Previews
[Hands-On Preview] ‘Ikai’ Paints Fascinating Japanese Folklore Onto an Overly Familiar Template
First-person Yokai-heavy horror game Ikai certainly likes to keep you busy from the off, but is it too much busywork?
It certainly distracted me from a strong setup. Set in feudal Japan, Ikai concerns a young priestess named Naoko. She’s heard whispers of ancient evil creeping through the forests where she lives, but has dismissed it as nothing more than childish babbling by easily scared civilians. Naoko is about to find out there’s every reason to listen to that babbling. The woods are dark and full of monsters. The Gods have seemingly abandoned the people, and left the back door open for all manner of nefarious creatures to slink their way into our world.
It’s a genuinely fascinating idea to focus on the superstition and ritual of this period, and in its best moments, Ikai shows a cool confidence in approaching it in a less than traditional manner in terms of horror game structure. Unfortunately, that’s not easy to see at first.
The first 20 minutes of Ikai had me paint symbols, sweep the floor, play hide n’ seek, pick up dirty laundry, rearrange wood blocks in a hefty door in order to slide the locking bar open, and navigate supernatural fire in a forest after narrowly avoiding being squashed by giant heads. As a parent, I found this all pretty relatable, but I was hoping for a break from that.
It’s not that this variety is particularly unappealing to me, it’s more that it often feels like padding that’s not really needed. The symbol drawing? Great, it feeds into Japanese folklore nicely. Door puzzles? A little contrived, but hardly the first to do such a thing. Walking through fire patterns with instadeath the punishment for failure? Well, that’s the kind of thing that just gets in the way of interesting exploration of different types of Yokai and how they’ll try and scare the shit out of you. Basically, some stuff works fine, the rest feels like some sort of contractual obligation…at least until things even out a bit.
Where Ikai appears to be at its best right now is in the moments it stops trying to be ‘just another horror game’. When it focuses on the various Yokai and what they threaten to bring to this unfortunate party, when the story has its moment to delve into Naoko’s intriguing past, and when the puzzles are a good fit for the story. The second we tread on the familiar ground of stealth and flee gameplay sections or platformer-esque timing puzzles, it gets boggy underfoot, and saps away at the more interesting parts.
The symbol drawing, in the context of the game, is where Ikai stands out most. It’s used to create protective seals over corrupted areas, and remarkably manages to capture the same sweaty tension of reloading a gun whilst danger’s fetid breath draws near in a trembling hand trying to paint within the lines as quickly as possible. As Naoko’s idea of reality begins to crumble, it’s almost a perfect representation of how intense it must be for her to do the job she’s supposed to do despite not quite believing she has to do it at all.
The most refreshing thing about Ikai, despite its occasional lapse, is how it takes these moments to force Naoko, and the player, to face monsters without a physical weapon to fight them with. There’s notes for each Yokai to find around the mountain shrine area where the story takes place, and they give clues as to how Naoko must deal with them, or indeed how to avoid incurring their wrath. There’s a measured, methodical style to the way things unfurl in Ikai, and it’s steadfast in keeping it that way. While I may have grievances with Ikai’s more typical instances of ‘helpless protagonist horror game’ boilerplate, it’s only a real issue because there’s plenty here that eschews it for something a little more novel, so it sticks out like that aforementioned giant head.
If the rest of the game continues to show the better side of Ikai, then it could very well become something to look out for. As it is, I’m a little apprehensive about where developer Endflame is going with it, but mostly, I lean towards optimism. At the very least, Ikai already has moments that will stick in my mind at the year’s end.
Ikai preview code for Steam provided by the publisher.
Ikai is set to release March 2022 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Series X/S.
Previews
‘Evil Dead: The Game’ Looks to Be Raising the Bar for Asymmetrical Horror [Hands-On Preview]
The idea of synthesizing all of the moving pieces of the Evil Dead series into one cohesive package is one vicious, behemoth Deadite in itself. But on top of that, transcending the medium of film and television and adapting it into a gaming genre as volatile as asymmetrical multiplayer? One would naturally question how Saber Interactive could possibly appease every possible audience with EVIL DEAD: THE GAME, from veteran film fans to savvy gamers who want a unique and engaging experience. But as someone who fits into both camps who recently spent an hour with the developers kicking Deadite ass (and kicking ass as Deadites), I can happily report that Saber Interactive has pulled it off. EVIL DEAD: THE GAME is asymmetrical multiplayer at its best.
