Quick Look: La-Mulana 2

Seems like just more of the first game.

A little note if you are going to play more Ben: you can also scan the skeletons lying around for a little flavour text or more hints, also a bunch of things seemingly in the background (i.e. the statue you thought was Mimir) are also scannable.

@erkel Yeah, it is, but the first game was great and there's not much else like it,so more is good thing for some people!

I've really been enjoying this. Been a while since I got way into the note-taking side of a game.

Yeah!

This game has a few QoL improvements over the first one, like being able to grab onto ladders and change direction in mid-air (in the first one, turning around mid-jump would just slow your movement). I just wish they had gotten it ready for consoles before release since my PC is not in a comfy spot to use right now.

Ben is completely right in that this is a love it or hate it type of game, but if you know what you're getting into and it sounds great to you, then it's kind of amazing and unique. It's part metroidvania in that you get items that let you proceed to new areas, but it's much more about puzzle-solving, piecing together clues from NPCs and tablets, paying close attention to the environment, and learning the ruins so you can figure out where to go. Almost every minor and major puzzle has hint(s) hidden somewhere in the ruins, and lots of them are very clever.

So if you're playing this solo, the game expects you to read everything and listen to every character to understand where to go. You'll often have to understand cryptic clues from three different NPCs to figure out how to open an area or unlock a boss. For that reason I actually like this much more as a communal game than a solo game. It's very much a Souls experience of everyone slamming their head against it collectively to solve the puzzles. I do as much as I can on my own, but I'm not afraid to go online for help.

And from a platforming/combat perspective, it's also extremely difficult and punishing of mistakes. Lots of instant death traps, long boss fights, and enemies that can knock you into pits of spikes. So even if you're going to the internet for advice, you're not going to find this easygoing, you'll just spend less time lost running in circles.

So if all that sounds appealing, give it a try! Or hell, give the freeware or PC version of La Mulana a try, as this is basically the same game with an entirely new dungeon and set of puzzles (albeit with a few less quality of life improvements that this game adds).

Edit: Also Ben was pretty much right before the game opens up. He's got a couple bosses that are open to him and if he takes out those then he unlocks several different areas which then each lead to a few different areas. And hot tip - if you examine the big save point looking thing, you get a new warp point, so always seek those out.

WuhPISH!

This seems rad. Also isn't that new message sound just the nintendo switch menu sound?

Whips go "Woo-hah Woo-hah!"

I see nothing wrong with this.

EDIT: It's really hard to tell if the shopkeeper's...unfortunate...English translation is because the developers honestly couldn't find a native-English speaker to edit their text, or because they actually think "Ha ha 'Engrish' is a funny and not-a-totally-overused throwback to the 8-bit era'".

I’m about 5 areas into this game and it’s been a lot of fun, but it’s optimized sooooo poorly that it’s astounding, especially for how it looks. I get weird slowdown and it makes my laptop hotter than the sun. Also the keybinding menu is terrible?

Its still worth playing, but man. What a strange game

Constantly running in circles and dealing with falling tile traps that offer no warning or escape. Definitely sounds like a game that's limited in its appeal.

They couldn't have given this less marketing, hey? I only learned it had come out because a random person told me at a party a few nights ago. I honestly thought this game was NEVER going to come out, since it was announced waaaaay back in the day.

I'm enjoying it so far though. It is pretty much more of the first game.

EDIT: Ben, you can warp between levels AND save in them! You need to scan the big tablet in the middle of the room!

I don't have a Switch so I can't compare, but I will say that I own the first La-Mulana and it had that same sound for new messages.

Alright, that's just straight up Master Roshi.

@benpack: Gargoyles was a bad-ass cartoon show for a long time (although it got weird in the later seasons with time-travel to WW2, and adding mutants and cyborgs). One reason why the voice cast was so top-notch was because practically the entire cast of Star Trek: TNG voiced the characters in Gargoyles.

This was the second to last game I backed on Kickstarter. Glad it finally came out! Too bad I still never have played through the first one. Apparently I put 5 hours into it?

The first game was fantastic, and this one has been great so far as well.

So far I've beaten the main first boss and from there it's really opened up.

Slight addition/correction from the video, the green orbs not only fill up your health when you collect enough, but extend your health bar slightly each time.

@tommytours: That’s actually not the case. You only gain health when you find a certain item in treasure chests

wait...Brad didn't finish GoW? wtf has he even been doing this year? that's the only game I've played for more than 30 minutes all year...

"Is La-Mulana a person?"

Well, the ruins of La-Mulana acted as the body of the Mother...

@kdr_11k:

So what you're saying is... Mother 3 English release confirmed!

I really don't get the presentation of this game. You have what is essentially a widescreen play area, windowboxed in a 4:3 frame, which is then letterboxed for a 16:9 frame. Why not just dump out all that excess crap and have it take up more of the screen?

This is the metroidvania to get in the coming tide of metroidvanias.

ALSO -- this game came out BEFORE Spelunky. The REMAKE came out around the same time as Spelunky.

A few things that Ben wasn't aware of (can't blame him) that could help him and others out.

