Note: This one comes from my homethread so nothing new here

Premise/Hook
Limbus Company follows the story of 13 Sinners, and their efforts to capture the Golden Boughs, tremendously amazing artifacts of a great, powerful, fallen company that held influence throughout The City.

This story is told through the perspective of Sinner No. 10, Dante. They take the role of Executive Manager. It is the Executive Manager’s job to lead the 12 others in battle, resuscitate them from death and injury, and probably the hardest task of them all: make sure they don’t kill each other.

This story is one of what appears to be a mysterious, dystopian, sci-fi world. This is (currently) a story with many questions to be answered, hopefully we will get the answers we seek in due time.

Last edited by Time (August 23, 2023 21:26:14)

Note: Once again something else from my homethread.

World
Tone and Basic Setting
I should have added this to my premise. But instead, I’ll add it here. Maybe both areas?

The tone is quite obviously a dark one. Inside the city is a sci-fi urban supercomplex where corporate companies rule all, and the people are run over and over for monetary gain so the companies can get more powerful while they put the idea of human life on the backburner. Outside is a polluted post-apocalyptic wasteland that houses nothing but monsters. Life just sucks wherever you go.
In exchange tho, nearly everyone you see will be wearing suits, and that stuff is pretty drippy ngl.

The City (and Outskirts) - The Main Location of Story

The main location in which the story takes place. A superurban place. It’s standard that sci-fi stories take place within cities. Though it is interesting to see so far how much every district within the cities differs from one another. There are 26 districts (1 for each letter in the latin alphabet) and The City is quite large… I think it’s around maybe… 250 km/150 miles in diameter? Each district has their own culture and customs, and it’s usually recommended to read up on them before traveling into a new district. There are also taboos. Taboos of a district are punishable by death. These taboos can greatly vary, and most are probably not morally sound, and more pointed towards what the Wing of the district wants.

What is interesting is on the map, we only see 25 districts, but they mention that there are 26 Wings.

I originally thought the city was landlocked, but as it turns out, it is not. Which is an interesting touch I will talk about later.

The area outside of the city is like a wasteland and polluted. Quite postapocalyptic. Monsters and the unwanteds of the world roam here

Each district is controlled by a Wing. A Wing is simply a term for one of the 26 biggest conglomerates that has  control over a district. Naturally, there are also the 26 most powerful forces within the city. While each Wing has their own, actual name (ex. Lobotomy Corporation) sometimes they are referred to the district they are in primary control of. Example: Lobotomy Corporation is in charge of District 11, or district L, so they could be referred to as L Corp.

Of course, Wings do not only operate in their own district. They are likely to have branches in other districts to carry out their goals. They are a business after all.

I am not familiar with the process of a normal corporation becoming a Wing, but I do know that when a Wing falls (and it happens every now and then) it’s a terrible thing. Especially for the inhabitants of the district, and the Wing’s employees. The district quickly turns into a power vacuum filled with chaos and death with the main authority gone. There is no guarantee of safety for anyone in that district. Many employees are made to fend for themselves.

Lobotomy Corporation is one of the more recent fallen wings. In order to prevent its enemies from stealing their tech, they decided to bury all of their branches underground and seal them off. I didn’t play any previous games in this world such as LCorp or Library of Runia, but I presume it’s fall was so sudden and devastating, that employees were not given any sort of heads up, many were trapped underground with nearly no resources to survive.

Currently, the seat for Wing of District 11 (L District) is still in the air, and companies are competing to be crowned upon it.

They are responsible for the creation of Abnormalities and E.G.O. via their Singularity, Cogito.

A Singularity is a unique, specific technology that is so powerful, it breaks known laws of physics. Every Wing has their own Singularity, accompanied with what may be considered “semi-singularities”

Almost if not all Singularities create human suffering. It may rely on it as fuel, or it may be exploited for it to continue happening.

Lobotomy Corp’s singularity was Cogito, a substance to allow the human subconsciousness develop into physical form. That’s how things like Abnormalities became real.

Not a very well known term in the world, as it was primarily used by Lobotomy Corp and kept under wraps. To keep it simple. What are abnormalities? You know SCP? Yeah. That’s what they basically are. But instead of the Secure-Contain-Protect…

You see, L Corp was the biggest energy supplier in the city. Its primary source of extracting energy and Enkephalin was from abnormalities. Creatures created by the human mind and consciousness. I haven’t looked into how they are exactly created yet, but I read something somewhere about them being “pulled out” of a sea of consciousness. L Corp’s Singularity, Cogito, or something of the sort??

Now that L Corp has fallen though, many of the buried branches are in disarray. Abnormalities have breached containment, and are roaming the facilities now. Unfortunately for us, the Golden Bough was something that Lob Corp was storing too. So we gotta deal with their monsters in addition to opposing factions.

I’m getting the feeling if I played the past two games that are in this universe, I would know a lot more. But at the same time, it feels like Limbus Company was designed to draw in new audiences, I hope I’ll be fine on lore.

Oh, so you think the Wing will protect you no matter where you are in the district? Wrong! They only care about the people in the Nest. The Nests are the headquarters of the Wing and the surrounding areas, basically. It’s where the elite live, and where the most resources are placed when it comes to ensuring safety. The Backstreets are considered dangerous regions of the district, and they stretch throughout the district like veins. The Backstreets are likely to have different cultures from their Nest counterparts, despite being in the same district. In addition, organizations, or Syndicates, control local areas of the Backstreets.

