habitation > Game review
Set in a frigid , warped mirror of twist - of - the - century Russia , INDIKA go out our nominal nun on a journey of self - find like no other . Her companions let in an on the loose con who speaks to God and the real devil himself whispering in her ear , and together , the three ( or two ? ) make for a journey that is as unforgettable as it is packed full of philosophic questions and satirical dour humor .
On so many levels , INDIKA is not what I expect when it come across my desk . Then again , I do n’t get it on if you may really build exact expectation for INDIKA . The game is unabashedly dissimilar in its approach to storytelling , even break so far as to apparently mock the method chosen to deliver the story ( that being video game or your expectations for what an RPG like INDIKA might be ) .
It has quite the story to state , too . From start to finish , INDIKA is a criticism of spiritual political theory and modern ( ish ) society , a pondering of philosophic concepts of self , and , at times , a black irony of the human race in world-wide . At least , that ’s what I get out of it , and frankly , I feel a little dazed and out of my conference assay to explain the concepts present in INDIKA ’s writing . Whatever you get out of it , however , you may not traverse that it is a fundamentally imaginative and interesting account full of deep enquiry and lusciously dark humor set in a slightly strange version of our own world .
One of the chief composition of INDIKA is how our titular protagonist ’s struggle with the economic value and shame impressed upon her by her fostering within a Russian monastery , and her contradictory interior vocalization , which be her thwarting at the hand of her contact humiliation , her so - scream temptation and other thought process that have pass her sistership to take for her as a unblushing sinner . That , or it is quite literally the devil .
Unfortunately , I sometimes ground myself concur with the devil over the other characters in the floor . He candidly makes some in force degree , but he is scarce a hero in our report . Unlike the game ’s splendidly acerbic color pallet , the committal to writing in INDIKA is anything but disgraceful and white .
Far beyond just a narrative gimmick , however , INDIKA uses our champion ’s inner battle as a gameplay mechanic . There will be points in the floor where Indika is overwhelmed by her interior soliloquy , and her angst and frustration quite literally overcast the screenland in red and crack or tear the surroundings . The only mode to quell this episode is to pray , which return thing to normal .
Cleverly , the warped environs as Indika give in to her thoughts actually changes the platforming or puzzle in a segment , mean you have to strategically swap between giving in to your glowering thoughts and implore the “ sin ” away to correctly navigate to the final stage of a degree .
Mechanically , I do n’t think INDIKA is anything to drop a line dwelling house about . It is a fair simple platforming puzzler plot , the form you might come to expect from these sorts of story - based experience . Though I ’ll say the platforming segment you do engage on are remarkably originative ( a favorite of mine is the Pisces manufactory , where you have to sail through a conveyor of giant Pisces that would rap Indika to her fiery destruction ) , you ’re definitely sit down through INDIKA for the write up , and not the exciting gameplay .
The game seems to understand and even bemock the fact that it is a TV game and that your outlook of what you ’d get out of a plot sort of contradict the artwork of telling Indika ’s story . Collecting point and so - called “ level off up ” seems to be a pointless errand , nose fun at your expectations as a thespian .
You ’re in INDIKA for the story and the character reference , and by God , are they deserving the fourth dimension investing ? Every character in INDIKA is a flesh - out and interesting fauna , but none more so than Indika and Ilya , our fated companions .
Indika herself has quickly become one of my favorite protagonist of all sentence . She is a deeply complicated character whose childhood as a machine shop assistant makes her a capable and interesting problem solver while clashing with her condition as a nun . She ’s a mixed travelling bag of desires , wanting desperately to be the perfect woman of the material while fighting with innate “ devilish ” desires that say to me very much as natural , albeit suppressed , human emotion .
She ’s a deeply smart character who never once in the narration says something that feel out of place for who she is , nor does anything I would n’t believe she ’d do . The way she bounces off Ilya fix for some phenomenal eccentric fundamental interaction that nobble me even when my ADD made the teaser - solving a bit tedious .
What can I say about the biz ’s visuals that my screenshots have n’t already ? The secret plan is absolutely gorgeous , with a raw color palette and some of the most splendid environmental designs I ’ve find out in a while . The world feel cold , endure in but abandoned , bleak , and weird , contradict exclusively by the occasional flashback or dream sequence that totally change the visuals to a vibrant , fantastic pixel artistry esthetic .
INDIKA might be a polarizing game . The “ gameplay ” is nothing more than puzzles , albeit they are mentally piquant and creatively designed , and at meter , the biz seems to almost bemock you for expecting it to be a game . While excellent , the storytelling is quite surely nontraditional , psychedelic , and downright eldritch , and candidly , I do n’t call back everyone will get it — It even made me feel stupid at clip .
While I ca n’t say everyone will love INDIKA , I can sure as shooting say that everyone should give it a chance because this title most certainly stands out as a firearm of living , albeit frostbitten , art .
The Final Word
INDIKA is an utterly unequaled , psychedelic , and strange title , assure a wonderful , idea - provoking story filled with chance upon imagery and wonderfully desolate humor .
test Hard Guides welcome a personal computer review code for this biz . Find more elaborated aspect at pop and upcoming titles in theGame Reviewssection of our internet site ! INDIKA is available onSteam , GoG , Epic Games , XboxandPlayStation .
