Limbo: neat XBLA game coming soon

[Zeus]

This game looks like it'll be pretty neat. Hope it plays as good as it looks

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/108/1080329p1.html

It's part of Summer of Arcade, so it will be $15. But you can get a deal if you buy all 4 of those titles, one of which is a 6-player, Symphony-like Castlevania

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/110/1104110p1.html

[SineSwiper]

Oh, fuck, I'm all over both of those games. Six player Castlevania? Sweet!

[Zeus]

IGN just jizzed all over themselves re: Limbo

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/110/1106885p1.html

[Lox]

As soon as I finish my summer class, I'm grabbing Limbo.

[SineSwiper]

I think it comes out in two days. Patiently awaiting it. In the meantime, there's already some new indie games. Good thing about those is that there's new ones every day.

[Zeus]

I think it comes out in two days. Patiently awaiting it. In the meantime, there's already some new indie games. Good thing about those is that there's new ones every day.

I keep lookin' every few days but Winterbottom and Poker Smash have had me playing a lot recently. So they're just piling up for me right now waiting to be played

[Louis]

Limbo should be up on XBLA today. I'm probably going to pick it up. Next week is Hydro Thunder though! I'm looking forward to that one. I used to like playing it in the arcades.

[Flip]

Dang, limbo looks great. I bet it will eventually come out for the PC, but it will take a while.

[bovine]

This game was super amazing. You may be amazed by how short it is for $15, though.

I still think it is WAY worth it.

[Lox]

Short is ok for me. If the game is really fun or very unique, then I can pay $15 still.

[SineSwiper]

Good game and fun. I have a few complaints, though:

1. Too short. I finished most of it in one sitting, and there wasn't enough replay value there to extend the time, unlike games like Braid or PB Winterbottom.

2. The ending was just as short and answerless as the beginning. The game might as well had no story to begin with. With the awesome layout and atmosphere, this was a huge letdown. Braid had a nice set of hooks that really hit you in the end. Other games like PB WB and World of Goo had some nice and funny developments, even if the story wasn't show-stopping. So much wasted potential there.

Overall, it's worth the price, but I did have higher hopes for this game. I like the games I mentioned above better than this one.

[Zeus]

I just started playing Braid (and Trails HD) but after you collect all of the pieces, what is there for you to do other than a speed run? Is there a challenge map or something that opens up? I have to beat Braid in one sitting (long story) but that game is short enough that I can probably do it in about 4 hours or so (got all the pieces in 2 and 3 and most in 4 in about 2 hours). Limbo is that short as well? Winterbottom at least has the recording and time challenges - which are quite tough - so you can get quite a bit out of those but I don't see anything like that in Braid's menu system. Does it open up later?

[Lox]

I just started playing Braid (and Trails HD) but after you collect all of the pieces, what is there for you to do other than a speed run? Is there a challenge map or something that opens up? I have to beat Braid in one sitting (long story) but that game is short enough that I can probably do it in about 4 hours or so (got all the pieces in 2 and 3 and most in 4 in about 2 hours). Limbo is that short as well? Winterbottom at least has the recording and time challenges - which are quite tough - so you can get quite a bit out of those but I don't see anything like that in Braid's menu system. Does it open up later?

Apparently, Braid has stars that you can also collect that are very, very hard to find. I didn't even try to get them.

[SineSwiper]

Apparently, Braid has stars that you can also collect that are very, very hard to find. I didn't even try to get them.

The stars are worth getting, though. It's not cheating if you look them up on YouTube, because even if you know where they are, most of them are still difficult to get. (Especially the World 4 version; man, that one was a pain in the ass.) One of them pretty much requires that you start a new game, but at least since you know how to do the puzzles, it's not too hard.

In the end, you get a bit more critical pieces to the story. Also, Zeus, how far are you into Braid?

[Zeus]

Also, Zeus, how far are you into Braid?

I got about 7 or 8 of the pieces in World 4 in about 2 1/2 hours or so before I had to turn it off (kids...). Unfortunately, I can't save the game so I'll have to do all that over again and beat it in one sitting. But that's not too hard once you know what you're doing. Should only take me an hour or so to get back there.

Stars? I'll have to see how those things work. If they're set up in such a way that you can only really get them if you use a guide, that's retarded. I hate stuff like that. BTW, what's the speedrun time you're supposed to beat?

[SineSwiper]

I got about 7 or 8 of the pieces in World 4 in about 2 1/2 hours or so before I had to turn it off (kids...). Unfortunately, I can't save the game so I'll have to do all that over again and beat it in one sitting. But that's not too hard once you know what you're doing. Should only take me an hour or so to get back there.

Really? It should save your progress from world to world. After all, that's the reason why you have to start over to get that one star: it involves a puzzle piece that you've already arranged in World 2 or 3.

