If there’s one lesson that Ikenfell seems most interested in imparting, it’s that looks can be deceiving. Ikenfell, a turn-based RPG from developer Happy Ray Games and publisher Humble Games, may look familiar at first. Its pixel art graphics - while pretty - have become almost the standard for modern indie games and its turn-based combat seems like thoroughly explored territory. The same is true for its story, in which a young girl discovers her magic powers while on a mission to find her missing sister. But Ikenfell quickly proves that it’s a much more original game than it first appears, and packs surprises throughout.
Ikenfell wastes no time getting started. Within the first 10 minutes, it provides a succinct tutorial on combat and overworld exploration, plus a primer on its story. Players take on the role of Maritte, an “Ordinary” with no magic powers who’s come to the magic school of Ikenfell to find her sister, who hasn’t returned home over the summer. She’s quickly set upon by Ikenfell’s guardians, giving players their first taste of the game’s rhythm-based combat. In combat, players position their party members (eventually up to three) on a grid and select attacks from a menu. It’s more active than many turn-based RPGs, though, with a timing mechanic that rewards perfectly timed button presses and punishes misses.
While it’s not an entirely new concept, Ikenfell’s rhythm component makes its battles more lively, and the game uses it to full effect. Different attacks have different target patterns and areas of effect, requiring careful positioning to keep enemies reachable and party members out of danger. Enemy attacks can also be deflected by button presses, which opens up another avenue of strategy. More difficult attacks don’t just do more damage; they may have fast or confusing animations, which means that staying far away from an enemy is also useful to get a little more time to react.
Players will want to give themselves every advantage in combat, because despite its welcoming exterior, Ikenfell can be an extremely difficult game, requiring excellent rhythm and strategy to take down some of its tougher foes. It takes some bold steps to keep that difficulty from scaring players away, though, with options to tone down or remove its timing mechanic, or even instantly win any battle.
That might sound like a strange addition, but there are likely to be plenty of players who want to speed through battles to get to Ikenfell’s story. Back in that first battle, Maritte is suddenly granted control over fire magic. It seems like this might be leading into a typical Chosen One story, but Ikenfell avoids this and plenty of other cliches even as it plays with some fairly familiar tropes. What looks like a light adventure story about kids with magic powers going on an adventure quickly becomes an emotional - and often intense - story that goes to some surprisingly dark places. Allies and enemies alike deal with and overcome hidden pain, changing over the course of the story. For those who’d prefer not to deal with those story beats, Ikenfell also includes robust, optional content warnings whenever things are about to get potentially upsetting.
Ikenfell’s combat is great, but its story is where it really shines. There are some pacing issues, with the action frequently interrupted with an excuse to move to the next stage and sometimes tedious puzzles slowing down the game’s latter half, but it’s full of mysteries and compelling twists. Ikenfell’s large cast is also full of interesting personalities, and it brings queer characters to the forefront - putting it in stark contrast to certain other magic school stories tarnished by their transphobic creator.
Fantasy stories that deal with Big Issues can fall into the trap of using their fantastical elements as clumsy metaphors, but Ikenfell deftly avoids that by making its characters fully realized people dealing with trauma and relationship problems who just happen to attend a school for witches. It’s a story where people can do horrible things without being monsters, and where friendship takes work, just like in real life. It may hit the same points a little too often, but when it lands, it really lands - particularly in a few instances where the already great soundtrack breaks into original songs, often with vocals, to sell important moments.
Ikenfell occasionally loses its way with repetitive puzzles and rehashed narrative beats, but its great soundtrack, challenging combat, and well-told story make its magical campus well worth exploring.
Ikenfell releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on October 8, 2020. Screen Rant was provided with a digital Nintendo Switch download code for the purpose of this review.