Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, Galla Games' debut indie game, is awash with ive beauty and general intrigue. The puzzle adventure game was created by just three people: two brothers developed it, and a composer scored it. Despite these constraints, it presents a vibrant, Latin American-influenced version of Limbo, a stage of the afterlife where the souls of those who can't move on gather.

Playing as Kulebra, a skeletal snake who recently arrived in Limbo, your job is to help the eponymous souls find closure. Kulebra explores melancholic towns and bustling cities, chatting with NPCs and trying to solve their problems, but a more profound mystery is at play. Dark Souls proliferate throughout Limbo, contributing significantly to the plane's abject sadness, trapping many deceased. Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is dripping with style, and there's plenty of interest in chatting with characters and solving simple puzzles. Still, some unimaginative mechanics hold it back from being truly enthralling.

Kulebra And The Souls Of Limbo's Afterlife Is Gorgeous And Filled With Exceptionally Sad People

Kulebra's Beautiful Papercraft Art Is A Highlight

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is immediately enticing because of its visuals, a paper-craft art style akin to Paper Mario's timeless visuals. Limbo and the locales therein are colorful and charming, and the ambiance is only elevated by a pleasant soundtrack. There's also a great tactile feel to the game – you'll frequently need to use Kulebra's ability to roll to slam into objects, knocking loose important items. Objects quiver satisfyingly and occasionally break whenever you slam into a wall.

The characters inhabiting Limbo are equally enticing to interact with, even if they are usually a wet blanket. Practically every character in Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo has some deep-rooted and unaddressed trauma, and while the tone is generally chipper, you always know why they're here, stuck in Limbo. You spend most of the game talking with various personages, who all hilariously speak in gibberish monosyllables, not unlike Animal Crossing's fake language used by that series' villagers.

Seeing the menagerie of Limbo inhabitants is fun, but a revolving door of cast makes it difficult to get invested in the game's many vignettes. The writing is quite strong, and the storylines are touching, but you'll meet a character, quickly get the rundown of their whole life, solve their problem, and move on to the next one. There's a certain amount of gratification that comes from being so prolific in Kulebra's role as Bright Soul, but there's also a sort of aimlessness when it feels like the main mysteries aren't involved.

Kulebra Is Heavy On Style, But Light On Action

Puzzles Are Often Spelled Out For You

Kulebra's scope should be kept in mind, but it doesn't save many big moments from falling fairly flat. Learning about Limbo's denizens is the primary means of progression, and it's done very well generally – there are often a handful of characters whose stories are intimately intertwined – but the denoument of each chapter is a boss fight that's effectively a pop quiz on the story itself. The music becomes frantic, and the great character artwork is brought center stage, but all you do is click through the dialogue.

More exciting gameplay segments are sprinkled throughout. They're fairly typical stealth sections, but some can be genuinely heart-pounding through clever use of lighting, music, and unexpected pursuers. Nothing is especially difficult, though; Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is an exceptionally approachable game, and is quite relaxing most of the time, even if it operates on a near-constantly ticking timer.

Kulebra's approachability applies to its story as well, which is often introspective, but never macabre.

You're beholden to a day-evening-night cycle, where each new day sees characters forgetting the last, except in cases where Kulebra has profoundly affected someone. Kulebra has fairly overt inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask's setting, from its cyclical nature, right down to the fairly prominent use of masks for various purposes. Each area is thus a sort of puzzle box, forcing you to figure out where you need to be at what time to help which character.

There are a few satisfying brain-teasers throughout Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, but these are mostly optional puzzles. NPCs have an unfortunate tendency to spell out exactly what you need to do. A naturally flowing conversation will hit all the salient points, but before you set off to do your task, a character will get a final word in, basically saying, ", you need to do this, then that, then this." It feels designed to help ease the frustration of not finishing an objective during the correct time of day, but ends up being too strong of hand-holding.

Kulebra Is A Fascinating Game With Issues

An Enthralling Debut With Some Disappointments

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo succeeds as a clear ion project. It oscillates deftly between comedy, intrigue, and sincerity. Some running gags got a chuckle out of me even on their 20th go-around, and there are many scenes with astounding ambiance. I love Kulebra's toothy grin and how he contorts himself into a wheel to zip around town. The puzzles are generally engaging, if a bit on the easy side, and the resultant story is filled with genuine emotion.

But the clear ion doesn't quite make up for some missteps. The game gives you abundant tools, including a thorough journal to peruse, but it doesn't stop pointing you in the right direction at nearly every turn. What should be climactic encounters feel like a sort of theatrical therapy session, undercutting what should be the most memorable sequences. Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo instead succeeds in the quiet moments, where its characters can process their emotions amid gorgeous vistas.

Screen Rant was provided with a Nintendo Switch code for the purpose of this review.