute triumph. It teeters on a cliff edge, tonally, however by no means goes too far in anybody path. It by no means turns into preachy, or maudlin, or too foolish for its personal good. It is a fantastic balancing act, and one which it continues proper up till its remaining moments which is able to go away you not sure about whether or not you need to giggle or cry.
