Main game
4.19 average rating based on 345 ratings
This may have been the first RPGMaker horror game I ever played -- I can't remember if it was Ib or Corpse Party I experienced first -- and it's still one of my favourites.
I haven't played it in a good few years, and I plan to play the remake once I get around to it, so this is based entirely on my memory of the original. The atmosphere was amazing -- I'm not sure why 'horror set in an art gallery' isn't more commonly utilised, because Ib shows that it can be perfectly terrifying. The use of art to drive along the horror aspects as well as the emotional beats was great, and certain words in books being illegible if you're playing as Ib because she's too young to understand them vs. being able to read them if you go back as Garry (which can lead to some twists and reveals) was a clever detail.
Great characters, and Garry is still a favourite for me years later. Now that I think about it, I turned out uncomfortably like this guy. Maybe this game influenced my brain more than I suspect.
Ib is about a little girl who finds herself trapped inside a surreal haunted art gallery. To escape she must solve various puzzles to progress through the gallery while avoiding monsters born from the works of art. I was initially skeptical that an RPG Maker game could pull off a creepy atmosphere or sense of dread, but Ib manages to pull it off despite its primitive pixelated graphics. There's no combat in the game, so enemy encounters are a matter of evasion and hiding behind obstacles. These encounters are pretty straight-forward, so that the game can focus on its strengths: atmosphere and puzzles. While there are a few moments where the game's graphical limitations can cause issues with interpreting a puzzle or finding an item, the overall package is a fun and well-crafted minimalist horror-adventure game.
I absolutely adore this game, played it over several times. It's just so clever about the tricks and horror elements. I wish the creator would make another game, but it would be hard to live up to Ib.