Finished the second chapter, there's a third out already (I'm not sure how many there are right now. Twelve?) and I'll get through it sooner than later but for the time being this is more of a mechanical and presentational overview. I'll update this (or make a different review) after the plot has gotten a lot farther in since it's still pretty clearly setup, but quick review: this game is still very depressingly optimistic in the same vein as Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina, but considerably more lighthearted from the moment to moment. Makes sense as to why, as this is the first real dive into the City first-hand, rather than Library of Ruina having some vignettes demonstrating moments of the City. Regardless, it's fucked up but fun, and is filled with a lot of moments that switch quickly from one to the other. I also prefer the way the writing of the cast is handled; if Lobotomy and Ruina had any major issues with its writing, it's that character relationships are really nonexistant as characters barely talk to each other. Roland and Angela are easily extremely strong in Ruina thanks to this, but even Tiphereth in Lobotomy only really works by herself, and less so as a dynamic with Tiphereth.

Speaking in terms of presentation, wow, this game is beautiful. Ruina was already a good-looking game thanks to its style, but Limbus immensely improves it all. The character models during gameplay and animations are smooth and well-drawn, and the music is, as always, great. The different art styles between sprites and CGs make each moment distinct; there's a more comic book-ish style to the way it's done, but it also makes it a lot more graphic. It's somewhat like if the beginning minutes of Ruina had you see Roland's limbs being cut off visually, rather than just the intense SFX and writing. This definetly feels like what Ruina wishes it could have been.

Though in terms of comparing it to Ruina, the mechanics are somewhat of a down grade. The "Sin Resonance" gameplay is way too random. While parts of Ruina are very similar, with the resistance, stagger and health, the speed die and so on, the ways Limbus differs are generally weaker. During normal battles, you aren't able to target the units you wish to attack, but rather, have to deal with the RNG and choosing between two (well, three, counting defense (and four, counting EGO)) attacks in order to deal with them. In normal fights, this isn't too bad, but in fights like 2-18, this is a huge problem as there really isn't any counterplay to the boss of 2-18 staggering a unit immediately because you simply cannot clash with them other than obtaining different units. And since Limbus is a gacha, you aren't really able to get these units without some luck or some money.

I say generally, though, because while the normal fights have these issues, the Abnormality fights are great. You are able to select whichever Abnormality to target in the moment to moment, being able to redirect, and yeah? Thank god. These fights are extremely fun, with selecting various parts of the Abnormality and breaking them, having similar mechanics to Lobotomy Corporation's Abnormality Suppression and confinement mechanics. This is also combined with some great mixture of storytelling, such as Chapter 1 having Yuri's death linked to the mechanics of the fight, and Chapter 2's big Abnormality fight being less of an actual fight, and more you just running away from (what I assume is) The Snow Queen's castle.

Linked to the Abnormality fights are also the dungeon crawling. I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed that when Limbus was first "announced", it sold itself as a dungeon crawler as my assumptions were that it would be closer to a Wizardry deal, but the actual dungeon crawling is still very fun. It mixes the plot very well, while the actual exploration is more similar to multiple risk/reward events that benefit the player for the final fight, utilizing various EGO gifts to strengthen yourself. Utilizing all 12 Sinners is also a lot of fun, as switching between them during different fights really sells the idea of Limbus Company itself, as these Sinners have various potentials and strengths that we are able to harness and use from the moment to moment.

Limbus is also obviously riddled with bugs, with a launch that immediately went into maintenance because of 100k users, but frankly, yeah that's just Project Moon. And while the bugs and technical issues are obviously problems, it's at least extremely surprising how high-budget and high-effort Limbus is, where its style and writing hasn't been compromised for the sake of reaching a wider audience. Rather, the esoteric comedy and drama PM prides itself in is simply put in a medium that reaches a wider audience. I hope there are some changes to the battle system as being unable to select specific units to clash against makes the potential this game has much weaker, but as it stands right now? Yeah, it's fun.