Last edited by Time (August 23, 2023 21:29:23)

Sidenote: I've noticed the difference in appearance between bunching up writing, and keeping a line of space between different topics. To me, I don't have much preference. But what do people reading prefer? I honestly should write without expecting much of an audience, as I'm sure that helps with understanding that I'm writing for myself, expectations, and so on, but I feel this one is relatively minor.

I think if nobody responds, I may just go with no lines between paragraphs, so I can make spaces when emphasis is required.

If you can even call them paragraphs. Most of them are just like, 2 sentences.

Huh, whuh? yeah I'm writing about Limbus Company. I should've clarified it more lol.

Yeah. I'll def keep on writing sorta stuff like this. I've been on a writing streak lately.

I always have to take quick glances at stuff when you reference things like this. But yes. Quite similar names, yet very different meanings in each world. I don't think I'd have the current capacities to take on Fate. I feel like I've mentioned this before, but from an outsider's perspective. Fate everything appears quite convoluted.

Usually I like deep diving on lore, so I don't think I could take it rn. I have already too many stories that I need to look into before adding on to my list. Plus, I'm writing my own stuff too? No that's probably not going to work for me lol.

Plus, understanding Limbus Company's Universe is still something I need to get under control. So I'll probably have to do some extra research, reading, and gaming for that.

I was going to add links to images/wiki pages so people could see them, but since Boardhost is being wacky rn, I think it'll only mess stuff up 😭

Well This one is the longest of the posts so far! so buckle up.

Characters

Lets go! Now, the most interesting part of any story. Characters! 

I think I would like to spend a lot of time with the characters of the story. Without them, there would be no story to tell, right?

There are a total of 15 members to the Limbus Company Bus Department (LCB), the 13 Sinners I mentioned, but there is also a guide, and a driver. I have decided to make a compromise for time and reader’s sake. I'll only do really REALLY quick introductions with CHOPPY sentences. Save for the MC, Dante. As per usual, I will piece them apart to make it look less daunting and people will pick and choose what to read. However, I will not be following a particular pattern in introducing them.

I will say it’s a cool idea to have the Sinners be based off of an influential book. It gives more info on who they are, and what their story may be about if you read their attached book, but I’m pretty sure reading that stuff is optional. You will see reflections in the story, but optional. But yes technically this game has a reading list if you want. In addition, each member carries a weapon inscribed with an important word or term that references their source material.

It's only been a few chapters, yet we have already seen lots of characterization and development from the group! I'll talk about this in a later update post that kind of fills in on relationships or bonds or whatever.

As from what I’ve seen, everybody on this bus has some form of trauma, ptsd, guilt, whatever. I can just see the LCB bus being renamed to “Trama/self-hate bus”

No. 10 - Dante
Design and Abilities

Sinner No. 10, based off of Dante’s Inferno and subsequently The Divine Comedy. They’re clearly the main character, as if you look at the lineup of the Sinners, they’re the only one who’s coat color is red instead of black. Plus, they have a clock prosthetic for a head instead of a normal head (for story reasons). 
The reason why Dante was selected as the executive manager for the team wasn’t because of leadership or competency. Not like they could have had any; they have a case of amnesia when their head was replaced by a robotic clock. Instead, they were selected because of their powerful ability to “turn back the clock”. The ability to bring the dead back to life and reverse injuries. With only a few drawbacks
Dante can only bring back those that “resonate” with them, creating a “contract”
Dante feels whatever whoever he is reverting just felt. It usually doesn’t linger, luckily. However, it is especially painful to revive someone back from death.

Whenever Dante revives a Sinner from death, they have a vision whereupon they approach a large, foreboding door. They reach in, grab the hands of the Sinners from the gateway, and pull them out. Dante would rather not want to go through this experience, so they advise not dying, even if they have unlimited lives.

As I said, Dante is an amnesiac. Which, in my opinion, isn’t always the best story starter (it’s ok in this world and context, but it should not be a go to). Due to this, oftentimes they lack the confidence to actually, you know, DO THEIR JOB. It’s interesting to see that the first thing that Dante gets down in their job description is reviving people from the dead, a task that’s considered quite a miracle, and the hardest part is getting people to listen to them. Nearly all the Sinners don’t regard their opinion that highly (as of the moment).

But at the same time, I can’t really blame them. They don’t remember anything, basically losing any leadership experience they had in the past, and were then shoved into a job with a bunch of lunatics that will kill each other if they look each other in the eye the wrong way (in the first Canto at least).

I was happy to see as the story progresses, Dante realizes their own incompetence, and looks to improve the relations with their team, and become a competent manager. As time traveled to Canto 4, the shimmers of a bond have vaguely appeared. Like, it’s weak, but there.

Currently, Dante is a character that is asking loads of questions. Lots of introspective ones, sure, but also lots of ones about the world, which is nice since it helps a lot with worldbuilding. However we have yet to receive any information concerning some of the most important questions. In its stead, only have gotten denials and promises, such as “In due time”. That is fine, since it is the beginning of the story. We only need to think about the delivery of these promises.

Their clock does not represent a normal clock, rather, it’s one more reminiscent of the symbol of a doomsday clock. A clock that represents the likeness of human catastrophe caused by science and technology. Which I think is fitting for this sort of story, where powerful technologies created by megacorps holds power over the destitute, and war often wages between companies.

I’m actually proud that this one was all me, but I recognized the door that Dante pulls the Sinners out of when reviving them from the dead. It’s The Gates of Hell by French artist Auguste Rodin. It’s currently stationed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. As of reading its wikipedia page,  I’m not surprised this sculpture takes direct inspiration from Dante’s Inferno.

