History YMMV / Ikenfell

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere:
** The fight against [[spoiler:Attack in the Box]] comes out of nowhere with no cutscene happening beforehand - [[spoiler:you just find a hidden room in the Stacks and interact with a treasure chest to open it]], and the fight begins. You also don't get an achievement for defeating it, despite the fact that [[spoiler:it only takes 1HP of damage unless its eye is exposed]], and the item reward you get isn't very useful at that point in the game either. There's also the fact that it can easily be skipped if you [[spoiler:don't find the hidden room]] or if you're replaying.
** Similarly, the earlier fight with the Gardener comes off as this. There's little buildup to it and Ifig, the character you're looking for, is just there afterwards without any explanation and the next scene plays out as if the fight didn't happen at all, so it's unclear if she summoned it to fight you (and if she did, why didn't she try to stop it when she realised you weren't a threat?) [[FaceMonsterTurn or was somehow turned into it]]. Not helped by the fact that this is one of the few bosses where there isn't a chance to save after its introductory cutscene. [[WordOfGod It was later explained]] that this was because the Gardener battle was made fairly late in the game's production, and an explanation of it being made by Aeldra to protect Ifig while she was hiding didn't make it into the game.

** During one specific BonusBoss, you'll notice the sound effects are more echo-y than usual. [[spoiler:Well, you are fighting against the Echoes after all.]]

** The Stacks can be quite difficult - not because of the NightmareFuel, but because of some of the puzzles, epecially the ones where you have to avoid being seen by the ghosts. There's also one puzzle where you have to pick out a ghost after they've shuffled around, with another ghost being added each time, and it can be hard to keep an eye on the right one. You also have to keep looking around the bookshelves to open passages, and one hidden room contains a BonusBoss that you can end up fighting without warning. The lack of save points doesn't help.

** Rook can easily be mistaken as male because he uses he/him pronouns; it isn't until Chapter 4 that it's explicitly stated he's non-binary, and that scene is also optional.

** Similarly, the earlier fight with the Gardener comes off as this. There's little buildup to it and Ifig, the character you're looking for, is just there afterwards without any explanation and the next scene plays out as if the fight didn't happen at all, so it's unclear if she summoned it to fight you (and if she did, why didn't she try to stop it when she realised you weren't a threat?) [[FaceMonsterTurn or was somehow turned into it]]. Not helped by the fact that this is one of the few bosses where there isn't a chance to save after its introductory cutscene.

** The Lockup is very short and only has a few enemy encounters, and doesn't have many hidden items so you don't need to backtrack there. This comes after the Northern Dorms, which while not particularly difficult can be easy to get lost in.

* AwesomeBosses: The climax of Chapter 4 includes a fight against Ibn, Bax & Gilda, the former two of which take more effort to defeat than they did in their first fight, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic and the music that plays just makes it even better]].

** The fight against [[spoiler:Attack in the Box]] comes out of nowhere with no cutscene happening beforehand - [[spoiler:you just find a hidden room in the Stacks and interact with a treasure chest to open it]], and the fight begins. You also don't get an achievement for defeating it, despite the fact that [[spoiler:it only takes 1HP of damage unless it has summoned other enemies]], and the item reward you get isn't very useful at that point in the game either.

** The Lockup is very short and only has a few enemy encounters, and doesn't have many hidden items so you don't need to backtrack there.
** Similarly, the Roost only has a few puzzles, most of the encounters can be avoided, and there isn't a boss fight once you reach the end of it.
** While the Duelling Hall does have several enemies that can take a while to defeat, it's a small area with no puzzles aside from the one that [[spoiler:leads to the Allcat's clan]], which you don't have to do to progress.

* BreatherLevel: The abandoned prison is very short and only has a few enemy encounters, and doesn't have many hidden items so you don't need to backtrack there.
** Similarly, the Roost doesn’t have a boss fight once you reach the end of it.

* FridgeBrilliance: Pertisia's left eye is slightly asymmetrical on her sprite, which is an early clue that [[spoiler:it isn't there anymore.]]

