Constance Review – Burnout Never Looked This Good

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In the game Constance, you step into the role of the main character – or rather, a representation of her – as she journeys through her own mind. This mind is visualized as a stunning, yet decaying, world, and serves as the setting for a 2D action-adventure game exploring the effects of burnout. Using only a paintbrush, Constance fights her way through this mental landscape, battling the demons within. The story has some powerful moments, though it can be a little unclear at times, and the gameplay isn’t perfect. However, when the game takes a breath and lets you soak in its beauty and solve its puzzles, it’s truly impressive.

Constance shares emotional depth with games like Celeste and Tales of Kenzera: Zau, delivering powerful moments between its fast-paced platforming. However, Constance differs by telling its story non-linearly. This choice strengthens its metroidvania elements, letting you explore the gorgeous hand-drawn world freely after the first boss. While this freedom is appealing, it can make it harder to connect with the main character and fully understand her development.

On top of everything else, the characters in the game aren’t very interesting or believable. They often ask Constance for help with side quests, but these quests don’t add anything important to the story or help you progress. They feel like pointless extras, making you unlikely to bother with them. It’s disappointing that the characters aren’t more developed, because it also makes Constance feel distant. While her personal struggles are meant to be emotional, it’s hard to connect with them because she doesn’t feel like a real person. As I played, I found myself caring less and less about Constance, and focused more on simply completing the platforming challenges rather than getting invested in the story about burnout.

Okay, so playing Constance is all about quick reflexes! You’re constantly jumping, dashing, and bouncing around these really challenging platforming levels. What I love is that each area feels totally different – not just visually, with these bright, cool colors, but also in terms of the enemies and obstacles. Like, in the green Vanishing Vaults, there are these things that just try to stun you so you fall into either electricity or acid – super frustrating! Then, in the Astral Academy, which is all blue and purple, you’ve got teleporting wizards and flying books attacking while you’re trying to dash through portals above instant-death spikes. It’s tough, but so much fun!

The game starts simple, but quickly becomes challenging, demanding quick thinking and skillful use of the main character’s abilities. You’ll often find yourself restarting sections, but it’s usually due to your own errors, not unfair game design. It’s a deliberately difficult experience, meant to mirror the feeling of pushing through mental exhaustion.

The game emphasizes the feeling of effort and overcoming obstacles through two key features that enhance the experience of playing as Constance. First, a meter shows how much energy Constance has for using her special abilities. This energy quickly replenishes when she stands still, ensuring you’re never completely powerless, but still requires careful management. When the meter is empty, Constance can still use her abilities, but doing so will cost her health. This mechanic reflects the narrative idea that overexerting yourself can be damaging, and encourages players to approach each platforming challenge with some planning. Rushing into a puzzle without thinking can lead to excessive use of abilities, like spamming dashes or repeatedly hitting spikes, which will weaken Constance before upcoming battles.

The game also offers a unique respawn system. When Constance’s health reaches zero, the game pauses, giving you the choice to reload from the last rest point or revive immediately where she fell. Choosing to revive immediately makes the game harder – enemies gain extra health and deal more damage, and dashing through them will now hurt Constance. This increased difficulty doesn’t get worse with each death, and you can use it as often as you like. However, the effect only disappears when Constance rests at a checkpoint.

Each death feels meaningful and creates a real sense of pressure, particularly if your last save point is far away – maybe even before a difficult jump or a tough enemy. This mechanic cleverly reflects the game’s story, mirroring the internal struggle of deciding whether to persevere through a stressful situation and risk failure, or to retreat and try a different approach later. I found myself using both strategies, appreciating the quick revive option near checkpoints, but also willing to go back further if an area was consistently causing trouble and I preferred to tackle it later.

Constance features a satisfying back-and-forth with enemies. Each attack feels powerful, but it encourages a quick, strategic approach – moving in to strike and then quickly moving away. It’s similar to painting, where you improve with practice and learn new techniques. Like a metroidvania game, you unlock new abilities for Constance, the character, which let you reach previously inaccessible areas, create shortcuts, and solve optional platforming challenges. These challenges reward you with resources to enhance Constance’s stats, such as her critical-hit chance.

Constance starts with a straightforward beginning, then presents you with three distinct objectives, each focused on a different skill set. You’re free to tackle these goals in any order you choose. While you can complete each area using the abilities you find within it, completing goals is often easier if you use powers you’ve unlocked in other areas. This design gives you a lot of control over how you play and lets you adjust the difficulty to your liking. For example, I was having trouble with a particular boss, but after exploring a different area and gaining a new ability, I was able to return and defeat it much more easily, effectively dodging an attack I previously struggled with.

Constance features clever boss battles that really make you think about how to use the character’s skills. However, one ‘boss’ is different – it’s more of an escape sequence. You’re pursued by an indestructible creature flying across the screen, and you have to rely on your platforming skills to survive. While Constance’s platforming is generally excellent, the game is designed around short, thoughtful challenges, not long, continuous ones. This chase sequence breaks that pattern, demanding a sustained, fast-paced response that the game hasn’t prepared you for. It’s possible to beat, but frustratingly requires a lot of trial and error – dying repeatedly to memorize the correct sequence of actions. This section feels like a frustrating obstacle in an otherwise smooth experience, and doesn’t offer much satisfaction when finally overcome.

Constance is a truly beautiful game, boasting a stunning hand-drawn art style that stands out. The challenging platforming sections feel especially satisfying because of how lovely the game looks. While the story isn’t its strongest point, and one chase scene can be a bit frustrating, the game is ultimately a fun and rewarding platformer with enjoyable boss fights. If you’re looking for a game to help you relieve some stress, this is a great option.

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2025-11-26 00:10