Latin America has a fascinating relationship with death, and a far healthier one than the repressive nature I find in the UK, where I live. It makes the perfect backdrop for Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, which borrows from the sound and colour palettes of a vibrant Mexico whilst also offering up a philosophical tale of reevaluating your life and resolving your issues.
We play as Kulebra, a snake-dragon creature who has died. Waking up in the afterlife, we find ourselves trapped in Limbo, unable to move on until we resolve our own inner conflicts. The problem is, we don’t know what that is, and Limbo itself seems to be in a bit of a state, too. Travelling across five lengthy chapters, you’ll move between different towns in Limbo, looking for ways to ascend. Instead, you’ll come across a cast of bold and troubled characters whose backstories do not match the dazzling colour palette and aggressive designs the world surround them in. Each chapter sets you up with a selection of characters to get to know, and each set has its own poignant story. You’ll note down key thoughts in your diary and use it to crack the code to progress to the next town, whilst helping others in the process.
Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is a 2.5D adventure. Moving around is similar to most story-rich games, but you can walk or roll. Rolling is faster and useful for bumping into objects – especially if they contain currency inside breakable vases. There is usually some kind of shopping mission in each town, so collectathoning is part of the gameplay loop, but never set to a “must 100% everything” standard. Each town is laid out very differently, moving from 2D to 2.5D viewpoints, and each has completely different artwork and styles. Paired with buoyant music and a mumbly children’s TV sound effect as you read the dialogue, and you have a world full of character.
Limbo isn’t just a place or a name, it’s a reality. The key puzzle mechanic is all about time, which runs constantly throughout your game time. At the bottom of the screen, a timer will show three states: day, evening, and night. You can sit on benches to advance time, or move to a brand new day. Whilst you remember everything, all the other characters do not, and so each new day resets their knowledge. The only way you can shock them into remembering things is to trigger a raw emotion. This often involves an act of kindness, or connecting two characters who have had a rocky relationship when they were alive. When they’ve been shocked into an emotional state, their story arc progresses, and that allows you to progress your own motives and story. Characters and items move around depending on the time of day, and if they remember things. It reminded me a little of Gregory’s Horror Show and The Sexy Brutale, but in a simpler form. The puzzles often involve fetch quests, but they also involve platforming, stealth, memory games, and good old-fashioned point-and-click adventuring. Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is never dull.
Boss battles are a mixture of game mechanics, but they’ll always contain a quiz. Bosses are created when a character reaches a level of darkness and despair, and as Kulebra, you’ll need to answer questions about their life in order to snap them out of it. Thankfully, this is never a chore because the cast and the story are so strong. Instead, it demonstrates how layered yet focused the narrative is. Every character is flawed. Every boss has an element of tragedy and empathy. Watching characters resolve their lifetime issues and then move on is always emotional without being overwrought. There are lots of adult themes dressed up in an approachable way, and the developers have crafted a world that I was happy to get stuck in.
My only complaints about Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo have already been resolved. On launch, I ran into a couple of game-breaking bugs. These were very quickly patched, and I was back on my way again. Players buying the game now won’t experience those issues and will get to enjoy one of my surprise favourite games of 2025. By placing complex characters, a bit of time manipulation, some collectathoning, and some emotional storytelling in a bubble, you get a truly excellent title well worth the 8-12 hours of your time.
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