Constance Reviews
I’m a sucker for well-done hand-drawn art. Constance delivers this with its abstract world, exceptional animation, and weird but interesting level design. Each slash of your paintbrush adds energy to the world, and every movement feels alive. The audio is a masterful atmospheric treat. The dynamic soundtrack delivers a unique blend of energy for each zone. Furthermore, there are booming tunes for each boss encounter. The controls demand a ridiculous level of dexterity. You must master different special inputs and rapid button pressing as you disable traps, avoid pits, and leap from platform to platform. The button bashing feels great for experienced players, but not achievable for younger gamers. I played this for around 15 hours, but I didn’t find every secret. If you are more competent than I, you’ll get this done in around 10-12 hours. Subsequently, it isn’t the biggest game I’ve played.
The game world is a bit like Constance herself: charming but unsettled.
Constance is a beautiful and challenging action-adventure game that uses metroidvania mechanics to explore the hardships of mental and emotional burnout.
Constance is an example of one of the hardest things in gaming. To take ideas established four decades ago and use them to say something different and interesting is a wonderful feat worth celebrating. Constance has something to say, and it says it well. There are flaws in the moment-to-moment gameplay, such as its bosses and a few tedious platforming sections, and it's not something that's going to completely rock the Metroidvania space, but it doesn't need to. It's a much-needed reminder of the joys of concentration and an antidote to an overstimulating world.This is an easy recommendation to any Metroidvania fans who want something familiar to spend 10 hours on. Those a bit more wary of the genre might find themselves less enchanted, but Constance is absolutely worth playing for its visuals and ideas alone.
Constance is a fantastic game that I would recommend to anyone who’s a fan of the genre.
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Review in Spanish | Read full review
Constance is a game about confronting your inner darkness. Its hand-drawn cartoony art style won me over initially. Its challenging platforming puzzles and boss fights that required me to fully utilize the plethora of techniques I’d learned throughout the journey kept me engaged and always felt satisfying to complete. This fluid and extremely rewarding gameplay loop alone solidifies Constance as a must-play platformer. The heartfelt story at the core of it all is a welcome added bonus.
Constance by itself is a perfectly solid Metroidvania with a brilliant message at its core. Unfortunately, that message is too often lost in its dedication to the status quo when it comes to mechanics. I too often felt like I had played this game before, and I shouldn't have. Constance is a game full of brilliant ideas, wonderful design, and a great overarching fabric that deserves to love itself more.
Wielding incredible style, an emotional story, and layered action, Constance strives to be more than just another derivative Metroidvania in a sea of heavy-hitters. It may be overshadowed by some monoliths but this painterly tale has a few strokes of genius.
Constance is a pleasant surprise for fans of the genre and for those seeking deep narratives. It doesn't revolutionize the formula established by giants like Hollow Knight: Silksong, but it shines by using its mechanics as a powerful metaphor for mental exhaustion and the healing process. Despite its excessive linearity, the game compensates with good platforming challenges and balanced boss fights. A journey that may be uncomfortable and heavy for some, but which delivers a necessary final reward: hope.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Solid hand-drawn "D Metroidvania that deals with mental health
At the end of the day this is a beautiful title that uses both its themes and mechanics to tell an important story. I do not need all my games to reinvent the wheel. Constance is another standout within this particular genre.
When I started playing Constance, I had no idea what to expect. Releasing a metroidvania so close to Silksong was a gamble, but I think it paid off. Constance might not be the 30+ hour juggernaut that game is, but it has a heartwarming story and its platforming is excellent. The narrative is amazing, and the unique painting mechanic adds risk, but also rewards strategic thinking, too. You’re also rewarded if you explore, which is important for this type of game.
Constance is a beautiful game with a much-needed message. Its movement mechanics place it among this year's best platformers, and its metroidvania essence is the best invitation to thoroughly explore all these great hand-painted locations.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I adore everything that Constance offers and can easily say that it's one of the most gorgeous indie games I've ever played. 🖌️
Blue Backpack wants us to empathize with our protagonist's struggles through a very special Metroidvania-style adventure.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Constance put forward an idea that seemed illogical and unrealistic at first, as it smacked of repetition; yet the game has more than proven itself on its own merits, standing shoulder to shoulder with the genre’s greatest works. Its art, lore and gameplay have risen above true titans to claim its place among the very few
Review in Spanish | Read full review
When games like Hellblade and Celeste proved that psychological struggles could be portrayed through the language of video games in deeply personal and unconventional ways, few expected that formula to continue evolving across other genres. Constance not only revisits that idea, but fully embraces it—using every corner of its world to reflect the gradual collapse of its protagonist’s mind. In this review, we’re going to see whether Constance is simply another routine Metroidvania, or if it truly earns a lasting place among the genre’s most memorable names.
Constance is a game that knows when to begin and, above all, when to end—a rare quality these days. It offers a masterfully balanced experience that doesn’t waste a single minute of the player’s time, yet leaves a slight sense of longing for extra content that could have made it timeless. It is a tribute to resilience in the purest and most modern sense of the word. It’s not just the resilience of the artist who falls and gets back up in front of the canvas, but our own daily resilience. That of those who must fit their passion into days overflowing with commitments, deadlines, and responsibilities. In an era that bombards us with endless titles that almost feel like a second job, Constance’s compactness is an act of respect for our time. It teaches us that to leave a mark, you don’t need to be immense, but rather dense, honest, and capable of transforming effort into something beautiful. It is a challenge that tests us but rewards us with immense satisfaction, reminding us that, despite the limited time available and life’s difficulties, there is always room for a work that can truly move us. A must-have for anyone craving a product that is not just entertainment, but a small, great personal victory to hold in their hands.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Beyond its obvious beauty, Constance stands out as a Metroidvania with an emphasis on platforming and fun bosses. Although the world's presentation makes it seem smaller than it actually is, there's plenty of content for those eager to discover secrets and challenges in optional segments. In the end, it's a great Metroidvania that suffers from failing to create a solid connection between the two narrative threads that weave its story about mental health, making it more superficial than the proposed theme requires.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review