Ikenfell

It's good! I like it. Very charmingly written game. Makes good use of the tactical grid strategy + Mario RPG interactive attacks gig it's got going on. It is worth noting the extent of mechanical customization feels like it's mostly down to whose in your party, but the game does seem more focused on its narrative and mechanical gameplay loop than character customization. If you do play it looking for LGBT+ representation, be aware that the world of the game is one where queerness is generally so normalized it's almost as normal as breathing or going out to get a meal with your pals. Explicit and spotlighted representation though normalized existence, rather than flashy flag waving. But the world is still charming and delightful.

I love this game so much! The story is much more interesting than I originally thought it was going to be. It's very LGBT+ inclusive but it's not made to be a huge deal which can be refreshing. I love the music and the character design and I wish it was a longer story because I don't want the game to end.

Suuuuper WOKE. Una pena porque la jugabilidad y las animaciones están muy bien...

Jogo muito legal, um rpg de turno 8 bits que conta uma historia maneira, o jogo e curto mas valeu muito apena platinar isso 😎👍

Amazing story, great characters, awesome music, and beautiful pixel art. If you want to feel the nostalgic, magical vibes you need to visit this magic school.

This is the first time I’m crying over a game. I love it with all my heart and I’m really glad I gave this a chance, since it’s not my favorite genre. I’ve been playing games for more than 20 years and this is my favorite game, thank you so much to the devs for making something like this

First of all, I want to be clear: I can't say much about the battle system because I decided to insta-victory every battle. While I think the battle system may be interesting, what really attracted me about Ikenfell was the story and the characters and I wanted to enjoy that without losing too much time fighting and grinding. So my review is purely on everything else. What do I say? I knew some things about the game like its LGBT representation (quite good in that aspect). But I didn't expect this game to be so deep. There's not great evil or anything like that. It's a story about relationships, mistakes, traumas, pain but also healing. Every character goes through different situations that hurted them and, by opening up and trusting each other, they can heal and move forward. Things are not necessarily easy or fast, just like in real life. Then you have the artistic part. The music is amazing, especially when you have great songs like Gilda's theme. And the pixelart is wonderful, everything is so detailed. And the fighting avatar are really well done. Just for all these things, I'd recommend it.

realizing i never reviewed this omg. i think it took me... 20 hours??? idk. this game is GOOD. the music is good, the combat is fun, the characters are lovely. its a good game. i DO reccomend it. but the ENDING. OUGHHH. i get the sense they ran out of time in the last quarter of the game. the narrative... feeeeeels like it kinda... peeters off. and then theres still a few hours left. its FINE. just. dissapointing. ultimately i still reccomend it but the ending might put you off

Gameplay: Like a better paper mario Story: Compelling Characters: Nuanced & complex Graphics: Nostalgic Lore: Intriguing Grinding: helps, but not needed Attention holding: "Where'd the last three hours go???" Level design: Mostly simple puzzles

Super mixed feelings on this one. Overall I liked it, and by the end I found myself invested in the story and characters. I liked the gameplay and how it was balanced, I liked the characters, story, themes, music, and how diverse the cast was. Things that held it back for me: - Battles felt like a slog. Random enemy encounters take so long that I often found myself avoiding them just to feel some progress rather than a 10 minute fight - Story felt like it lulled for awhile before really picking up towards the end - Music was good but often listening to the same song over and over. Some of the lyric songs were also pretty corny - I wish there was more of a reason to swap characters and use the full cast. Some of them feel purely outclassed by the others - Equipment was largely "bigger numbers" but felt like there were too many options given how kinda basic it ultimately was and made equipping new stuff feel like more of a chore that I'd often forget to do I never read or got into Harry Potter, and I don't identify as LGBTQ+, so I think this probably a case of being an outsider and not the target audience. I could see if I was an LGBTQ+ teen, this might have become my favorite game I wouldn't shut up about.