Lastly, another tagline for this game is: “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate”. It’s in Italian. An English translation of this is, “Abandon hope all ye who enter here”. In the Divine Comedy this is written on the Gates of Hell, I believe. I tried to look wherever this phrase pops up, but as of writing, I haven’t found it other than the official promotion trailer, the twitter, and the unofficial English wiki (I didn’t check the other ones in different languages)

To enter the story, from the hub, you much click on the "Inferno" tab. Clear reference to Dante's Inferno. Also Inferno = Hell in Latin.

This one isn't from me, but actually from Specter (thanks Spec) when I was writing back over in my homethread, but I'd figure I'd put this here: The Divine Comedy is separated into Cantos, which are the chapter names for the story. So instead of Chapter IV it's Canto IV.

Sinner No. 08, based off of Moby Dick by Herman Melville. She is recognized to be both dependable, and always pushes for level headed-thinking in the group. She prefers rationality over formality. She is strongly committed to her opinions for better and for worse. She isn’t against holding grudges, those of which are hard to repair.

Has a background as an explorer on a doomed voyage of which she is the only survivor. This voyage appears to have a large influence on her development as a person. She states that one mistake could result in everyone’s safety being threatened while on the voyage. Due to this, she heavily emphasizes both adaptability and preparedness. Along with her rationality, of course.

Also, in her bio is the only one to state that she has a mental illness, which is OCD. Though as I mentioned, I’m pretty sure the crowd on the bus is racked with all sorts of mental scars and issues that require therapy.

She’s my favorite out of the group due to design, lore implications, personality, and so forth. I’m probably going to write a lot on her later, as I’ve decided to fixate and analyze the hints and notes of her actions and personality throughout the story. In fact, she's the one that convinced me enough to get this game.

I ain't simping tho...

Sinner No. 07, based off of Wuthering Heights. He uses a lot of British slang since, you know, he's Bri'ish (insert joke trashing on British people here). He is the most volatile of the Sinners, with an extremely quick fuse he will default to violence for answers. However, this necessarily does not make him an evil or selfish person. Rather, as the story progresses, it appears that it may be the opposite. Has a criminal background. As for favorites, possibly my second most? Based off his actions? Maybe based off his interactions with Ishmael alone (lmao)? I’m not too sure who holds that spot.

Sinner No. 13, based off of The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka. Considered to be the most “chill” of the Sinners, as any strong emotions results in his genetically altered arm lashing out at the most nearest person. In addition, I consider him to be one of the more moral of the group. Has a military background as both a front line fighter and posterboy for G Corp. He got that military PTSD for real tho.

Also maybe the most sane as in most adjusted with dealing with his past compared to the others? He does have to keep his emotions in check and whatnot at all times.

We also know his current age. He’s 35.

Sinner No. 12, Based on The Odyssey by Homer. In the Odyssey, Odysseus tricks a cyclops by telling him his name is “Outis”, which is “nobody” in Greek. When Odysseus drives a stake into the eye of the cyclops to escape, the cyclops cries out something like, “Help! Outis (Nobody) is killing me!” so Odysseus didn’t have to handle being intercepted by others as he escaped.

Known for being quite the sycophant, and trying to win Dante’s favor. Her info file says to be extremely wary of any actions that she takes due to cunning, and looking into her past is strictly forbidden. Has a military background and it shows, she’s strict, commanding, and has a disciplined, military aura about her. Almost opposite to Gregor, cause Gregor got the short end of the stick when it comes to military backgrounds 💀. The only other Sinner with a known military background.

Don't know what to think of her. Certainty holding her cards close.

Sinner No. 03 based off of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Just like the protagonist of the book, is completely delusional. However, instead of fantasizing about knights, this version fantasizes Fixers (in-world term for mercenaries), taking their mostly morally gray activities and viewing them as honorable heroes. There are theories that this delusion is more or less a way of dealing with trauma. Though, it’s just simply speculation, as there is no concrete evidence, and rather just details that can be interpreted in different ways.

She’s got what fandoms like to call, “gremlin energy”. However, if I had to pick from those sorts of terms, I would prefer “La Creatura” as it is in her native tongue.

Wants clear and concise commands, requiring no judgment on his part.

That’s his entire bio. Sinner No. 5, based on The Stranger by Albert Camus. Extremely direct, and appears to not understand morality and immorality. That, or he could truthfully care less about such things, and thinks it's a waste of time to ponder on that sort of stuff. He is one of the most mysterious Sinners as simply he is one of the most quiet. Most, if not all of his dialogue consists of objective statements.

I won't lie, in the beginning, I was kinda neutral with him since he was so quiet, but the more he talks, the more he grows on me. Even though most of the time he's just reporting.

 Sinner No. 11 and based off of Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth by Hermann Hesse. Possibly the youngest of the Sinners. Has a problem with both anxiety and self esteem. However, after Canto 3, he has developed a bit to stand up for himself. No work experience. Can’t get into much more of his character besides spoilers.

Oh, a funny thing is that his coat is messed up. They gave him the wrong number and didn't have a replacement so they scratched the original number out lol.

However, it is peculiar that what shoes on his coat now looks oddly like No. 181. I wonder if it has any story significance. Surely it does

 Sinner No. 02, based off Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. She has a subtle arrogance about her, and she has an odd habit of referring to herself in 3rd person.

