Limbo - EDIT: Just Blew My Mind

[Breadline]

I was pretty disappointed in Limbo. The first level was great, but after the forest it all just felt tedious and generic, like the developer put all their effort into the first area, got bored, and just phoned in the rest hoping the art design would carry it.

And while I normally like games drenched in metaphor, the theories in the spoiler tags above don't do anything for me. It could totally be true that the developer intended all that metaphorically, but that's all mostly guesswork. I know, I know, not all things need to be spoonfed to the player, but most of those theories are purely that, theoretical. It's similar to that Extra Credits episode where they over analyze Space Invaders. It could be that the developer was purposely vague in the hopes that someone would write their metaphors for them, they certainly didn't show up in the game itself.

The only bit that becomes clear or is truly alluded to is that the kid is dead, and that was obvious from the title.

So after the interesting first level, I found that it ended up being a tedious, basic platformer that only got attention because of it's art design. And while the art design was very intriguing at first, it quickly reminded me how much larger a role the aesthetics of a game can play in generating hype than gameplay or story.

 

[The Mighty Stove]

Do people really not know what "Limbo" is? I thought it was pretty obvious that he was dead.

I pretty sure Limbo in it's meaning is the outskirts of hell. So yea, dead I think.

OT:

Spoiler

I think the boys spirit was trying to find his sister who was also lost when they died. Another indicator is after the credits rolls. You see swarms of flys buzzing over the position of said boy and girl when found. The reason I think this is, the game uses the sound and visual of said flies ques in game to say "This is dead/rotten". Just my theory I guess

 

[Bad Jim]

This also applies to Braid, art is about expression. If I have to go on the internet to find the one guy on the planet who figured out what the **** the game was about, then the game has failed miserably as a form of expression, and therefore fails as art.

I did enjoy the puzzles though.

I have to ask. What's your opinion on the filmography of David Lynch?

I haven't seen a single one of his movies. So I can't really comment.

 

[TrevHead]

I played Limbo for the 1st time less than a month ago. It was a good game but not as great as others make it out to be imo

SEMI SPOILER

The spider and those grubs that stand out as the best parts. Imo the game length was a bit short and how it ended felt like the devs just run out of money.

 

[The_Waspman]

I really regret buying this game. Well, spending so much credit on it, considering how short it is. Yes yes, i know, its supposed to be this artistic masterpiece, and while the layering of the backgrounds can occasionally be impressive, its really no different than the many many similarly styled flash games you can play for free on the internet.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Limbo is all about the atmosphere, art style and great sounds for me. I don't care at all about the story, not unlike most games.

Super Meat Boy is very frustrating, yet a bit rewarding, then again frustrating, and difficult. Throw in addictive.

 

[TehCookie]

I just played it and I don't see what the big deal it. The atmosphere is pretty nice but I'm also playing it while watching a fabulous mecha anime. When it does make a sound it's extremely loud (specifically the spider stomping), it's louder than a Japanese guy screaming out his signature move.

Then the controls are just not my thing. Some people may like the delayed reaction where you have to think when you have to jump, I prefer reaction based. Where when I hit jump, I want to jump then not 3 seconds and 3 feet later.

Lastly, it has a story? I either completely ignored it or it just is in the last parts of the game.

Though I really like the aesthetics and the death scenes. The puzzles are also fun to figure out.