INDIKA Review

“What is Indika?” This is the question I’ve been asked by many. Even after completing the game, I still don’t know how to answer it. Indika doesn’t really align with one genre. It’s not quite horror, but still kinda creepy. But also feels like your regular story-driven adventure/puzzle game. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of this five-hour religion-focused game, but what I did get out of it was a bonkers experience that will stick with me for years to come.

Indika is a third-person, story-driven game set in 19th-century Russia, where religious visions clash with harsh reality. The game follows a nun, Indika, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery with the help of the Devil. The story can be thought-provoking at times but never takes itself too seriously and doesn’t apply heavy pressure on certain themes. Content warning though: sexual assault is present throughout the game (off-screen but still implied). 

The game deploys a tremendous degree of dark humour to help wade out the copious amounts of religious jargon. Most of this dark humour is from the devil himself, who also acts as the narrator of the game. Along Indika’s journey, she befriends Ilya, an escaped prisoner who claims he can talk to God. Caring about Indika and Ilya felt effortless, which I wasn’t expecting in such a short game. What Odd Meter has achieved in such a short experience is monumental. Indika is a game you have never played before, and the main personality trait it could claim could be just how bizarre it is.

In terms of gameplay, Indika is mostly a puzzle game. There are obstacles to move, levers to pull, and other basic puzzle game tropes. The puzzles were fairly simple; some felt a little boring, but I always looked past that because the overall experience of the game had me engrossed the whole way through. There was a puzzle mechanic that I loved where literal hell breaks loose in the puzzle area, and every time Indika prayed, it would transform the platforms and such to enable a more lateral thinking approach to solving the puzzle. I wish they did more of that. It was only in the game twice, and that was the most engaged in the puzzles I got.

What makes Indika stand out, though, is the game’s presentation and art direction. It is so aesthetically pleasing. The core of the game is a 3D realistic art style, but throughout flashbacks, the game is transformed into gorgeous pixel art. It felt like two different games at times. These pixel art sequences are bolstered with charm and contain mini-games that provide some relief from the lacklustre puzzles. The juxtaposition works really well and always hits at the right time. 

The whole soundtrack, even when playing in the realistic art style, is very old-school arcade-inspired. Even in instances where you are being chased by a giant dog, the arcade-style music is playing. It shouldn’t work, but it does.