Reviewing INDIKA on PC: A Gaming Experience

Religious with black coffee like a moonless night

From her very first teaser, Indika seemed crazy. With its astonishing shots, its crazy characters, its psychedelic music, the software had set the bar high in video game WTF and augured a work like no other. Despite everything, nothing had really prepared us for this. Brought to life by the Russian team at Odd Meter, the baby from 11 bit studios dynamites a genre – the third-person narrative adventure – which usually struggles to get off the beaten track. “Where we're going, we don't need a road” could have insidiously whispered the demon trotting in Indika's veiled head. Why take the paths marked out by reason when you can walk side paths paved with bad intentions? Having agreed to deliver a letter, the nun will discover… biblical evils.

Indika's divine strength lies in the incredible situations, ubiquitous in their comic and tragic aspects, continually confronting the player. Odd Meter makes the break in tone a sardonic art that would almost make the achievements of the David Lynch/Mark Frost duo seem like academic creations. If seeing an elf in pajamas come out of the mouth of a sister in full communion doesn't surprise you, perhaps a chase at 10 km/h aboard an old motorcycle against a clumsy but vociferous soldier will. amaze you. The white flakes covering the devastated Russian landscapes, to be explored in a straight line, unfortunately manage to bury Indika's feverish madness. Indeed, it is regrettable to note that the second part of the journey does not reach the degree of insanity of the first half. Yes, we would have preferred a crescendo in dementia, but we appreciated this headlong rush where good, evil, faith and distrust flounder in a mess made of earth, blood and melted snow.

The game salutes you, Marie

As crazy as it may seem, Indika does not forget to be a real video game. In fact, most of the media's codes are respected with XP points to collect, collectibles to find and puzzles to solve. The relatively numerous puzzles enhance progression through effective mini-games. No invasive back and forth or lengthy sequences here, the software designed by Odd Meter opts for sensationalism above all else. “The snow must go on”. Indika strives to be astounding by coming up with crazy ideas every 15 minutes flat, even though this would mean that no good gameplay idea would ultimately be pushed where we would like it to go. For example, the heroine has the power to change the setting in real time when she prays. This mechanic, which could have created clever puzzles, is however only used in two short sequences.

As you might expect, video game codes are obviously used to thwart the odds. A true 100% narrative title which does not forget to bring into play the poor sinners that we are, Indika can recall Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, with the difference that here, the fights give way to 2D/3D platform phases. Throughout the journey which unfortunately only lasts four short hours, the software is a den of broken faces – the likes of which we rarely see in our video game productions – gesticulating in a captivating adventure which is only orthodox in its monasteries. Graphically attractive, technically solid and particularly immersive thanks to an accomplished soundscape, Indika manages to forget that it is the product of a small development studio. It will be more difficult to erase from the minds of certain players its definitively linear constructionits invisible walls, and its ending too quickly dispatched for an experience that aims to be narrative.

Conclusion