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Limbus Company turned me into a ProjectMoon addict

13K View2023-04-01

Jumping into Limbus Company was like diving headfirst into the deep end of a pool. Characters were constantly using terms I didn’t understand. Even though I got the basics of its turn-based combat system, there were clearly complexities I wasn’t grasping. Whenever I thought I had the game figured out, it threw a new mystery my way.

But instead of feeling turned off by the confusing mechanics and mystifying story, Limbus Company’s strange qualities only made me like it more. The more baffling it got, the more obsessed I became. As my fascination intensified, I started to look into the developer’s other games.

Limbus Company is the third game from ProjectMoon, a South Korean game studio founded by a group of college students. The studio is small, but it has a devoted cult following and has even spawned its own theme cafe! While ProjectMoon’s games can be played as stand-alone titles, they’re all set in the same bleak sci-fi universe.

I was already intrigued by ProjectMoon, but when I realized that their previous games had been on my Steam wishlist for years, I decided it was time to give them a shot. I started with their first title, Lobotomy Corporation, a monster management sim inspired by the SCP Foundation.

Lobotomy Corporation is set at an energy facility powered by unspeakable horrors. As the facility’s manager, I ordered employees to work with monsters so that I could meet my energy quota. Some employees were devoured alive, while others went insane, but I always attempted to keep casualties to a minimum. I knew I loved the game before I finished the tutorial.

While Lobotomy Corporation had its own cast of characters—and completely different gameplay mechanics—it captured all the qualities I adored in Limbus Company. It was deep, complicated, and sometimes inscrutable game, but I understood just enough to keep me curious. I wanted to experiment on the game, slicing it open so that I could see how everything worked.

Even though I’d barely scratched the surface of Lobotomy Corporation, I was desperate to see more of what ProjectMoon had to offer. I decided to move on to their next game, Library of Ruina, a deck-building card game set in a deadly library. This time around, the game felt a little more familiar and a little less obscure. I even recognized certain plot points and characters.

The gameplay was still complicated, and there were still mechanics I didn’t fully understand, but something clicked for me when I was playing Library of Ruina. I found myself settling into the game’s rhythm and noticing details I normally would have missed. In one fight, I realized that an enemy’s attacks varied in power based on what was happening in the background. The game didn’t exactly make sense, but I finally knew how it should be played.

Playing Library of Ruina also gave me a deeper sense of appreciation for ProjectMoon’s storytelling. The world they’ve built is rich and fascinating, and it’s amazing to see how it’s evolved across each of their games. Characters might seem shallow at first glance, but they’re deeper and more compelling than they initially appear to be. During my first hour or so with Limbus Company, I thought that the violence was over the top, but cruelty and bloodshed are only natural in the world that they’ve created.

I’ve only spent around ten hours with Library of Ruina, but it legitimately might be one of the best card games I’ve ever played. It has a little bit of everything: challenging gameplay, a great selection of cards, and a surprisingly compelling story. There are even little details that make the game more fun to play, like character customization and weird boss fights.

When I started Limbus Company, I’d never heard of ProjectMoon, but now I’m hopelessly addicted to every game they’ve ever made. Forget about eating, sleeping, or playing other games; the only thing I can think about is which ProjectMoon title I want to play next.

Should I go back to Lobotomy Corporation and play through all their games in order? Would it be better to push further into Library of Ruina, or should I catch up with Limbus Company so I can enjoy new content as it comes? I’m not sure what I’ll do next, but I know ProjectMoon has converted me into a die-hard fan.

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