Genre
An adventure
Publisher
11 Bit Studios
Developer
Odd Meter
Minimum Requirements
Windows 10 or higher, AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor (clocked at 3.5 GHz) or Intel Core i5-10400F (clocked at 2.9 GHz), 16 GB RAM, AMD Radeon RX580 graphics card (8 GB VRAM), Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB video memory) or Intel Arc A750 (8 GB video memory), DirectX 11, 50 GB hard drive
Recommended Requirements
AMD Radeon 6700XT (12 GB video memory), Nvidia GeForce GTX 3060 TI (8 GB video memory) or Intel Arc A770 (16 GB video memory), DirectX 12, SSD
release date
May 2, 2024
Age limit
No
Platforms
PC (Steam, Epic Store, GOG), Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5
Indica Day is structured quite simply (following all, a day is life). Get up at five in the morning. Prayer. Shared meal. Obedience – either in the kitchen, or in the yard, maybe even in the garden. Prayer once more. Another shared meal. Second obedience. Evening communion. Lights out. Sprinkle it all generously with apologies, prayers, and more apologies. The ordinary life of a nun who does not go beyond the walls of the monastery. With one small detail – all this time Indica is not alone. The devil is talking to her.
⇡#Meek
To be honest, the Odd Meter studio “bought me” long before the first trailer and even some footage. A game regarding a nun in Russia at the end of the 19th century? With Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky as the main guide and reference? Bring it immediately!
The views here are mostly dreary, but at the same time dear to the heart
Gradually, an idea that was simple for any person who grew up in Russia (but at the same time does not seem to fit at all with a video game) was overgrown with details: the Odd Meter studio dealt primarily with 3D graphics and architecture, so the emphasis was initially placed on high-quality animations – as if first Indica “came to life”, and then the game was built around it. Apparently, my feelings did not let me down. About a year following the announcement, a trailer was released with the gameplay, where Indica was engaged in full-fledged stealth, hiding from the policeman among churches and snowy alleys – although in the end the end result has almost nothing in common with this video. Almost – because there are more than enough churches and snow-covered alleys in Indika.
But the game itself is best described as an “interactive movie” or even more “a cinematic experience with a certain amount of interactivity.”
The game is not shy regarding extreme close-ups in cutscenes – and it does the right thing
However, first, let’s talk regarding Indica herself and those who accompany her on her journey to the most secret corners of the soul. What Odd Meter was initially good at, it succeeded unconditionally – we have seen very few such lovingly and detailed protagonists (heroines) in games. The association immediately pops up – Senua from Hellblade. Lively animations, both bodily and facial, impeccable voice acting, superbly written character: Indika was conceived as a closer look into the restless inner world of a girl possessed by a demon – and the work really works in this context. Albeit with some rough edges.
These rough edges are not related to technical details (everything is almost flawless here – but only almost, I will say more regarding the technical state of the game below), but to the plot connection. The pace is maintained very carefully – it is unhurried, but at the same time the movement is constant; the world is not exactly alive – the staging is obvious – but it is made with great attention to detail; There are many memorable and well-written scenes. No, the problem is that Indika consists of a sequence of not always perfectly coordinated scenes, between which there is a seemingly sparse space. And the transitions are not always smooth.
The grotesqueness is off the scale in places – in this scene it’s like you’re moving through It Takes Two
The first half of the game is focused more on the possessed and her relationship with her demon (he was voiced by Efim Shifrin – and absolutely brilliantly!). In this half there are scenes where the ground literally opens up under Indica and she sees the flashes of hell – only prayer can drown out the collision with Hell (yes, there is a separate key to pray). Further, the narrative imperceptibly shifts the focus to Indica’s relationship with her newfound companion, the escaped convict Ilya – he also has a voice inside, but not the Devil, but God. We also turn to the past of our heroine. The voice of the devil, commenting on what is happening and ranting regarding the eternal, remains, but it seems to no longer matter, let’s pass. It’s as if we are seeing two games and two stories inside one, which, in turn, are divided into separate short films – the plot structure resembles a patchwork quilt, and the focus floats every now and then, which is why the overall message does not work as powerfully as it might.
But this is the problem with Indika as a whole product. The problem with Indika as a game is much more unpleasant. In fact, I am extremely loyal to all video game genres: I am not embarrassed by walking simulators, and all kinds of “movies” where you just need to press the right button in time, I have no questions even regarding the one-button Virginia – I just need interactivity, the ability to identify myself with heroes, to be “inside” the work. Indika, unfortunately, looks like its gameplay is a bit hampered. All the most important moments and bright scenes are presented in the form of in-engine cutscenes – perfectly staged, very expressive and beautiful, with breathtaking camera work and wonderful animations. But this just interferes with that very identification, the feeling of being inside this world, and not in the position of an observer. This is, in fact, the same feeling when you watch a film with an annoying voice-over text, pronouncing what actually needs to be shown using film language (despite the fact that the voice-over itself is enough here).
