Ikenfell Review
Sometimes a game comes along that’s so warm and inviting that it’s enough to carry the experience through the rougher patches. That’s definitely true with Ikenfell, a game about a magic school that positively shines when you look at its character building and empathetic, inclusive writing. And though it struggles near the end of the game due to balance issues, the combat is a fun riff on the Super Mario RPG timed hits system that binds it all together. But it’s the incredibly queer story and an amazing soundtrack that ultimately won me over.
The setup of Ikenfell is familiar enough. You play as Maritte, a girl who is making the trek out to the magic school Ikenfell because her sister that goes there went missing. The bulk of the game is exploring the school and learning about the magical world it represents. And while the details of said world are sparse given the game is only about 20 hours long, the mythology of magic it presents us with makes for an intriguing setup.
Across the universe
But it’s the characters and the interplay between them that really shine here. Though largely viewed through the lens of some light high school drama, Ikenfell explores interpersonal relationships with empathy and aplomb. You quickly realize that the game doesn’t so much have antagonists as much as it asks you to see through each other’s eyes and realize the grave consequences of how you treat others, the consequences of not letting people in. These touches give a fairly rote narrative a good amount of heart, almost like if you set the popular kids cartoon Steven Universe in a magic school.
Ikenfell having Steven Universe vibes is no accident, with its most direct link to the show being its soundtrack being composed by the composer duo Aivi & Surasshu, who are also responsible for the Steven Universe soundtrack. Their trademark juxtaposition of electronica and piano hits exactly the right notes for the game, ramping up when things get exciting and becoming quiet and thoughtful during vulnerable moments. Add in a couple of show-stopping vocal tracks, including one from prolific rapper Sammus, and you’ve got a candidate for one of the soundtracks of the year.
The game also shares Steven Universe’s penchant for being inclusive of queer identities, as your party includes multiple lesbians as well as three nonbinary folks. The dialogue even distinguishes their preferred pronouns, with one using they/them and the other ze/zir. These are little touches, but they go along with the general feeling of empathy that the game exudes constantly. Ikenfell is truly a warm and inviting game.
More power
Combat in Ikenfell is probably the weakest part of the game, but it’s by no means bad. The Super Mario RPG-inspired timed hits system takes some interesting turns in the battles of Ikenfell, and the grid-based battlefields truly allows the game to own its combat systems beyond its influences. The fact that old powers almost never become obsolete as you learn new ones is something I’d like to see more of in RPGs in the future. It’s incredibly smart in places, and a fair amount of fun most of the time.
I say most of the time because the late game can be incredibly punishing if you’ve been actively avoiding battles. Rather than random battles, Ikenfell shows enemies as you explore, and if you touch one, you begin a battle. But the game seems to be balanced with the assumption that you’re fighting every enemy you see, which means if your playstyle involves avoiding enemies if you can, most party members will be severely underpowered by the end, which leads to some protracted, unfun battles and a truly miserable final boss encounter with an exhausting six different forms. Bosses also tend to follow a similar pattern of relying on summoned lesser enemies to flesh out the encounter, making them feel a bit samey in the long run.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the puzzles in the game, which are dead simple in comparison to the rest of the game and don’t really require much brainpower. It’s striking how easy the puzzles are in comparison to how difficult the battles get by the end, leading to a great deal of whiplash at this inconsistency.
This one’s for us
Still, Ikenfell’s pure heart won me over. The end of the epilogue alone made my gay little heart melt. I cared an embarrassing amount for the characters the game introduced me to, and the ways in which their interactions are examined is a high point of the game for me. Its sheer empathy, inclusive nature, and amazing soundtrack all make for an engrossing experience, especially if you’re queer and not used to seeing yourself represented in a respectful way. Just make sure that you fight more battles than I did along the way, else you might end up having a bad time by the conclusion.
[Reviewed on PC]