Hollow Knight: Silksong once had a release date set for the first half of 2023, but as we venture into the summer of 2024 with no news of Team Cherry’s release, something has to fill the void. In the meantime, that something could very well be Constance, a 2D Metroidvania that puts you in a colorful but decaying world.
Constance: A hand-drawn 2D Metroidvania about mental health
Constance may look like an adorable Metroidvania to play (and it is), but it has a lot of messages to convey about mental health and work-life balance. You play as Constance, who uses an oversized paintbrush as a sword and turns herself into paint to avoid the dangers lurking on each platform.
As you explore, you’ll visit six different biomes with multiple paths that you can traverse in a variety of ways. From jumping to reach each ledge to turning yourself into a splatter of paint so you can run through the air, Constance is sure to test your skill and patience. To me, it felt a bit like one of the older Mario or Sonic games; especially when you start using the glowing rings to move around the rooms of the map.
During the game, you will be able to see more of Constance’s life, including her personal struggles. These are playable flashbacks, allowing you to empathize more with Constance as you help her through her inner world.
This beautifully hand-drawn game is 2D, and plays similarly to Hollow Knight, which could make it the perfect game for you to pick up if it’s released before Hollow Knight: Silksong. The demo for Constance is live on Steam and has been since the game’s announcement trailer on August 23, 2023.
Constance is more than a filler for Silksong
After playing the demo and reading through the game’s Steam page, as well as the official social media for Constance, I can say with certainty that Silksong and Constance will not be anything alike in terms of plot. You won’t play the same game twice, and although Hollow Knight is said to have been the forerunner of a wave of Metroidvania games, Constance is a more comfortable game that offers space for discussion around mental health and well-being.
Something that struck me while playing the demo is the change in Constance when you “run out of ink”. Constance loses all her color – and although it comes back to her quickly, there is an obvious change that made me think of the Spoon theory.
Given that the game takes place in Constance’s inner world, the various powers she has are powerful ways to show the effects of depression, anxiety and exhaustion. She can also heal by meditating and defeating enemies, and I think that says enough by itself.
It’s definitely a game I’ll be picking up on release day.
Want to read about other upcoming games in Pro Game Guides? Try our news piece ALZARA Radiant Echoes is an “intense” turn-based JRPG inspired by classics like FF10 and Golden Sun, live on Kickstarter or Margin of the Strange is a creepy pixel adventure from developer OneShot, coming down on Kickstarter.