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The fight against [[spoiler:Attack in the Box]] comes out of nowhere with no cutscene happening beforehand - [[spoiler:you just find a hidden room in the Stacks and interact with a treasure chest to open it]], and the fight begins. You also don't get an achievement for defeating it, despite the fact that [[spoiler:it only takes 1HP of damage unless it has summoned other enemies]], and the item reward you get isn't very useful at that point in the game either.
** Similarly, the earlier fight with the Gardener comes off as this, as there's little buildup to it and Ifig, the character you're looking for, is just there afterwards without explanation, so it's unclear if she summoned it to fight you (and if she did, why didn't she try to stop it when she realised you weren't a threat?) [[FaceMonsterTurn or was somehow turned into it]]. Not helped by the fact that this is one of the few bosses where there isn't a chance to save after its introductory cutscene.

* NightmareFuel: The Stacks. The music is unsettling, and becomes even worse when you clear the areas and cause the ghosts to explode, leaving red stuff all over the room. And then there's the basement, where there is blood dripping everywhere, and a large, round shadow is seen passing through. It's scary enough for the text at the save cat to say that the party feels uneasy (it still restores their HP though).
* TearJerker:
** The flashback in the Ruins of Old Ikenfell, where [[spoiler:Aeldra and her friend's attempt to stop the Dark Fold resulted in everyone but her being killed by it. She used their souls to imprison it, and is shown standing at their graves in the school's cemetrey]].
** The final boss fight against [[spoiler:Ibn Oxley, who loses control of his powers after Bax gets badly wounded, believing him to be dead. The second phase of the fight has him turn into a shadow monster, with sad piano music playing, and a slower version of said music plays during the third phase, where his attacks don't even deal that much damage, and his form almost looks like he's crying. It makes you almost feel bad for fighting him, but you have to in order to save the world from destruction]].

* ThatOneAttack: The chapter 8 midboss, [[spoiler:the Unseen,]] possesses one of the only instakill attacks in the game. It's polite enough to give you a three turn countdown to your imminent demise, at least. No wonder [[spoiler:Pertisia]] is so terrified of it. Slightly mitigated in that you can use status effect recovery items to get rid of it.

** The Stacks can be quite difficult - not because of the NightmareFuel, but because of some of the puzzles, epecially the ones where you have to avoid being seen by the ghosts. There's also one puzzle where you have to pick out a ghost after they've shuffled around, with another ghost being added each time, and it can be hard to keep an eye on the right one. You also have to keep looking around the bookshelves to open passages, and it's not obvious which ones will move for you. The lack of save points doesn't help.
** The Spelltower is also rather difficult, because it also involves puzzles where you must avoid getting caught - not helped by the fact that running is disabled in some rooms. One puzzle near the end involves having to push a block around a revolving laser whilst trying not to get touched by it because it not only takes you back to the beginning but also resets the block. Again, there is also a lack of save points until you reach the end.

** Rook can easily be mistaken as male because he uses he/him pronouns; it isn't until Chapter 4 that it's explicitly stated he's non-binary.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The fight against [[spoiler:Attack in the Box]] comes out of nowhere with no cutscene happening beforehand - [[spoiler:you just find a hidden room in the Stacks and interact with a treasure chest to open it]], and the fight begins. You also don't get an achievement for defeating it, despite the fact that [[spoiler:it only takes 1HP of damage from regular attacks, meaning that it takes a long time to defeat if you don't have any bombs with you]], and the item reward you get isn't very useful at that point in the game either.

* AwesomeMusic: The game's music is catchy and great to listen to. It helps that most of it was made by the same people behind the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' soundtrack.

* {{Tearjerker}}: The flashback in the Ruins of Old Ikenfell, where [[spoiler:Aeldra and her friend's attempt to stop the Dark Fold resulted in everyone but her being killed by it. She used their souls to imprison it, and is shown standing at their graves in the school's cemetrey]].