Indica’s past is presented through inserts in the spirit of retro games
No, I can’t say that Indika would work better as a cartoon – that’s exactly what “almost interactive cinema”. Take away even minor interactivity from here, and it becomes completely boring. Still, even basic walking (there is a lot of it here – and no, you can run too) with the opportunity to sit on benches and admire the views is somewhat immersive. And then there are spatial puzzles – mostly quite simple, but there are also a couple of really witty ones related to that very devilry.
There are also unexpected eight-bit style inserts with platforming elements, but there are also questions regarding them. Not to the inserts as such – they are nicely drawn and pleasantly break up the rather monotonous process of the main game – but rather to the general weaving of eight-bit elements into the game. This includes characteristic music, pixel fonts, and collecting objects, accompanied by a characteristic “set of points”, as if from “Sonic”. Moreover, underneath this lies a very clear plot basis and a very elegant line with a sensible conclusion, but the feeling of dissonance with such a neatly outlined world of pre-revolutionary (albeit fantasy) Russia does not leave. However, it is quite possible, only me – and this is my individual dissonance.
⇡#Notes from a Dead House
It’s not just that I said above regarding the fantasy nature of Russia in Indika. For the first 20 minutes it seems that this is the most carefully depicted Russia of all the games: we carry potatoes, draw water from a well (five buckets in a row!), watch a church service – and all this in the most meticulously depicted interiors and in the midst of the painfully familiar March Central Russian muddy roads.
But gradually details of a parallel reality emerge: then elements of steampunk in the form of numerous machines, some of which we will be allowed to steer; then an unnaturally huge dog that you have to run away from (one of the very few action scenes in the game). At some point, the degree of grotesquery will go off scale, and the line between reality and madness will begin to blur – fortunately, Indika will not slide into “game” at all and will still be able to maintain balance. The plot focus is blurred, but as far as the structure of the world is concerned, it holds up normally.
Separately, I would like to note the in-game spaces – despite all the cramped spaces, they are curiously and sometimes excitingly organized; one feels that the studio previously dealt not only with 3D modeling, but also with architecture.
In Indika you can light lamps and candles here and there, thereby gaining “points”; No points were awarded for this “icon” candle
As I said, Indika looks and sounds excellent – yes, it is noticeable that the main efforts were devoted precisely to character modeling: there are few locations and they are quite monotonous – but monotonous and homogeneous, in essence, and Orthodox provincial Russia, isn’t it? This is a small and dim (with the colors here everything is also dull), but a very clear cut, through which that very Dostoevism appears very thickly.
At the same time, everything worked creakingly for me – Indika is demanding on computing resources, and my 16 gigabytes of RAM along with the GeForce GTX 1660 were running at the minimum. It’s funny that the game itself set the graphics settings to “ultra” and sometimes suffered from frame rate drops, and in one chapter it completely lost textures (fortunately, when I started it once more, everything was fine). But I didn’t encounter any critical bugs that spoil the progress, which is a very good indicator for an indie game with a similar technological level.
***
On the one hand, Indika lives up to expectations, including the most daring ones. This is truly an extraordinary work for the gaming world, which raises themes of the soul, free will, the internal struggle between good and evil, and in an original setting and from a hitherto unprecedented perspective (we already played as a sorceress in pre-revolutionary Russia, but as a possessed nun?..) . This is a serious, somewhat innovative work…
…which doesn’t really work as a game, and doesn’t reach its full potential as a statement. As in Indika, in Indika they fight between the inconsistency of the narrative, the freedom taken away from the player, not even the will, but in general the ability to control anything, and the angel of lovingly drawn characters, original surroundings and interesting thoughts.
Advantages:
- superbly drawn, living characters in the world of pre-revolutionary Russia;
- serious conversation on topics rarely encountered in video games;
- a number of scenes are imprinted in memory.
Flaws:
- the game, in fact, consists of a series of scenes that are not quite well glued together;
- there is a noticeable lack of interactivity – Indika acts using film methods where it would be better to use game methods;
- The topics raised are often underdeveloped and are cut off mid-sentence.
Graphics
Indika really does look great, more so for the characters than the environments, which is unique for an indie game.
We would also like to mention the retro inserts, the pixel art for which was created by the wonderful artist 6VCR.
Sound
The music sometimes comes into dissonance with what is happening, but at the final moment it works as it should. With the voice acting, everything is wonderful from start to finish.
Single player game
The creators of Indika position it as an “interactive movie” – and, probably, this really describes the work quite well, but there is noticeably less interactivity here than a movie. And in this case it doesn’t quite suit the work.
Group game
Not provided.
Approximate travel time
4-5 hours.
General impression
Not completely finished, but still an amazing work in its originality. The game as a study of internal relationships with God, and with non-trivial moves, is already worth attention.
Rating: 7.5/10
More regarding the rating system
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