User:XRozuRozu/Limbus Company

Limbus Company is a dungeon role-playing video game. It was developed and published by South Korean indie development studio Project Moon in February 2023. Limbus Company, the third game of the studio, is the continuation of Lobotomy Corporation, a management simulator, and Library of Ruina, a deck-building strategy RPG.

Development
Limbus Company was originally set to be released in the late winter of 2022, but was later delayed for completion and enhancement of the game experience. After the official release on February 26, 2023, numerous maintenance periods have been conducted for bug-fixing.

Plot
The game takes place in the same universe as Project Moon's other works. Limbus Company is set in a location known as "the City", a vast and expansive urban sprawl divided into 26 Districts. Each District is led by a "Wing", a mega-corporation with control over a "Singularity": powerful, sometimes reality-bending pieces of technology. The City itself is led by A Corp, the most influential Wing with dominion over District 1. Districts are divided between "Nests" and "backstreets". The former is where upper and middle class people, typically employed by the Wing itself, live. The latter are lawless places where people live in absolute poverty and squalor.

The location of the previous two games, District 12, in particular has become a lawless place where fixers (effective mercenaries for hire in the City), and syndicates (criminal organisations) fight for control. The previous site of the Library (from Library of Ruina) has been ejected out of the City by the Head. Most branch facilities of L Corp (from Lobotomy Corporation) have fallen into disrepair. Their Abnormalities, the corporation's main source of energy, roam free within the site.

The player, Dante, becomes the executive manager of Limbus Company through a pact and guides twelve Sinners through various battles. They travel on a bus named Mephistopheles (sometimes shortened to Mephi), after the demon in German folklore, to the remains of L Corp facilities. This is in order to find and claim Golden Boughs, the essence of L Corp's technology and a reference to the literary work by Sir James George Frazer. The overall plot of Limbus Company is also a reference to Inferno by Dante Alighieri, where the poet Dante travels through the nine circles of Hell, guided by an interpretation of the poet Virgil.

Gameplay
Limbus Company uses a turn-based combat system, where the player chains multiple skills that determine the actions done by each Sinner. Each skill has unique sin affinities, damage types, mechanics, and coin count. Upon starting an action, the game enters an auto battle phase, where Sinners will damage enemies depending on each character's speed, which is randomly determined during each round. They will enter a clash where coin flips determine the clashing value. If one coin has a greater value than the other, it will remove the opposing coin from the attack. Once all clashes are completed, the winning character will be able to complete their attack with any remaining coins. In addition, every character's health bar has a "stagger threshold" where all damage resistances are removed from the character once crossed, and all attacks on the character become fatal. The character is also unable to act for a turn.

During Abnormality battles, the combat system more closely resembles the prequel Library of Ruina. Skills along the chain can now manually target different parts of the enemy, which have individual health bars. Destroying a part will stagger the enemy.

During certain points in story missions, players will enter a dungeon crawling segment that chains individual battles, as well as skill checks, in a rouge-lite style. These typically hold high story significance and contain a final boss battle at the lowest layer.

As a gacha game, Limbus Company uses its gacha system to roll for 'identities' and 'E.G.O', short for 'Extermination of Geometrical Organ'. The former are alternate-world versions of each of the Sinners, having different skills, passives, and affinities. The latter is a special skill that can be triggered in battle once certain conditions are met. In addition, there is a battle pass system that rewards the player with resources and unique E.G.O upon completing missions. Each individual identity is leveled separately. They can be upgraded using the game's pity system to add additional skills and passives, as well as unlock a short story segment about each identity.

Sinners
The playable characters in the game. They are able to be revived by Dante, and are used to explore former Lobotomy Corporation facilities for Golden Boughs. Each Sinners' name, personality, and backstory is a reference to a certain piece of literature.

Yi Sang (이상)

A former chief researcher at a certain Wing. Wields a dagger. Inspired by the Korean poet and writer Yi Sang, in particular the short story The Wings.

