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LIMBO |OT| What awaits at the edge of Hell?
- Thread starter Davedough
- Start date
Just finished it. I loved the gameplay and atmosphere, but the lack of story was really disappointing. I understand it's intentionally left open to interpretation, but I feel a little more could have gone a long way. I do agree with that school bus theory though, makes sense.
Also, this game really should have been $10. It was worth the playthrough, but I was really surprised when it ended so abruptly, wish it was longer.
Also, this game really should have been $10. It was worth the playthrough, but I was really surprised when it ended so abruptly, wish it was longer.
shongololo
Member
Ermac said:
Yes, the developers should have concentrated their limited resources tacking on lots of clumsy pointless narrative ruining the atmosphere of the game in the process and giving them less time to work out irrelevant stuff like controls and, you know, the game. Great call.
LordPhoque
Banned
Y2Kev said:
Dialogues ?
I finished it last night and while I liked most of what I played, I still can't shake the opinion that it was made by jerks.
To make the lazy comparison: At least when I was stumped in Braid, I had an idea of what the game wanted out of me. The times when I had difficulty with Limbo, I legitimately had no idea what is was that it wanted me to do. But I should add that I don't have much in the way of patience for what I perceive to be bad game design.
To make the lazy comparison: At least when I was stumped in Braid, I had an idea of what the game wanted out of me. The times when I had difficulty with Limbo, I legitimately had no idea what is was that it wanted me to do. But I should add that I don't have much in the way of patience for what I perceive to be bad game design.
TheUnknownForce
Member
Finished it and then played through the first half again in about a quarter the time it took to play it the first time. Speed runs will be interesting to see.
Anyways, as much as I'd not want to say it, the game is overrated, to an extent. The first half of the game feels like twice the game the second half is. Allow me to explain.
The first half takes place in a forest, and the game's usage of 2D and 3D environments reign greatly here. For me, seeing
was totally awesome, as were
. Being chased a little bit through the game gave a bit more hectic nature, which added to the morbid and altogether frightening experience. It was great. The puzzles were integrated into the world perfectly, and there were plenty of moments that were subtle enough that the game did not have to tell you outright what mechanics the game provided such as
.
The second half sort of dies out. The game's atmosphere falls back into oddly clean factory worlds, and even the puzzles start to lose their sheen:
. I did like the intensity of
. However, by the last fourth or so of the game, it felt like a color-by-numbers platforming puzzler, and not necessarily the good kind. The last puzzle didn't even feel like the last puzzle, you know? The macabre world and dark, mysterious landscapes are replaced by sterile worlds.
.
The ending, I felt, was good enough.
Graphically the game is neat, and the music adds to the experience, that's for sure. But when all is said and done, the game is ~3 hours long, first time, and afterwards, unless you are an achievement whore, you probably won't play the game many times. The shortness does give it some "sit down and play some part of it" feel, but the length was DEFINITELY a concern of mine that really hit.
And finally, Amirox is someone I agree with in that the game hits that "trial-and-error" gameplay set up a bit much for a short game. I'd argue that I never really got stuck in the game's puzzles save two or three and for a little bit, even then. It was performing the actions necessary to solve the puzzles that was hard. Jumping was more like hopping, and for a platform puzzler where platforming segments become major near the end, that is detrimental. Even early on,
, I guarantee you that nobody has survived those, first try. It just seems impossible. If those moments were not as prevalent as they were, I'd let it slide, but after a while, the "puzzles" become more like "I missed it by .1 seconds, so I have to do it again...and again.." exercises.
I like LIMBO. I enjoyed the experience. The ending was quick and to the point, and the music and starting atmosphere was awesome. Shame it really isn't that MEATY for a six-years-in-development game.
If a sequel is announced, it better DAMN WELL BE LONGER for 1200 MS points.
Anyways, as much as I'd not want to say it, the game is overrated, to an extent. The first half of the game feels like twice the game the second half is. Allow me to explain.
