Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo – Emocionalno putovanje koje nikada nećete zaboraviti

• DEVELOPER: Galla
• IZDAVAČ: Fellow Traveller
• PLATFORME: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Game Pass
• ŽANR: Puzzle / Adventure
• DATUM IZLASKA: 16. svibnja 2025.
• POČETNA CIJENA: 19,50€
• RECENZIRANA VERZIJA: PC

It’s hard not to feel emotionally attached to Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo. This isn’t just a video game, it’s a profound work of art with impactful storytelling that touches your heart and soul in unexpected ways. While the gameplay isn’t groundbreaking, the game brilliantly explores themes like trauma, guilt, and the struggle to move on, reminding us we’re never truly alone in our suffering, while offering a gentle push to keep going forward.

Paper Mario inspired graphics with amazing world-building

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo features cartoonish graphics inspired by Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, with a rich color palette of bright pinks, greens, and oranges that enhance its tactile, emotional world. The Latin American influence, rooted in Día de los Muertos, also shines through festive details like confetti, masks, and decorations, complementing the game’s themes of trauma and healing. Three distinct times of day: morning, evening, and night each bring unique visual flair, seamlessly tying the environments to the heartfelt storytelling.

The game’s characters, from Kulebra with its heart-shaped spine to the messenger bird and others, are simple yet charmingly animated and truly stand out. You’ll likely find many to connect with, as the game expertly portrays each one without overwhelming you with information. What’s particularly engaging is how each character subtly provides details that can prove useful later in your journey. Although the art style isn’t as polished as a Nintendo title, its “passive beauty” is quite appealing. This is further helped by the detailed and well-integrated world-building; everything feels thoughtfully crafted and surprisingly cohesive.

This 10-12 hour singleplayer adventure focuses on exploring a time-looped Limbo, solving puzzles, and engaging in narrative interactions as you help souls overcome their regrets in towns and cities. While the initial prologue effectively introduces us to the game, the experience becomes somewhat repetitive and lacks deeper gameplay evolution as you progress.

“But no good deed goes unpunished”

Gameplay might not be impressive, but every dialogue matters

The core loop involves exploring connected areas and talking to NPCs to learn their stories. As mentioned, Limbo has a day-evening-night cycle, and a curse makes residents forget their actions each day. However, Kulebra remembers everything and uses a notebook to keep track of quests, NPC schedules, and clues. You manually advance the time cycle to influence events, like timing meetings with NPCs or solving puzzles that depend on the time. Paying close attention while exploring is key, as you can find items hidden in breakable objects or by talking to NPCs.

Clear quest system and dialogue hints make helping souls genuinely enjoyable. Most of your time involves reading and solving puzzles to achieve this goal. While the notebook eases memory, remembering details is crucial for boss fights. These encounters feature a fun mini-game where bosses quiz you on your knowledge, with a bar indicating your accuracy. Interestingly, they might even try to trick you with mismatched questions and answers.

Puzzles vary from simple item hunts to multi-stage challenges tied to NPC routines or the environment. Many puzzles are also connected to the story. Stealth sections, where Kulebra avoids enemies using light and music, create approachable but tense moments, though the repetitive “wait-and-move” can become tiresome. Kulebra’s rolling is key for fast travel and smashing pots to collect currency, which is also found hidden or falling from the sky and used to buy items.

“What hurts me the most… Is that I can’t see why he’d go without even a goodbye”

An unforgettable emotional journey

While avoiding spoilers, it’s worth noting that beyond the main story, there are engaging “side quests” crucial for completionists. To experience everything, exploring the entire map and entering each building to trigger dialogues is recommended, though you can skip some non-essential moments without affecting the main narrative. Another surprising aspect is how easily the game hooks you, making it difficult to stop playing. The cozy and casual atmosphere likely contributes to this, as you don’t need to do overly demanding tasks to progress, often leading to the urge to finish just one more chapter.

Ultimately, Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo delivers a truly unique emotional journey. If you enjoy games with well-developed characters, surprising plot twists, and a blend of cozy atmosphere with proper mystery and storytelling, this title is for you. Its beautiful visuals and memorable moments shine, though those who dislike detailed exploration might find the repetitive puzzles and backtracking a drawback.

“I’ll forever be grateful… Thank you.”

Recenzentski primjerak ustupio izdavač

4.3