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Pour conclure, généralement, on en a marre de voir des Survival/horror où il faut fuir les ennemis à tout-va. Cependant, Ikai est différent. Sa culture, son gameplay et ses nombreux détails, donnent un coup de fraîcheur très agréable à ce style de jeu. Certes, le manque d'objectif ou de conseils fait parfois qu’on tourne en rond. Mais mis à part ces détails, le jeu reste très agréable et immersif, et comblera les fans des mythes et légendes japonaises.

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)

As you leave the shrine and head towards the village, Ikai becomes an enjoyable game of cat and mouse with plenty of puzzles and exposition that tell an interesting tale. The dialogue can be repetitive, especially if you keep dying. Despite this, Ikai has some wonderful visuals that make great use of lighting to create a sense of fear and nervousness. The setting of feudal Japan adds a unique spin on the psychological horror genre, giving the sacred setting a dash of creepiness that forever lingers its head.

Ikai alberga todos los elementos que los fans del género sabrán apreciar. Una ambientación espectacular, un apartado de sonido envidiable, puzles accesibles que no perturban la experiencia, enemigos mitológicos realmente espeluznantes y multitud de detalles que destilan un profundo respeto por la cultura asiática. Tanto si te gustan los juegos de terror como descubrir propuestas nacionales, Ikai te va a encantar.

Ikai es un juego interesante. Sobre todo si prefieres los videojuegos al cine. Si te apetece ver una película de terror, mejor jugar a un juego como Ikai. Tiene una duración similar a cualquier filme, probablemente te sumergirá más en la ambientación que propone. Y sobre todo nadie te engañará, diciéndote que lo que estás viendo es cultura, siendo básicamente ocio.

Ikai is a wonderful entry into the psychological horror genre. The story is intriguing and beautiful in its own way. The spooky music kept me feeling on edge, giving away no hint of any looming dangers, adding that much more to my sense of unease. I just wish there had been more of it.

Ikai encarna el espíritu del género de terror psicológico clásico con un personaje principal indefenso, incapaz de atacar a las criaturas malignas. Tiene una atmosfera que impresiona muchísimo y tambien muy buenos puzles.

Ikai es capaz de representar el folclore japonés y transmitir al jugador un terror de ultratumba muy propio de la mitología nipona. El simbolismo es clave, y la atención al detalle (un rasgo muy japonés) consigue crear una ambientación efectiva.

Ikai se inspira nos grandes clássicos do terror e nos traz o Japão feudal como terreno fértil de sustos e calafrios. Cercado de falhas, tradicionais de pequenos grupos independentes e iniciantes, o game foge do padrão de qualidade de grandes jogos, e também dificilmente conseguirá se destacar da forma como outros jogos independentes de terror conseguiram. Mas tem seu valor, se você é fã de jogos de terror, o jogo atende bem o custo-benefício, e vale a pena conhecer a história da exorcista Naoko em Ikai.

Overall and if you like horror games that pick up on typically used tropes or ones that have atmospheric tension dripping from every angle, then Ikai is probably going to call out to you. If you’re wanting a polished Japanese scare-fest, then you may want to either wait for a few updates or skip this one until a sale rolls around. It’s not a game you should avoid entirely but even with incredible audio and fantastic atmospheric design, this isn’t likely to be the biggest horror you’ll play this year, but in the same breath it will be far from the worst.

Ikai é um jogo de terror com uma atmosfera sólida e essa é a sua principal força. Infelizmente, a sua tendência ao jumpscare e os puzzles mal-implementados fazem com que a obra perca força. Por conta disso, uma boa parte do gameplay parece mais um inconveniente do que algo essencial para a experiência. Mesmo assim, fãs do gênero provavelmente irão aproveitar bastante.

Interested in feudal Japan? A fan of psychological horror? Ikai might be just what you are looking for!

It would be a stretch to call Ikai groundbreaking, but outside of the peak season for these games (October) it’s nice to see a solid new entry from a smaller team. For a game that’ll keep horror fans occupied for one or two nights, you could do a lot worse than Ikai – especially if you enjoy its Japanese brand of dread and fear.

El folklore japonés es un tema sumamente amplio, por ello haber expuesto todos aquellos elementos clave que conforman este universo puede ser un punto de partida interesante para comprender un poco más sobre las figuras que encontramos continuamente en la cultura japonesa antigua y contemporánea. Y aun cuando no está exento de ciertas lacras, Ikai dispone de una imaginería bastante rica en diversos simbolismos, lo cual la dotan de varias capas de profundidad. Respira una atmósfera completamente japonesa y con muchos elementos terroríficos. Y en esta mezcla de sustancias reside toda su fuerza.

Ikai è una via di mezzo tra un survival horror in cui dovrete solo scappare via e nascondervi, e un puzzle game con ritmi molto ragionati. La formula funziona solo in parte, perché le ingenuità dimostrate sono davvero troppe e il gioco cade vittima di una concezione del genere ormai superata da molti anni. C\'è del trial and error mal gestito, una preponderanza a chiedere diversi oggetti per compiere azioni semplici e una struttura ciclica che non riesce a entusiasmare fino in fondo. Se siete amanti della cultura giapponese potreste dargli una chance, ma non aspettatevi il terrore puro e l'ansia perenne da un titolo che punta tutto sulla sola atmosfera.

Ikai is a light horror experience providing genuinely qualitative puzzle design. Unfortunately, its presentation is somewhat lacking, and its brief playtime may not be enough to satiate some crowds aside from scant collectibles. Regardless, if you’re yearning for a simple but effective horror title, you could do much worse than Ikai.