Another one of the more mysterious figures of Limbus Company. She’s considered an unparalleled genius in The City, yet decides to embed with this group; Limbus Company is described by Wing members as an "upstart firm" but still appears to have enough influence to have some notorious members, and have the ability to pull some minor strings. Designer of Mephistopheles, the bus that everyone lives in. Don’t take it for a normal bus. It has all this tech and “bigger on the inside” kinda deal going on. In addition, it looks like she has access to all sorts of confidential information that nobody else has. She even knows things like Dante’s past, but often keeps information locked and tight, waiting for the right time.

Has an ulterior motive, which was implied, but explicitly stated in Intervallo II/Canto 4.5 by Ishmael. I cannot tell if this is relevant character information, or if it's just Ishmael bias because it's information on someone else that I think may be relevent enough to bring up that happens to be discovered my Ishmael. Am I making sense right now?

 Sinner No. 01, based off The Wings by Yi Sang. Noted to be a talented, genius researcher like Faust. However, it feels he is not on her level. His background states that he was the youngest Chief Researcher at a Wing, confirming his talents. He is currently 27.

One of the most notable traits is that he has a habit of speaking metaphors with lots of eloquent vocabulary, for example: instead of “friends” he uses “compatriots”. Which contrasts his rather reserved, emotionless exterior and monotone tone. I can't really go further into his character without much spoilers so have a little trivia:

It appears that Yi Sang is the most resilient of the Sinners when it comes to food poisoning. Being fine after drinking a good bit of spoiled milk and all. In addtion, I interpret that he often eats spoiled food, as in the story, instead of recognizing a potato as spoiled, he thinks it to be some sort of beautiful metaphor of art in nature.

Sinner No. 04, based off of Hell Screen by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. A swordswoman that considers herself an artist. Now, what is her medium? Well, people of course. She considers how she kills people as a work of art. However, she does carry respect for the dead. She generally is hostile to anyone who doesn’t understand “true works of art”. Which is everyone. She definitely chaotic evil bruh.

A notable trait about her is that she often speaks with what she calls SANGRIA  (Succinct abbreviation naturally germinates rather immaculate art). Acronyms that are usually an abbreviation of a sentence, and normally quite vivid in description. Most of the team understands what she means by now when she talks in SANGRIA, but if anyone is clueless, Sinclair translates for everyone.

Implied criminal background, or at least connections to criminal underworld.

Sinner No. 06, based on Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. Comes from an extremely wealthy family, and rarely experienced life outside of it. It’s considered that he’s quite out of touch and sheltered. However, his questions or statements, no matter how out of reality they may be, appear to never hold any ill will.

It feels like 50% of his lines start with “Wowee~”. If his personality had to be an emoticon, it would be “^_^”.

So when he does something that isn’t exactly adhering to these base traits, it stands out. Its sorta weird. When he does some sort of thing that isn't fully characteristic of him it doesn’t feel fully out of character, you know? I’m not too sure yet, but I’d say he’s one of the most kind of the Sinners (which isn’t really that hard but still).

Sinner No. 09, based on Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A very casual, easy going, and even lazy woman. However she has a big gambling problem, and a materialist problem as well. Which isn’t actually a trait Rodion has the book, but apparently it gives a good display on the mentality or something of the sort? She acts in a way to try and make sure that everyone on the bus gets along.

While I did say that everyone has their own traumas and problems they deal with, I kinda feel atm Rodya is leading in the "I hate myself" category due to subtle things we see or hear.

Wow what a messed up thing to say.

Last edited by Time (September 4, 2023 16:20:27)

Maybe I should've released this one in parts

Last edited by Time (August 29, 2023 03:29:43)

I do realize that I should mention that I will use stronger language, and talk about things I may normally not talk about outside of this thread.

I was also thinking about how often I post on this thread... maybe once a week? Twice?

The Actual Game
I will admit something. When I write about this stuff, it's usually purely only for the story. That’s the thing I’m most invested in. In fact, I'd say when I play games or anything really, 80% of the time, I put story above everything.

I’m still talking about it because I still think I need to get my ideas across on this stuff and because I am talking about a video game after all.
Gameplay

Serviceable at best. Combat looks complex, but in reality, it’s simple, and in my viewpoint, it is lowkey kinda easy. Truthfully I haven’t done what I presume is some of the hardest fights, which is in another gamemode. I'll probably eventually end up doing it, but I’m mostly playing for story.
So, why do I think it’s easy? Well, the max level is 35, and I’ve fought bosses like, 10 levels under the recommended level. In addition, I have never used an alternate identity for combat, which means I’ve only been using the base Sinners. Technically they’re supposed to be the weakest units in the game, but I still pull through with severely underleveled and weak troops. 💪💪💪

But also, I’ll say that all the identities in this game can all hold their own, which is nice. In my opinion, none of them appear to be fully useless, plus the stronger identities are only stronger by a small amount, so I don't think anyone has to stress over getting the best units.

As mentioned before, for the most part, combat is just serviceable. There are cool moments, for sure, but that’s caused by scenarios that bosses and the story create, not because of raw combat alone. I don’t want to get into the details since this stuff isn’t really my priority, but there are two types of combat in this game: general battles and focused battles. General battles are not as fun as focused battles. In focused battles, you’re able to select targets and manipulate attack order and things like that, which is nice in deciding, while general battles don’t allow that. Some people wish for everything to be focused battles, and while that is fun, that makes grinding more of a chore, so I’m ok with a mixture of the two lol. Idk game design, but maybe a good idea is to have a toggle between focused battles only and a mix?

