While the gacha game genre itself is nothing new to the industry, its popularity has absolutely exploded in recent years, with more and more projects trying to replicate the global phenomenon of games likeGenshin Impact. Many studios have tried to replicate the formula to achieve the financial success of their predecessors in the genre, but plenty have come and gone without much attention. Even if the concept of a gacha game can be off-putting for some players at first glance, the subgenre has spawned more than a few unforgettable gaming experiences.
As gacha games become more normalized in the West and the AAA industry as a whole, there’s been a rise inhigh-quality gacha gamesthat aim to elevate the genre or take it in an entirely new direction. With just how many there are out there, from MiHoYo’s various projects to countless other mobile or PC games,there’s one that stands apart from the rest with a unique visual identity and storytelling style. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of the genre as a whole, I can’t recommend Limbus Company enough.
Project Moon’s Limbus Company Is More Than Worth Giving A Try
Offering An Incredibly Unique World That’s Easy To Love
While I’ve had a few hiatuses over the years,the one game I just can’t stop coming back to regularly isLimbus Company, having racked up almost 900 hours of total playtime in the past two years. A portion of this playtime is from performing the daily material farming that’s expected from the genre, but it’s only the quality of the gameplay and story that makes me sit through the chores I normally can’t stand. WithLimbus Companyhaving just celebrated breaking its own record of 250,000 concurrent players, it’s the perfect time to give this free game a chance.
Set in the dystopian universe that encompasses the series' previousLobotomy CorporationandLibrary of Ruinagames,Project Moon’sLimbus Companyis a gacha strategy game that explores an expansive dystopian city, which is heavily inspired by both theSCP Foundationand classical literature. While it might seem like a strange combination at first, both inspirations blend seamlessly into a hauntingly beautiful world that keeps you guessing about what to expect next in a world where supernatural occurrences or deadly SCP-like monstrosities are commonplace.
Limbus Company’s story is told through a fully voiced visual novel with a generous mix of turn-based combat in between.
Limbus Companyitself follows the misadventures of protagonist Dante, his guide Vergilius, and 12 sinner companions, who are each based on the protagonists of famous literature from around the world, like Ishmael fromMoby Dickor Gregor fromThe Metamorphosis. Given the often darker nature of its inspirations,LimbusCompanyisn’t afraid to pull its punches with character deaths or adult themes throughout its gripping story. Aside from the world itself, the unique aspect ofLimbus Companyis that you don’t roll for individual characters like a typical gacha game, but rather versions of the same characters from alternate dimensions.
From character leveling to the dimensional upgrades being acknowledged in-universe, it’s easy to keep up the immersion when you start getting toLimbus Company’s actual gameplay. While the 2D spritework can be simplistic at times,the satisfying combat animations and surprising depth in managing a plethora of unique skills, status effects, debuffs, and other mechanics can quickly become addicting,especially as you gain access to more powerful identities to unleash.
A Much More Generous Approach Than The Standard Gacha Experience
While being introduced to a sizeable cast of 15 characters all at once can be a bit overwhelming at first, it becomes much more manageable when you realize these are the only playable characters inLimbus Company. The best part about this small difference is that it is drastically easier to give each member of the cast a meaningful spotlight. Rather than experiencing a character’s story and having them relegated to a background character for the foreseeable future,Limbus Company’s characters continuously evolve and develop their relationshipsthroughout the game’s constantly expanding storyline.
Thankfully, despite the depth of the combat system and the significant amount of character variations and abilities there are to unlock inLimbus Company,you can experience a good portion of the main story just by following the most basic color-matching combat mechanics and standard leveling. While some content will inevitably spike in difficulty, requiringreliable team compsor complex unit management, you’ll likely already be hooked on the story if you manage to get that far.
If you need more convincing to try outLimbus Companycompared to other gacha games, another major benefit is the way Project Moon’s ambitious title handles rolling for identities. Unlike thestingier systems in AAA gachas,you can simply directly buy almost any unit in the game through farmable in-game currency, regardless of any active banners. And while the weekly Mirror Dungeons to gain these currencies can be an arduous task at first, the choose-your-own-adventure rogue-like gameplay style helps them stay fresh while you learn the ropes.
After Reaching A New Peak Player Count, Limbus Company Is Getting Even More Ambitious
The Future Is Bright For Project Moon’s Most Ambitious Project Yet
Limbus Company’s main story is divided into consecutive storylines that dive into the backstory and development of one member of the main cast. Each of these chapters themselves are also loosely inspired by their written work, and each permanently replayable section has gotten progressively more ambitious as time goes on. With the latest chapter having fully animated cutscenes, intricate boss fights, and several game-changing implications to its lore,Limbus Companyis far from done with its full narrative potential.
As if the regular stream of content forLimbus Companywasn’t enough, the next major special update will involve a collaboration with Hypergryph to bring crossover characters from the legendaryArknightsgacha game. AlthoughLimbus Companyis no stranger to canonical in-universe crossovers with other games in the series, which resulted in its recent 250k player celebration, this event will mark the very first collaboration with an external franchise, with more likely to follow.
I would still recommendLimbus Companyto anyone looking for a free game to play, simply for the characters alone.
This isn’t to say thatLimbus Company’s track record is perfect by any means, as the series has had several hard-to-ignore controversies involving harassment from players over staffing and difficulty changes. However, even with its flaws, I would still recommendLimbus Companyto anyone looking for a free game to play simply for its characters alone. Thankfully for new players,Limbus Companydoesn’t require you to play any of Project Moon’s previous games or other media to understand the relatively self-contained story of its game world, although it does offer a deeper understanding of it.
