“If possible, go into it without looking at any information and play it as you see fit.”
Advice from the developer, Kouri.
Spoilers!
Ib, developed by Kouri and released originally in February of 2012, is a cult-classic RPG Maker horror game. The steam version as well as the versions available on systems like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 are a remaster of the original developed in 2019 and released in subsequent years with the newest release being in March 2024 for the PS5.
You play as Ib (eeb), a nine-year-old girl visiting an art gallery for the first time with her parents. Ib sets out to wander the gallery, eventually finding a large painting in its own isolated wing. The lights flicker and it becomes very clear that something is wrong. Ib roams a now dark gallery void of anyone else, with no way out. And no way out of the gallery means she must venture further in. Ib steps into a painting on the floor, Abyss of the Deep, and is transported to an eerie landscape from the mind of the fictional artist Guertena and his unusual artworks.
You must explore the strange gallery as paintings and sculptures come to life. Some guide you to solving puzzles, most crawl out of their canvases to stalk you. But eventually Ib finds Garry (meant to rhyme with Starry) who becomes a companion and a protector, and they traverse the gallery together.
Ib, in terms of gameplay, is simple. You have limited health, but are rarely at risk of dying and, even if you succumb to the cruelty of the gallery, the game is very generous with save stations. And although the layout of the gallery is bizarre, it’s hardly labyrinthine, so you don’t ever need to back-track or memorize the rooms to solve puzzles. It’s even noted by Garry that the solution to puzzles will be within areas of the same color (i.e., any puzzle in a blue area is solvable within the blue area). Finishing the game isn’t a challenge. Getting the good ending is.
Ib’s simplicity is one of its best assets. RPG Maker games classically (stereotypically?) are story rich. They sacrifice fancier visuals for more dynamic storytelling, (although Ib is a beautiful game). Ib isn’t meant to be overly horrific, it’s not a ghost story. Aside from a few loud noises and moments of pursuit-by-crazed-painting the game isn’t scary. Like, at all. But what it lacks in scare, it more than makes up for in atmosphere. The gallery is creepy! The vibe is unsettling! The heebies are jeebied! Every area is dark and unsaturated, telling you any hope of escape is bleak. The music cuts out in certain areas, only your footsteps echo through corridors, at least, you think they’re yours. Every painting you inspect has a reasonable chance of suddenly lunging at you, nowhere is safe! The oppressive atmosphere is distressing and uncomfortable, but at least you have Garry!
You and Garry only make it out of the gallery together in two of the seven endings.
And you only retain your memories of each other in one.
It’s difficult to get either of these two “good” endings and will definitely require a few replays and most likely a guide as these endings are determined by an unspoken point system you accrue unknowingly on your adventure. This has been criticized by reviewers as a complex “trial and error” system. Even the original developer in an interview with Automaton Media said, “[it] wasn’t that great.” (https://automaton-media.com/en/playism/20220412-11460/).
The simplicity of the puzzles contrasts harshly with the complexity of the ending mechanics, but personally I think this makes perfect sense, both as a part of the storytelling of Ib and as a staple of the RPG Maker horror genre.
Other RPG Maker titles such as Witches House, Mad Father, and Corpse Party also have a complex mechanic for their branching endings, and of course, the good endings are harder to get. In an oppressive, terrifying, life-or-death quest, doesn’t it make sense that you’d have to fight harder to make it out? If the best endings of these games were handed to a player with a single, simple choice would they even be satisfying? Stories need stakes, games need challenges, Ib needs complexity.
(Although a little hint wouldn’t hurt, I’ll admit)
In the Automaton interview, Kouri also said “For me, it’s ideal for a story to not completely wrap up everything.” regarding the endings. You gain more knowledge about the gallery and its characters through the “bad” endings, but many questions are left unanswered, up to your own interpretation and speculation. The nature of the Gallery and its power is left unexplained, and there’s no epilogue for any of the character’s fates, another staple of the genre. The mystery and intrigue of the story have made Ib a well-loved cult classic, as well as the alluring art style, charming characters, and fantastic atmosphere and music. Ib gets a well-deserved 9/10. (In my heart it is an absolute 10/10 knockout, but I’ll be slightly more objective).