The first half takes place in a forest, and the game's usage of 2D and 3D environments reign greatly here. For me, seeing
the spider's webbing in the cave
the broken forest canopy and drowned people segments
seeing the birds eat the brain worms before you first encounter them, as well as any dead bodies that show that death is nearby
The second half sort of dies out. The game's atmosphere falls back into oddly clean factory worlds, and even the puzzles start to lose their sheen:
gravity puzzles with physics engines? Wonderful
the rotating machinery segment and the HOTEL sign part
Monsters are few and replaced by static machine guns by the end, and that's only so much. If there were more creatures chasing you or making a conceited effort to kill you, then maybe those parts would feel more redeemed
The ending, I felt, was good enough.
You found your sister. You and her are both dead, duh, being in LIMBO and all that. Perhaps this is paradise, now, and you've finally made it through the dark, bleak world to find happiness in family. Either way, it certainly fits the car crash theory that's around here. I find the story ends positively in that your goal is complete, and the afterlife finally begins.
Graphically the game is neat, and the music adds to the experience, that's for sure. But when all is said and done, the game is ~3 hours long, first time, and afterwards, unless you are an achievement whore, you probably won't play the game many times. The shortness does give it some "sit down and play some part of it" feel, but the length was DEFINITELY a concern of mine that really hit.
And finally, Amirox is someone I agree with in that the game hits that "trial-and-error" gameplay set up a bit much for a short game. I'd argue that I never really got stuck in the game's puzzles save two or three and for a little bit, even then. It was performing the actions necessary to solve the puzzles that was hard. Jumping was more like hopping, and for a platform puzzler where platforming segments become major near the end, that is detrimental. Even early on,
with the bear traps that swing at you or even the button-squashers
I like LIMBO. I enjoyed the experience. The ending was quick and to the point, and the music and starting atmosphere was awesome. Shame it really isn't that MEATY for a six-years-in-development game.
If a sequel is announced, it better DAMN WELL BE LONGER for 1200 MS points.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Okay so that one bit where
HALP PLAESE
there are two sets of doors connected to two sets of ropes that you have to pull to raise, is the only solution to just do the top one and get to the second rope as fast as you can?
HALP PLAESE
BenjaminBirdie said:
On the bottom level to the left is a cart you can pull out and set under the gears that are directly under the first rope you pull on. Pull on rope 1, jump down onto cart and grab rope one again to keep that going, then swing over to rope two.
Nuff said
Nuff said
SiegfriedFM
Member
Am I the only one who was reminded of Little Big Planet? Seriously, if there was a "grab and pull yourself up" mechanic in LBP you could probably make an exact remake of this game.
state_vector_collapse
Member
Finished it and loved the art direction and general atmosphere. But like some here, the length of the game coupled with trial and error, makes it a difficult one to recommend at 1200 points.
The fact that I never got stuck for longer than maybe 5 minutes tops, made it feel like a bit of a simplistic stroll through an interesting/eerie place. But nothing gave me much satisfaction once I'd (pretty quicly) figured out what to do.
I'm glad I played it, but I do wish I hadn't creamed quite so many points on it.
The fact that I never got stuck for longer than maybe 5 minutes tops, made it feel like a bit of a simplistic stroll through an interesting/eerie place. But nothing gave me much satisfaction once I'd (pretty quicly) figured out what to do.
I'm glad I played it, but I do wish I hadn't creamed quite so many points on it.
Warm Machine
Member
Amir0x said:
Hope you hold Resident Evil 4 to the same metric with its QTE press the wrong button in an instant or be dead design style.
Haunted
Member
I also enjoyed the forest setting the most. Being chased by the spider was the best part of the game to me. The Another World certainly helped that. 
The factory/city parts were also good, but not as good.
The factory/city parts were also good, but not as good.
