I believe Metroidvania games resonate so strongly with players because of their input-oriented design. Some games feel like they’re letting you steer the experience with safeguards, and others let you feel like you’re playing a supporting role in a movie. Games like Constance, however, put the player’s ability to maximize the game’s mechanics on center stage. While there are many more difficult action-metroidvania games out today, few blend the artistic direction and joy of creating fantasy worlds like Constance. Above all else, a game like this should look as good as it feels to play, and the Nintendo Switch release of 2025’s Constance fires on all cylinders.

Constance is a game about an artist struggling with her mental health. Despite this, she sets out to create, which is manifested in the game’s incredible color palette and array of eye-catching visuals. The game is gorgeous, and the 2D hand-drawn scenes and characters make this one of the best-looking Metroidvanias on the market. Using a paintbrush, you’ll move through the character’s inner world, which, despite appearing dynamic and alive, is slowly decaying due to her struggles. It’s a wonderful manifestation of mental health that works throughout, and the story in Constance is moving from start to finish.

The game features predictable elements of this type. From diving into walls and the ground to an array of direction-based attacks and the ability to slowly but surely gain abilities and strength to beat tougher bosses, Constance doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It’s effective, however, and fun. You’ll work through a map of her inner conscience and even travel back into flashbacks that point to how the character’s mental health got this rough. As you do, death is inevitable, and each death offers you a choice to either take on a new challenge to keep your spot on the map or return to a past save point.

By utilizing screenshots to save your place for areas you’ll need to return to, and boss battles that feel like they’re available at any time, there are elements of the best Metroidvanias in Constance. That said, it doesn’t necessarily do any of them better. From the quick view feature, the map you explore is drawn very vaguely into general sections. I found this to be very unhelpful, likely aiming to be cleaner for a quick peek but sacrificing functionality. The game does well to ramp up difficulty as you go, and I don’t think this is an impossible game to complete, but it certainly tested me in sections toward the end.

With a strong progression of gameplay elements and a touching story, Constance didn’t leave me feeling underwhelmed in any way. Even the threat of using all of my paint on abilities, which causes you to become corrupt and take on additional limitations, was a fun way to keep me from spamming moves in favor of using actual strategy. There’s care in every element of this game’s design, and it’s not something you have to search for. From its pertinent message about burnout and creativity to the way in which each boss feels uniquely designed to help push you to stretch your knowledge of what the game has shown you, we’re going to talk about this one for quite some time.

The game offers an array of options to maximize performance. Performance Mode aims for 60 FPS while reducing fidelity and resolution, but it doesn’t always keep up with the original Switch, which handles Balance Mode much better. Balance Mode reduces resolution while preserving as much visual fidelity as possible, while still aiming for 60 FPS. Quality Mode locks the game at 30 FPS but uses the best visual fidelity and highest resolution. Regardless of the mode you choose on the OG Switch, I didn’t find a single option to be detrimental to the experience. On Switch 2, where I played mostly, Max Settings maximizes FPS and fidelity, and looks incredible on handheld and TV.

In under 15 hours, Constance offers one of my favorite Metroidvania experiences in recent memory. In a crowded genre, its hand-drawn visuals and unique take on inserting story into this style of game make it a standout. For anyone who loves this search-action genre, this is a must-play and runs beautifully on the Switch. Constance is a joy from start to finish, and certainly a welcome addition to my Switch library. You can pick up this game on May 1, 2026, for Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and it’s available now on Steam.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Constance was provided by Parco Games for this review.

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Constance

19.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Gorgeous 2D hand drawn visuals
• A fair but challenging difficulty curve
• Wonderful blend of storytelling and fun Metroidvania action

Cons

• Little adds to the genre overall, borrowing from key mechanics instead
• The map could use some functionality improvements