I'm extremely impressed by the entire package of "Limbo Line" with its theme and execution! This is certainly a rollercoaster of an experience: it got funny moments, anxiety, anguish, mystery, horror, it simply got everything.
The gameplay is comparable to - I merely bring up a popular game example as a reference because I couldn't quite find the name of genre/category but I know it's a staple for VNs that involve management - the daily life events in the "Persona" series. There is a joy to be found of doing mundane tasks to kill time, picking who you want to hang out with, or how to react in a conversation; except here I'm trapped with the uncomfortable feeling of an office job's first day (at a callcentre) and it's even worse when I'm told by my admin that my performance decides my fate of life-and-death! This makes for a unique immersive game premise - nothing about it is relaxing though, so it's an exciting twist on the formula. I already tried to form a plan in my head on how to escape, whereby the suspense ramped up when hints were dropped about Maddie, and I totally felt this as some objective shift of snooping around without looking suspicious.
I played without a walkthrough. Due to the complexity and many choice prompts I could not see everything. I simply followed my gut feeling, and if I hit a dead end, I try the other option. So eventually I've seen a fair number of bad endings until I hit a good ending. From then on I decided I was ready to write this review - although I certainly wish to come back later to see if I can unlock more gallery pictures! (...Still so many Spooktober entries to play)
Art:
- Stylish use of lime & purple in the palette. It makes the game stand out as a sci-fi style office setting. Combined with the clean art of backgrounds and characters, there is a sterile feel to it despite the pleasant pastel colouring.
- The use of UI within UI with the phone, pc, camera directed towards Nine for the main view. Everything looks so slick.
- Cool use of room depth perspective: with Nyari sitting behind Nine and sometimes a colleague appearing next to their side. I skimmed through the game page so I had no idea what Tava looked like and when they approached your booth with their head obscured outside view, it spooked me a little, haha. Sprites are dynamic with multiple poses.
Writing:
- The characters are great, I love them all! Even Niard is likable (I hope this does not count as a praise). You got your colleagues of different personalities that encapsulate the office life. I like the mix of callers and that there are both light-hearted silly problems they call you for and also heavy hitting ones, and you're on the edge not knowing what to expect. The gallery pictures you get when you improved their life situation are cute bonuses.
- I love the natural feeling to the dialogue of the cast. It brings the weight of the game's atmosphere closer to you.
Audio:
- The music is amazing.
- Great voice acting. I like the voice filters for the more alien looking characters. The natural dialogue style is especially enhanced when the voices sounds like real people we could have met on street.
Spoiler:
There were some parts that I found unsettling as I wasn't quite prepared for them, namely these Maddie's files you access. Can't handle weird repetitive sounds very well that play for a long duration, so I had to take a break before I continued on with the game. Couldn't figure out what I should do with these files, and I assumed I was missing hints in this playthrough, so I just played on to see wherever the story took me.