Indika's creativity and vision craft an unforgettable psychological journey through faith that will stick with you for quite a while
Set in an alternative version of 19th century Russia, Indika is a surreal yet grounded third-person adventure game developed by Odd Meter and published by 11 Bit Studios. As a misfit Russian Orthodox nun named Indika, you embark on a journey across a bleak, cold, slightly depressing world while exploring complex themes surrounding faith and religion.
Indika's story centers around a nun struggling with her belief system as she completes the mundane task of just delivering a letter. Along the way, you encounter an escaped convict named Ilya who claims God speaks to him, and that sparks deep philosophical discussions that challenge both characters' views.
However, there's another entity that joins Indika on her journey. Yeah, it's the devil, and as weird as this might sound, the conversations Indika has with the actual devil are the best part of this whole experience. Through these conversations and utterly bizarre, but so cool situations, Indika must confront her doubts and what she truly believes in.
It's extremely hard to talk about and explain how great and deep these conversations go without spoiling them. This iteration of the devil, and again as weird as that sounds, asks Indika and ultimately you, the player, some real thought-provoking questions about faith and religion, and how one is supposed to behave and live their life according to what we might have been told or taught. But the coolest part of this devil is that he doesn't try to force his way of thinking onto Indika. Sure, he's pretty douchy most of the time, he lightly nudges Indika towards sinning, but just a little bit, and he challenges pretty much every piece of argument that Indika throws his way with, dare I say, smarter counterarguments. Without spoiling anything, one of these many thought-provoking conversations is focused around what is considered a "sin" and how weird it is that committing many innocuous small sins can apparently have the same weight as probably the biggest sin a human can do.
It might sound weird to say, but the devil portrayed in Indika kinda makes sense because it's, in one way, the devil from the Bible. I don't want to go too deep into religion right now because that whole thing can get quite complex really quickly. When you play the game, just keep an open mind to what you see and hear. The game doesn't tell you how to feel, what to believe, or what's even right or wrong. How you process it, that's entirely up to you, and that's what is beautiful in us humans – we have the free will to feel and act however we see fit... or do we?
In terms of what you actually do in Indika, the gameplay focuses on exploration and puzzle-solving. You guide Indika through mostly linear areas and complete simple puzzles. What are these puzzles, you might ask? Well, one time you will use a giant machine to grab and move some giant cans of whale meat (I guess) to create a path to climb, or another one will see you operate a massive crane so that you can lift some massive structures and stack (LEGO) the shit out of them to create a bridge... yeah, Indika's gameplay is as wild and surreal as the story it tells. Again, as it is a fairly short game, talking more about the gameplay, puzzles, and its pointless point system would spoil all the fun and weird surprises that this game has to offer.
What I can say is that while the game looks quite good with some dreary yet beautiful and intricate environments with some surrealist/impossible architecture and finely detailed character models, the performance on the PS5 is a little bit janky, with many framerate dips during many parts of the game. It's not as bad as to ruin the experience, but when it dips, it's very noticeable, and I really hope the devs can quickly improve it.
But as I said, it didn't ruin the game for me, as all throughout playing the game, experiencing the story, and completing these wonderfully weird puzzles, I had a combined awe, amused, and slightly confused facial expression, and the last time I had that face was when I was watching Poor Things in the cinema. Indika has that same wonderfully weird "what the fuck is happening because I love it" kind of vibe, and when I saw Yorgos Lanthimos' name (director of Poor Things) in the review guide material that I was provided along with the game, it all made sense.
Now, while the story and themes may not offer surprises for those knowledgeable about religion and philosophy, Indika's engaging presentation and bold ambitions make for a thought-provoking experience. Its creativity and vision craft an unforgettable psychological journey through faith that will stick with you for quite a while. By tackling complex issues and questioning belief systems, Odd Meter crafted one of the most unique and creative indie titles I've played. I know it's not for everyone, but it was for me, and I highly recommend this game. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a PS5 via a promo copy provided by the publisher. Indika is available on PS5, Xbox and PC.