Some interesting things to talk about here, despite the trashy-ish core. A light background, I've read my share of gacha stories from start to termination (or however much it's caught up), done my dragalia raids, I know what people are kind of in this for are more long-term. But what's here is still... poor.

It's like weirdly easy, especially by projectmoon's standard, and i don't just mean in the "regular enemy encounters are just auto" but moreso that its ceiling, both mathematically and functionally is below-par compared to others in this genre. It's got a worse tactical ceiling than Arknights, it's got a very heavy lack of rng mitigation versus its contemporaries, and its toughest bosses including mirror, so far, are... really whatever? From a conceptual standpoint it's tough for me to infer what the hell a "good raid boss" would look like here without it becoming numerically oppressive.

But like, that's not what people stick to this franchise for, certainly not the ONLY reason for me. Ruina's gameplay fucks hard for me, and I love LobCorp's entire mechanical spectrum on paper, but what attaches me is that seamless weaving between that and an incredible all-encompassing narrative. The one here, so far, through three chapters, is very Porcelain. It dresses up some things with fancy nicely laden philosophy with hellish attitudes and anachronistic livelihood, but its character strands are way more vestigial to that main theme, culminating so far in, nothing. PJM's works are backloaded, sure, but they had more clear payoff than this, and they didn't sacrifice on its characters for the sake of The Long Run Soap Opera. Combined with the general messy affair that is gacha's narrative structure you get something that feels rushed as much as unfinished. And, again, sure, LobCorp and Ruina were both early access on release too, but they were way more orderly, far more hinting at what's to come. The pages by which each character in this game comes from is more interesting and expressive then they are in flesh. Seriously. My biggest takeaway is "go read what you get from googling this character". They also feel weirdly impersonal? Throughout all three chapters the weaksauce "deep-dive" done on each chosen character is more OBSERVED than Felt, or even discussed. It happens, and then things move on. There's a slight aura of internal reflection on what just happened but it's never actually considered. Not even by your meta stand-in Dante.

That expressive ~ludonarrative~ is also only barely reflected in its Check system, of which is much more divorced from how you're generally playing than actually something you feel metaphysically. To simplify that, with Ruina's cards you were putting on an air of someone's life that you dressed yourself up as, fighting abnormalities that were, mechanically, structured around their lore and story. Here, the fights barely have the latter but the CHECKS are binary, and they are the real difficulty in every fight so far. And what happens when you fail? You just roll back the clock, prepare with someone who can pass the check. But doing that isn't like ludonarratively the characters actualizing enough to survive the check as much as it feels like you just luck out. And this story isn't about 'luck.'

This leads me to a very very bizzare thought process. Who is Limbus FOR, exactly? Like I don't understand the business strategy. I thought initially that it was like, oh they bring in their devout fanbase and slowly turn them into buying past the grind. But... the past two games forced you to blame yourself for your mistakes and "buy-in" your time. These fans are more likely to grind their way through, not dump money for better pulls. And this gameplay isn't really that appealing from a complexity standpoint or tactical one, it's far too low a ceiling of decisions. Is the idea here simply to platform off people loving ProjectMoon's aesthetic sensibilities that they coast off that alone? I mean, I tried! But gods does that feel hollow. I don't understand why you couldn't just replay their other games or, read The Distortion Detective. Hell, Leviathan might be more worth the time.

I do get it though. They want to keep the lights on so they can fund LobCorp2. This game is certainly budgeted without seeming Too unpolished (at least, it performed well on my platform, i know it has had a terrible launch for most others), it's snappy and receptive, it is not too perfunctory, etc etc. Them keeping the cast to 12 specific main characters that they probably contracted in-house probably lowers their cost from hiring even more talent over time, but that's still a total bulk of money spent. VA isn't cheap over there. I wonder if it'll even be sustainable enough to have a genuine raid. Fuck if I know. It's a depressing tightrope of "I want PJM to not, die" and "this gacha is so terrible for them from a structural standpoint that it should, absolutely, be punished".

tl;dr basically weak-ass spinoff territory, if you want to rationalize it charitably. I'm going back to my not-quite-that-much-better-morally TCG mine.

