Constance Review - Flawed Beauty
The first thing that caught my attention as I embarked on the journey through the subconscious of Constance, our protagonist of this colourful and challenging Metroidvania, is the beauty of the hand-drawn environments and of Constance herself. A lot of care and detail has gone into the creation of the different areas you will explore, extending beyond just pretty backgrounds to encompass the enemies and the interactive aspects of the map. With tight controls that allow for some very challenging precision-platforming and a story that deals with themes that many people have or will experience throughout their lifetimes, Constance is only held back by a basic combat system, an underwhelming final stretch, and the feeling that maybe the developers at BTF weren’t quite able to include everything they wanted.
As mentioned above, the art direction in this game is one of its strongest features. Each of the different map areas has its own distinct flavour that sets each of them apart. Each area is filled with its own unique enemies that play into the motif of the region, and each of these enemies is as artfully crafted and coloured as the rest of the inhabitants of the world. Even the way Constance interacts with the world fully embraces the artist motif, as she leaves splotches of paint behind as she dashes or takes damage. Every part of the game world is designed to complement the journey Constance is on as she battles the darker parts of her psyche to overcome her depression.
Constance’s second big strength is the way the developers have integrated a limiting mechanic on your abilities. Whether you are thrusting your paintbrush to take down barriers or dashing your way through enemies and up walls, each use of these abilities will consume a portion of your paint gauge. Once that gauge is empty, Constance suffers from corruption, and any further ability use damages your health. It prevents the player from spamming these abilities, and it is most noticeable when you are trying to make your way through the more challenging platforming sections that rely on precise use of your abilities to make it to safer ground.
There are also multiple accessibility options on offer. Whether you are having trouble with combat or maybe your fingers just aren’t agile enough for some of the more challenging platforming sections, these options allow you to tailor your experience so that you can enjoy the game. For some people, the challenge is what they crave, but it is just as valid to want to experience a game for the narrative. Hell, it is perfectly valid not to want to fight the same boss thirty-seven times while you learn the intricate attack patterns that are suddenly thrown at you.
There are two other mechanics that I want to highlight, as I believe they are both incredibly useful. Firstly, upon your death, which is bound to happen multiple times, you will be presented with a choice. You may respawn at the last shrine you rested at, or you can choose to revive at the start of the current room with enemies enhanced for greater difficulty. The greater difficulty really means the enemies just take more hits to kill, but this can be very handy when facing off against the aforementioned difficult platforming sections or when you’re sure you just have to be close to the next shrine.
The second one is a camera that you will get after you make your way to the main hub section. Unlike a lot of Metroidvania’s that only allow you to place some tokens you may or may not remember the significance of, Constance provides you with Polaroid shots that are attached to their respective room on your map. This is great for when you need to remember where the health or paint upgrades you could not reach earlier are hidden, and the camera also plays a part in one of the side-quests you can come across.
Given how much love and care have obviously been put into the creation of Constance, I was left scratching my head upon reaching the climax of Constance’s journey through her subconscious. Given how challenging and downright infuriating some of the bosses you encountered were, the final battle almost felt easy by comparison. I was also surprised that I had managed to complete the game without even finding two abilities, and more than half of the available upgrades. There also seems to be a big disconnect between how much of the currency you will naturally acquire from defeating enemies on your journey and how much some of the upgrades available for purchase cost. It just really feels like maybe the original plan had been for a much larger experience that had to be slimmed down for whatever reason. Maybe the plan is for DLC to flesh out the world more in the future and make it feel more balanced. Only time will tell.
While Constance can feel a little short, coming in at around 12 hours to complete (and a chunk of that time is from a lack of skill in boss fights), it is a solid Metroidvania that anyone can enjoy, whether they want the challenge of taking on the game as is, attempting to speedrun through it or even utilising the accessibility settings for a, slightly, more relaxed and reduced stress experience. The game shines a light on what it can be like for people who suffer from depression, while also providing an entertaining experience as the player fights their way out of the funk that has taken hold of our hero.
Constance was reviewed on PC with code kindly provided by the publisher.