They're vaguely similar in that they're both physics-based platformers, I guess. But movement, jumping and inertia feel much, much better in Limbo.SiegfriedFM said:
Warm Machine said:
Buh!? The QTE is not trial-and-error. Anyone with any decent skill level and motor skills could easily hit the QTE in time if they're paying attention. There is no near guaranteed death without dumb luck like in LIMBO.
QTE is still shitty game design anyway, though. :lol
RE: forced deaths
It's really not a big deal. If you want to be a design snob, Limbo has worse problems. Like I said in my above post, checkpoints are ALL OVER THE PLACE. You usually spawn right next to where you died, it just takes a couple seconds, and you have unlimited lives. Plus, it's not like this is some arcade style game where your high score is on the line. How much you die makes no difference. AND it only springs sudden traps on you a handfull of times through the game.
If you're still bothered by "unavoidable" deaths in Limbo despite all that, your problem may be solved by crying more. :lol
It's really not a big deal. If you want to be a design snob, Limbo has worse problems. Like I said in my above post, checkpoints are ALL OVER THE PLACE. You usually spawn right next to where you died, it just takes a couple seconds, and you have unlimited lives. Plus, it's not like this is some arcade style game where your high score is on the line. How much you die makes no difference. AND it only springs sudden traps on you a handfull of times through the game.
If you're still bothered by "unavoidable" deaths in Limbo despite all that, your problem may be solved by crying more. :lol
velvet_nitemare
Member
Wow, tried the demo, and i loved it.
Gonna pick up points and get this soon.
Art style is crazy awesome.
Gonna pick up points and get this soon.
Art style is crazy awesome.
Ya, that's pretty much how I felt. The art design and animation is what I liked the most about the game, it's really a unique experience that I think a lot of people should see. The actual gameplay itself wasn't meaty enough or long enough for my liking though.Amir0x said:
While after spending 1200 on Braid I felt the price was justified, I felt a little bit short changed with Limbo. I'm not going to bitch about a few dollars though, it was a good game.
I picked up Limbo today and played through it, after tinkering with the demo yesterday. I had never read up on it, or heard of it, before release - didn't even click on the thread - so my first encounter with the demo was interesting. Few games have had such an immediate impact. The designers did a great job by both eliminating UI elements entirely, and maintaining a single scrolling game world, with no discrete levels. The black and white, filtering and audio design all made for a really atmospheric introduction unlike any I've had since maybe the demo of Bioshock. It's masterful.
The designers did a great job of adding subtle touches that provide clues and context, such as how the player's hands reach forward when he's near something he can grab. Standing on a rotating gear and watching the character's weight shift very slowly and naturally was oddly mesmerizing; the animation is as perfect and nuanced as any I've run into.
That said, I wasn't entirely enamored. There's basically three gameplay styles to Limbo: puzzle solving, awkward platforming, and awkward platforming that require precise demonstrations of timing to solve puzzles. I enjoyed the first, which is what the early portion of the game consists of and is why I bought it - I was expecting more of the same. However, much of Limbo represents a type of gameplay I really, really hate: trial and error. My daughters and I decided the game should be called, "What Will Kill Me Next?"
In WWKMN?, you basically proceed from one cryptic setup to another, and await a swift demise so that you can know what to do next. Consequences are immediate, but fortunately so are (most of! some are very bad!) the save points. I was seldom tempted to turn it off in frustration because I was more often than not having to repeat just a few seconds of gameplay, never minutes.
As WWKMN? progressed, it introduced more and more requirements of precision platforming and timing over puzzle solving, and I was sad to see the mix tilt such. Near the end, the push and pull games with gravity were maddening: floating that box out of the nook it was in drove me positively bonkers. Worse, I was so relieved when I finally snagged it that I got careless and fell to my death, only to find I had to repeat the exercise; there was no save after retrieving the box. The final leap/puzzle in WWKMN? was a good illustration of the kind of gameplay I simply don't enjoy; I knew almost immediately what I needed to do, but it took a good 20+ attempts to do it. I can sort of understand why some would find that appealing, but I simply found that kind of stuff grating and endlessly frustrating.