Still at its early state and the content not being fully released, I don't feel great rating this game just yet but I cannot help to write something for it right now as it sits on my mind.
First of all I'll start by saying that, as many people in this review section have said before, the idea of Project Moon, a company that has made a universe to critizise (one of the many things to critizise, i guess) the capitalist society we live in and how it affects people, it is kind of insane to come to the decision to make a gacha game out of everything they could've done. While I understand that a company has to hold itself and make some kind of revenue so that we can continue enjoying the great content they make, it's hypocritical to do it this way and still speak of how gambling is bad in this games second chapter. The fact that Limbus Company is a gacha game kind of goes against the message of all Project Moon's writting.
Still, I am playing it, like I've played many gacha games before despite hating how they prey on people, so i am kind of a hypocrite as well.
If you'd like to know, the gacha at least doesn't feel extremely predatory and it is easy to ignore and play completely free, which I always appreciate in gacha games because i refuse, and will always refuse, to give those games any kind of money. Project Moon are being generous with rewards, but I am still baffled that they would decide to make a gacha.
With that out of the way, I have to say that the first three chapters of this game have been very good. Gameplay wise, it is kind of like Library of Ruina, though in a more simple way. Not being able to target specific enemies when not fighting against abnormalities does suck but you soon learn how to deal with it and its entertaining.
Story has been very great so far, I really enjoy more character driven story telling and it's been achieved well here Chapter 3 was definitely the peak of this first release and I am looking forward to more, I am very attached to the characters in here so I'd love to see where this goes!

While the game is nowhere near “completion” at the time I’m writing this, with ~45 hours logged and all of the currently available main story content finished, I feel like I’ve had enough time in the game to justify sharing some sentiments.

It is imperative that I mention how much I despise gachas, battle passes, games with “dailies”, all that stuff; they are systems put in place to prey on as much of your time and money as possible, it’s an irrefutable fact and one that these types of games usually barely even try to disguise. That’s not something I would ever feel comfortable with outright dismissing or excusing in any way, so to make it perfectly clear: I do not agree with any of those decisions, and it’s absolutely a knock against the game. With all of that being said, it’s hugely impressive that my unwavering belief in the absolute artistry Project Moon has proven themselves capable of crafting twice before in Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina supersedes my vehement hatred for the format. I was more than willing to download the game and give it a shot because I need more of the world they’ve so loving and carefully crafted, and I’m really happy with my decision to do so.

To my complete and utter lack of surprise, most of everything that makes these games so phenomenal is still here in full effect. Going from having a small, isolated piece of the world in Lobotomy Corporation with only a vague understanding of outside happenings, to a more concrete understanding of how the world is structured and how society works in Library of Ruina, to being able to actually explore through that world from the perspective of characters who are actually there is really satisfying. It’s such a natural stream of progression but it’s executed brilliantly. I’ve played a lot of games, and there are very few that can come anywhere close to Project Moon’s world-building prowess.

I was initially a bit concerned about leaving the cast we’ve grown comfortable with since Lobotomy Corporation behind in favor of replacing them with an entirely new menagerie of characters, but it turns out those worries were totally unfounded because the Sinners are great. It took me a little while to warm up to the Lob Corp cast, but I’ve loved the Sinners from their introduction and it only got better as the story went along (and will only continue to get better from here, I’m sure). As a Kid Icarus: Uprising and Higurashi super maniac, character chemistry and the enjoyability that ensues from character back and forths is just as important (if not moreso) than how “good” a character is individually. The Sinners all bounce off of each other really well, whether they’re brutally eviscerating/maiming one another or sharing a nice chicken kebab. Lots of room for the characters to grow, too, even though there have already been clear-cut examples of development. The found family vibes are STRONG.

