1. Characters
Ib, the titular character, is young and impressionable, which gets her into a lot of trouble—the endings Together Forever and Ib All Alone attest to that. She is kind but can help or harm the other two main characters Garry and Mary at different occasions based on what the player chooses.
2. Endings and
Element of Choice.
Ib has seven endings (eight if you count the fan-made Sacrifice ending), and all lead to Ib’s varying states and differing character relationships. Based on your choices, Ib could escape with Mary, Garry, or not escape the gallery at all. I don’t want to spoil too much, but the “true” ending is difficult to get and is rarely found on the first play-through.
3. Game Mechanics.
Ib, Garry, and Mary (sort of?) all have differently colored roses, which are their version of life in this odd, augmented museum. If their roses run out of life, they die too. Garry and Mary both have an invisible “relationship points” counter with Ib, and Garry has an invisible “doom counter.” Both are changed by the decisions you make. This is a very cool feature present in many video games, but in Ib you feel the effects of these counters very harshly, with all three characters.
Ib is a RPG horror game about a young girl trapped in a monstrous art museum. Despite being made in 2012 using a limited game engine, it doesn’t fail to create deep character relationships while also providing a creepy atmosphere and tough puzzles.
Much like other RPGs of its time (The Witch’s House, Mad Father, etc.), Ib has multiple endings that all provide different details to learning the truth and premise of the game/its world. Of course, that also means there are many, many ways to die in-game, but that can be overlooked.
Here are some reasons why Ib is one of my favorite games:
There are many other RPG games that have come out since then, but Ib will always have a special place in my heart. I hope this article inspires you to go watch a playthrough of this game, or even play it yourself!
ib: an rpg horror
by trini ashheart