Another side scrolling puzzle/platform game, Braid, was wonderful because of the lack of fail state, and because it laid a puzzle out in front of you to solve, and you could just tinker until it was solved. In WWKMN? you basically wander from one space to another and death lets you know what not to do; it's gameplay by process of elimination. With a few exceptions, the game does a very poor job of teaching you its rules so you can employ them intelligently later. It's much more about solving the particulars of the moment, and those are often discovered by throwing a switch and dying immediately after. I found that wore thin about halfway through and I honestly didn't care for the rest of the game, despite a light sprinkling of clever puzzles between awkward platforming and deathtraps.
I give the game very high marks for its approach and visual design, but the actual gameplay design evolved into something I didn't care for at all.
I wrote this up before reading the thread; I assume I'm in the vast minority here but I'm very interested in what the rest of GAF thought; I saw the stellar reviews in the OP.
Edit:
Okay. It's not just me. I agree emphatically with the above, especially that last post; it's exactly how I feel about the game.
The designers did a great job of adding subtle touches that provide clues and context, such as how the player's hands reach forward when he's near something he can grab. Standing on a rotating gear and watching the character's weight shift very slowly and naturally was oddly mesmerizing; the animation is as perfect and nuanced as any I've run into.
That said, I wasn't entirely enamored. There's basically three gameplay styles to Limbo: puzzle solving, awkward platforming, and awkward platforming that require precise demonstrations of timing to solve puzzles. I enjoyed the first, which is what the early portion of the game consists of and is why I bought it - I was expecting more of the same. However, much of Limbo represents a type of gameplay I really, really hate: trial and error. My daughters and I decided the game should be called, "What Will Kill Me Next?"
In WWKMN?, you basically proceed from one cryptic setup to another, and await a swift demise so that you can know what to do next. Consequences are immediate, but fortunately so are (most of! some are very bad!) the save points. I was seldom tempted to turn it off in frustration because I was more often than not having to repeat just a few seconds of gameplay, never minutes.
As WWKMN? progressed, it introduced more and more requirements of precision platforming and timing over puzzle solving, and I was sad to see the mix tilt such. Near the end, the push and pull games with gravity were maddening: floating that box out of the nook it was in drove me positively bonkers. Worse, I was so relieved when I finally snagged it that I got careless and fell to my death, only to find I had to repeat the exercise; there was no save after retrieving the box. The final leap/puzzle in WWKMN? was a good illustration of the kind of gameplay I simply don't enjoy; I knew almost immediately what I needed to do, but it took a good 20+ attempts to do it. I can sort of understand why some would find that appealing, but I simply found that kind of stuff grating and endlessly frustrating.
Another side scrolling puzzle/platform game, Braid, was wonderful because of the lack of fail state, and because it laid a puzzle out in front of you to solve, and you could just tinker until it was solved. In WWKMN? you basically wander from one space to another and death lets you know what not to do; it's gameplay by process of elimination. With a few exceptions, the game does a very poor job of teaching you its rules so you can employ them intelligently later. It's much more about solving the particulars of the moment, and those are often discovered by throwing a switch and dying immediately after. I found that wore thin about halfway through and I honestly didn't care for the rest of the game, despite a light sprinkling of clever puzzles between awkward platforming and deathtraps.
I give the game very high marks for its approach and visual design, but the actual gameplay design evolved into something I didn't care for at all.
I wrote this up before reading the thread; I assume I'm in the vast minority here but I'm very interested in what the rest of GAF thought; I saw the stellar reviews in the OP.
Edit:
Mdk7 said:
claviertekky said:
Bernbaum said:
Okay. It's not just me. I agree emphatically with the above, especially that last post; it's exactly how I feel about the game.
