Video Gamers Podcast - Constance Review - Is This Truly Hollow Knight x Celeste?

Episode Date: November 22, 2025

"Every canvas is a journey all its own.” – Helen Frankenthaler Gaming host Ace dives deep into Constance, a hand-painted 2D Metroidvania that blends precise Celeste-like platforming with Hollow Knight-inspired exploration. We were provided a review key by the developers, but this is not a sponsored review all thoughts are honest and our own. Constance follows the journey of a paint-brush-wielding artist trapped in a decaying inner world shaped by her mental health. With striking hand-drawn visuals, fluid animation, tight movement mechanics, and emotional storytelling, Constance stands out as one of the most unique indie games of 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every canvas is a journey all its own. Helen Frankenpuller. Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to a video gamers podcast review. I am Ace, and today we're taking a look at Constance. We are actually provided with a review key for this game by the devs, but this is not a sponsor review, all right? No sponsor, got it? Before diving in, I want to give a quick bit of context on the game's presentation.

Constance didn't come out of nowhere. This is a title that made small waves and indie circles, thanks to its early demos and showcases. The moment people saw that hand-painted art and animation, it immediately stood out from other Metroidvanias. So, going in, as you can expect, my expectations were hopeful. I was wondering if this game could possibly live up to the potential of its visuals and its premise. Constance is a hand-painted platform of Metrovania.

That, in its own words, is a 2D hand-drawn action adventure featuring a paintbrush-wielding artist, striving to escape from a colorful but decaying inner world, created by your own declining mental health. The marketing for this game claimed it be a mix of Holonite and Celeste, and I could say that's not too far off from the truth. You play as Constance, and you need to find a way back to your world. You experience intense combat, precise platforming, and tons of incredible environments, music, and characters on your journey to do so. One thing I want to touch on early is just how striking the art direction is, the moment you start moving. The way Constance's body swirls and shifts like living paint, giving her a fluidity that stands out, even among other hand-drawn games, the world just seems to blend and bleed around her,

with environments that feel like they're pulled straight from a painter's sketchbook. Even small details, like how paint splashes on the floor when you dodge, makes exploring feel alive. It's a game where you can pause the screen almost anywhere, and it looks like concept art. The main mechanic is paint. Constance is made of paint, and she can use it to dodge through enemies, climb her pierce walls, even set off explosions.

However, paint is a limited resource. You must use it strategically, as running out while platforming or fighting can put you into a difficult position and leave you vulnerable to enemies and obstacles alike. Kind of like when you run out of stamina in a soul's game. However, paint comes back passively over time, so you don't have to wait that long to get it back.

But if you just can't wait, you can still trigger these moves at the cost of your health instead, playing at a higher risk to defeat a boss or enemy faster or if you just need to go that much further to finish a puzzle. I really appreciate how the paint's forces you to think about movement before you act. There are so many moments where I had to plan out a sequence in my head. Okay, I dash here, a climb here, pierce through this wall, hop on this ledge.

And when it all came together, it felt amazing to string all these things. But when it didn't come together, when I dashed one too many times or ran out of a pavement air and plummeted into the spikes, I always felt like that was on me. It was not on the game. And that's a good sign of a well-balanced mechanic. The world of Constance is large and open and filled with secrets. It allows you to tackle every area as you wish, when you wish. You can get a camera that allows you to take snapshots and locations and pin it on your map.

It's a very handy ability should you find an unreachable upgrade, so you don't forget and you can come back for it later. As you progress, you'll be unlocking new movement abilities and upgrades that you can carry into the next area, making your journey all the more satisfying. where you can use those new moves to dominate or skip right past enemies. As you explore, the different zones really start to stand apart from each other, not just visually, but mechanically. Some areas focus heavily on platforming challenges, while others may focus more on enemy encounters,

and the others give you environmental puzzles that make you rethink how you're going to use your paint. I also love how NPCs will appear in unexpected places, often giving small bits of dialogue that kind of hint at Constance's mental state, without the game ever stopping to have to tell you this. It's subtle storytelling that rewards the player for paying attention. To get home, Constance must collect paint tiers. Each of these tiers represents her different traumas or struggles. Each tier you collect will take you back to a memory from your world

showcasing one of these struggles. For example, the first boss is an overworked robot. When you defeat him, you're taken to a memory of Constance being bombarded by coworkers demanding her attention and her work. You'll not just be seeing these memories, though. You'll be living them in a first-person view, interacting with them in the moment, feeling what she feels. These sequences are some of the most impactful parts of the game. They're short, but they cut deep.

There's no combat, no platforming. Just you and whatever memory constant has been trying to avoid. I won't spoil any of the later ones, but each tier brings a new layer to who she is and why her world is falling apart. It makes the journey feel more personal, and it gives the bosses more. weight than just, hey, that was a cool design. Speaking of boss fights, however, I've got to mention just how good they are at incorporating the new moves you picked up into the boss fights, testing your skill with your newly acquired powers. But should you fall in battle to these bosses or any other baddies, Constance has a very unique and interesting way to negate the amount of backtracking

you have to do. When you die, you get the option to either return to your previous checkpoint, or you can start in the room you perished in at the cost of the puppets. curse, which will not only make your enemy stronger, but make you take damage if you try to dodge through them. I found this to be a great way to balance the convenience and the difficulty. One boss in particular really clicked for me. I'm not going to spoil which one, but it forced me to use the mechanics in a way I hadn't for. I must have died six or seven times trying to figure out the timing, but when I finally nailed it, it was one of those moments where you just want to sit back and go, okay, that was pretty sick.

Constance has several moments like this, and they make the world feel like a real test of skill rather than just a series of obstacles in your way. Constance does an incredible job leading you on this journey through its painted world. The platforming is tight, just like Celeste, and the combat, it's not quite as complex as Holonite. You could make modifications to yourself or the brush and deal more critical damage or damage on dash, but Constance cannot adjust the direction of her attacks. It will always be to the right or left. You cannot strike downward or upwards unless use brush techniques, which will cost paint. While this does not diminish from the experience for me, it definitely got me killed a few times

when I forgot I couldn't do it. If I had to nitpick, there were just a few moments where I wished Constance's move sets just allowed for a bit more flexibility in combat. Upward or downward strikes would have saved my life more than one time, and some encounters felt slightly trickier because of that limitation. But at the same time, the game clearly wants you to lean. into its movement abilities, so instead of just spamming attacks, I understand the choice, even if I wrestled with it.

Constance is a feast for the eyes and ears, and it'll touch your heart. In a sea of Metroidvania's, it stands on its own with a complex movement and beautiful art. I cannot recommend it to you enough. 2025 is the year of the Indies, and Constance is easily a nine out of ten. Constance releases on November 24th, 2025 on Steam, for only 1999, and it will release later for Switch 1 and 2 Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5. That's all for this one. Thanks so much for watching. Until next time, happy gaming!