This may seem like a tangent, but unlike what appears to be 95% of people I interact with irl, I don’t listen to music. My ideal is silence. Because of this, I believe I’m not as hard on music as other people may be, as my tastes and opinions concerning it aren’t as well defined. Plus, I often hear “a 10/10 or 9/10 is something I blast constantly” when grading music. I don’t listen to music constantly, so my grading would be naturally different. I think it's more around how much the music fits the current story and situation.

So I guess, the music fits decently enough. Most of the combat tracks have electric guitar solos which are epic. I feel like there’s lots of effort placed into them and I respect it, but it's nothing that has me like, jumping out of my seat..

What I find most interesting though are the most recent songs for boss battles. I hope they keep on doing this for the oncoming Cantos, I really really do. That’s because they’ve been doing custom music with vocals for every final boss battle of every chapter that is reflective of the character that’s being showcased. I personally can’t analyze songs very well, but there’s definitely analysis out there concerning the songs. So if I wanna, I can probably read that stuff.

Oh, but if I were to do a song analysis, I’d definitely do it on the opening song. “In Hell We Live, Lament”. Apparently, there are not just references to Limbus Company, but also to previous games, and probably the books too. The key art is also pretty interesting. I don’t know what it could be referencing, but it could be either in the past, or something we can see in the future. For some reason, I like both the instrumental and vocal songs equally. They’re pretty good. So it’s probably my favorite track in the game.

Final boss songs have all been sung by the same vocalist so far. It's interesting because instead of like, heavy rock or whatever that’s normally used in normal battles, the songs played are much more… softer, I suppose. Or maybe more elegant is the correct word. The musical group that makes the ones with the vocals is Mili. To me, the vocalist has a distinct voice as it’s quite soft. None of them really have gotten me hyped or anything, but I think it’s supposed to be more of a character piece than anything.

I’m just saying though, when the vocalist starts to sing in Latin, that will always go hard.

—

Ok so I just had to check I was getting the right language, and it turns out that vocals in Lament are actually italian (which makes sense since the Divine Comedy was originally in Italian)

I also checked, and Mili appears to have a history with PM, as they’ve done work on the company’s previous games.

Oh Mili was also the group to do the goblin slayer OP, which is a little fun fact.

Good. I like the artist who makes the identity visuals and the sprites for character convos. Good enough to add him(?) to my list of artists I wish to inspire my artsyle from.

Also actually check this out I was looking around and my jaw has dropped at the improvement. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/limbuscompany/comments/16726bl/nai_gas_absurd_improvement_in_a_6_month_timeframe/

6 months?? 6 MONTH IMPROVEMENT????? ARE YOU F**KING JOKING WITH ME?? DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY? 

I’m already quite an envious artist, I don’t need any more of this. Also it’s why I think a load of what makes art look good is rendering. But yeah, this dude is pretty good.

Keep in note that I actually do not have as strong feelings as represented. It is merely an exaggeration for comedic effect. Though I will admit, I am slightly envious (all I need to get just as good is actually focus on improving my art).

But compared to the two previous games created by this studio, the quality of art has massively improved, which is great. Nicer visuals can help communicate things much easier, and draw in a bigger crowd.

Imma get this straight. I have played a traditional gacha game in the past, and I can confidently say that I don’t like gacha. 

Primarily because for me it’s so jarring to see an important cutscene, conversation, or whatever occur, and then when it transitions into combat, the key characters are not even there. Instead, there are just a bunch of random people fighting in their stead. As context, if I’m playing a gacha, I’m F2P: I ain’t spending money. The rate at which I consume the story is far too fast for me to accumulate enough resources to roll for a character that’s in the story. By the time I probably get the character or have enough for just a character in general or whatever, the character I was aiming for isn’t relevant anymore. Or I still have more characters in the story to grind for. It’s such a disconnect for immersiveness for me, that I just can’t follow.

However, Limbus Company doesn’t have this issue, because instead of characters, it’s identities! I personally like it because I don’t even have to touch the gacha system to keep the flow of the story going. However, I have read this sort of thing places Limbus at a very odd place in the gacha world. I haven’t really looked into it as much, but I’m happy that I don’t need to roll for important characters and can just use their base identities.

Though for gacha crazies out there, while there is no pity mechanic, the game itself is quite generous in giving out identities. I have plenty of identities. Even though they really aren’t a priority to me, they’re kinda just nice as collectors items.

Though actually, I do like rolling for EGOs because that’s something I will always be using. But I can just spend in-game currency to get them in the shop.

Last edited by Time (September 4, 2023 17:06:59)

A quite aside for this post and it's partner. I felt like I needed to post something here, so I did. I don't like it as much, but I just wanted to post something.

Well, I did like what I did when it comes to analyzing her design though. Whether it be a stretch or not. 

Ishmael's Appearance
I personally like looking at character designs and seeing what I can draw from them. Originally, looking at the main cast, I thought their uniforms were all basically just the same. But no! In each of their designs, I believe like there is space for subtle indications of personality, which I like.

I'll be looking at Ishmael's since I personally can draw the most from her design. Here's a picture of her so that you can follow along! -->

Looking at her design, I’m sure the biggest thing (literally) you will notice about her is her hair. Bright orange, and especially full of volume. In this world, where the color palette is mostly desaturated, darker tones, Ishmael’s hair (and therefore herself) sticks out a lot, even in the cast of main characters.

