Constance Review - Burnout Never Looked This Good

"Or at least a mental stand-in for her as she explores the furthest corners of her impressive mind palace--a surprisingly beautiful backdrop for a 2D action-adventure game that delves into the trauma of burnout. Armed with nothing more than a paintbrush, Constance bashes and dashes through the physical manifestation of her decaying mental health and clashes against her inner demons. It's a narrative with memorable moments but not an abundantly clear throughline, and an adventure that makes a few missteps throughout."

"The story of Constance draws clear parallels to the likes of Celeste or Tales of Kenzera: Zau, dispensing emotional gut-punches in the quiet moments between the frenetic platforming. But unlike these comparisons, Constance's story isn't linear. This greatly enhances the game's metroidvania inspirations, opening up the beautifully hand-drawn world to be explored and overcome in nearly any direction you want after beating the first boss, but it makes it harder to follow the protagonist's growth and relate to her overall journey."

"Compounding those problems, none of the characters in Constance are all that memorable or feel enough like people. Many of them ask Constance for help with their problems--which play out as optional side quests--but these quests don't lead to substantial revelations or gift anything necessary to beat the game. The quests (and thus the characters) feel like unnecessary fluff and are subsequently not important enough to interact with."

Constance is a hand-drawn 2D action-adventure that visualizes burnout as a sprawling mind palace navigated with a paintbrush. Gameplay mixes frenetic platforming with thoughtful puzzle sections, and slower exploration often rewards appreciation of the game's art and design. The narrative delivers emotional moments but follows a non-linear structure that emphasizes metroidvania-style freedom after the first boss, which complicates tracking the protagonist's growth. Optional side quests populate the world but generally fail to reveal substantial character depth or meaningful rewards. Weak character development leaves the protagonist feeling flat despite striking visual and design achievements.

Read at GameSpot