Inside - Limbo developers follow up title

Games
1

Re-building this thread as promised from the old site. This drops in a few days on Steam, and I wish I’d been able to pick it up at launch but I just had to get Doom (no regrets!) so I’ll have to hold off just a bit.

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I don’t really know much about it, but I loved Limbo and played it three different times on three different platforms, so I’m all in on this one just seeing the images and seeing the scores.

So this is the thread for discussing Inside, but it sounds like a game that can easily be spoiled, so please be considered and use spoiler tags when discussing details!

(Man, being able to copy/paste an image right into the post might be my favorite thing ever…)

2

That is a great screenshot by the way. It captures the aesthetic and some gameplay implications in a single image. Nice.

I’ll definitely keep my eye on this. It’s getting great reviews and I loved Limbo, and this seems like it will be right up my alley. Kerzain did warn in the other thread that he felt the game was too short for costing $20, so just repeating that heads up. Personally that’s usually not an issue for me, and I like my game experiences short and sweet. So depending on my progress in Bloodborne over the next week or two, I might jump into this next after I finish that game.

3

Yeah, boy, the reviews have been over the moon. This is turning into a game I will have to fight to wait to go on sale… and possibly lose.

4

I finished it yesterday, and I’m still digesting it today. All I know for sure is that it was well worth my $20, and it was one of the most expertly crafted and perfect executions of a crystal clear vision I’ve ever seen.

It’s haunting, confusing, revealing, surprising, and unique. It’s the type of art/entertainment where I feel empty after finishing it because I know it could be years before I play anything like it again.

It’s like Limbo, but not really. Or at least not for long. And unlike Limbo, it has a thoroughly satisfying arc that doesn’t end abruptly. It has fun puzzles which don’t over-stay their welcome, and occasionally make you feel like a genius. Watching a friend play some sections for his first time after I finished it showed me I’m not a genius, but rather that the game is just so well designed that it subconsciously hints at things I at first thought were completely obscure.

It’s a game that proves that sound is one of the most tragically overlooked elements in all forms of entertainment. The sound design completely makes every part of this game - the horror, the suspense, and every other emotion I felt throughout. The sounds effects too are unexpected and different, yet perfectly fit every scenario and amplify every scene. Play it on a nice sound system or with headphones cranked up in a room with few distractions.

If $20 is a lot of money for you, I can understand wanting to wait. $20 for 4-ish hours is tough ratio if you can’t spend that amount of money without giving up something else. But I will say it’s a 4 hours with zero repetition of ideas, nothing over-stays its welcome, and you’ll probably want to replay it. Not because of classic “replayability” or that many secrets to discover (though there are some), but because some parts are just so unforgettable you’ll want to see them again and show them to everyone you know.

But if $20 is a pretty moderate amount of money for you - perhaps an average dinner out - I’d recommend playing it as soon as possible before unmarked spoilers start flooding the web.

5

*quietly adds it to the to-do list

6

How’s the violence level, etc? Appropriate for kids? Too scary? Gory?

7

It would probably give nightmares to children just old enough to understand what they’re seeing.

There are lots of ways to die, all of them creepy, but it’s not a splatterfest. The horror is mostly subtle, but ever-present and effective.

8

Inside is a thoroughly adult game made for mature adults. It’s horrifying and disturbing in unsettling ways, and occasionally violent and gruesome.

Limbo had very violent deaths that were shocking or scary, while Inside has deaths and general ideas that could wreck a child’s sleeping patterns for weeks.

9

That sounds perfect for my kids! :D

Ok, thanks for the warning. I will not play it with my kids. I didn’t really want to read a lot about it, so as to skip spoilers.

10

Bought this today and finished it after a few sittings. Loved it, although the story gets pretty weird. I think they are going for the artsy thing of leaving things ambiguous - but I enjoyed being a part of this very strange world.

While it was only maybe 3-4 hours of gameplay, it was easily worth my $20. Highly recommended.

11

Gosh this game sure looks nice. The aesthetic seems a little like Portal 2-meets-Kentucky Route Zero. I spent about two hours with it last night and I’m looking forward to finishing it after work today, though I’m almost certainly going to go back through it at least a couple more times down the road.

12

I finished this tonight and boy does this take a turn for the Cronenberg.

13

Just finished it. Honestly, I am disappointed. After so much hype…
It started well, nice forest, corn field…only for the rest of the game to take place in boring interiors (yes I know the game is called Inside :))…now yes, there were some impressive/creepy/interesting moments there, plus the whole ending part was really really great and unsettling - but on the whole, I was just constantly feeling like “well that was cool, but when is the real interesting stuff gonna start” and the game ended instead. The puzzles shouldn’t even be called such, it was impossible to get stuck. 3 hours long, not quite as satisfying as I hoped, 20 euros - I regret not waiting for Humble Bundle.
Audiovisual design was impressive though. I love this style.

14

I watched a lets play of the 1st 30 minutes, now I am hooked… I like the sound design

15

I liked this better than Limbo. The craft on display is amazing, And I like how many of the puzzles feel more organic now, although there’s still an overeliance on physics puzzles. Overall, I really enjoyed this. It’s a cute, little horror story, amazingly well made.

I also love the critical praise this is getting and how we have done a full 360 and are, game design wise, back in 1991 and Another World being just released (which remains one of my favorite games ever). Actually I would love to play an Another World remake in this style/fidelity. If anything I think I much prefer the organic relationship to the alien in AW than the calculated loneliness in these modern equivalents.

But yeah, this is a must play, imho, although if you are not into into these kind of games, maybe wait for a sale.

Edit: Also, although I like the subtlety and ambivalence in the world building, it’s a little bit too obscure. It’s hard to put all the pieces together, and how, for example the pig infection, the sirens and the blob fit together. The overall arc is really nice, though.

16

I loved it, the audio design some of the best I’ve ever experienced in a video game. Reminds me of many things I already like, Ico, Another World and Limbo of course. The deaths are grim, you’ve been shot or eaten by dogs before in games but the way they animated puts it firmly into the real world, disturbing.

I don’t have much time to game these days and being shallow on actual game mechanics suited me nicely, here’s a new game I can pick up and instantly be able to play it, the controls were just perfect.

They could have padded it for length, more brain control puzzles, diving ball mazes but every section was just right. Diving ball felt great to control and punch around in, water thing child was scary, that thumper section was probably my favorite thing in the whole game, looked and sounded absolutely bad ass. And Tetsuo body blob, hilarious.

17

I just played the demo for Inside and I have to say, “wow”. These guys are so good at creating disturbing moments without beating the player over the head. The demo is pretty short at 20-30 minutes . There isn’t much in the way of puzzles or platforming in this time, just a bit. They are just so good at creating tension. I’ll definitely get this at some point. I bought too many games to get it now.

18

Just for anyone teetering on the edge, this is on sale right now (Black Friday weekend 2016) on the Xbox Live marketplace. $13 or something. I’m finally biting- loved Limbo, and everyone here seems to think it’s good.

19

Awesome game, possible GOTY for me.

20

Finally picked this up when it was on sale a couple days ago for The Game Awards.

I avoided almost all coverage of it, so I was a little disappointed that it’s “just” a next-gen Limbo. Cynically, it’s merely another left-to-right light platforming trial-and-error-'em-up with a killer aesthetic.

But with more time to reflect on it, it really is excellent, and definitely worthwhile for the artistic design alone. The mood, the visuals, the animation, the audio, the sets, all just gorgeous, haunting, and occasionally horrifying.

Highly recommended.