Constance Metroidvania: What Real Players Think

Director here - map will be improved in the short and in the long run! Quick updates to help with the 100% completion communication and in the long run on readability, shapes and QoL. We originally aimed to do a very unique map, unfortunately due to time constraints that went out the window and then we were out of time to do something really good still. So yeah we hope we can salvage that thing in future updates!

I'm only a few hours into the game so far, but my first impressions are: The wall paint thing controls horribly. I think the pogo feels nice. I don't like that paint is used in platforming challenges. Having to budget the right amount of health before starting a challenge feels really bad.

Glad you liked it and the game does look good. I plan to play this when it comes to consoles (PS5).

I'm actually on the side of I like shorter games so that was a positive for me.

Beat it today. It's a well done short game. But god damn the map sucks badly. Please MV devs don't do maps like these, it's 2025. I didn't want to explore the rest of the areas because of it. The camera mechanic should be on every MV though. And without limit, please.

Finished it today, a few mins short of 8 hours. Tried only a couple of the tricky optional platforming challenges but abandoned them swiftly once I realised they are a notch above my threshold for acceptable acrobatic masochism. The game felt as having the same flow of HK, platforming-wise. A lot of pogoing, bouncing off walls, dashing midair — and cursing of course.

I was really disappointed with the short runtime. This game should have been double the size. Otherwise a solid mv.

4 hours in and it's quite amazing so far. Beautifully drawn, great music, good combat and movement, plus an actual story, lol.

After 150+ hours of Silksong, my standards for 'masterpiece' is pretty high, but the Constance demo was enjoyable and I'll definitely be buying the full game when it releases next month.

This is my major gripe. All bosses I fought thus far (five) were a memorization fest followed by a few seconds of smackdown while they lied gasping on the floor, before resuming their next pattern.

8 hours for most of you on here is like 16+ for me. Sounds like a great value for a low skill player like me.

I love the atmosphere, the visuals, the music, the few characters. But I've quit the game after a few hours because of the boss fights. I would say you could try it but don't expect it to be as great as hollow knight, nine sols, ori, lost crown etc. And its short, so waiting for discount could be a good idea.

There's shorter, and then there's too short, and Constance definitely felt like it was just getting going when it was finished. Needed at least a couple more biomes/tears imo.

Just to clarify, all you see is a square or rectangle, with the face of your character on top of it, and you have no clue at all where you are, just that you are in that single map. Different from modern MVs where you see EXACTLY where you are, areas you didn't pass don't show up / is grayed out in the map.

I love the feeling of the movement so far, but there is one movement ability that I don't really like: the wall slide. It just feels weird to use the dash button, but it doesn't count as a dash. And the exit from the wall seems clunky, like I never launch off quite how I want.

I enjoyed the game but it's solidly a B tier game. The small bits of cutscenes tell a great story, but most of the game feels as if there is no real plot. I found the basic attacks a bit lacking. The special abilities range from really neat (the wall jump) to extremely generic. But my main complaint was the bosses. Most of them are just dodging attacks until the boss is stunned.

I recently 100% this game and mostly agree with what you've said. I felt the bosses were a bit weird in their difficulty compared to the base game though. A majority of players would likely be able to complete all of the required platforming / exploration of the game world, but some might be gated from finishing the game due to a jump in difficulty when you hit the bosses. Overall I think I'd give it a 7/10.

It is a pretty game though, not much direction in the game not much story to go by and not quite sure I like the paint brush technique but I am going to continue, only just beat 2nd boss but it's not holding me either.

Just got done 💯 and it's far from a HK clone to me. It does its own thing and does it well.

I have just finished the demo, the game is incredible and so fun. I really love the movement and the art style, the platforming is hard but really cool, the boss was fun with original mechanics. And it's so chill yet difficult, without being punishing, exactly what I want to play.

I wish I enjoyed it the same way, for me it was a 4/10. Combat was boring, boss fights were awful at worst and meh at best, the story didn't really impress me and exploration was mid. Although I definitely agree that the OST, Art and platforming were fun, but I wouldn't play it again.

I dont really think the combat is clunky, I like it. The story is pretty nonexistent yeah but honestly considering how short of a game it is, it does do the job of being a game to play when you have a metroidvania itch without having to sink in copious amounts of time and effort into.

I've enjoyed it, though the main story is a bit short. I hit credits after only about 4 hours, though I clearly missed lots of optional stuff. I find the combat to be fun, and the platforming is pretty smooth. The 'wall jump' feels a bit needlessly awkward to me, but it was never so bad that it made something impossible.

The demo was enjoyable, but I'm a bit concerned that the game is going to have too much White Palace precision platforming and not enough non-linear exploration of a cool environment.