1. The glowing statue thing with the blue light above it that Ben starts next to at the beginning is a save point. You can warp to any save point, but you have to use the scanner to activate them first. He could also save there by pressing UP in front of it. So Ben didn't need to walk all the way from the village to Eg-Lana every time he died.

2. You can use the scanner on the non-enemy skeletons, as well as a bunch of other stuff in the background, like statues and carvings and stuff. This will often give you hints about puzzles, warn you about traps, or provide some more lore / flavor. This game requires quite a bit of reading to solve puzzles, and there's even an app you can get to save any text you read.

3. The blue eye things that shoot you if hit certain blocks are usually tied to a puzzle, so if they're open that's usually a hint that there's still a puzzle left to solve in the room.

I'm having a really good time with this game, once you get past some of the bosses in the hub area that Ben's in there are so many different areas to explore. I have like half a dozen different places I'm going between and still finding a bunch of unsolved puzzles and bosses in all of them.

Yeah, the origin story of this game is real weird. It started over 15 years ago as a freeware Japanese game that was a complete tribute to the MSX. It was filled with MSX "roms" that you collected, and had secret areas that were copied from old MSX games like Maze of Galious or Snatcher. It was part of this weird golden age of freeware PC games, prior to Steam/console indie releases being a thing, along with stuff like Cave Story or Knytt.

Following a fan English translation patch it was one of the first game which I remember Lets Plays being a big thing that gave the game notoriety, as that was the only way I found out about the game. And the only way I was able to make it through the game given how spotty game guides were at the time. This was even back when Youtube had 10 minute limits on videos.

Kinda wish you didn't spoil key lore/story bits from the first game, but I understand it's a sequel to a relatively ancient game. Still, it's an obscure game that most people haven't played, and even less have played to completion. You could have easily just not mentioned them.

I really want to play this and Dead Cells, but I just played 40ish hours of Hollow Knight. I'm worried I'm getting burned out on the metroidvania thing.

Something about this game's artstyle is really off-putting to me. I don't know, the sprites seem weird and kinda don't fit with the background?

Thanks for reminding me I need to go the dispensary and get some more La-Mulana

Just for reference, La-Mulana originally came out in '05, then got a remake in '11/'12

I'm about 20 hours into this game and I'm loving it. Even though half of that time is spent wandering around aimlessly, I feel like I'm always stumbling upon unique puzzles and new environments. I'd recommend taking screenshots or notes on every puzzle you can't solve, it will really come in handy later when you find new tools to progress.

My main complaint is that the default controller bindings and controller config menu is extremely buggy. Spent an hour trying to get it to work and eventually had to use DS4Windows to map the controller to the keyboard controls.

HUWWIiiii-CHHHhhhh

I liked La Mulana 1 a lot! But then about halfway through a stopped playing for a bit, and it was very hard to go back to because I forgot everything.

This game looks like more of the first game, which I am theoretically excited about, but I don't know when I'll have the time/energy to get into properly. (See also: The Witcher 3, Pillars of Eternity, Torment: Numenera, Divinity: Original Sin)

Oh pretty please let them put this thing on a system less... Let's say niche, yes sure, then the Vita or the Wii eShop. Like sure, PC, whatever. I'm not going to play a 2d platformer hunched over a keyboard.

Just take my money! I want to buy the thing you're selling.

Ben For Governor

@tevor_the_third: you can use a ps4 controller on your pc, although the keymapping functions are real weird and damn near busted

*looks at thumbnail*

Yup, that's a screenshot of LM2 happenings.

@dan_citi: I personally started GoW in Give Me A Challenge difficulty wih some notion that it was how I should experience it but pretty quickly hit a wall and though I honestly wasn't having fun felt a little like a failure and guilty dropping it down a level so I fell off it. Personal problem, really. But I'm also terrible at games and hate being reminded of it!

In this post, we pretend the PC can't use literally any controller you throw at it, and that Steam doesn't have built in functions for the major ones.

Fun fact: It's not the 90s, PCs can actually use controllers now.

That pervert guy was actually Master Roshi.

@tevor_the_third: In the meantime here's a wild suggestion just in case they don't.

Plug in literally any controller that you own for whatever system you want it on instead.

@aishan: funilly enough it was mimir

Brad: "I should go back and finish that game" Bwahahahaha!

La-Mulana 2 is a game that works really well if you're playing it blind alongside a friend or a group to share notes (or with someone ahead of you who is good about not spoiling stuff). I doubt we'll see any more of it, but it would probably make for a good stream game if one person was playing while another curated tips and hints from the chat.

I believe the accepted whip sound spelling is.. Whipicah

I would hope it improves the logic a bit from the first game though. Playing it entirely blind is a fuckin' fools errand once you get to places like the Gate of Illusion.

I should probably dive into a inscrutible crazy game like La Mulana or Rain World.

@efesell: i actually did finish gate of illusion with no walkthrough :) i thought it was really clever. but later i made the mistake of taking a break from the game, which killed my progress completely.

is it recommended to finish the original first? i may just grab a walkthrough and power through it.

Don't worry, he's not the only one. I too have yet to finish it. Not a very compelling game to be honest. I can't stand the interactions between the kid and the MC. I have 2 boys and Kratos is not a very good dad. It's hard to sludge through it with constant banter of terrible lines between those 2.