Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 57 | 20 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 80% | 74 | 134 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 100% | 97 | 0 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 0 reviews sampled · 1 total reviews in window · weighted 0 up / 0 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (22)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 30
“Ikai is a first-person psychological horror game that isn't so much scary as it is confounding. It wastes its effectively chilling setting by simply getting you lost in it. You'll be annoyed more often than frightened, confused more often than entertained.”
read full review ↗ - 59
“Joining a number of other titles that have put themselves into the psychological horror category on Switch, Ikai is at least consistent with many of them in terms of overall quality...”
read full review ↗ - 50
“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.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Ikai is a game that, despite its hiccups in the opening acts, nails the landing. The focus on Naoko over random jump scares pays off, resulting in an enjoyable experience that will resonate with you for some time.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“Ikai smells a bit like the atmosphere of Fatal Frame, but the interesting ideas and emphasis on Japanese folklore pale a little with a visible to the naked eye, limited budget. For fans of the topic, however, it can be an interesting experience.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“An independent horror from feudal Japan offers a view of exotic folklore full of bizarre ghosts. But it doesn't contain anything we haven't encountered many times before in other games.”
read full review ↗ - 35
“I couldn't help but keep finding elements and ideas I wished could have been built upon in a better game, which kept my attention enough and gave me a reason to see the story to the finish. Still, there's nothing scary here, and it's just frustrating, tedious, and a major letdown.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“We take a look at Ikai, a new indie horror title from Spain's Endflame studio, featuring themes of Japanese mythology into some first-person horror”
read full review ↗ - 55
“Ikai fails to utilize its Feudal Japan setting properly and despite the potential, in the end it's just forgettable.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“Great sound design and solid atmosphere hampered by subpar English localization and some obtuse puzzles.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Ikai's interesting setting and unsettling atmosphere are let down by its clunky gameplay, mundane and repetitive structure, and several technical issues.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“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.”
read full review ↗
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BossLevelGamer
PPE.pl
SECTOR.sk
Explosion Network
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SomHráč.sk
TechRaptor
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WayTooManyGames…and 10 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Ikai Patch v1.2.1Apr 1, 2022
- Demo Update v1.6Oct 15, 2021