Personally I enjoyed it a lot because of the different visuals and mechanics, it felt like a very unique experience compared to other metroidvanias. Yes it's short and yes it's really easy compared to other MVs but I think it's definitely worth a playthrough.

I dunno I find it kinda lacking in almost every aspect, combat is kinda boring and dull, level design is meh, map is kinda bad but saved by photos from lc, bosses are fine but too heavy hp, and there is quite a bit of backtracking even while the game is very short.

The unfun bosses, horrible map and uninteresting self insert story really watered down otherwise enjoyable gameplay and artstyle for me. Gave it a 6/10 on metacritic personally.

Finished the game in 6 hours. Went back for the platforming challenges and there is nothing overly difficult platforming wise. If you can get through hollow knight's platforming you can get through this.

I did not like it at all. Dropped it somewhere on the circus levels. I found it boring, I didn't like the movement and absolutely hated most of the bosses. Like, dear player, would you be so kind to let the boss do all the shit they're doing to be able to hit them once after an hour or so? No, thank you.

Looked promising, and based on what you write, it delivers. The 8 hours is actually good news to me. In between the huge metroidvanias a shorter, excellently crafted, unique game such as this sounds lively. Will be picking it up.

I'm absolutely loving this shit.

From somebody who loves the games you mentioned: I dropped Constance after about 90%. The artstyle and animation are gorgeous! There are some really interesting mechanics and approaches. And the story mentions some very important topics. But I can't recommend it if you're looking for a combat heavy, difficult mv with challenging bossfights.

Im liking it a lot so far but im PRAYING for DLC. It is far too short if its really only 8-10 hours. I was hoping for at least twice that. It doesn't have to be as big as hollow knight but seriously they could've done more with it being the same price as silksong. Im enjoying this more though since its more forgiving.

I thought this game had great vibes - was definitely getting a Celeste feel. And I like that it didn't overstay its welcome. Also thought the milkshake challenges were excellent. That said it was just missing some ingredients to make it truly special. I got 100% and have no desire to replay, speedrun or even get DLC if it comes out. 8/10 is what I would have given it too.

It's really good but kind of falls short, but not in a bad way. It is very fluid. The traversal mechanics are done really well and the abilities you get can make combat pretty expressive. The platforming is fun and there are sections that are challenging. The combat is too easy and the bosses aren't allowed to really shine for that reason. Boss fights turn into a memorization game until you can wail on them while they are flailing on the floor.

its a very good game just too short

The map doesn't suck. It's actually a pretty decent map. It just lacks real time exact location marker - which sucks. Such a strange design choice, as I'd say 80% of metroidvanias since the beginning of time show a real time marker, and I'd go as far as saying 99% of modern/recent metroidvanias show a real time marker.

Good review. One thing I dislike about this game is that bosses tend to have at least 1 phase that require Constance to keep dodging around for a dozen seconds until the boss can be hit. At least they aren't super tanky and tend to go down in 2-3 loops.

For anyone else finding this post a few months later - the map system has been updated and you get an upgrade that shows you which rooms you're missing items in. Makes it a lot more manageable to get 100%. Apparently further updates to the map are planned (likely to show your exact position in a room) as well as a balance pass on bosses.

I refunded after 2 hours. I really disliked the map along with the early combat. I've been playing a lot of Grime and PoP again so I think I'm just used to a certain style.

I was in love with the game until the stupid chase section that made me delete the game.

A big fat NO. Constance looks good and sounds good, but the overarching systems are so unfun to play that it cannot be considered more than decent. The bosses are 'interesting' but most of them are actually platforming challenges, and after some attempts become boring, with 90% easy, repetitive sequences, and 10% difficult sequences that end up killing you.

I really enjoyed it. I think the fact that it's short is a big plus honestly. It feels fun, focused, and not overly bloated. All of the platforming and enemy encounters felt great and were just fun.

I like a lot of things about Constance. The focus on tight platforming, the artwork, the whimsy. I enjoy how the game world is an escapist fantasy from the protagonist's oppressive real-world life. Almost a metroidvania take on Celeste, but less metaphorical. However, I stopped playing midway because the bosses were so incredibly tedious. They're basically a series of platforming challenges themselves, but repetitive and devoid of interaction.

Yeah, I think you're crazy. It felt polished as fuck to me, with excellent platforming and beautiful visuals. I ended up refunding it, because at the 2 hour cutoff I had like 37% completion or something, and that didn't feel like good value to me. But the quality of the game was definitely there.

Its good. high B tier. I would play MIO first if you're a sucker for exploration and atmosphere. That game is S tier.

Just finished the game yesterday. To my taste it is way too easy, bosses and enemies are no challenge. A game with no challenge for me gets boring really quick. I just kept playing it wishing it was going to get hard at some point but it was way too easy!