Indika is a tough game to flesh out. It’s surreal environments coupled with stylistic fervor for framing scenes makes so much of the game compelling. And its interrogation of religious ambiguities reaches some interesting boiling points. But I also think much of the narrative is bogged down by less than inspired game design, with too few resonant character beats in between too many arduous levels. Still, I appreciate the swing even though the game couldn’t resolve that tension.

(Also, I’ve seen comparisons made about Indika to an A24 movie, and, even though I don’t agree with that - that doesn’t mean anything - I DO think the game is more interested in leveraging film language for its narrative with gameplay secondary)