Faust

The creator of the engine of Mephistopheles, the bus that the Sinners ride on. She is noted to be one of the most intelligent people in the City. Uses a Zweihänder, named WALPURGISNACHT, in combat. Inspired by the German folk hero Faust, in particular a reference to Goethe's interpretation in his play Faust.

Don Quixote

A Sinner that is obsessed and infatuated with the concept of 'fixers', people in the City who do odd jobs, often involving combat or killing, in exchange for money. Uses a jousting lance, inscribed with SUEÑO IMPOSIBLE (Impossible Dream), in combat. A reference to Miguel de Cervantes' epic novel Don Quixote.

Ryōshū (良秀)

A Sinner infatuated with the concept of violence as an art and wields her personal katana. Her weapon has 無我夢中 阿鼻叫喚 支離滅裂 (In the dream without oneself, Avīci calls for splitting) written on it. Inspired by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's short story Hell Screen.

Meursault

An emotionless Sinner who wants concise and direct commands. Previously worked for N Corp. Uses a pair of gauntlets, the right one named SOLEIL (Sun), to fight. Inspired by Albert Camus' novel The Stranger.

Hong Lu (鴻璐)

A highly sheltered Sinner who is unaware of much of the City. Wields a guandao, 太虛幻境 (World of illusion), in combat. Inspired by Cao Xueqin's novel Dream of the Red Chamber.

Heathcliff

A backstreets-born Sinner, preferring action over words. Uses a club resembling a baseball bat, with REVENGE painted on it, in combat. A reference to the character Heathcliff from Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights.

Ishmael

A Sinner who has spent a long time on a ship, searching for a certain person. Uses a combination, HEARSE, of mace and shield during fights. A reference to the character Ishmael from Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick.

Rodion (Родион Романович Раскольников)

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, often shortened to Rodion or Rodya, is a Sinner obsessed with money and gambling. In combat, she wields an axe with РАСКО́Л (Split) written on its head. Previously a member of the syndicate Yurodivy (Holy Fool), a Russian-style mob with communist beliefs. Having killed an influential Wing employee in her backstreet, this led to a massacre of her neighbours. Inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel Crime and Punishment.

Emil Sinclair

The youngest and least experienced Sinner on the bus, Sinclair wields a halberd, named Vogel (Bird), in combat. Born in the town of Kalf in the Nest of K Corp, a prosthetic manufacturing hub. With his family having replaced their bodies with prosthetics, Sinclair becomes acquainted with Kromer, a fanatic who believes that prosthetics are impure. Kromer later kills Sinclair's entire family, and becomes the leader of Nagel und Hammer, a cult obsessed with purging prosthetics users. As well as Demian, a mysterious boy with immense powers and knowledge. A reference to Hermann Hesse's bildungsroman novel Demian.

Outis

A mysterious Sinner with connections to the Smoke War, a major conflict before the events of Lobotomy Corporation. Wields a gunblade, Ουτις (Outis). Inspired by the character Odysseus from Homer's epic Odyssey.

Gregor

A veteran of the Smoke War and an employee of the previous G Corp, Gregor's right arm has been mutated into an insectoid bladed appendage, UNGEZIEFER (Vermin). This arm is able to act on its own during times of emotional distress, while Gregor is plagued by PTSD because of his actions during the war. Inspired by Franz Kafka's novella Metamorphosis.

Other Staff
Dante

The main protagonist of the story who is also a Sinner, Dante has had their head replaced with a prosthetic clock. This allows them to rewind the state of the Sinners, effectively reviving them after death. An amnesiac, Dante is Limbus Company's executive manager. Inspired by the Divine Comedy, a narrative poem by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

Vergilius

A color fixer who worked under the name The Red Gaze. Previously seen in another Project Moon work, a comic called Leviathan, he wields a burning hot gladius in combat. Inspired by the Divine Comedy's interpretation of Virgil.

Charon

The bus driver of Mephistopheles who relies on intuition to navigate and was mentioned in Leviathan. Has the catchphrase "vroom-vroom". A reference to Charon, the psychopomp in Greek mythology who receives the Golden Bough.

Effie and Saude

Members of Limbus Company's LCCB team who help the Sinners during Cantos II and III.