Indika is a sport of untamed contradiction. It is compelling, considerate, and bold, but additionally tedious, rote, and by-product. It is the kind of online game that ruminates on the character of religious religion, free will, guilt, disgrace, temptation, and morality, after which asks you to unravel boring field puzzles. It is the kind of online game that asks you to unravel 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 would not appear to be standard 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 and illustrate the inherent absurdity it sees in Christian fundamentalist teachings. The entity would not a lot mock her or her religion, however slightly 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 based mostly on the severity of the transgressions confessed then there have to 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 have to 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 take care of him, and the 2 turn into travelling companions.
The convict — Ilya — is a usually well-meaning however quixotic kind; a person who believes himself to be chosen by God after dishonest dying. Ilya, just like the satan, serves as an attention-grabbing counterpoint to Indika, and the interaction between them types the premise for a few of the sport’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 will be attributed to a miracle, that God has chosen him for one thing higher.
The sport touches on some fairly severe matters and it left us slack-jawed on multiple event at simply how bleak it is prepared to get, nevertheless it breaks up the entire bitter and the dour with some true moments of levity. There’s an absurdist component 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 often 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 superb translation. The way in which that Indika strikes is unsettling in simply the appropriate methods. She’s continually fiddling together with her fingers, biting her nails, twitching awkwardly. She appears completely uncomfortable in her personal pores and skin, and nonetheless 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 would charitably confer with as serviceable. A lot of the sport 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 sport’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 into an actual downside.
However for all of our disappointment with some features of Indika’s gameplay, from time to time 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 should use these factors to work by way of a ability tree to unlock expertise which are completely nugatory.
Numerous video games have ability bushes that really feel nugatory on account of poor planning slightly 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 allow you to in any respect within the sport. 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 onerous 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 depart it as much as you to attract your personal conclusions as to what the sport is attempting to say. That is a part of the enjoyment of Indika, truthfully. It asks numerous questions however solutions few. It is ambiguous in simply the appropriate methods, proper right down to the considerably astonishing finale, which may very well be seen as devastating or hopeful relying on the way you interpret it.
Conclusion
Whereas we have 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 course. 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 remaining moments which is able to depart you uncertain about whether or not it is best to snicker or cry.