The third game in the Lobotomy Corporation series has come out, and it’s a gacha! Is Limbus Company’s gameplay and story enough to reel you in? Find out in Game8’s review!
Limbus Company Rating: Review Summary and Score Explanation
Limbus Company Score Explanation
| Overall | The total rating of the game. The scores available range from 1-10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. The scores are added together, then multiplied by two. |
|---|---|
| Story | Rating the plot, characters, as well as pacing, and overall depth of the story. |
| Gameplay | How we rate the gameplay mechanics and systems designed in the game. |
| Visuals | Rating how beautiful the game's graphics are as well as its user interface. |
| Audio | Rating how the game's music grips players during battle and cutscenes, and how well the voice acting and other sounds are done. |
| Value for Money | The base game's length, replayability, and time needed for 100% completion. |
Limbus Company Review: Dante’s Wild Ride
Limbus Company is a decent gacha turn-based strategy game with interesting combat and an even more interesting story. Plus, it’s for free, technically speaking. Can’t argue with that.
The downside is that it runs the risk of content droughts, plus it takes effort to make sense of its setting and characters (mainly by playing previous games in the Lobotomy Corporation series). Plus, some people might not like the idea of taking care of yet another gacha in their daily lives.
If you liked Project Moon’s previous title, give it a whirl. Spend some money on it, if you want. Otherwise, check out the setting first or the first two games in the series. If you find that it’s your thing, then dip in.
Limbus Company Full Game Review
Pros of Limbus Company
| Things Limbus Company Got Right |
|---|
 Great Worldbuilding and Interesting Lore Engaging Hybrid Turn-Based/Real-Time Battle System Good Visuals, Great Soundtrack Game Is Friendly to F2P Players |
Great Worldbuilding and Interesting Lore
The strongest point (and probably the main selling point) of Limbus Company is its story, characters, and world-building. The City is a dark place where the rich live in material nirvana, while the poor and downtrodden have to endure hunger, violence, and monstrosities beyond their wildest imaginations. You, as the manager of the titular Limbus Company, are trying to pursue your corporation’s goals in the middle of this hopelessness, while trying to keep your Sinners from tearing out each others’ throats.
The characters are all well-crafted, with a solid basis in popular literature. As you guessed, Dante is a reference to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, along with his guide, Vergil. Meanwhile, each of the 12 Sinners is related to literature in some way. To name a few, there’s the intellectually-gifted but arrogant Faust, the idealistic and childish Don Quixote, the laid-back half-transformed bugman Gregor, the level-headed and competent Ishmael, and the impulsive and hot-headed Heathcliff.
Each chapter of the story focuses on a specific character, where you will progress through a part of The City to look for Golden Boughs, but end up in a manifestation of that character’s psyche. The stories we’ve been presented so far (there are at least three chapters out, with a fourth one in the works), all show both progress in the main story and the backstories of your Sinners. I would say that their stories were handled quite well, considering the quality of plots in other gacha games, with a plot revolving around Limbus Company’s conflicts with rival corporations and the Sinners’ relationships with those rivals and each other.
If consuming game lore is your thing, Limbus Company has that in droves. Each enemy has its own log and story, and the game itself has its own spinoff web story. That’s on top of the content that’s already been made for both Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina, along with their respective spinoff media, many of which have already been translated from Korean to English.
Engaging Hybrid Turn-Based/Real-Time Battle System
Another great thing I found about Limbus Company was its combat system. To put it simply, you’re supposed to chain (with a literal chain) the skills of your Sinners. Sinners have up to three attacks, each with its own Sin Resonance. So if you manage to match up a series of attacks of the Wrath type, then all those attacks will get stronger as a whole. Once you’ve formed the chain, your party of Sinners will lay down the hurt on the enemy simultaneously.
But that’s not all. Depending on the Sinners you take along with you, you can accumulate EGO resources. EGO resources are points you get for using attacks of a certain type in your chains, and if you get enough of them, you can use a Sinner’s EGO. EGOs are weapons of a paranormal nature that can deal massive damage and status effects to your enemies.
Use them too much, though, and your Sinner will run out of Sanity and go through EGO Corrosion, where the EGO will take over the Sinner’s body, turning them into a monster that deals massive damage to both you and your enemies.
But that’s not all, however. Your attacks also have a Stagger Chance, the Coin Flip, and the Attack Type. You see, when you get into battle, your enemy will attack as well. So your Sinner will get into what’s called a Clash. To put it simply, the higher a Sinner’s Stagger Chance plus Coin Flips are, the higher the chance their attack gets through the enemy’s defense. Not only do you end up damaging the enemy, but you might also end up staggering them, which prevents them from moving in the next turn.
It’s a bit complicated, but essentially it’s ‘match colors’ plus ‘big number = better’, plus conscious team composition. Simple enough, especially since outside of the story missions (and during dungeon missions) you’re given an option to just press a button that will chain the skills with the highest Clash Win Rates or deal the highest Damage.