* ThatOneLevel: The Stacks can be quite difficult - not because of the NightmareFuel, but because of some of the puzzles, epecially the ones where you have to avoid being seen by the ghosts. There's also one puzzle where you have to pick out a ghost after they've shuffled around, with another ghost being added each time, and it can be hard to keep an eye on the right one. You also have to keep looking around the bookshelves to open passages, and it's not obvious which ones will move for you. The lack of save points doesn't help.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many people miss that Petronella and Ima are gender non-binary characters; the two characters use they/them and ze/zir pronouns respectively, though people often mistake them for girls. In one flashback, Safina refers to the former as "she", but that could be before they started using different pronouns, or just a mistake.

* ThatOneLevel: The Stacks can be quite difficult - not because of the NightmareFuel, but because of some of the puzzles, epecially the ones where you have to avoid being seen by the ghosts. There's also one puzzle where you have to pick out a ghost after they've shuffled around, with another ghost being added each time, and it can be hard to keep an eye on the right one. You also have to keep looking around the bookshelves to open passages, and it's not obvious which ones will move for you.
** The Spelltower is also rather difficult, because it also involves puzzles where you must avoid getting caught - not helped by the fact that running is disabled in some rooms. One puzzle near the end involves having to push a block around a revolving laser whilst trying not to get touched by it because it not only takes you back to the beginning but also resets the block.

** Rook can easily be mistaken as male because he uses he/him pronouns; it isn't until Chapter 5 that it's explicitly stated he's non-binary.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fight against [[spoiler:Attack in the Box]] comes out of nowhere with no cutscene happening beforehand - [[spoiler:you just find a hidden room in the Stacks and interact with a treasure chest to open it]], and the fight begins. You also don't get an achievement for defeating it, despite the fact that [[spoiler:it only takes 1HP of damage from regular attacks, meaning that it takes a long time to defeat if you don't have any bombs with you]], and the item reward you get isn't very useful at that point in the game either.

* FridgeBrilliance: Pertisia's left eye is asymmetrical on her sprite, which is an early clue that [[spoiler:it isn't there anymore.]]

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many people miss that Petronella and Ima are gender non-binary characters; the two characters use they/them and ze/zir pronouns respectively, though people often mistake them for girls. In one flashback, Safina refers to the former as "she", but that could be before they started using different pronouns, or just a mistake.

** The final boss fight against [[spoiler:Ibn Oxley, who loses control of his powers after Bax gets badly wounded, believing him to be dead. The second phase of the fight has him turn into a shadow monster, with sad piano music playing, and a slower version of said music plays during the third phase, where his attacks don't even deal that much damage, and his form almost looks like he's crying]].

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many people miss that Petronella and Ima are gender non-binary characters; the two characters use they/them and ze/zir pronouns respectively, though people often mistake them for girls. In one flashback, Safina refers to the former as "she", but that could be before they started using different pronouns, or Safina making a mistake.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many people miss that Petronella and Ima are gender non-binary characters; the two characters use they/them and ze/zir pronouns respectively, though people often mistake them for girls.

* LGBTFanbase: The cast contains multiple gay, bi, and non cisgender characters, all of whom are delightful and fun, garnering quite a lot of love from gamers in the LGBT community.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many people miss that Petronella is a gender non-binary character and uses they/them pronouns, and mistaking them for a girl.

* ThatOneAttack: The chapter 8 midboss, [[spoiler:the Unseen,]] possesses one of the only instakill attacks in the game. It's polite enough to give you a three turn countdown to your imminent demise, at least. No wonder [[spoiler:Pertisia]] is so terrified of it.

* LGBTFanbase: The cast contains multiple gay, bi, and non cisgender characters, all of whom are delightful and fun, garnering quite a lot of love from gamers in the LGBT community.

* LGBTFanbase: The cast contains multiple gay bi and non cis gender characters all of whom are delightful and fun garnering quite a lot of love from gamers in the LGBT community.
* TheScrappy: Ima is not the most interesting character but get's a lot of screen time and also kinda steals the MC role from Maritte causing some fans to see Zir as over exposed underdeveloped and actively harmful to the narrative.