Constance is a piece of art fit for a gallery. Its vibrant brush strokes and poignant subject matter, do well to cover a somewhat paint-by-numbers metroidvania.
Having launched on PC late last year, it’s now out on consoles too. My experience on the Nintendo Switch 2 has been faultless, with zero bugs, crashes or drops in frame rate during my dozen hours with the game.
QD’s Speedrun Review:
In Constance you play as a struggling artist (of the same name) who slips into a deteriorating fantasy world, representative of her current state of mental health, and must search for a way to break free.
As you play, you get glimpses of the issues that real-world Constance is facing: stress, anxiety, low self-worth, depression… Heavy stuff. They’re conveyed in relatable ways; like a violin rehearsal that throws so many notes at you at once that it’s impossible to keep up, or having to juggle a constant barrage of messages, tasks and work deadlines simultaneously. It was enough to make me feel anxious in real life.
In a stark contrast to the weighty themes, the art style is bright, colourful and cheery. The 2D platforming is tight and responsive, and the combat feels good — though somewhat lacking in depth.
Movement is what you would expect for the genre: jump, dash, grapple etc. But the coat of paint on top is enough to bring new colour to the gameplay. Constance turns into a cascade of purple paint when she dashes; dodging past enemies and traps, even dripping down walls to pass environmental hazards.
The artistic flourishes extend further, with Constance painting new abilities before learning them, a sketch book of ‘inspirations’ (that work like equippable charms), and her weapon being a paintbrush itself.
While Constance isn’t easy — some of the boss battles took me over a dozen tries — it’s not as punishing as some in the genre. There’s no penalty for failure, you don’t lose your hard won resources, you just dust yourself off and try again.
Upon death, there’s even an option to ‘Persevere’ which lets you restart from the room you died in — rather than a checkpoint — but as a trade off, enemies are tougher to defeat and you now take damage when you dash through them. A fair exchange for not having to re-run through an area though.
Things I love about Constance:
- Vibrant but cosy art style.
- Precise platforming.
- Relatable story moments.
- No penalties for failure.
Things I don’t love about Constance:
- Combat somewhat lacking depth.
- Enemy designs aren’t memorable.
Is Constance worth your time?
Constance’s heavy but relatable themes turn a somewhat simple metroidvania into something more thought provoking. It strikes a good balance between fun and frustration, and while it’s not as crushingly challenging as some of its peers, you do still have to earn that ending.
Constance is a must for fans of the metroidvania genre.
Constance is out now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC. DLC is also in development!
Access to Constance was supplied to Quest Daily.