Going into further detail will show the level of complexity Limbus Company’s combat system can get. Actually, that complexity is one of the bad points I will raise later in this review. But on the whole, it’s relatively easy to get into by reading guides online.
Good Visuals, Great Soundtrack
Sure, Limbus Company is a 2D game, but it’s dripping with a lot of style. In gameplay, your characters and enemies are rendered in a thick-penciled style much like Darkest Dungeon. In fact, looking closer, you’ll see that the game has borrowed quite a bit from DD when it comes to the visuals department.
When your Sinner attacks, they bump into the enemy, sending sparks flying. Once their attack gets through the enemy’s defenses, blood starts splattering all over the battlefield, until one of them gets reduced to a pile of innards or a viscera-covered corpse on the ground. If one of them uses a skill, you will see a nifty animation, plus effects like smoke or bullet tracers in battle. Even if it’s essentially 2D images bumping each other on the battlefield, you can't deny that Project Moon has made it look good.
In between the battles, you have a visual novel-style presentation of the story. The sprites drawn for Dante, the twelve Sinners, Vergil, Charon, and other characters are all drawn in a realistic, gritty style that’s still identifiable as anime, all drawn by the same artist Project Moon employed for Library of Ruina.
On the whole, the art is consistent across both the Sinners’ normal forms and their Identities, unlike other gachas where having many artists draw different characters results in uneven, jarring character designs. Another thing with the cutscenes is that they’re all voiced, though in Korean. No English dubs at the moment.
Game Is Friendly to F2P Players
Another thing I want to point out about Limbus Company is that the game, like other gachas out there, comes for the low, low price of free. Of course, there’s the whole gacha element to the gameplay, but so far the game’s been quite good in my experience as a Free-To-Play Player. Sure, you’ll have to farm the Mirror Dungeons more to level up your regular Sinners, but they actually do rather alright as long as you know how to synergize them and use EGOs.
Plus, signing up entitles you to a good amount of the in-game currency, Lunacy, which allows you to roll for Sinner Identities. Before spending any money on the game, I already got my hands on three 000-rarity Identities (000 being equivalent to an SSR, 00 being mid-tier, and 0 being the grade of your regular Sinners). You get more Lunacy as you progress through the story. So far, you can get a good amount of rolls per chapter, and that’s on top of the Lunacy you get after signing up.
When I did spend money on the game (to buy the Season Pass), I found myself getting access to good EGOs but nothing egregiously game-breaking. So far, I’ve spent 11 USD on the game, and I’ve also already gotten my hands on two of the featured banner identities, plus a good number of 000-rarity identities, plus enough Thread to uptie them all. Uptying is the game’s equivalent of raising a character’s class, unlocking more of their skills.
So on the whole, I haven’t run into anything scammy with Limbus Company. I am concerned with potential power creep, though that is the nature of most character releases in other gacha games.
Cons of Limbus Company
| Things That Limbus Company Can Improve |
|---|
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Game Fails To Explain Its Mechanics Well Gacha System May Turn Off Players Lore Takes Effort Getting Into for Newcomers |
Game Fails To Explain Its Mechanics Well
Remember when I said the battle system can get complicated? Well, part of the reason for that is how the mechanics are explained to you in the tutorial. And what I mean by ‘explained’ is actually ‘ram down your throat’.
The game’s mechanics, how to chain attacks, how to get Sin Resonance, how to use EGOs, how Coin Flips work, how the Stagger system works; all of this is dumped onto you in the first 20 minutes of gameplay. There was no way I could absorb all of it in one go, so I had to look up (multiple) guides on the internet just to wrap my head around the combat basics.
Actually, I’m still not too sure if I have a solid enough grasp of it.
Project Moon could’ve at least introduced these mechanics in a staggered manner through the tutorial. Teach Dante about chaining attacks in the first mission, teach them how to use EGOs in the second mission, and teach Coin Flips and staggering in the third. At least the mechanics wouldn’t be as intimidating to those who look upon the game to teach them how to play decently.
Gacha System May Turn Off Players
Before Limbus Company came out, there were hopes among online users that Project Moon’s next game in the Lobotomy Corporation franchise wouldn’t be a gacha, having been used to playing both LC and Library of Ruina one or two payments.
Then it was announced that the game would be a gacha.
Personally, I don’t want to play too many gacha games because they can become both time and money sinks where you might end up not being satisfied with what you’re doing at all. I also know other games that would steer clear of a game immediately after seeing the word ‘gacha’ anywhere near a title.
So, right off the bat, Limbus Company has to contend with preconceived notions about supposedly predatory gacha games, while convincing you to stick around for a story.
