Really quite good, often stunningly gorgeous, and endlessly stylish. Indika peddles in the phantasmagoric in its exploration of trauma, faith, and the loss thereof. Stunning landscapes are interspersed amongst hyper-surrealist industrial explorations of pre-revolution Russia.
Surely this can't be God's plan?
Indika is not exploring ideas that haven't been touched before, but I haven't come across many games that examine a fall from grace/faith in the way that Indika does, and certainly not as stylishly. Flourishes of color and dream-like hyperbole work their way into nearly every pivotal moment of the game's plodding structure. While the themes explored may not be groundbreaking, the aesthetics of their exploration are inarguably mature, particularly for the medium, doubly so for the fidelity at which Indika is rendered.
It is not hard to imagine this same game conceived as a low-poly low-res walking sim, exploring the same concepts and plot points. It is genuinely delightful to see a game that would be seen as extremely niche a few years ago be given such a grand budget to beautifully render its story in.
I could not help but think of Playdead's Inside and Limbo while playing this – Indika seems heavily inspired by those games' focus on atmosphere and tone, above all else. As such, I think the same folks that were frustrated by the somewhat rote puzzle-solving in either of the aforementioned games will probably grind their teeth during the similar puzzle sections here.
All in all, Indika is well worth the price of admission in its beauty alone. Expertly crafted environments that are further buoyed by gorgeous cinematography (the wolf water-wheel shot in particular mwah!).
Surely this can't be God's plan?
Indika is not exploring ideas that haven't been touched before, but I haven't come across many games that examine a fall from grace/faith in the way that Indika does, and certainly not as stylishly. Flourishes of color and dream-like hyperbole work their way into nearly every pivotal moment of the game's plodding structure. While the themes explored may not be groundbreaking, the aesthetics of their exploration are inarguably mature, particularly for the medium, doubly so for the fidelity at which Indika is rendered.
It is not hard to imagine this same game conceived as a low-poly low-res walking sim, exploring the same concepts and plot points. It is genuinely delightful to see a game that would be seen as extremely niche a few years ago be given such a grand budget to beautifully render its story in.
I could not help but think of Playdead's Inside and Limbo while playing this – Indika seems heavily inspired by those games' focus on atmosphere and tone, above all else. As such, I think the same folks that were frustrated by the somewhat rote puzzle-solving in either of the aforementioned games will probably grind their teeth during the similar puzzle sections here.
All in all, Indika is well worth the price of admission in its beauty alone. Expertly crafted environments that are further buoyed by gorgeous cinematography (the wolf water-wheel shot in particular mwah!).