Stars? I'll have to see how those things work. If they're set up in such a way that you can only really get them if you use a guide, that's retarded. I hate stuff like that. BTW, what's the speedrun time you're supposed to beat?

Well, I think game designers understand they live in the day and age of forums like GameFAQs, so the secret/extra stuff are harder to get. It would be possible for one person to find them without looking it up, but it would involve a lot of exploring. Like I said, even if you know how to get there, it's still a challenge to get them, so I don't really consider it cheating.

I think there are a few extra achievements that are worthy of doing, but there is a full length speedrun, which is the only achievement I didn't bother getting, for fear of fucking it up after spending a few hours on it.

[Zeus]

Sine, the reason I can't save my game is because I'm borrowing my buddy's harddrive to play it. Unlike every other XBLA game in existence (including Shadow Complex, which I beat over Xmas, and Trails HD, which I'm also playing right now), Braid won't allow you to play it on your own profile if the profile of the person who bought the game signed in as Player 2 when you enter the game (ie. I sign on as Player 1 and sign my bud who's HDD I'm borrowing as Player 2, then go to My Xbox, choose the game which is now unlocked, enter the game's first menu, then sign out Player 2; works on every other game). That's how you get past the bullshit licensing and allow other people's profiles to play the game on your system/HDD (a game that you purchased a copy of; kinda nice to actually be able to let other people play it, huh?). But the guy who created the game actually built in an in-game check to ensure you can't do that. Even if a profile that hasn't purchased the game is signed in as Player 2, the game defaults to Trial Mode meaning the person who bought it can't even play the game if someone who didn't buy it is signed in as the other player. Insane, isn't it? Thankfully, you can trick the game by playing through to the castle in World 2, hit X to buy the game, have it register that someone who owns the game is signed on and unlock the regular game, then just hit B to cancel without buying. Unfortunately, I can play it but I can't save it 'cause of that. So I'm going to have to do it in one sitting.

Designing a game to require a FAQ or guide is ridiculous and frankly, lazy. Game design should not require external information/assistance to complete tasks. To expand non-main stories and worlds is great. But to actually play the game? Stupid

[Shrinweck]

It has nothing to do with "actually playing the game" and I would be surprised if over 1% of the people who played it actually gave enough of a shit to care about the stars. It's just a further challenge for people who want a tiny eeny bitty piece more of the story and, well, a challenge.

I just finished Limbo tonight and liked most of the game. I have to say I liked how so few puzzles required more skill than problem solving and the ones that did weren't puzzles that you'd lose tons of time in.

I realize you've probably already thought about this in accordance to the ending but

Spoiler: show

I honestly thought that after waking up like he does in that that last puzzle was the ending and that once I woke up the game would be starting over again kind of how I would imagine life in limbo/purgatory/the void would go. But still - the game lives up to its name. Nothing really happens.

Honestly, I liked it enough that I could see playing through it again and again (given enough time to forget the exact mechanics of the puzzles so I'm just not basically doing speed runs) just because of how much I like the pace and the feel of it. The extra ten achievements for random stuff are intriguing but I'm definitely not trial and erroring that bull if the inspiration hits me to even look them up.

[SineSwiper]

A commenter had an interesting theory about the story in Limbo:

Spoiler: show

On the title screen, there are two sets of flies and a broken ladder. Both the boy and girl could have fell to their death from their treehouse, and now they are in "Limbo", trying to find each other. In the end, the boy finds his sister, and the ladder goes to a glowing area, which could be the exit to Limbo (ie: Heaven).

So, if that's true, at least the story is a bit deeper than what it appears, but nothing matches the complexity of layers in Braid.

Also, Zeus, like Shrin said, the stars are optional, so it's not really breaking the main gameplay. But again, I would recommend trying to get them after you beat the game, as it's a nice challenge. Given that you can't save, you might want to allocate a day to get to them. One takes a while to get, one is really hard to get, one requires that you start over anyway, and the rest range from "easy if you know how" to "moderately hard even if you did".

[Zeus]

Yeah, I agree that being optional it ain't so bad. If this was something you needed to finish the game I'd be bitching a lot more about it. But to me, even optional stuff is something that should require some additional work and effort as a way to extend the game if you enjoyed playing it so much. In the case of items that are so hidden you don't even know about them unless you come across them by sheer luck or use a FAQ/guide, it's just a waste IMO

I'm thinking I'll pop the game in on Saturday and beat it in a sitting (assuming my 360 can run for 4 or 5 hours consecutively without blowing up). Depending on how it goes, I may go for the stars afterwards

[SineSwiper]

Good, and after you're done with all of that, you can read my FAQ.

Hmmm, maybe I should try to resubmit it, considering the game is older now.