Without much context, one would think this is a game related to celebrating 4/20. Well, you would not be too far off. While this game had nothing to do with weed, Indika was a wild trip. It leaned heavily into its storytelling and cinematography. The review notes the developer Odd Meter included said the game was inspired by the works of directors such as Ari Aster and Yorgos Lanthimos. After seeing a couple of movies from each of these directors, like Midsommar and Poor Things, I understood the choices Indika made.
Indika is about a young nun named Indika whose religious loyalties to her beliefs and its system are questioned when she is tasked on a mission to deliver a letter. While her faith is strong, she also converses and travels with the Devil himself. Her whole journey of self-discovery becomes intertwined when she crosses paths with an escaped convict. Together, they traverse the cold wintery weather of an alternative historical Russia around the 19th century—with the Devil as a fun passenger riding inside Indika’s mind.
Where to even begin with this one? Honestly, I felt like I was playing and watching a movie the whole time. Also, there were nonstop moments where I was like, ‘oh, this is very similar to something’. The cinematography was on the level of directors with certain aesthetics, like Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel, having a lot of symmetrical shots and is filled with a wide palette of colours, or Zack Snyder’s 300 or The Watchmen, which utilizes slow motion to keep audiences engaged in the emotions of the almost-still moment.
The musical main theme of Indika was just as aloof as the score of Poor Things; I feel like these two themes are seared into my mind now. I appreciated how this game was similar to Poor Things in the sense of two female protagonists embarking on a journey of self-discovery for different reasons. The voice actor of Indika did an amazing job because I could feel all of the emotions—if only the visuals could match the same energy. There were some cutscenes where the lips were not moving to the dialogue, which briefly took me out of moments.
“I found a connection to the story because of the mystery behind the background of Indika’s life. Finding out more about her time before entering the monastery was both wholesome and sad.”
For some strange reason, I saw a connection of this game with The Mandalorian series and The First Omen film I recently watched. It really made me think about how religious indoctrination (more so, across history) has been very cult-like and can seem like a prison for some people. The way Indika is juxtaposed with an escaped convict is very interpretative, as they are in similar positions but come together from different circumstances.
The whole devil-on-her-shoulder vibes in this game were what drew me to the similarity with The First Omen. The Mandalorian and how the protagonist cannot remove his helmet because of his clan’s Way made me think about how nuns are required to wear their veils. The symbolism was evident.
The graphics were nothing special but nothing to scoff at either; I played it on the highest settings since my PC could handle it. The quality was a melting pot between the original Resident Evil games and Little Nightmares in terms of the characters’ skin and textures being very close to real-life people. Many parts of this game screamed inspiration from these two games, too. I felt like the gameplay mimicked platforming and puzzles from Resident Evil Village and the Little Nightmares games.
This puzzle game also had some great pixel art to match other similarly styled games like Stardew Valley or Moonlighter. The use of this art style was a great distinction between Indika’s past and her present. The gameplay in these parts reminded me of retro games like Frogger and Sonic the Hedgehog, where the platforming needed some precise timing, and the music kind of helped time the jumps.
“I thought Indika’s journey was amazing with its ability to blend different platforming and mind-bending puzzles”
11 Bit Studios is really into the European steampunk backdrop with their other game, Frostpunk, and its upcoming sequel, along with the survival game This War of Mine. The emotional dread of those games crossed over into Indika from the general mood. Strangely enough, there is some driving/biking in this game, but the bikes had a steam/gas engine, which looked like something I would want instead of those e-bikes seen in most North American downtown cores.
The vibes of Indika, this puzzle/platformer/walking simulator, were all over the place from beginning to end. There were a couple of WTF moments, a bunch of funny moments, a few intimate beats, and a sprinkle of sad scenes. As the devs said, they were going in with a lot of film influences, and I felt it. It was not the same thrilling feeling that story-driven games like Uncharted or The Last of Us had given me, but the dialogue and allure struck me in a similar way.
I found a connection to the story because of the mystery behind the background of Indika’s life. Finding out more about her time before entering the monastery was both wholesome and sad. For a game that only soaked up about four and a half hours, I thought Indika’s journey was amazing with its ability to blend different platforming and mind-bending puzzles. Some puzzles broke my brain, and I had to walk away and come back. But there were no puzzles where I thought I had to be exactly right or needed to break the game mechanics to get it done.
The illusory experience was an amalgamation of what worked from other games with similar vibes. Players who enjoy dark puzzle games like Limbo or the Little Nightmares games will enjoy parts of Indika—but this is intended for a more mature audience. My only gripe was how short the journey was because it seemed to have a rushed ending unless the devs intended to add more later. Would I recommend the use of indica when embarking on Indika’s tale? I would be cautious; you never know when a little devil’s voice will begin talking to you.