Limbus Company is a rather weird game to be a gacha, in my opinion. First, it’s that heavy emphasis on the story. Project Moon will have to make sure that their story goes as slow as possible to make it worthwhile as a live service game from an income standpoint, but also make sure that there won’t be content droughts. So far, there are three chapters available.
Unfortunately, based on the roadmap released by the Limbus Company Twitter account, Chapter 4 is set to come out… by May. That’s right. For a gacha game that’s been released in late February, it only has three chapters, two upcoming in-game events, and a few banners as content. This is as a good number of players may have already cleared Chapter 3 and are stuck farming Mirror Dungeons.
To be fair to the developers, new game modes are coming out such as Thread Luxcavation and Experience Luxcavation. But that may not be enough to sate the thirst of both PM fans who want more of Limbus Company’s story and dedicated gacha fans who chew through content daily.
Lore Takes Effort Getting Into for Newcomers
About the content, Limbus Company does not make it easy for newcomers to get into the series’ world. The City is a deep, rich, and intriguing setting, yes. But from the get-go, jargon after jargon and references to past events will fly over your head unless you had any sort of experience playing the past two games Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina. Plus all of the supplementary material.
This actually seems to be a problem with Project Moon games in general, since I had to make use of YouTube channels that summarize the story of previous games so new players can get into whatever new game PM has released recently. That was the case for Limbus Company as well.
Unless you’re a fan of dark urban hellscapes in general, it’ll take some effort to get into the world of Limbus Company. Though some ways to do that are easier than others, you will have to wonder if you could’ve at least been given a “Previously on…” segment to get introductions over with.
Limbus Company Story Plot
In The City, corporations rule the populace, having divided the land amongst themselves, and then between those who work for them, and those who do not. Those that do work for them get to live in the richer parts of a district called a Nest, while those that don’t have to live in the Backstreets, where all manner of violence and criminality happen daily.
Amidst this urban hell, you take on the role of Dante, a person with a clock for a head who has been installed as the Executive Manager of Limbus Company. Limbus Company seeks to obtain for itself the so-called Golden Boughs – the technology used by a fallen company called Lobotomy Corporation for energy production. Unfortunately, Limbus Company is not the only group interested in the Golden Boughs, and monsters the former company used to produce energy in the first place still lurk in abandoned Lobotomy Corp facilities.
To help Dante in his quest are 12 Sinners. The Sinners are Limbus Company employees who Dante can revive after death, at the cost of suffering enormous amounts of pain. Guided by the renowned Fixer Vergil, Dante and his Sinners must work together to gather Golden Boughs scattered all around The City. Or die trying.
Limbus Company is a gacha Turn-Based Strategy game developed by South Korean game developer Project Moon, who is also behind the hit titles Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina. Here, the player must guide their Sinners through The City’s districts, chaining together their attacks for maximum damage against their foes.
But your Sinners are not the strongest employees around. That’s where the gacha system comes in. You will have to spend in-game currency to gain access to your Sinners’ Identities, which are versions of themselves in alternate universes. This means a weakling in this universe may be a Hero in the other, and using the right identity may spell the difference between victory and defeat.
So, Manager, are you ready to face the Sin?
Who Should Play Limbus Company?
Limbus Company is Recommended if You Enjoy:
• Lobotomy Corporation/Library of Ruina
• Darkest Dungeon
• Slay The Spire
Limbus Company is great to play for people who loved the Lobotomy Corporation series and Library of Ruina, since its story is a continuation of the series that expands on its world and characters.
But it’s also great for those who loved the dark and gritty atmosphere of Darkest Dungeon since its gameplay visuals and violence are much like what you can find in that classic dungeon crawler. In fact, many sections of Limbus Company resemble the dungeon-crawling aspect of both Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire. So fans of those games may find themselves at home playing Limbus Company.
Is Limbus Company Worth It?
It’s Worth It if You’re a Project Moon Fan
Limbus Company is worth it if you are already a fan of Project Moon games in general. At least then you’d already have a background on what’s going on with this game and its setting, and also be familiar with how the combat works (since it’s kind of similar to Library of Ruina’s combat).
If you’re an outsider though, I suggest looking at the trailer plus some videos on Limbus Company’s background, just to see if it’s for you. Because the story is good, no doubt about it, but it will drag itself on through the months purely because it’s a live service game. This means you’ll have to exert effort to find out what happens next.
But the gacha system is all right, there’s a pity system in the form of shards, and you can get good value from the Battle Pass and other packs in the store. If you like turn-based combat and gritty and dark settings in general, you might like Limbus Company even if you’re not a Project Moon fan.
Limbus Company Trailer
Game8 Reviews
Limbus Company Product Information
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| Title | LIMBUS COMPANY |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 26, 2023 |
| Developer | Project Moon |
| Supported Platforms | Android, PC |
| Genre | Turn-Based Strategy, Role-Playing Game |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | Mature |
| Official Website | https://limbuscompany.com/ |
