PC Critic Reviews

With an emotional story, a strong message and sublime gameplay, Constance is one of the best Metroidvanias out there. Only small details diminish the overall experience.

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 is a strikingly personal and mechanically rich 2D metroidvania that balances intense combat with emotional storytelling. Developer btf delivers a hand-drawn world full of challenge, exploration, and introspection, pushing the genre forward in a year filled with high-profile competition. With its innovative paint-based mechanics and layered narrative, Constance is a rewarding journey for players willing to engage both their skills and emotions.

Constance successfully combines the virtues of Hollow Knight and Celeste, resulting in a metroidvania that, even in a post-Silksong world, manages to thrill us.

Constance is a fantastic game that I would recommend to anyone who’s a fan of the genre. It draws heavy inspiration from Hollow Knight, which is clear as day, but brings fresh ideas to the table that make it feel like a unique experience. The story, where players bounce between the real world and a world inside the protagonist's declining mental state, is a sad tale that sends a powerful message about depression and anxiety. Constance tackles subject matter that we don’t typically see enough of in the gaming industry, at least with this much depth, and it’s refreshing to see them explored here. The mix of a heartfelt story, addictive gameplay, and incredible platforming makes Constance easy to recommend.

Constance delivers a heartfelt and visually expressive adventure that blends Hollow Knight inspired movement with a unique brush based mechanic tied to emotion and creativity. Its narrative stands out through playable vignettes that explore burnout, fear and self doubt with sincerity. The art direction is vibrant, the soundtrack is surprisingly powerful and performance is excellent across all modes. Exploration is engaging, boss fights are memorable and the reduced punishment system fits the game’s themes. A smaller but meaningful experience that leaves a strong impression.

Constance is a sleek, elegant, and emotional metroidvania that combines fluid movement, striking visuals, and a well-crafted introspective theme. Despite some hesitation in fully exploring its own ideas and occasional issues with challenges and bosses, the game offers an engaging and personal adventure. It's a great choice for those who enjoy traditional metroidvanias, artistic experiences, and narratives that reflect internal conflicts — a work that, like its protagonist, stands out precisely for trying to balance creation and chaos.

Constance wields an emotional story, layered action, and incredible style to become more than just another derivative Metroidvania in a sea of heavy-hitters. Genre stalwarts aren’t going to find anything drastically different in its quest for explorative abilities but Constance has heart and a deft gameplay, making it a title that shouldn’t be brushed aside.

Constance is a beautifully designed metroidvania, featuring an engaging story and strong audiovisuals, offering a refreshing, non-soulslike experience. While generally well-crafted, it occasionally relies on trial-and-error for certain challenges and offers limited hidden secrets for backtracking, which we feel are just minor drawbacks.

A great indie adventure with a few minor flaws.