Developer: BTF
Publisher:
BTF, ByteRockers' Games, PARCO GAMES
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Constance – Review
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but what about the paintbrush? Constance is a 2D metroidvania adventure in the vein of Hollow Knight (and its immensely popular sequel Silksong), made by BTF, a German indie developer who has launched several successful titles. The gorgeous graphics are probably the first thing that will catch your eye, but Constance is more than pretty to look at. Hidden beneath, there’s some really enjoyable gameplay and a story that will tug at your heartstrings.
Story
Constance is the name of the game and also our titular character. She’s an overworked artist who falls asleep one day and wakes up in a strange fantasy world armed with a giant paintbrush. Sentient robots, ghosts, and a living carnival, all of them seem like everyday occurrences in this new setting. A sort of magic subway could allow Constance to get home, but to power it, she must find her way through different themed areas and retrieve its power sources. Along the way, she meets various quirky characters, some friendly and some not, most of them representing challenges Constance faces in her everyday life. In fact, specific boss battles will reward you with a special flashback segment from the real world, showing us Constance’s struggle with burnout, creativity, and perfectionism. We’re certain it’s a very relatable narrative for any artists who play this game.
Graphics
One standout feature of this game is the art, which is downright gorgeous. Completely drawn by hand, including the animated cutscenes, Constance impressed us with its unique designs for the environments and enemies. We loved that every area on the map had its own feel to it, with a theme and colors to match, which were then also reflected in those enemies and tied into the overarching narrative. Within a sea of metroidvanias, we also appreciate that Constance isn’t rehashing the same sort of levels a lot of other games are, resulting in a fresh take on the genre.
Sound
A great metroidvania has a great soundtrack. Constance‘s soundtrack is made by indie artist Tiago Rodrigues, a composer who has dabbled in video game music before. The music is also thematically linked to the different areas, with our favorite bits obviously being the boss battles. Overall, there is a good blend of emotional, softer music for the parts of the game that focus on the story, and more fast-paced tracks for platforming and fighting. The game doesn’t have any voice acting, though every character has a sound cue to give them some personality.
Gameplay
Constance is a typical open-world action-adventure metroidvania with a focus on combat and platforming. Since the game is nonlinear, you can basically travel wherever you want as soon as the tutorial stops holding your hand. Every area has secrets for you to uncover, with the map aiding you in seeing where you haven’t explored yet. The goal of the game is to defeat the boss of each area, but as you might have guessed, you’ll have to take your time unlocking new abilities before you can travel each path. These abilities come in the form of brush techniques, such as a dash move that allows you to phase through enemies or obstacles, or a grappling hook to reach new places. There are also ‘sketches’ that you collect in your journal. These passive abilities can be upgraded with bought or found materials and equipped for various bonuses, allowing you some freedom in your playstyle.
The platforming in this game is smooth and enjoyable, with a few segments that pose a serious challenge. Nothing too crazy, but with the various brush techniques keeping things fresh, you slowly adapt from basic jumping and dashing to very complicated and precise movements in the latter half of the game. The combat, by contrast, was a bit clunky here and there. The difficulty scaling of the enemies did feel off at times, with some enemies that are ridiculously weak, and others that appear in droves but are annoyingly hard to get past and just become a chore, especially as they respawn. The boss battles themselves felt a bit more developed, though most of them use the same formula of having you evade attacks until you hit the phase in the battle where you can deal a little damage. Rinse and repeat.
That isn’t to say the gameplay is bad by any means; we had a great time with this game. And if you do end up dying, as you will, an interesting choice is put before you. You can either go back to your last save point, in the form of the last meditation spot you visited. Or, you can keep going, but in return, you’ll see these strange yellow strings creep into the edges of the screen as you’re cursed by the big bad of the game. These strings will make every enemy you face stronger until you find a new meditation spot. This means that you have to weigh your decision carefully each time.
Conclusion
Constance holds its own in the genre of metroidvanias, setting itself apart in a good way with its graphics and themes. This means we’re willing to forgive the slightly unwieldy combat, which we chalk up to inexperience from the developers. If you have some patience with it, Constance is certainly worth checking out for a plethora of reasons, especially as it will be making its debut on consoles this year too.
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