Now playing: INDIKA
Things are hyperbolized in the INDIKA's world. Cans of tuna the size of a car; dogs as big as bulls, and bulls as big as houses. You are but a small, diminished person forced by your choices into an ascetic, pious existence in servitude to God in some early 20th century Russia.
INDIKA is like a short story you might read in one evening. It wants to discuss with you questions of religion, personal faith, and belief in God as a cornerstone of one's existence. The escape of it all, and the burden of it all. It's not an uninteresting attempt at that, but it is pretty small, and short. It uses striking visuals and an odd setting, by most games' standards, but it doesn't really tell that much. Not as much as I'd like.
I was initially intrigued by the ominous design of the world, and I always welcome more art that explores environments, lives, culture of Slavic and historic Russian settings. It's one of the reasons why The Witcher 3 is such an important piece of videogame art to me. It's the necessary representation of the world that is familiar to me, but unfamiliar to many others. And I think that INDIKA delivers on that front, with its almost gothic atmosphere.
The game can be seen as a horror, but it only just reflects the soul of rural life in old Russia. Gleam streets of crooked, dim lit houses, standing on the ground that splits and attempts to eat them all. Of course, it's all a giant hyperbole, but details are not far from truth. And to be honest, in modern Russia rural life is not that different. Villages are dying, become abandoned, a ghost that never learned how to evolve, how to stand proud. A result of always relying, depending on powers larger than yourself, be it God, or the current ruler.
The world of INDIKA is absurd, confusing, but the characters are as real as can be. A nun who isn't really a nun material, but in some ways is more interested in morality of it all than "professional" nuns. An escaped prisoner who runs away not just from physical confinement, but also the painful truth of inevitable loss. Both have misplaced faith, but both need something to make sense of horrible things that went on in their lives. Both accompanied by ever-seducing devil, who tries to corrupt faith with truth.
The story and its presentation, the original voice acting, all of it is very appealing and intriguing. I just feel like the game is too short and doesn't really offer takes that haven't been done before. Takes which are the starting point in this conversation.
There is gameplay in INDIKA. At times it's absurd, and I'm not sure if that's the point or just a part of how these games are supposed to be in the eyes of the developers. There is some light platforming, some light spatial puzzling, and then there are extra bits (which I won't spoil) that tell the origins of titular Indika. It's all a bit janky, in a way an early, lower budget attempt at a game would be. But it's still a nice attempt!
Even then, with all gameplay sequences, with all staring at the details in the environment, with all little secrets you can sometimes find, the whole experience will be done in about 5 hours. And I just wish there was more...