{"id":540545,"date":"2024-12-29T02:40:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-29T00:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ragequit.gr\/?p=540545"},"modified":"2024-12-29T12:59:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T10:59:15","slug":"indika","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ragequit.gr\/en\/reviews\/item\/indika\/","title":{"rendered":"INDIKA"},"content":{"rendered":"

These are some games that are very personal, both in terms of the creators and in terms of the recipient's interpretation. Particularly in the latter part, things get trickier when it comes time to evaluate a narrative-driven game like Indika, which came out in the middle of the year that leaves us the day after tomorrow. How is it possible to strip away your own subjective interpretations influenced by your own experiences to give as objective a picture of a four-hour narrative as possible? Because it's probably not (possible), the presentation for Indika will be more of an open and personal discussion as it would be in a book club, rather than a purely sterile review. Perhaps this alone is an indication of the concerns that Indika itself wants to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Indika\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Carry out your duty and score points. In the end it won't matter.<\/mark><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Starting the game, we find ourselves in a precipitous drop into the whirlpool of the eponymous heroine's thoughts. Indika is a teenage girl trying her best to fit into the convent life, receiving constant scorn and religious hazing from the other nuns. With stoic patience, and despite any youthful awkwardness, she carries out all her duties with the aim of garnering the Lord's favour, as she interprets it. The more docile and pious she is, the more positively will the ark of redemption and atonement be written. All this will change when Indika is sent to deliver a letter, a mission not so easy as her inner voice (narrator) starts a very interesting dialogue with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Indika\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Sacred object, points of faith to provide.<\/mark><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This expedition will take us through the snowy landscapes of WWI Russia, where we will find wandering wanderers and companions alike. Complete abandonment, wooden dwellings of rural Russia and simple, despotic church domes as their counterpoint make up the frame of a canvas centred on Indika's Kafkaesque strife as it crosses the eggplant processing factories of Iona's hives. But the essence is not in the form, which after all is only the means of conveying the message, but in the content itself. You see the irreverent, according to the other nuns, Indika is possessed by youthful curiosity. A characteristic extremely unbecoming, if not blasphemous, since she dares and expresses her concerns by venturing to discuss doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Indika\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
A moment of rest and reflection against the backdrop of the landscape.<\/mark><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The examination of the question of faith is the fundamental issue that Indika tries to address through these means. Adopting a sardonic satire on organized dogma but also a nihilistic look at the very foundations of faith and \"conditional\" love, it attempts to reflect on whether our inner thoughts that need to be reined in are really Satan or just our human nature. In my opinion, the Russian studio Odd Meter (which was moved to Kazakhstan to finish the game) succeeded brilliantly in using Orthodox Christian doctrine and its application. Characterized by asceticism and moderation, undercurrent oppression through guilt cultivated as a necessary tool to restrain any physical expression is at the forefront. This is starkly reflected in the guilt that the heroine herself has throughout the play, but even more so in the escalation of the story when she finds herself in a situation for which she bears minimal responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Indika\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Candle and prayer. Bless me.<\/mark><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The collection of goodwill points, the constant prayers, the lighting of candles is one side of the coin. Its philosophical concerns and the questions that arise are the other. Is there really a choice when the one who offers it to you stresses that depending on the decision you will either die or live without a care? Is a conditional love really a sincere feeling? It is to be expected that Indika examines some concerns in a relatively succinct manner, scratching the surface without delving deeper, understandably so since a discussion of doctrine and other implications cannot be condensed into a four-hour narrative walking simulator. Any puzzles exist mainly to fill time and provide a breathing space for the exchange of thoughts, bringing about a harmony of pace to the game. In this light Indika may not be for everyone due to its simplicity. Highly interesting in its implementation, with Tarkovskian notes so and you decide to play it with the Russian voiceover, it may not say anything new for many, it still presents an interesting story with the frozen landscapes of a pre-industrial Russia as a backdrop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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