IKAI (PC) Review – Fear in the Tales of Japanese Folklores

I can be honest; I was nervous when I decide to check out this game because horror games and myself don’t do well. However, IKAI is a whole new level of horror game. Sometimes in life, we have to face our fears once in a while, so I had the opportunity to get an early look and review of IKAI, which was developed by Endflame, and published through PM Studios Inc. This is the first game title they are working on, and I can say one thing, fantastic job with all the jumps scares encounters and bringing a first-person psychological horror game that brings true horror.

Story

There isn’t a lot to be said about Ikai’s storyline as far as I’m concerned at least, but I know a few things already. Ikai isn’t a game for the faint-hearted. Ikai is a first-person psychological horror game, where it is approached with a new type of horror mechanic with no options to fight or flee against these evil creatures known as Yokai. The game takes place around a feudal Shinto shrine area that also revolves around the backstory of the main character, Naoko, a priestess at the Shinto Shrine way up in the mountain.

Gameplay

Every part of the game mechanic is meant to raise this feeling of helplessness and create a tense atmosphere that keeps your heart pacing every step in the game. Throughout the game, fear is probably the only thing that keeps you alive and awake for what is going on around you. Ikai is a game that keeps you on your toes as soon as you load in past the cutscene.

Exploration of the game is important because you never know what clues you can find that will help you unlock the mystery behind Ikai through the eyes of Naoko; so, explore as much as you can. After all, there is no marker or icon to tell you where to go, and the only way to know where to go is by listening and reading.

Unique Game Feature

What Ikai did well is the encounters, there are times you just walk and do not expect anything to happen but other times you notice something is off in one spot and then you are trying to figure out what is going on. A little spoiler, for an example in the game is an encounter where I have to return to the shrine, and all of sudden as I am walking back immediately these big giant heads fall from the sky trying to crush you and living campfires igniting and extinguishing themselves to get you to run across them, there are tons and tons of different puzzles, and it is up to you as the player to figure out how to solve them one by one. During these encounters, stealth and patience is the key to overcoming.

Graphics/Audio/Controls

The game looks amazing from the music to the environment of the game. The world is so vivid that everything becomes so realistic that I feel like I was so immersed in the world that I was connected because the game was so well done in detail from the smallest thing like a teacup to the biggest thing like a tree.

For the sound of the game, there are those eerie moments were depending on the situation you are in. You can either feel you are safe, or something is here but you have no clue what it is or where it can be. One moment in the game that always gets me is when I am drawing one of the protective scrolls, that I am so focused on drawing it that I forgot something is out there and it can come right behind me, and I won’t expect it.

The controls are quite simple, I only had had a problem with the sensitivity of my mouse that I had to change a few of the options in the settings to apply to my playstyle. Especially the part where I had to draw protective seals that my mouse was moving a bit too slow, as a result, my lines keep going over the border. Using a controller only helps with the moving and looking,

Replay Value

For this, Ikai I can say there can be some replay value if you want, especially if you are someone who loves to collect everything in the game; there are tons of collectible items in the game and I know I missed a few, so if I had to try and get them, I might have to play again to get them so I can learn about the lore of the game, especially if you are interested in Japanese Folklores. There can be times the game can be replayed especially if you trying to complete personal challenges or such, but above all, I can say this game will be more fun to stream because there will be so many jump scare moments.

Conclusion

Throughout the game, there isn’t much direction of where you can go, but, good thing, the character tells us what we need to do even if we get lost; however, just walking around the world of Ikai can be nerve-wracking because you never know what to find.

The game brings back that Horror experience that we missed back in the old days of Horror games, where we feel something is creeping behind us and that we are helpless to do anything about it because we can’t fight it and we can’t outrun it or finding hiding spots either in the closet or around the corner gives us a sense of relief for a few moments, this is what Ikai bring to us. For those who looking for an intense horror ride based on Japanese folklore, Ikai does that very well; also, there is a demo version of the game out on Steam, so if you want to check it out, you can download it now, here is the link: Ikai on Steam (steampowered.com)

IKAI will be out on March 29th, 2022, on PC, PS4|5, and Nintendo Switch.

A digital copy of the game was provided for review