Amir0x said:
Ayup, we see eye to eye on this game. I hoped the game would present me with a series of challenges, and when I fail, the reasons for failure would be apparent and I would course correct. But as often as not, I'd walk a forward along the predetermined path and meet instant death. Limbo teaches you what not to do by killing you, rather than presenting challenges to comprehend and then overcome. I think there is a lot of very poor game design here.Amir0x said:
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
This seemed like something I'd love, but it got a bit too arcadey at times.
Not... worth the money, maybe? I don't know, I don't regret buying it but it felt a little too much like a proof of concept or something.
I might be a totally asshole dummy guy at the moment. It just didn't hit me in that special way that indie games usually do that makes me feel like hiding my Apple products from all my friends for some reason.
Not... worth the money, maybe? I don't know, I don't regret buying it but it felt a little too much like a proof of concept or something.
I might be a totally asshole dummy guy at the moment. It just didn't hit me in that special way that indie games usually do that makes me feel like hiding my Apple products from all my friends for some reason.
Psy-Phi
Member
I know! It's so hard to put text in a game right.shongololo said:
C'mon, they could have done something similar to Braid with a book you open. Obviously for this games world a book wouldn't work, but it wouldn't have been difficult to have a black screen with some white text on it narrating what was going on. Not in any great detail, but the simplest words can evoke a story and more emotion than can be wrought from silhouettes.
Heck when we assume at the end what happens some black screens with text, like in a silent film, would have worked magnificently. And we do assume what happens because nothing is told.
Dr Zhivago
Member
I enjoyed this. Obviously the artstyle & general atmosphere is the main draw, but the physics puzzly stuff is generally well done. My only real complaint is the physics engine adds a 'fuzziness' to what is otherwise a fairly precise platformer, which can be irritating. Yes it's trial-and-error, but that can be a valid design choice with such forgiving checkpointing.
Also, ambiguous endings FTW.
Also, ambiguous endings FTW.
So, I played the demo, and I really liked the atmosphere. It's cool that they worked the art direction into the level design so well. But man, even in that demo (it ends at the giant spider), I could tell there was a lot of trial and error up ahead. Shit, I wasn't looking on the ground, trying to search out bear traps and suddenly, DEATH! However, once they were introduced, they were used cleverly at least once.
I can definitely see this appealing to the "games are art" crowd.
So I think I'll bite at 800 points. Yeah, it's $5, but I only have 800 points right now, and if I bought PB Winterbottom, I probably wouldn't buy another points card until Fez anyway.
PB Winterbottom on the other hand was a game that was actually a little frustrating because I wasn't sure if I was completing the levels the way they were meant to, but actually solving those puzzles was pretty fun, and despite my initial frustration, I could see myself coming back to it soon.
I can definitely see this appealing to the "games are art" crowd.
So I think I'll bite at 800 points. Yeah, it's $5, but I only have 800 points right now, and if I bought PB Winterbottom, I probably wouldn't buy another points card until Fez anyway.
PB Winterbottom on the other hand was a game that was actually a little frustrating because I wasn't sure if I was completing the levels the way they were meant to, but actually solving those puzzles was pretty fun, and despite my initial frustration, I could see myself coming back to it soon.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
wow, there's something about these little indie games that really inspire heaps of discussion here, ey? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it. I just find it funny that when everyone starts talking about it, all I have to say is "it was... uh, not quite there for me?" whereas most of the time I'm the one typing the stupid long overly analytical posts.
I was like this with Flower, too. I go to type something and then I get selfconscious because i know whatever I'm about to say has already been typed a million times on a blog or something. :lol
I was like this with Flower, too. I go to type something and then I get selfconscious because i know whatever I'm about to say has already been typed a million times on a blog or something. :lol
MyEpitomeCliché
Member
Not since Super Metroid have I have felt so entirely alone in a video game. The atmosphere is second to none, and is the game's most impressive accomplishment. I can't wait to finish it today, though I certainly don't want it to end.
