Indika doesn't seem to be able to commit to a particular identity. There are many profound ideas tossed around in its runtime that I liked. Some are delivered quite well and also struck me as genuinely valuable avenues of thought that could be pursued. It's too bad the game doesn't have the focus to see most of them through. Its nihilistic perspective could potentially function as a justification for not doing so, but I couldn't help but feel I was left with an undercooked meal in my lap by the end.

The one area where I think Indika excels most is in its presentation. Throughout the experience, gritty black and white hyper-realistic visuals are bookended by scenes composed of vibrant pixel art. It's jarring, but intentionally so, as the pixel art works both to show Indika's rose-tinted view of her past and to push along a separate line of thought about the gamification of faith which has seeped into the church. Both art styles are pulled off well here, and the amount of care taken in framing each shot gives the game a great cinematic feel.

What's unusual is how unapologetically weird and silly Indika often is in spite of its bleak subject matter. An early scene in the game where a little man climbs out of a nun's mouth and dances around as Indika watches sets the tone well. In fact, much of the first hour is excellent in this regard. At a certain point though it felt to me as though the game lost its way and began being weird simply for the hell of it. Shots would often linger too long to where they felt like products of neglect rather than deliberate choices. At one point a dialogue about free will played out between two characters as they navigated a series of hallways filled with obvious dead ends and it felt to me like the writers had done just about the most cliche thing possible and then called it a day.

On the technical side, Indika feels a bit unfinished as well. Character movement is stiff. Lip sync is sorely lacking. Dialogue volume balance is totally out of wack; I was constantly adjusting the volume up and down as I played because Indika would go from muttering one line to screaming the next with no contextual justification. I also had an achievement or two just fail to pop even though I fulfilled the admittedly sometimes vague requirements in their descriptions.

However, the story-- and the way gameplay intersects with it-- is my biggest sore spot. There's a very cool puzzle mechanic introduced early on where the world tears apart and a rueful voice expounds on Indika's sins, but Indika can pray to pull the world back together and silence the voice. The point is you have to shift between the torn world and the "fixed" one to progress rather than relying on one. Thematically this is some really good stuff. I looked forward to seeing how it would be used further. Hah. It happened one more time an hour-ish later and then never again. Did the devs forget about it? What happened?

Ilya, a companion through much of the game, also just kind of sits and watches as Indika does everything during the puzzle bits, which is disappointing. No interaction at all really, save for the occasional irritated bark about how long she's taking. The puzzles weren't too cliche exactly, but they typically rang hollow and felt boring, by and large. Most did not intersect with the themes in a way I felt to be sufficient.

The plot, too, seems to lose its way early on. It meanders with various ideas before pulling together for a conclusion which would have been rather predictable after the first hour were it not for my expectation that the game would use the characters and events following its opening in a way that would have any bearing at all on the plot's trajectory. This isn't to say I regret playing it. It was an odd and unique experience that presents some solid food for thought regarding the nature of faith. But I don't feel it makes good on the foundation it builds for itself early on.

Weird is an acronym originally found in psychology that stands for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic. It denotes the ongoing problem that participants in psychological and sociological trials all come from a very small slice of the human population yet represent all humanity.

Indika is a nun from western Russia who seems educated (she knows what sepsis is), traverses an industrialized landscape, comes from a relatively wealthy family, and trades democracy for a different D; the drudgery of life in a convent where her fellow nuns despise her.

As I say, weird.

Joking aside, this game is very unique in the genre, almost beyond being a video game. Yet very much a video game, even self referentially about being a video game. It pays homage to platformers, puzzles, and Pac-Man. It can be as frustrating as any difficult game. It has a level system based on acquiring points but mocks the system the entire game.

The story gets very surreal at moments but it’s such a moving, well told story. There are times when I couldn’t tell if the story was referencing mental illness of faith and it works either way. It was often quite funny. You definitely feel for the characters. There is brutality, including one scene that might be triggering to sexual assault victims, and gore. There wasn’t much of it, though, and it never felt sensationalist.

This is definitely a candidate for video games as art. It’s certainly worth your time if you want to try something different.

Indika is an indie third person horror game where you play as a young nun in an alternate history Russia. As a member of a convent (I think that's the right term?) you are given a few basic, very medial tasks showing the uneventful life your character has found herself in. Shortly after though, you are given a letter and asked to deliver it to a location outside the convent. Very quickly things go off the rails where you are questioning her sanity, her faith, and the world around her.

Gameplay consists of moving from set piece to set piece, where each one involves some kind of puzzle. Most of the puzzles are pretty straightforward and easy, but can be pretty clever. I only got stumped at one puzzle towards the very end which took me a decent amount of time to figure out. That puzzle I really enjoyed as it was a bit more obscure than what is typically found and definitely stood out from the others within this game. There is no combat, but a few chase sequences that have an instant death if you do not succeed. Reloading is pretty quick and checkpoints are pretty generous.

I finished the game in just over 4 hours and there really isn't much of anything to go back to for collectibles or other replay value. I enjoyed my time with the game and the story here is really good, but a bit of a hard sell at the full price point of $25. I played it on Playstation's subscription service, where it's a no brainer.

This doesn't look like something I'd choose to play but it was recommended by a friend who has a good grasp of the kinds of games I like. I mean, this is technically a cut and dry glorified walking sim. It has other game elements at times (there is a scene or two that is in first person just... because, and there are these weird retro minigames with 8bit inspired appearance and soundtrack... also just because)) it's really lite on the game aspects and I think it should be viewed as a kind of David Cage like low-skilled-based-walking sim.

However the game actually features some really good puzzles here and there. Many have a 'thinking outside the box' solution. I believe at least one puzzle has more than one solution (i thought i broke the puzzle but that was either the way to solve it or an alternative solution) the puzzles themselves remind me a lot of the game ICO, in they are moving boxes or furniture around type platform puzzles.

Mostly the game is a cinematic and visual treat. It has an unusually deep narrative complexity with a lot of really clever and creative elements that fit in nicely with the game medium such as alternate monologue tracks when using the power of prayer power vs listening to temptations of the devil when not using it. The writing is also quite good and clever in lots of places.

The story setting was okay but a bit uninteresting overall. Typically, when I'm feeling up for an adventure game i'm after a more interesting setting that "1900's Imperial Russia from perspective of a Nun" but not is all as it seems and things quickly go Grasshopper Manufacturer weird. It feels like it could have been an anime. a lot of stuff is just really exaggerated and weird. There are these huge industrial areas. huge buildings. huge cans of tuna. and other subtle details that i won't spoil.

Ultimately, this seems to be a game about religion from a critical perspective that demonstrates how atheists are made from those that truly sell out to their faith and just get burned by their community. Some learn, some don't. In Indika's case she got some very hard lessons, damn...

Whether you appreciate where the game goes with that or not will probably derive heavily from which side of that fence you fall on, and even then it's light on gameplay (about 6-7 hours tops and not that replayable) i'd crank it up a star were it longer, had multiple endings, CNC elements, or more gameplay (and i dont mean 8bit antics tossed in for funsies) or maybe even more puzzles that were as good as the ones in it.

To me this feels like your typical VR 'experience' but its not a VR game. so "Hmm. Needs more Game" is my opinion on it.