It made me think, It must take loads of time to manage that hair! That or just video game logic. Nevertheless, it has a contrast with the character herself. Ishmael is a sailor, isn’t she? It makes zero sense as to why she would have so much hair! Even if she had short hair during the voyage, I would be interested as to why she grew it out, since as I mentioned, Ishmael is a person that prioritizes rational decisions. If you are a combattant, you should cut your hair short, doesn’t that make sense? Why the effort to make it long? While I am speculating this, I also may be overthinking it. It could very well be a design choice to help reflect something or give a metaphor. Maybe, idk, the waves or the ocean?

I also may be giving more credit than due, but whenever I think of weapons for characters, I choose something to reflect their personality. Ishmael is the only one that uses a shield in combination with a mace. The shield can easily represent her rationality, and dependability. Maybe her mace can represent idk… how blunt she can be? Yeah? You see? Because it’s a blunt weapon?

What I also love about Limbus Company designs is the subtle differences in each of the team’s uniforms. For the most part, everyone wears black pants, a white button up shirt, and a red tie. Some wear black vests, some wear black long coats, and some wear both. For Ishmael’s uniform, if you look at her jacket, the waist area is clearly torn, even removing a bit of her name off. In my interpretation, her jacket is actually a long coat that has been modified. It originally started as a long coat, but Ishmael thought it better to just be a normal jacket, so she went ahead and tore the bottom half off. It’s a sort of subtle storytelling of character. It tells us that Ishmael:

- Prefers practicality over appearance and formality. Her coat is damaged, and even a part of her name is ripped off, making it less formal and losing some of its identification purposes,  but that is fine to her, because she has better mobility. (Her base identity is actually the fastest of the group so it kinda matches)
- She prefers doing things herself, or at least she would rather rely on herself. The other character with a modified jacket is Outis. But it’s specifically trimmed and tailored. Ishmael on the other hand, decides to overgo these formalities and just rips the bottom half off. It’s quicker, more cost efficient, and it’s her doing it. Not somebody she doesn’t know.
- She’s resourceful - I know I’m stretching on this one, but instead of looking to what to get, she works with what she is given. This makes sense, given that she’s a sailor.

I should also note that her headband (the rope and bows) are pretty iconic and universal with her character and alternate reality versions. I feel a connection can be made as to a personality thing, but I'm unsure as of the moment.

Last edited by Time (September 22, 2023 03:04:14)

A little Ishmael break. Here is me writing about something else in exchange.

Mistborn: Well of Ascension
Just finished reading the book today. Here are my current thoughts and initial ideas on it. Subject to hard to follow flow and generally not checking for mistakes by someone who is tired, and just got back into reading.

I only have a bit of a spoiler in there, but it's easy to not include it in the main thoughts so spoiler free!

Ok, so I wrote about Mistborn the Final Empire back in my homethread. Maybe I should post it here, but for now I wanna talk about Mistborn the Well of Ascension as I finished it just today.

So, when comparing it to the first entry in the series, I think this one is much better, especially with the climax and ending. It ties much more plot together, feels more dangerous, and all around exciting to see. We get the ending of the story that was promised at the beginning, but then, we are given even more, giving a foreboding future ahead.

When it comes to moving parts within the story, it feels like there are quite a bunch. A lot of external plots that are moving accompanied by character arcs, exploring character relations. On top of it, there’s a good amount of worldbuilding concerning the history of the past and prophecies.

There are a lot of little hints scattered around the story that I’ve noticed as well. They come back into play with realization and during plot progressions. These hints followed by their payoffs can vary greatly, from a hint lasting the entire book until it comes into the spotlight at the end, to ones that last a few chapters, to ones where the payoff lasts a page. It’s nice seeing things that look like one should keep note of, and when it is revealed to be useful, it feels great knowing that you kept an eye on that specific hint. Though, it does at times make me overthink, and a passing comment could be something I think is worth much more than it really is. But in reality, I think those are few and far between.

But every time big realizations happen, I just think to myself “Why didn’t I think of that!?” It certainly drew me in. It’s cool to see the pieces form together to make a full answer, or that “oh what that character said makes so much sense! So that’s why X is doing this for whatever mysterious reason,” for example.

I know I already mentioned that this story and climax felt much more dangerous. I thought it could be because I know the characters more, but when looking at the situations, it felt like to me that this story’s climax had a much more of a hopeless tone about it, which really enforced that feeling. It made me nervous that if any notable character was in the frey, I was nervous that they had a chance of dying. Even the MCs; if an MC was in a relatively safe place, I was nervous something would catch them by surprise. The set up to the climax was much greater. I will admit, initially, when the climax started, I was convinced all the characters present during the start had their tickets already punched. I think that really added on to the finale. It also felt much more dangerous because:

Slight spoiler


A lot more characters died in this book. I think it can really help propel the survivors forwards (or backwards) and is quite interesting in doing so. Even characters that met their end in the previous book still have a very noticeable effect on the characters today, and the world around them.


Slight spoiler over

But the final cliffhanger and wrap up of the story also makes it quite compelling. It answers some big questions, and raises a good amount more for the future, which is good. It keeps readers interested and looking forward to reading the next book. Such as, “Why is X doing this? It directionally contradicts so much from Y, something that is closely allied or related with such things.”  Such contradictions give off the feeling that while the main story is told in its fullest, there is much more to it, and it is explored in the upcoming book. I know Sanderson is a fan of this, but he often leaves holes and questions within things, so that readers can ask that same sort of question or try to solve the mystery on their own until he finally gives it. Apparently, it’s something he does often for magic/tech systems so he can build on them later on.

The amount of moving parts in this book is a lot in my perspective. I can’t even imagine the work and planning that goes into timing events that happen and making sure the story beats of every single arc is hit. I am very much looking forward to the next book! Whenever I can get it.