For those unfamiliar, asymmetrical multiplayer is a gameplay paradigm that heavily skews the power dynamic between two opposing teams. In the case of EVIL DEAD: THE GAME, four players select a character from the roster of Ash Williams and his cohorts from across the Evil Dead franchise (the “Survivor” team) to face one player who controls the all-powerful Kandarian Demon (the “Killer” team).
The survivor team is packed with familiar faces, including multiple iterations of Ash Williams as he appears throughout the Evil Dead series, meaning if you want to play Avengers multiverse style as a team of four different Ashes, the choice is yours. Just expect to hear a lot of quips from Bruce Campbell, who returned to reprise his role along with almost all of the original cast members from the films and television series. If you’re feeling a bit more sadistic, you can opt to play as The Kandarian Demon, which gives you the ability to control and summon Deadites to hinder and destroy the survivor team before they have a chance to use the Necronomicon to open a portal and excise the evil.
One important question I had when going into the preview was “How is this game going to stand out from its peers in the asymmetrical multiplayer space?” The genre is already well-known for hits like Behaviour Interactive’s Dead By Daylight, and is becoming further saturated with upcoming titles like Gun Media’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre game. Walking out of the preview, I felt that Saber Interactive knocked it out of the park in multiple ways, but my biggest takeaway was the sense of agency that the gameplay provides on both the survivor and killer sides.
For starters, on the survivor side, you’re given the option to select a character that fits into one of four categories: Leader, Warrior, Hunter, or Support. Each character in their respective class holds certain abilities that fit their archetype–for example, Cheryl in Support has an ability that heals the team as they converge around her. This system immediately establishes an element of complexity to the gameplay: how do you build synergy based on these classes? Do you want to be in the fray battling it out, or would you rather scout out objectives and rally the team to success? Additionally, you have the option of upgrading your abilities via cans of Pink-F scattered throughout the map, and have access to an expansive list of weapons to choose from shotguns to Medieval swords.
On the other hand, as the Kandarian Demon, you’re given free rein to zip across the map and collect Infernal Energy, which is used for all sorts of offensive options from summoning Deadites, to conjuring up traps, and my favorite, possession. Think of it like the survivors are in one big haunted house, and you’re the one with the master switch that controls everything that happens, from jump-scare traps to possessed trees and cars. Survivors themselves can even become possessed once their fear meters max out, giving you the option to take control of their characters to lay the smackdown on their team members, waste all of their ammo or separate them from the group. It’s as chaotic as it is a genuinely unique and a fresh take on the genre that’s never been seen before.
These factors of complexity and agency are so important because it counteracts an issue that often presents itself in asymmetrical horror: redundancy. Continuously playing matches can grow stagnant quickly if the gameplay isn’t complex and the same objectives need to be completed over and over again. The one hour I played of EVIL DEAD: THE GAME left me hungry to explore more. How does the gameplay differ between survivors? What are the other weapons like? How can I best optimize my team? And more importantly, I was excited to try out playing as the killer again. Like many other folks who play asymmetrical multiplayer, I tend to favor playing as the survivor over the killer, but playing as the Kandarian Demon was such a blast that I could see myself defecting to the dark side with EVIL DEAD.
EVIL DEAD: THE GAME truly offers something for everyone. Those who have stuck with the franchise since Sam Raimi’s first film in 1981 will love the homages and faithful adaptations, and those new to the series will love the blend of action, horror, and humor. People familiar with asymmetrical multiplayer can expect a fresh and innovative take on the genre, and if you’re new to asymmetrical multiplayer? I can confidently say EVIL DEAD: THE GAME will set the bar high for you.
EVIL DEAD: THE GAME will release on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Series X/S, and PC via the Epic Games Store on May 13th, 2022.
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