Indika

Astounding and possibly shocking. And not without flaws.

The experience as a whole is artsy and compelling. The rendered world pulls you through striking scenes of Slavic winter, destroyed towns, and impossible factories dripping with dream-like surrealism and nostalgia. These are interspersed with fully contemporary "comments", as well as unsettling and even very traumatic moments. No gore, but be warned: one scene towards the end can be very upsetting.

Gameplay is serviceable but sometimes annoying. The puzzles are simple but nice. The chase scenes and platforming are not nice at all. Very annoying is an opaque save system. If you quit the game you might be thrown back earlier than you had hoped. At least it's possible to skip cut scenes when that happens.

So, does it all really work as a whole piece? It didn't really for me. I appreciated the creativity and execution, but I didn't find anything real at the destination. It was a journey that was ultimately more curious than satisfying.

That said, it was a memorable journey, and I do recommend this game.