INDIKA, astonishingly, got me to think about the nature of my faith and morality. For a linear 3d puzzle platformer, this game is delightfully abstract and philosophical. Indika and her companions have many interesting conversations while trudging through the desolate winter landscape of Russia.
INDIKA is a narrative adventure where we join its titular character on a journey of self-discovery. Her journey starts at a convent where the other nuns, despite the religion’s call to love and forgive, quite obviously hate her. All because of a little quirk in her brain—she can hear the Devil’s voice.
When Indika is sent to deliver a letter, she sets off on a journey of self-discovery. The ’Devil’ serves as an occasional narrator but more often than not pokes at her, providing temptation, or asking her questions that challenge her beliefs.
A Dark And Funny Experience
The world of INDIKA echoes this dark, if absurd, setup. This world is as fractured as Indika’s mind. For the most part, it switches between a stark winter landscape and hulking post-industrial environments to create an intimidating world and a solid foundation for the game’s platforming. Where it begins to lean into the absurd is the scale, not just of these buildings but also the animals, from a giant demon-like dog to the biggest cow ever, and even giant fish, which are packaged into equally large fish tins. It is all rendered in a beautiful and realistic art style. The physical dissonance creates an interesting, appropriate background for the narrative and humor.
INDIKA has an interesting sense of humor, slyly slipping in clever jokes or straight absurdity in between intense philosophical discussions. Discussions that come to life through some truly amazing voice acting. This is a game where every line of dialogue is just as delicious as its delivery and it creates for some truly quotable material. As a result, every one of the kooky characters is striking even when they are cursing us out.
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For example, in the beginning, the Devil mocks the nuns for hating Indika despite the rules of Christianity saying otherwise, but what really makes Indika’s place in this world feel real is how she reacts to it. Indika is animated to be twitchy, nervous, and anxious, constantly wringing her hands, looking down or away, her shoulder hunched as she tries to make herself small.
Her self-loathing and the ‘Devil’s’ apparent joy in her suffering are emphasized by an amazing soundscape that is mostly just as desolate as the world. However, as the environment splits with ‘visions’ or crazy sequences, like cycling away from a sniper who can’t hit anything, the music leaps in. Usually with dissonant musical tones reminiscent of a Carnival. The next thing you know, there are hints of some demented Eurotrash EDM. It’s an odd but fantastic combination. Then you slip into a flashback, crafted in a beautiful 2d world with classic arcade gameplay and excellent chiptune music.
A Solid Game
These constant switches keep the game interesting. You never know what’s around the corner or how the world and gameplay will change. You start in an arcade, freefalling through a dark space, moving your character around quickly to crash into coins. After that, you are in a walking simulator. Then, simple platforming until the world literally fractures around you as the devil takes over, taunting Indika into a trembling mess. The only way to calm the world down is to hit a button to desperately pray for sanity. However, you have to let the devil taunt you to actually find a path out of your predicament.
These are the best sections of platforming in the game. Not only do they make for interesting puzzles, but they also mess with your head since the possession is disorienting. They also add to the absurdity because you are hyper-aware that this is a nun climbing around like Lara Croft, dropping from heights that would give anyone who doesn’t have parkour experience a broken ankle.
The game’s 2D levels also have some amazing design—genuinely hard platforming, to fun rhythm puzzle platforming.
Where INDIKA Struggles
The biggest problem I have is that these are just flashes. For the most part, the gameplay is very basic. If it wasn’t for the fact that the gameplay constantly changes or that the writing is so brilliant, the game could become pretty tedious. For the most part, the world is very linear, and the puzzles are pretty straightforward. Enough that I once overcomplicated a puzzle in my head. I was so sure I was missing something that it couldn’t be that simple so late in the game. It really is a shame that the really epic gameplay elements are used so infrequently.
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In trying to be constantly clever within the gameplay and the narrative, this game occasionally becomes a little too obtuse. It leads to a few jumps in the narrative that leaves too much to be interpreted. Considering how clever the writing is for most of the game, it really stood out when this happened, either in the form of incomplete gameplay or an unfinished story idea. It took away from the experience and was the only time I found the game tedious. To avoid spoilers, I will only mention a certain platforming section with the giant fish that ran a little too long and actually became frustrating.
The Real Reason To Play This Game
For all these pros and cons, this game is worth a play. Even if you aren’t religious, it’s worth it for the value of the conversation around morality and ethics and for the conversation around identity and social issues. Indika takes place in a bleak, hopeless world. You get thrown in without guidance, but this challenge makes it work. It is a brilliant game because of all the amazing little touches that kick your mind into gear.
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Despite the darkness that haunts Indika, she is mirrored by Ilya, who believes he is a living miracle, alive by the grace of God. He is her hope through his presence, even if his path is doomed to fail, too. Ilya serves as her path of self-discovery because, unlike everyone else in her life so far, he doesn’t hate or judge her. Instead, he leans on her.
INDIKA is a gorgeous piece of art that looks at concepts of identity and sanity within the desperate toeholds of a religious framework. Rather, within the structures of what we, as a society, decide is good and evil. It shows how you can find humor and grit, a push to survive, live, and even thrive, even when the world turns on you. Even if you have choices forced on you, you can find your way. Maybe.
GamesHorizon was provided with a review copy of INDIKA for Steam.
Indika is a beautiful title whose gameplay is outmatched by some brilliant writing and voice acting. It’s a thought-provoking journey that explores concepts of faith, good and evil, and identity.
The Good
- Beautiful graphics. The game has photo-realistic 3d artwork for the majority of the game and slips into gorgeous 2d arcade sequences for flashbacks.
- Excellent writing, with witty thought-provoking dialogue that makes you question yourself
- Brilliant voice acting
- Great absurdist sense of humor that is a relief from how grim the game gets at times
- A lot of variation in the gameplay between levels which keeps the game fresh and interesting, which includes some amazing puzzle and arcade elements
- Amazing music and soundscape reflect both the grim elements and the absurdist elements
- Great showcase of how to use gameplay principles as well as how to subvert them
The Bad
- Can be obtuse at times, in both narrative and gameplay
- Base gameplay is a little simple and too linear. The better elements aren’t used as much or to its complete potential
