Paper Mario: The Origami Kingwas controversial because fans lamented its continual drift away from the turn-based RPG style of N64’sPaper Marioand GameCube’sThe Thousand-Year Door. Those games strip away the high number values and random encounters of series likeFinal Fantasy, while utilizing action commands to engage players. Despite this,Paper Marioseries producer Kensuke Tanabe said it’s necessary to change combatevery game, and with that in mindIkenfelloffers an interesting perspective on how to evolve the original formula fans love.
Ikenfellis an indie game released earlier this week that follows Maritte as she sneaks into a magical academy to find her sister who did not come home for the summer. Maritte teams up with her sister’s friends to figure out why ordinary folks like her are developing previously-unknown magical abilities as monsters run rampant. It’s a charming, fun game, andone reasonIkenfellshines is its combat.
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The six playable characters inIkenfellhave niches because the universe’s rules dictate each person has one specialty: Maritte uses fire magic, Pertisia uses glass magic, etc. These specialties branch into eight spells that have unique effects; be they dealing damage, setting traps, or altering stats; but all are used via action commands.Paper Mariodid not invent the action command system, in fact they are seen in Square’sSuper Mario RPGandAlphaDream’sMario & Luigiseriestoo, but games likeThe Thousand-Year Doorhave perhaps the most well-known usage.
Action commands ask players to perform timed actions in order to boost damage when attacking, or reduce damage when defending.Ikenfell’s use falls in line with theMario & Luigigames in that players have one dedicated button press, but it’s also reminiscent ofPaper Marioin that the “minigame” differs by spell. Attack categories inIkenfellmay ask players to act when the move strikes, or when an expanding ring hits maximum size.Paper Marioused commands like hitting buttons on beat, or holding the analog stick back.
Ikenfelloffers three levels of action command success: Total failure means a move will do minimum damage or not activate; “nice” means players succeed but weren’t perfect; and “great” means moves have better power while additional effects last longer. Defending is the inverse. However, the real secret sauce that elevatesIkenfellabove its predecessors is theturn-based tactical mechanics.
Battles take place on narrow hallways, visually similar toMega Man Battle NetworkorKingdom Hearts: Chain of Memorieson GBA. However, units' movements are limited on the tiled board alaFinal Fantasy TacticsorFire Emblem, and characters can impeding one another’s range or inflict friendly fire with area of effect attacks. There are further variations to movement, such as lightning witch Gilda being able to teleport behind enemy lines.
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WhereasPaper Mariokeeps everyone in static positions, the relative freedom of movement inIkenfellis like chess — especially given spells affect varying tiles around the caster. The ability to choose which three characters enter each battle further compounds strategic potential compared togames likeThe Thousand-Year Door, where some of Mario’s partners have advantages over certain enemy types but mostly stand out in overworld puzzle solving.
The potential ofIkenfell’s combat can be seen in an optional boss called the Codexus. It unique in that it actively pushes players against the far wall and calls lesser monsters from relative safety. There are many possible “solutions” to every fight based on team composition, but a good meta strategy is using Gilda’s far-ranging Beam attack in conjunction with Maritte’s Emberpower that creates strength-boosting nodes on every lane. The boss' pattern essentially facilitates atactical tower defense game.
WhileIkenfell’s combat may be a big draw for players, despite it occasionally dragging, the game shines brighter than Nintendo through itsaccessibility options. Players can lessen action commands so they only provide bonuses and cannot be failed, or deactivate them completely. There’s even an option to secure immediate victory if players would prefer to just see the story, or if physical timing is more difficult due to something like a neurodegenerative disorder.
Ikenfellis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