LocoMrPollock
Banned
Finished this last night. Absolutely loved it. I thought the ending was great; I had goosebumps and could feel my hair standing up on the back of my head. Not even big budget games with high production values can induce that.
This game is so great at subtle horror and eeriness, and that feeling of dread that comes with it. Also the sound design was just outstanding.
Also, did anyone else catch Gabe's name during the credits? I wonder if this will be heading to Steam sometime.
This game is so great at subtle horror and eeriness, and that feeling of dread that comes with it. Also the sound design was just outstanding.
Also, did anyone else catch Gabe's name during the credits? I wonder if this will be heading to Steam sometime.
Started and finished it yesterday. The first 20 or 30 minutes are phenomenal. And then it slowly degrades from there. I read some of this thread before i played the game and I had concluded that amir0x was either crazy or trolling. After having played through the game I can't help but agree with some of his sentiments. Once the game progresses into the gravity puzzles it becomes cheap. I really hate puzzles that include multiple, mandatory deaths due to requiring perfect timing, even if you know exactly what to do. As a puzzle game there are a lot of fun moments in Limbo. But once it morphs into a platformer it falls apart. I would still recommend it to anyone who i'd think would appreciate the atmosphere, art direction, etc.
The scenario. Most scary games work by putting the player in danger, and the fear comes from not wanting your guy to die. In Limbo there is no fear of death, so dread has to be established other ways. With this game it's just like you stare at the screen, there's no monsters or blood or whatever, just a kid in some weird place, and it's straight unsettling.Y2Kev said:
Anyway I just beat this sucker, and I am so pleased. The game's only letdown IMO is that none of the puzzles are Braid hard. I got stuck a few times, but nothing like the brain smashers in Braid.
This is exactly what I want from gaming. I am so stoked that DD services are making games like this possible. Laser focused and lovingly crafted. Nothing but game. Beautiful stuff.
If you are sleeping on Limbo because you've created some arbitrary system in your head that mandates x hours of game play for y dollars, you are a fucking clown.
Also, IMO, there's only one frustrating puzzle that breaks the otherwise wonderful "death as instruction" system:
Right after going across the trolley thing, there's a big ramp that you have to slide down. No matter how you jump off it, you die. And you come back to life before the trolley, and have to do that part of the puzzle over and over. It took me probably 20 tries to realize there was a gravity change button at the bottom of the ramp.
Psy-Phi
Member
I love me some Super Metroid, but I never felt like either of you about it. Loneliness? Really? I felt like an action hero shooting the hell out of everything on the planet. A bounty hunter on a mission.Zeliard said:
I don't feel about Limbo like some have replied either. Yes you're playing a kid running around alone, but there is absolutely no sense of dread, fear, or any other depressing feelings. Only the first time I encountered the spider did I think the game might begin to get scary. But after learning quite quickly that you can't die and lose progress that went out the window.
I kind of wish I had your empathy with videogames. I am an empathetic person with others, but not with any game I can think of. The most I get is afraid of my character dying (and it's not the death tiself that scares me but something like in RE where I know I'll have to play for an hour to get back there again).
I'm assuming it's because of years of video game experience that people have been conditioned to the idea that death is a bad thing and it should always be the player's fault. IMO, it's only bad when you get punished for it, ie. having to restart from somewhere far away. Thankfully, this game addresses that with the generous checkpoints.
Moreover, death is a learning experience and you can't really fault the game for teaching you. I mean, if YOU hadn't died, then the game would have to explain it some other way such as showing an NPC dying or some other such cutscene that demonstrates the danger at hand. In that case, what do you gain from this? It will probably "waste" the same amount time or more than if you had died yourself. Psychologically though, I can see how this would upset some people. It's a design paradigm that's not for everyone.