In summary, Ikai had a great first quarter or half with intense, heart-pounding moments, great jump scares, and creepy-looking yokai, but it fell short of being great with its story that felt short and contained troublingly difficult puzzles to solve. I would recommend it as a game to play for those who want to see some great design and partially unique game mechanics. Otherwise, this could have been time spent playing other similar horror games that did it slightly better, like Outlast or Fatal Frame. While I loved the puzzle aspect of the game, I think it should be tweaked a little.

Se Kuon di FromSoftware è l'ispirazione, Ikai è il figlio illegittimo. Non andando a scomodare i grandi classici dell'orrore, il survival sviluppato dai ragazzi del piccolo team Endflame è un atto di amore verso alcuni classici titoli del passato, non riuscendo purtroppo ad eguagliarne la qualità. Se Ikai si muove infatti dalle parti della sufficienza risicata, spiace come alcune accortezze in più - specie lato gameplay - avrebbero reso il gioco in questione più che buono, andando magari a saziare quella fame di horror in salsa nipponica che i giocatori provano ormai da troppo tempo.

A modo de conclusión, podemos recomendar Ikai para los enamorados del folklore japonés y de sus «entrañables» yokais. Sabiendo de antemano que es un juego corto y con una historia poco original, pero que aporta numerosas cualidades para disfrutar de todo lo que el juego ofrece. Su ambientación y la recreación de ese trocito de Japón es excelente y se nota todo el cuidado y cariño puesto por el equipo desarrollador. Quizá lleguemos a ver una continuación, que cuente con más recursos y con la experiencia acumulada tras terminar este juego… sería una cita ineludible y volveríamos a acompañar a Naoko sin dudarlo.

Overall, Ikai doesn’t provide much we haven’t seen in the first-person horror genre and falls flat at many things it tries to do, on top of having a lot of severe performance issues across the board. While many hardcore horror fans and lovers of feudal Japan aesthetics might have a good time for its short running time, it’s not easy to recommend this to anyone, especially at $35 for physical version. This might be one to wait for a sale or until all the issues are ironed out before delving in.

As an exercise in atmosphere and tension, Ikai has a lot going for it. A take on Japanese folktale survival horror that does carry some novelty. However, some shoddy localization does rob the experience of gameplay clarity as well as muddies an otherwise rote ghost story.

Le constat est plus que mitigé pour ce premier titre de Endflame. Dans certaines parties, le titre se cantonne au strict minimum, alors que dans d’autres, il fait preuve de créativité sans pour autant être exempt de défauts. Ceci couplé avec un prix initial à 30 euros, il est difficile de conseiller le titre dès sa sortie. Cependant, tout n’est pas un échec et il reste de bons points chez Ikai, notamment le dojo qui demeure un endroit plutôt plaisant à fouiller et à découvrir.

This leaves me with what I feel is a very different impression of Ikai than I’d have playing it on other platforms. Poor resolution and performance make moving through the world an annoyance. And unfortunately that’s the entire gameplay loop. Even just catching a glimpse of an enemy can be hard from far away given the resolution, and effectively navigating the halls of the shrine to escape is much more difficult at twenty frames per second. So while I could forgive some of the more repetitive encounters and lackluster voice acting, everything compounds into a very unimpressive showing. This isn’t necessarily a bad game, but I’d strongly suggest playing it elsewhere if possible.

Ikai è un Giappone medievale per turisti usato per tentare un horror alla Amnesia. È la celebrazione di una passione, più che un punto di vista interessante sul mondo che vorrebbe rappresentare. Da una parte affascina, dall'altra pensi che un giapponese non si vedrebbe mai in questo modo e che, in fondo, stai guardando una palla di vetro con neve con dentro scolpiti dei luoghi da cartolina, in cui è ambientata una storia che comunque non manca di buoni momenti. Peccato che in larga parte il gioco sia fatto di puzzle poco interessanti e che il giocatore debba subire alcune scorrettezze che rendono difficile il coinvolgimento, solo per allungare un po' il brodo.

Honestly, I really wanted Ikai to be good; like a flashback to the Project Zero games and the way they brought Japanese horror to life. But sadly it stumbles well short of those titles. The action is dull, and while the monsters are nice, you never really feel like you are in any danger; as such the horror part of Ikai falls flat too. There are some good ideas here, and a good atmosphere can be created, but overall it is just disappointing.

Ikai es un buen juego de terror psicológico, pero un tanto corto. Una experiencia que se puede disfrutar ya en varias plataformas como PC o consolas PlayStation y en breve en Nintendo Switch, y al menos en estas últimas esperaba que el dibujo de los sellos poder hacerlo con el pad táctil. No ha sido así y dibujar con el stick me ha resultado menos inmersivo y que le resta valor al juego. Quizás si llega en una próxima actualización estaría bien.

Ikai was a horror title I was actually really looking forward to. A game steeped in Japanese folklore in a self contained location could (and to be fair, should) have made for an absolutely terrifying and unique experience. However, it just didn’t manage to make the cut: its short runtime, generic gameplay loop and complete lack of scares resulted in a really underwhelming and, more often than not, frustrating, horror title you should avoid. 

All said and done, Ikai is a frustrating game. There’s a kernel of a good idea in there – psychological horror inspired by Japanese folklore is always interesting, while the atmosphere the game builds from the first second is also commendable – but it’s all outmatched to an almost overwhelming degree by the game’s many issues. The fact that it’s as short as it is and still manages to feel longer than it should be should tell you what you need to know about Ikai– that it’s a good idea that’s failed to evolve into a good game.