Last edited by Time (September 25, 2023 02:47:53)

Frieren: Just Writing some thoughts while I'm at Chapter 70.

So I’ve been reading Frieren Beyond the Journey’s End, and I’ve been watching it too. Currently around chapter 70 in the manga, and I'm all caught up to what is released for the anime, but I need to look back at past chapters to get everything. I figured I’d talk about it.

Premise

This story starts where many stories would end. The great evil of the land has been defeated, and the hero’s who did so are on their return to the capital of the kingdom for rewards and riches. Countless statues and praise are created for them, and their names are etched in history as the world enters an era of peace.

Our adventurers all reminisce on the good times that their ten-year long journey had. How much they’ve experienced, how much it’s changed them.

All of them except one, Frieren the mage, only views it as trivial. That’s not even one-one hundredth of an elf's lifespan. In her perspective, it was simply a “mere ten-year adventure”

But when Himmel the Hero, the leader of this band of four passes away some 50 years later, Frieren is oddly brought to tears by his passing.

“I knew human lives were short… why didn’t I get to know him better?”

This is a story about regret, loss, memories, and an elf trying to understand why relationships are made if they only last a few decades.

Overall, when such topics are dealt with, there is bound to be a melancholy tone concerning them. But still, this story gives an overall positive and kind outlook to most subjects. Yes, there are battles and combat, but it’s nowhere near the center stage in other stories. Rather, what IS center stage most of the time is character relationships.

As I read the conversations that these characters have, it feels like every single one of them is important, even if they’re just a little trivial. Like every conversation furthers their relationship, and it’s not just some filler talk, which I suppose is how every conversation should feel, really.

Also a big thing I like about this story is that there is a LOT of show don’t tell. That also means I will have to reread things to make sure I get what is really being said in a conversation or in a character’s actions. I’m both happy, but also tried because I gotta go do that now. It’s good practice though!

Actually my favorite character. I’ve heard that oftentimes, MCs don’t really end up being favorite characters for many people, and they hover around 2nd or 3rd place for popularity polls. But whatever, she’s my favorite character.

Now, why do you ask? Well, it’s because she has the most interesting story to me, in my opinion. An elf who never made any relationships is brought to tears over the death of someone she barely knew; from there on out, she makes the decision to learn more about humans, and by extension, relationships.

Sign me up! I always enjoy these sorts of characters that are trying to learn more about themselves or the world or something like that. Galaxian pointed this out in my homethread when I was talking about Frieren, but it may be obvious by now I like those sort of characters. Ones that are trying to understand emotions, or ones that feel strong emotions but reserve themselves.

You’d think Frieren would be a complete monotone husk because of her lack of relationships, but there are lots of little eccentric traits that make her more than just that, while making plenty of sense too. For example, she sleeps past noon if nobody wakes her up, and is unorganized and lazy. This sort of trait connects back to her being an elf, since they’re so long lived, they can leisure around a lot more than a human can. She’s a living being like everyone else, she just needs to learn how to properly form relationships.

I feel like I need to review her conversations and actions more. As I said, there’s a lot of shows that don’t tell. I feel like this is especially true for our central character. She’s pretty clueless and dense when it comes to relationships between other people, so when she reacts or says something, it could mean something else as well. Who knows what is going on in her mind? It’s also weird though, because while she’s bad with relationships, she still has a lot of experience. She often derives thoughts from past memories, and uses them in the present, sometimes with a new perspective on the memory than before.

Ok I was not lying when I said that Frieren is my favorite character, but Himmel is so close to being my favorite. Wow, who knew a dude that died in the first chapter could be someone’s favorite character with good reason.Frieren and Himmel are nearly interchangeable for first and second place. 

Why? Well, this dude does the heroic stuff of a hero, but he also applies this really, really kindhearted and selfless feel to everything he does. Even if he does something that appears blatantly narcissistic (having statues of him constantly commissioned) he is able to spin it to something really, really kindhearted (he does it to make sure that Frieren doesn’t get lonely in the future when they’re all gone).

Now I was thinking, this dude is kinda like Tanjiro or something. The thing is I despise Tanjiro as a character, but I like this guy… I wonder why? Sorry, but I might have to trash Demon Slayer’s MC for a bit.

My theory is because this dude is not center stage. He’s meant to be a foil to Frieren. Unlike Tanjiro, the world moves without him. Plus, his execution I feel is a lot better. It’s clear that this guy has layers. For example, while he does very much adore the attention and has a large ego, he’s also a genuinely good guy that does stuff to help his friends.

Plus, he’s subtle. Well, for Frieren at least. As I read through this story, it becomes increasingly clear that Himmel loved Frieren in a romantic way. Though, due to him being a human, it feels like he never really made any big, direct advances because he knew:
She wouldn’t get it.
He would be all but a blip in her life. For someone who doesn’t understand relationships, loving someone for them to die a few decades later could be a bit harmful, I think.
I don’t even know if Frieren knows that he loved her. I don’t know if Frieren was in love, but never really figured out what she was feeling was love. But either way, I feel this may come to fruition later down the line.
Actually, scratch that. I don’t think Frieren knew that he loved her, she might not even be fully aware of this now. I think this because well she’s still trying to find out how relationships work, having to throw in love is a whole nother complex ballgame. Plus elves in this world have little to no romantic feeling, so their kind would likely miss all sorts of cues.