Moreover, death is a learning experience and you can't really fault the game for teaching you. I mean, if YOU hadn't died, then the game would have to explain it some other way such as showing an NPC dying or some other such cutscene that demonstrates the danger at hand. In that case, what do you gain from this? It will probably "waste" the same amount time or more than if you had died yourself. Psychologically though, I can see how this would upset some people. It's a design paradigm that's not for everyone.
Psy-Phi said:
Shooting the hell out of everything while delving deep underground on an alien planet, where you are the only human, and it's otherwise entirely quiet and desolate minus you and the aliens. And while you are given a short story intro with Ripley in Super Metroid, much like in Limbo you end up just plopped down in a new world, where you have to explore and figure things out on your own.
The eerie, atmospheric sound design also plays a dominant part. Limbo is entirely quiet save for certain sound effects, while Super Metroid is similar except for the subtle, often-melancholy music that plays.
I don't get self conscious, necessarily, I just always find the conversation a bit too ridiculous to get involved with.Rez said:
GAF seems to consistently go nuts over this stuff, so it's not really unexpected anymore. It's as if certain titles have some sort of hyper-weighted importance that I usually feel is disproportionate with the game's intrinsic value.
I know this is a generalization, but mood, setting, and developer credibility often seem to be more important than mechanics around here - and the conversations on indie games usually tilt too far in that direction for me to really feel that I'm talking the same language.
To be completely blunt and honest - there's a lot of folks wandering around the "hardcore" video games scene who really seem to want video games to be more than they are. Anything that scratches at the "art" barrier loosens their lips and whets their keystoke appetite. I know I'll get a thousand daggers in my back for suggesting it, but I often feel like it's just a way for people who spend way too much of their life on a leisure activity to justify that time expenditure in some way. They aren't just couch potatoes who play too many video games - they are observers and analysts of an emerging artform. I honestly think it's mostly just appreciation for the ego boost they receive when something chiming this wavelength passes across their newsfeed. We're prolonging the conversation in an effort to heighten it's relevance to the overall medium, regardless of the outcome.
Limbo wasn't a bad game necessarily, but I do think it was fairly forgettable. Decent enough for a few hours of entertainment. I don't regret playing it - but, honestly, I don't really think that it's worth dissecting either.
If I had played this game in a vacuum where there was no indication that it was conversation-worthy, I doubt I would have ever really mentioned it one way or the other.
It's the digital equivalent of Rubick's Cube.
The last time I looked at this thread there was someone posting abstract paintings and weaving some theory about how to compare Limbo to these canvases. It's this sort of thing that just makes me abesimpsonhat.gif the entire discussion, frankly. I just don't see the point.
The reason that the game's lack of an ending strikes as such a controversial point is simple. It's the definitive moment when the player is forced to realize that the game has nothing to say, has no deep or metaphorical purpose, and is ultimately nothing more than what it appears to be. It's the "as-art" conversation buster that can't be sidestepped no matter how hard you try.
At the end of the day, Limbo is a basic puzzle-platformer with a shadow-based artstyle and a ripped-from-the-movies soundtrack.
It's the same trick that glued us all to 20 rounds of Canonbalt a few years ago, only somehow this time, the community has deemed it worthy of an extended autopsy.
I realize I just busted the rule myself here, with a way-too-long post...but that's just the way it goes, I suppose.
/$.02
Scarecrow
Member
need a tip, but not a solution. this is pretty late in the game, and is to get one of the bonus egg things (i think). I need to use gravity to manipulate a perfect square box. the egg thing is on the top left corner of an alcove, with a pipe leading to it. I can't reach the pipe on my own, and I cant get myself and the box over to where the pipe is without the reverse gravity being on. any tips?
Scarecrow said:
You can't solve that puzzle until you travel to the right and flip the gravity switch. Using that box and the other box found earlier, you stack them with the gravity switch then push them back to the left and climb them to walk over to the egg.
Shake Appeal
Member
Yeah, there's definitely a checkpoint missing there somehow. That is actual bad design, given what the developers intended.Draft said: