I love how Microsoft Flight Simulator exists in the background now, like the distant roar of an overhead flight path. Not only is it just nice to have a shiny, new version of one of the gaming OGs there to pick up and play at any time, every now and then it drops an absolutely gorgeous new trailer showing off some wild technical wizardry or hyper-detailed new cityscape. That's exactly what's happened now, with Flight Sim's latest update inviting you to pay a flying visit to an eclectic collection of European cities.
The devs of this 'freaky and grotesque' adventure game about a Russian Orthodox nun left Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine, and they're out 'to show that people and authorities are not the same thing'
30.11.2023 - 18:59 / pcgamer.com
Not many games have a story like Indika, a game about a 19th century Russian Orthodox nun journeying to the centre of her soul with an «unusual, horn-headed companion.» Drawing inspiration from Dostoevsky and Bulgakov and dripping with dark humour, Indika tells a tale of religion and authority, madness and belief.
But also, not many games have a story like Indika, whose developer Odd Meter left Russia when the country invaded Ukraine in February last year. Calling the invasion an «insane crime» perpetrated to «satisfy the ambitions of an elderly, weak-minded dwarf,» game director and studio founder Dmitry Svetlow decided to up and move Indika's development—and the company behind it—out of Moscow to neighbouring Kazakhstan, even moving the «entire recording studio by truck.»
And both of those stories make it, for me, one of the most fascinating games to grace this year's PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted.
The trailer is deliberately baffling, ricocheting between scenes of the titular Indika's hard-going monastery life and moments of sheer, hallucinatory weird: Indika slyly lighting a cigarette, Indika in a tête-à-tête with the devil, Indika falling through a bottomless red void as some of the most intense bass modern technology can produce tears a hole in your headphones.
«The reality in Indika is freaky and grotesque,» says Svetlow, «but we were quite scrupulous to some aspects [of real history]. These aspects include the Orthodox Church, we tried to recreate everything as accurately as possible.» That's catnip to me.
The Russian Orthodox Church—both the faith and the institution—has been at the heart of Russian society and politics for centuries, through schisms, struggles, cultural shifts and world-shaking revolutions. «Since the theme of religion is explored quite deeply in the game, I believe that we had no right to approach the topic superficially,» says Svetlow.
It's a personal story too.
Svetlow tells me he grew up in «a very religious family,» and «spent a lot of time in church up until a certain age.» He's also an architect, and «tried to draw inspiration» from his study of Russian architecture. «It seems to me that if you want to be honest with a player it is important to talk about what you know and feel.»
Indika will be primarily puzzle-focused when you get your hands on it.
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