The one area I’m kinda down on the game about is the actual gameplay. To put it bluntly, Limbus Company’s gameplay feels like everything Library of Ruina already did…but worse. There’s not a single thing it does better in my eyes, which is really disappointing considering that Ruina has one of the best gameplay systems I've ever encountered. An ok Ruina is still pretty good though even if things can feel a little too luck dependent for my liking sometimes, especially in the Chapter 3 difficulty spike where a lot of difficult fights are made difficult because you have no control over which enemies you’re attacking. I'd chalk things up to "it's a necessary evil to water things down, it needs to be easily digestible" if not for the fact that a better version of the game's combat system literally already exists within the game itself. The abnormality and boss fights, while still not perfect, are much more enjoyable simply on the merits of giving the player control over what clashes happen, what enemy you're attacking, etc. I think with some slight improvements, they could really be onto something even if I personally doubt it’s going to ever quite reach the highs of Ruina’s snappy, tactical moment to moment gameplay (I would love to be proven wrong though!)

So yeah, really excited to see where things go next with this one. #LimbusSweep and Don Quixote will be the first character in history to have one Limbillion fans.

On the one hand, I think gacha is an interesting move for Project Moon. For the billion problems inherant to the genre, the gameplay in previous Project Moon games could easily fit well into it, and a game like Arknights (and maybe ONLY Arknights, though im sure theres others out there under my nose) proves that the medium has legitimate value as a means for some pretty excellent long form storytelling. And the sheer amount of money involved with a successfully operating gacha enables high production values and things like high amounts of voice acting and out-of-game official content, which i personally feel could be well suited to Project Moon's styles of game design and obscenely long storylines.

On the other hand - oh god project moon made a live service game, it has already fallen apart, and they will probably not get away with it. It runs like complete shit, it has already required enough maintenance to justify them sending out 20 free pulls to everyone, it is buggy beyond belief, and the general user experience is absolutely terrible in a genre that will eat you alive for not being tip top in terms of polish.

Main thing that needs to be said is that Limbus company is a game that feels an awful lot more complicated than it actually is. When you get down to it this game is heavily streamlined versus most Gacha (Genshin is a more complicated game than this, unironically), and the gameplay is essentially a bottom of the barrel autobattler with a colour matching minigame beforehand. The UI and onboarding process are utterly abysmal and really dont help matters, as the game flashes by way too much information way too fast, and then obscures pretty important stuff such as the coin flips and support skill stuff to an extent where it really just feels like a game you're meant to outlevel and turn your brain off.

This is compounded by the game being way too RNG heavy. It's not like its a game where you can really influence rolls or work to create strategies which work with variance, the game is just constantly flipping coins and rolling dice on what skills and stuff you get and who's getting the upper hand in fights. And it all happens so quickly its so, so easy to glaze over everything thats happening.

Maybe it's just knowledge of the other Project Moon games, but the whole thing has this impression that its really just another game in their universe that's been crowbarred into a gacha format rather than something built from the ground up to accomodate and really work with the model. It really shows with the particularly bizzare decision to make the game consist of only 12 units, with you essentially rolling your gacha for alters and special moves for them. I get it's going for a sort of MTG planeswalker thing where they show up in different forms all over and whatnot but, still seriously feels like writing yourself into a huge hole for a game set to be being built upon for years and years.

It isn't helped by a truly shit launch. If gacha gamers have standards for anything it's polish, and boy does this not have that. Performance is terrible, with hitching and frequent stutters on mid range phones and god forbid you've got anything over a few years old. Servers have already crashed multiple times, they've had to pull a pack from the shop for being underpriced (not a good move). Some UI buttons just don't work! Tooltips and menu stuff still come up in Korean! I can only imagine the state it must have been in before it got delayed.

I do still think the conceit of Project Moon doing a gacha has potential, but this isn't the realisation of that. This is more like another Project Moon singleplayer game that's been chopped and beaten into a gacha shaped hole, when they have two perfectly serviceable and extremely content rich games right there!

