I played Ikenfell for an hour.
It was great!
Pixel Art is one of my weaknesses, and Ikenfell is just my flavor of cute. The combat mechanics are a cross between Final Fantasy: Tactics Advanced and Paper Mario (two of my favorite tactical RPGs) combining the movement and targeting of FFTA and the reaction based attack/block system from Paper Mario.
The story is super cute so far, a girl going to find her sister at the magic school, and finding out that things are not as they seem. The characters are great, and the story is gripping, even in the first hour, which is a rarity among RPGs, which often have drawn out openings filled with setup and lore, but not much action. Ikenfell is the opposite of that, gameplay first, then dripfeeds of lore that only make you want to know more.
The combat with weak enemies can be pretty repetitive, but that’s made up for with the cats/save points. Pet a cat, get an hp fill and save your game. Truly the pinnacle of gaming tech right here.
I’ll be playing more of Ikenfell in the future.