Ikai
Endflame · 2022 · Horror, Psychological Horror, Atmospheric, Story Rich, Survival Horror
PC
Mostly Positive80% · 217
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About Ikai
Ikai is a first-person psychological horror game drawing inspiration from Japanese folklore. Live the horror by the hand of its defining yokais and submerge into the superstitions of the past driven by a unique story and exploration.
Ikai embodies the spirit of the classical psychological horror genre with a defenseless main character incapable of attacking the evil creatures. However, it explores a new sense of horror by making the player face the threats directly neither fleeing nor attacking.
Every mechanic of the game is meant to raise this relatable feeling of helplessness and create a tense atmosphere. The slow, precise and natural movements as a way of interaction resemble real life’s to foster immersion in the uncanny world of Ikai.
Rumors have spread even through the most skeptical villagers, giving way to fear and hysteria. It’s not just a matter of gossip this time. The blood-stained leaves indicate that evil creatures are getting closer and closer to humans. It is believed that a new demon has turned up in the underworld. Its will is to cross the doorway into our world as soon as it finds what it is looking for. Such a situation requires the priest to head to the village, leaving the shrine under his niece’s control, the priestess.
The crowd’s fear hasn’t reached the shrine far away in the mountains, where the priestess, Naoko, works as usual, too busy to worry. Sweeping and sweeping, time goes by, with or without the priest. Without giving much importance to this sort of demon and ghost stories she ascribes to fearful children, Naoko leaves the shrine to get to the river before it gets dark. Villagers’ dreads seem to take shape in the gloomy forest. She keeps walking, increasingly tense, until her doubts are dispelled; but not her fears.
She soon loses consciousness of her soul and body and falls to the ground; almost dead, almost alive. The shrine’s bell screams for help, but it is no longer a sacred place. All Gods have gone, giving way to monsters, ghosts and spirits.
Ikai embodies the spirit of the classical psychological horror genre with a defenseless main character incapable of attacking the evil creatures. However, it explores a new sense of horror by making the player face the threats directly neither fleeing nor attacking.
Every mechanic of the game is meant to raise this relatable feeling of helplessness and create a tense atmosphere. The slow, precise and natural movements as a way of interaction resemble real life’s to foster immersion in the uncanny world of Ikai.
STORY
Rumors have spread even through the most skeptical villagers, giving way to fear and hysteria. It’s not just a matter of gossip this time. The blood-stained leaves indicate that evil creatures are getting closer and closer to humans. It is believed that a new demon has turned up in the underworld. Its will is to cross the doorway into our world as soon as it finds what it is looking for. Such a situation requires the priest to head to the village, leaving the shrine under his niece’s control, the priestess.
The crowd’s fear hasn’t reached the shrine far away in the mountains, where the priestess, Naoko, works as usual, too busy to worry. Sweeping and sweeping, time goes by, with or without the priest. Without giving much importance to this sort of demon and ghost stories she ascribes to fearful children, Naoko leaves the shrine to get to the river before it gets dark. Villagers’ dreads seem to take shape in the gloomy forest. She keeps walking, increasingly tense, until her doubts are dispelled; but not her fears.
She soon loses consciousness of her soul and body and falls to the ground; almost dead, almost alive. The shrine’s bell screams for help, but it is no longer a sacred place. All Gods have gone, giving way to monsters, ghosts and spirits.
GAMEPLAY
- FEAR: Experience the horror in first-person by the hand of Japanese spirits, monsters and yokais
- EXPLORATION: Wander around a feudal shinto shrine and explore to unveil the story behind Naoko, the main character
- DRAWING: Concentrate on drawing protective seals over the strange sounds and events happening around
- PUZZLES: Pit your wits against the several puzzles that will try to stop you
- STEALTH & RUN: Be silent, do not disturb the evil… Or just run, run away from it all, if you can…
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
Better than expected, great atmospere, tight chase scenes, good base mechanics with the talisman drawing and interesting enemies.
Good, *for what it is*. What it is is a short, spooky, "period piece"(?) game that takes 3 hours to play through, with probably another couple hours for achievements, if ya into that kinda thing. The spooks are fine - a little reliant on jump scares, but the atmosphere and mood are set well with the sound design and the general layout of the main map. I was surprised at how easily I oriented myself inside the map. It was fun moving through the game and feeling like I'm actually combatting demonic entities through spiritual faith (as opposed to rip n tear). Couple disappointments are with the demons themselves, and how fighting them did not relate to the journal pages/entries *about* the demons. One of the first scares in the game is the big giant head (Tsurube Otoshi, I think?) dropping down, but in a contrary way to what the journal entry told me it would do, for example. That felt disappointing. There were a couple puzzles that really didn't make sense to me, possibly as a Westerner? I'll say one of the puzzles I had to look up and the solution is NOT something I would have ever known because it was based on a game that just is not played in America. That would fine, except I th…
https://youtu.be/s8JAdRRgNTg Mostly busy work with a few jump scares are about all this game has to offer.
scary good game
Ikai is a first-person horror experience that builds its unease not through spectacle, but through the slow tightening of atmosphere. Set in a secluded Shinto shrine during a time of growing unrest, the game places you in the role of Naoko, a young shrine maiden suddenly left alone when her uncle leaves to investigate rumors of dark forces nearby. This isolation becomes the foundation of the game’s tension. What begins as an ordinary evening of routine tasks gradually devolves into a night where the thin boundary between the physical world and the realm of spirits erodes. Ikai uses this shift delicately—never rushing to reveal its horrors, but allowing strange sounds, fleeting shadows, and subtle environmental changes to hint at an oncoming supernatural threat rooted in Japanese folklore. At its core, Ikai is an exploration-driven title with light puzzles, stealth moments, and a handful of chase sequences. It never gives you a weapon, a way to fight back, or much room for physical resistance. Instead, it emphasizes vulnerability: the fear of being watched, the anxiety of moving through unfamiliar silence, and the tension of knowing something is lurking nearby. One of the game’s mo…
Absolutely amazing game, it has become one of my top 5 games for sure!
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