On the note that Himmel’s primary purpose is to teach Frieren about relationships, I view every flashback with Himmel in it as a memory that Frieren has. It’s not really how the world perceives Himmel, but rather how Frieren remembers Himmel. Frieren says that she wishes to live more like Himmel sometime at the beginning of the story, so these memories show up to remind us how Frieren is trying to work at becoming less cold-hearted, and reminds Frieren of how she is slightly changing every time.

Maybe he’s a good example of how to give a dead/inactive character a large role in the story? I mean, you can’t have a large role in the story part. His death set off Frieren’s character arc. Without that, this probably wouldn’t be a story.

SIGNALIS
Depressing ahh game bro. Depressing asf.

As per usual, this should be spoiler free unless I give a spoiler warning.

Tbh, If you want to only read a part of this one. I think my take on games with multiple endings is interesting enough plus you don't really need much context for it.

My gameplay/ what ending I got/ replaying

First off, I got the Promise ending. Had a finality sort of feel to it. So normally I would think it to be the true ending. But it’s like, so freaking sad bruh…

There are other two endings to this game, Leave and Memory. I didn’t get those because I played like a maniac (apparently). But once again, the feeling of finality to Promise made me feel like it was the “true” ending.

I should also say this was my first horror game. I think I prefer horror games where I can actually fight back, you know? It also may explain my playstyle. Apparently how you play results in different endings. Promise ending is where you just fully send it. Kill everything that’s trying to kill you. Hit things and get hit.

Though don’t categorize me as a dunce for the fact I went that way. I know how to manage my resources and how to use my ammo and health items efficiently! Resource management is my shtick.

Oh, I also forgot to mention… There's also a secret ending! Lily/Artifact. I didn’t watch the ending of that one, unlike the other two normal endings. That will give me the room to revisit this game if I want to and find out what the secret ending is. Usually, secret endings are the true endings, you know what I mean? However, when it comes to this story, I feel it’s different, because…

…because this story is nigh indecipherable to me. Imma have to go watch some yt videos on this one that’s for sure.

There are a lot of open things in the storyline. A lot of vagueness, a lot of interpretation to be had. A lot of theory crafting.

And I just don’t think that's for me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the game, but I just don’t think my storytelling style fits with this one. It’s just so vague and non-linear and… I wish I could see something.

Well, actually, I did see something, I did get the basic understanding of the plot, but I don’t get a lot of the details (granted also I just finished the game like 30 min ago as of writing this so I didn’t give it any time to brew so maybe something may come up later)

I actually scrapped this topic for this writing thread, but I think it's actually a good time to bring it back and explore some of my thoughts.

Personally for me, I don’t like multiple endings in games. I don’t think I ever really will. I mean, it’s not a dealbreaker for me, not a “Oh this game has multiple endings?? 0/100 FAILURE of a GAME!!!”

And I know lots of work can go into making multiple endings to a game really cool. For example… idk, Undertale! I’ve never played the game, but I really liked the idea that the game (and some characters) remember the fact you resetted the timeline. Or maybe like Nier: Automata, where the fact that multiple playthroughs and getting ending after ending is actually a key part of the game. I like it when games take the idea of an ending, and play around the idea of its finality. But more often than not, most games just have different endings just to have different endings (I don’t think Signalis is one of them but still).

9 times out of 10, instead of wishing for multiple endings for a game, I’d rather have a game have just 1 ending. Why? Because I want to see the vision. I want to see what the game developer thinks best fits the story. I want them to tell how this story ends. It’s their story after all. I want the developer to pour their heart and resources into what they think is correct for the game. Not divide their effort up into multiple endings which may very well be half-baked.

I suppose video games, for me, are a story first and foremost. That’s probably why I see it this way. I don’t care what ending I got, I care for what the true ending is above everything. (It’s bonus points tho if I stumble upon getting the true ending).

Of course there are games out there, where there is no true ending. Like, idk, most souls games. But I feel if it’s like that, there’s a high chance that story isn’t really the main attraction to the game.

So if you read the last part, I said to similar effect, “Signalis isn’t one of the games where I have a problem with it having multiple endings.” 

Why? Well because everything really is just so vague, you can’t really judge it on having multiple endings. You could interpret it as every ending is canonical, and there is a specific order in which they happen (that’s the interpretation in which I believe)

But nevertheless, I think it was a pretty good game. Just a LOT of interpretive storytelling going on.

I don’t think this amount of interpretivism is for me. Don’t get me wrong. I love interpreting things, just not to this extent to where I’m crafting a story from breadcrumbs.

Still once again though, I loved the story, the music, the art, the aesthetic (of course I did it’s sci fi), and so forth.

Actually, I’d give a moment to focus on the art and the aesthetic. It is very cool, in my opinion. Bright neon red as a key color, androids, [THIS SPACE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK], the eerie silence except for the emergency automated message, the fact that lots of things are in different languages (idk why I just think that’s cool), and so forth.

*[THIS SPACE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK] → I legitimately don’t know what to call this but I think that’s cool when they do that. Adding redaction to the story?

I should mention though there is one thing I do like as well that makes me sound like a total hypocrite. I love the fact that if I wanted to, I could dive in. I could dive in and start putting pieces together, finding symbols and signs, I could interpret. The King In Yellow is a prominent book in the game, and I know it’s a real life book. It’s gotta mean something. The Isle of the Dead is a real life painting series that I know for a fact represents a lot of symbolism for the game’s story as well. It feels like there is a lot going underneath the surface here. I enjoy that, even if it’s not my jam.

Story was still depressing asf tho.

Last edited by Time (November 24, 2023 02:22:42)