Indika is a recreation of untamed contradiction. It is compelling, considerate, and impressive, but in addition 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 had 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 would 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 would 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, continuously difficult Indika on her religion and posing her moral quandaries in an try to illustrate the inherent absurdity it sees in Christian fundamentalist teachings. The entity would not a lot mock her or her religion, however quite 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. Certainly, 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? Properly, 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 below 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 take care of him, and the 2 develop into 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 demise. Ilya, just like the satan, serves as an attention-grabbing counterpoint to Indika, and the interaction between them varieties 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 could be attributed to a miracle, that God has chosen him for one thing higher.
The sport touches on some fairly critical matters and it left us slack-jawed on multiple 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 aspect to the sport, and it continuously 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 powerful, 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 way in which that Indika strikes is unsettling in simply the proper methods. She’s always fiddling along with her arms, biting her nails, twitching awkwardly. She appears solely 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 discuss with as serviceable. Many of the recreation is spent strolling from one level to a different with some gentle platforming components and a few pushing round of containers, 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 or 6 hours the sport merely is not lengthy sufficient for it to ever develop into an actual downside.
However for all of our disappointment with some points of Indika’s gameplay, every so often the sport will unexpectedly shift style, or play with conventions in a approach you may not count on. For instance, all through the sport you possibly can earn expertise factors by discovering artefacts or fixing puzzles, and you need to use these factors to work by means of a talent tree to unlock abilities which are completely nugatory.
Numerous video games have talent timber that really feel nugatory as a consequence of poor planning quite than design, however right here it is intentional. You possibly can unlock nodes on the talent tree to extend rank in issues like disgrace or guilt, neither of which assist you to in any respect within the recreation. At one level, very early on, you are tasked with gathering water from the nicely and also you’re requested to do that again and again to fill a barrel, your arduous work for the convent incomes you extra Jesus factors to spend on the ineffective talent 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 individual conclusions as to what the sport is making an attempt to say. That is a part of the enjoyment of Indika, truthfully. It asks a whole lot of questions however solutions few. It is ambiguous in simply the proper methods, proper right down to the considerably astonishing finale, which might 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 anyone route. It by no means turns into preachy, or maudlin, or too foolish for its personal good. It is a great balancing act, and one which it continues proper up till its closing moments which is able to go away you not sure about whether or not you must giggle or cry.
