First impressions of AI Limit: I like it & I want more

An hour isn’t anywhere near enough to get a feel for what any kind of RPG will offer, let alone a Soulslike. Imagine trying to predict what Elden Ring is if you’re only able to reach the limits of that first, lush forest before the demo taps out? You can’t. All you can do is walk away with a promise for what is to come.

This is my experience with AI Limit. The developers provided me with a look at the first hour of gameplay, which is essentially the introductory area, and I’ve walked away with a promise. Thankfully, it’s a very strong one. Will AI Limit redefine the genre and challenge Elden Ring? Probably not, but as a first effort from a scrappy first-time developer, taking a swing at a monumentally difficult genre, I was almost relieved on their behalf that the tutorial leaves a very strong impression.

The main takeaway from the first hour of play is that AI Limit is made by dutiful students of the genre. Mechanically it’s very, very safe, with very little effort to give players something new to grapple with. The one and only meaningful difference I noticed was a “Sync Rate” mechanic, and this is neat. It builds up as you do damage to enemies. As it builds up, your weapon attacks actually do even more damage, and then you also charge up special abilities, like a The Boys-like railgun laser shot of pure energy. That attack is brutally effective, but there’s a downside; by depleting your energy meter you do less damage with your weapons again until you can rebuild the meter again.

You also have that energy drained by being hit by enemies, so AI Limit quickly picks up a constant risk/reward rhythm where you’re constantly analysing when would be the best time to unleash your most powerful weapons. Do it at the wrong time and you’ll be scrambling to recover. Fail to use it and some encounters will be more difficult than they should be. I hope that deeper into the game this system really tests your sense of timing and confidence, particularly with the boss battles.

The other big difference between AI Limit and most other Soulslikes is the aesthetic. AI Limit is anime. Not Stellar Blade-style anime (though it does seem to share a similar near-immediate interest in handing out alternative costumes). This one doesn’t seem to be too interested in fan service at all. It’s more akin to a sex-less NieR: Automata, where you play as a very cool lass with a cooler attitude and make your way around a wasteland-like post-apocalypse that has a very subtle beauty about it. It’s a very appealing aesthetic and setting, and while I’m not particularly convinced about the protagonist yet, I do want to see more of the world to get a better sense of context.

There are still so many questions to ask about AI Limit. Will the difficulty be engaging and scale nicely? Difficulty is such a difficult thing to balance. Will the bosses have the kind of combat variety to make each a highlight? Will the game do enough with the narrative and setting that we can forgive it for a general lack of ambition with the mechanics? An hour’s not long enough with a game like this, but I am intrigued.