Distortion Detective + Project Moon thoughts

I recently finished reading one of Project Moon's written works, Distortion Detective. If you aren't familiar with Project Moon, they're a development team that worked on games like Limbus Company and Library of Ruina. They have their own restaurant. They... kind of exploded in notoriety due to the recent events surrounding their treatment of female artists... but I quit giving them money a while ago.

Anyways, Distortion Detective. I am thoroughly disappointed with its discontinuation in favor of turning it into a game once their gacha game, Limbus Company, is complete. The gacha that still has at least 7 more chapters left to go, discounting any half-chapters or crack chapters that will go in between. The gacha that is their main form of fundraising and income as of right now that they'll probably keep milking even far after the story's conclusion. Right. After that game is complete. I'll... just start saying goodbye to DD right now, assuming I may not even be here by the time that happens, haha (or at the very least, I might lose interest in Project Moon's content by then).

That's also not mentioning the lack of accessibility this game will most definitely bring into question, due to how ridiculously difficult and convoluted their games tend to be. Don't get me wrong, I love challenges, it's why I still continue to open up Library of Ruina to this day (and end up closing it after 4 hours of losing), and it's what makes Lobotomy Corporation an impactful game. But with the release of Limbus the over convoluted tutorials and the ridiculously rigorous game design became less endearing and more annoying. I and other readers really love Distortion Detective because it gave us raw sight into the world and culture of the games' City and the residents of it, without having to devote hours of grinding on a game to get the same information. Most of the reason why I still tried to progress in Ruina or Limbus was to get more story, not because I love subjecting myself to hours of RNG-based dice roll fights. At least in Ruina the fights were mentally stimulating in the sense of solving a puzzle and trying to strategize, but in Limbus I found myself just resorting to auto-play due to how RNG and luck based being good at the game was. Heck, I think that might be the driving reason behind finishing Lobotomy for most of the people I know, as well. It's not hard to assume the Distortion Detective game will be the same, which is a shame, considering most people who read it were Project Moon fans who really liked the written format!

I will miss Moses and the crew. I know they're going to make identities of them in Limbus, but it feels more like a "hey, remember these guys?! Yeah, we haven't forgotten them!! Give us your cash now!" than anything else, so I'm not really too excited about it. I just hope they at least delve into the subplots they picked up and never finished in DD. Something I was really hoping to see was more of the L Corp Nest after it was destroyed, the secret behind it, and  I really needed further elaboration on whatever the hell was going on with the Bloodfiends! You can't just imply that families and generations of vampires existed before Distortion and drop the story right there! Are you insane?! (Of course the Bloodfiend that said it herself might just be, y'know, lying, but we'll never know since they DROPPED THE STORY RIGHT THERE.)

My rosy-tinted glasses have been lowered on PMoon's games and media ever since Limbus came out as an exploitative cash grab, so I find it hard to look forward to the DD game, if it ever does come out. I just wish they gave it a chance to really live as its own thing. I understand it was just writing practice, but damn.

I suppose my next PMoon related reading will have to be Leviathan. I am a bit intimidated by this one for some reason, but excited to learn more about the mysterious Vergil. It sours it for me knowing that they treated the artist of this one like shit, too. I hope they're doing alright. I am a bit saddened that I'll never read WonderLab due to its artist pulling it down following the Limbus artist incident, but I totally respect that course of action and I am grateful that reuploads of it are being swiftly removed and taken care of.

Man this company has really shot itself in the head. But I guess it was fun while it lasted. I liked Distortion Detective. I want to read more about this world. I think they should just hand the world over to my friends and I, they're wise about it, I'm sure they'll do a better job at, uh, whatever PM is doing right now. :]

... Hey, that's basically what we're doing right now, actually. Host started reading the series to study up on the series to help build their Limbus-inspired tabletop campaign. I'm mostly here for the hot people and the Distortions, but hey, I'm excited to see how it pans out. If only I could play in it as a player. I just hope I won't have to DM it anytime soon...

Anyways that's been my thoughts. Here's to mourning Project Moon's most potent sexyman, The Marksman of the Mist. </3