Buy on sale, because $30 is too much dough for about eight hours of game. I subtracted a point for that after averaging my scores for the two games, then rounded up to 8. Below are my reviews of each game.
Limbo
8/10
I’m torn on this one. On one hand, the art is passing (not great, but not bad), the sound is fine, and the story is fine. None of these are top tier and none of them are notably ‘bad.’
But when I play this type of puzzle platformer, I’m looking for a moving story with interesting puzzles, and this was more of a tough-as-nails puzzler with a story that only really showed its face at the very end, and even then, not much. Some of the puzzles were so hard I had to look up a walkthrough to get through them, which I personally don’t like (I’m more in to this genre for the story), but I understand that others might.
So, while personally I would’ve given this a 6, I’ll give it an 8 here, because I know I have a certain taste and the puzzles were possible. I subtracted one point because the puzzles were so obtuse in places, and another point because of the price—$20 is too much for such a short game.
Inside
9/10
Really liked the art style and the sound was well done, although I thought the booms got a little too loud sometimes, particularly when dogs were chasing you. Nonetheless, I liked that this one had a world you could learn about a little more easily than Limbo, and that added a lot to my personal interest in the game.
The puzzles were a better level of difficulty than Limbo as well, more manageable, not quite as difficult. That is a positive in my book. I liked not having to sift through a walkthrough for this one (except once).
Tell you the truth, this would be a 10 from me if it wasn’t so expensive. $20 is too much for this short ****. But other than that, if you buy it on sale, it’s well worth the money.
A great package. Two of the best indie games of our decade repackaged into one box for collector buffs and newcomers alike to enjoy. It also comes with some cool posters and other merchandise for Playdead's two smash hit titles. This collection should keep us busy until Somerville and Playdead's next game release. I wouldn't recommend this if you already own Inside and Limbo digitally, but definitely buy this if you haven't and are interested. These are two very well done games and I would hate for anyone to miss them.
I don't like puzzle games and prefer games with good storytelling and atmosphere. The atmosphere in these games is great, so even someone like me can get some entertainment out of them.
The only real issue with this double pack is the order of the games. It shows Inside first, but it should be played second.
Limbo is a game I was aware of, but never bothered to play since I don't like puzzle platformers. The atmosphere was a bit darker than I was expecting (which is great), and the puzzling was a little easier than I expected. The puzzles have some challenge to them, and many of them are physics-based. For me, they never got tedious or too difficult, which was good because I don't like puzzle platformers because most of them resort to tedious and overly-difficult puzzles.
The dark atmosphere comes from the black-and-white aesthetic, sound, death-themes, and weirdness (in a twilight zone sort of way). It's not amazing, but was enough to keep me entertained for the few hours it took me to complete it.
Inside is the better of the two. The puzzles seemed a bit easier, and I felt as though I spent more time walking (and enjoying the scenery) than puzzling. So if you're big into puzzles, you might not like this one as much.
The atmosphere is much better in Inside. Everything is turned up a notch to where you feel like you're in a full-blown twilight zone episode. The death themes are turned down a bit, but much weirder themes take over, which I won't spoil for you. I especially liked how it integrated its gameplay and puzzles into the themes and atmosphere in certain sections.
Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. I doubt I'll ever replay them, but they've earned a permanent place on my shelf.