The writing and art chops of Project moon do seem to be here, even if "Mysterious amnesiac becomes commander of cool team" as a setup in gacha has now been beaten like a dead horse, and despite what's claims to the contrary, this really doesn't seem like the best jumping on point to the moonverse. And frankly, I would have serious doubts that the loyal fanbase can prevent limbus reaching end of service before it's story is done.

Maybe I was too naive with my hopes, but Limbus Company really just is a worst case scenario. Beloved developer goes live service, reaps all the negatives without a single thing for the good.

I'll sum my thoughts up briefly here, then go in depth in the paragraphs below. It's a great time for newcomers to the series, while having interesting story beats for long-time fans. 4.5/5 stars. Now here's the long version:

This was my first full Project Moon game, having only lightly dabbled in Lobotomy Corporation beforehand. Personally, there are a few issues at the time of review, 2/28/2023. I think the story's pacing is a tad slow to start, there are too many characters introduced at the start, and that the few bugs there are are really noticeable. The bugs I see being patched with time. That said, there are many more positives.

Firstly, it's a great gacha. The rates and pulls are all very fair, with a non-intrusive battle pass system for those who want even more out of an already generous system. I seriously don't get the hate for the Battle Pass, as I have a supremely good set-up without paying even one cent.

On the story, the emotional core of this game is amazing for a game of this stature. I really suggest you finish the dungeon at the end of chapter one before assessing this game's world. Something about its bleak yet hopeful view on love, war, and power-dynamics really resonated with me. And, while there are too many character at first, they really start to break into their own as the game continues. My personal favorite is the focus of much of chapter one, Gregor. The Korean voice acting is also perfectly on par with that you'd see on television in Korea.

The OST also begs to be listened to on repeat. Every last battle theme (which there are already many of at launch), every last cutscene track, and even the vocal credits themes are all amazing. If this game is to continue to add more great tracks in future updates, it may be climbing towards my top 10 game OSTs of all time.

This game also has a phenomenal visual appeal. Every last design, background, and cinematic meshes well to create a colorful, entertaining world that somehow doesn't conflict with the darker tone of the story and music. All 12 of the party members also have great designs, but that is expected of a gacha.

On the gameplay, I've heard this game is a tad simplified from the previous entry, Library of Ruina. As someone who has never played that game, I'm glad I played this first. The mechanics (which there are many of) are a bit hard to break into at first, but create for simple (yet challenging) gameplay that is great for on-the-go play. Hearing LoR is a bigger challenge makes me excited to inevitably sink my teeth into that game as well.

Project Moon, you've gained a new fan.

make no mistake this game is NOT LoR 2

Gameplay is fast and fun enough for it to not be boring
Characters are all likeable in one way or another
I want rodya to hug me and tell me everything is gonna be ok
Studio EIM did a phenomenal job on the soundtrack as usual

Focuses more on abnormality fights than humans and the like, which i very much do enjoy, the abno fights in LoR were fun but at times felt too gimmicky

Take chances, make vroom-vroom & don’t be afraid to get DEPRAVED

Big huge fan of Lobotomy Corporation
Accepting of Library of Ruina but can’t say it holds any special place in my heart (sadly)
Project Moon groupie nonetheless

Just finished Chapter 3 of Limbus Company (aka all that we have for this season) & I must say…. what the fuck
I love the game, truly, but I wish I understood so many more aspects of it
Ain’t that just the way…………..

I thoroughly read every tutorial, every info blurb they offer in the very very VERY many menus that PM adores so much and I STILL could not entirely tell you how I succeeded or why I failed when I did (re:story missions/chapters). Possibly my own misunderstanding of the jargon or the jargon itself.
I’m not mad about it but I’m simply raising my hand politely.

I know there is way more of this game to come & while I’m still tightening my bootstraps after pumping almost 44 hours into it I’m super excited to keep playing.
The writing is fantastic
The characters are all so unique and loveable and I do enjoy this combat system much more than LoR even if they are more-or-less the same just without the grinding of different skills & building your own deck. That system seems to be one that folks loved more than this one here but I said what I said

Can’t wait to face the fear & struggle more in season 2 ;)