Impressions of expressionism with the artful platform adventure indie
The Holidays are finally over and it’s time to clear out the (review) backlog. Constance released at the end of November in 2025, just sliding in to my notable games of the year.
Constance stands out in the field of 2D platformer metroidvanias, beyond just last year’s. The game is beautiful in motion. There is a pop to the purple and neon color palette and the fluid animations are some of the game’s strongest elements. It has a poignant story that illustrates the hardships of battling burnout and the reality of adulthood driven by other people’s expectations. Combine all of this with excellent movement tech and you end up with something worth the ink on the canvas.
But it’s not without some shortcomings. Animations and art style, while overall excellent, have some weird animation hookups where frame count on certain interactions are shallow, only made more noticeable by the stunning look of the rest of the game. Similarly, the story was just short of something special. Mostly told through vignettes in between major action moments, it left me wishing there was more of it, and that it was better woven into the rest of the experience.
Although I enjoyed my time with Constance, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it could have done more with the strong foundation I experienced. Once I completed the main objective, nothing kept me tethered to the world that I fought in with Constance, only the one that she did alone. For any fans of the genre who may have missed it though, btf and ByteRockers’ Constance is a piece worth adding to your collection.
This review is based on a Steam code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. Images and video courtesy publisher. This video first appeared on The SideQuest for January 30, 2026.
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