La-Mulana: Game of the Year '012 of the Society of People Who Totally Hate Themselves
 

Intro Crap



La-Mulana! It was originally a free Windows game that was released in 2006 and translated by AGTP in 2007:

The developers have totally remade the game for WiiWare and Windows, intending it for a slightly more general audience. They're also now charging for it!

It's still very much an old game tribute in design, but the music and graphics have all been upgraded, and there've been a hecka ton of tweaks to the physics, bosses, puzzles, etc. Instead of pretending to be an MSX game, it's now simply an homage to them.

Here's a promotional video for the game that compares shots of the original version and the remake:

(don't worry about the translation in the video; the game itself is fine)

This Game Rules Pretty Hard



If I can be bothered to make a thread in VG, it's usually because the game rules pretty hard. And guess what: this game rules pretty hard. Here are some neat things about La-Mulana:

1). You get to whip snakes in the face. You are adventure archaeologist Lemeza Kosugi, and you're here to explore some ruins, not put up with shit from snakes. If you like Castlevania and other games in which you whip snakes in the face, La-Mulana may be right for you.

2). Also, La-Mulana is a hugely nonlinear explorey Metroidvania thing. You have access to a bunch of areas from the start, without even getting any items or solving any puzzles. A lot of the game is not very strictly sequenced, so each time you play you can collect things and go through areas in a completely different order. Until you get to the end of the game (which unfortunately also coincides with the game getting more about item walls), there are always about four or five things you could be doing at any point.

Case in point: I was super dumb and got stuck on a puzzle forever, so I ended up fighting the first boss fourth! It's quite possible to fight it without ever leaving the first ruins area, but I had been through a huge chunk of the game by that point and was therefore totally overpowered. Which made it all the more satisfying to cruise through it because it's a snake. Didn't give a shit about any of its attacks; just whipped that guy right in the face.

3). This game is gigantic. It won't seem that big initially but there are a whole of ruins to explore and things to murderize in the name of archaeology, I tell you what. My completion time was 27:45:00, which didn't count the time I spent dying and restarting. There was a lot of that.

4). There's a pretty sweet balance of action and puzzles. I had been under the impression that La-Mulana was mostly action, and even if it were just that, I'd still be recommending it. There are a bunch of enemies that try to kill you in various ways and a pretty impressive set of minibosses and huge bosses. But there are a bunch of puzzles thrown into the mix too, because if there's one thing I learned from Indiana Jones, it's that ancient civilizations loved building puzzles into their temples. So look forward to rereading tablets for the millionth time trying to figure which one of these statue assholes is Futo.

5). But mostly the snake thing. Right in the goddamn face.

So if by this point you've thrown your wallet at your monitor, you may want to hold up for just one minute, because:


This Game Will Make You Set Your House on Fire



Remember how the major influence on this is an old Konami game? Yeah, about that.

1). Infuriating knockback. You know how you loved that part of Castlevania where you got hit by a bat and fell off the screen? Again and again? Well boy oh boy do I have some good news for you.

2). Wonky jump physics. If you'll believe it, they're actually improved over the original's! But look forward to hours of only being able to minimally affect your jump arc.

3). Instant death traps. This game innovates in the field of killing you with little warning.

4). Insanely difficult bosses. WHY DOES TIAMAT HAVE SO MANY LASERS

5). Cryptic puzzles everywhere. So the flipside to the puzzles thing is that you're going to have to take notes on basically every single piece of text you read in the game, because hints will often be fifty rooms away from the puzzles they apply to. Of course, even with the notes, you'll often not be able to figure out which hint is for which puzzle until it's waaaaaaaaaaay too late. This will get really bad in the second half of the game.

6). Sparse save points. There's one save point per field, so when you die, you'll often have a slog to get back to where you were. Also, for the first hour or two (depending on how smart you are), there is exactly one save point, located at the start of the game. So every time you find something neat, you have to go all the way back to the beginning if you want to keep it.

7). Enemies don't drop health and save points don't reheal you. At all, for any reason. The only reliable way to heal is to go all the way back to the start of the game and hop in the hot spring. You will be doing this a lot.


If You Still Want To, You Can Fork Over Cash Now



This game is absolutely not intended for a majority of human beings. If you think you can put up with its vast amount of bullshit, I cannot recommend it enough, because it is so amazingly good between those moments where you scream so hard your lungs fly out. There is a heck of a lot of game here and it is hard and fun as all get out.

La-Mulana is available on WiiWare for 1000 points and Windows for $14.99 through PLAYISM: http://www.playism-games.com/games/lamulana/. The WiiWare version is cheaper because it does not include Time Attack and Hell Temple. They were originally available as DLC for the WiiWare version in Japan but didn't make it overseas, and they're included with the Windows port. Time Attack is a fight against a boss or bosses with various equipment setups, and Hell Temple is an absurdly difficult bonus area.

It's also on Steam Greenlight APPLY ALL OF YOUR VOTES TO THE "YES" BUTTON: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...s/?id=93001822.

NIGORO are some rad dudes so they've released the remake soundtrack on Bandcamp: [Disc 1] [Disc 2] [Disc 3]. It's $4.99 per disc and each disc has over an hour of music. This game has a lot of music!


Getting Help



TAKE NOTES ON EVERYTHING TAKE NOTES ON EVERYTHING TAKE NOTES ON EVERYTHING TAKE NOTES ON EVERYTHING TAKE NOTES ON EVERYTHING

This game will break your brain into a million pieces. For real.

When the inevitable happens and you're stuck on twenty puzzles simultaneously, the ultimate resource is the wiki: http://lamulana-remake.wikia.com/wik...na_Remake_Wiki. Do note that it is really quite spoilery, so if you use it, there's a good chance you'll accidentally ruin several other parts of the game in the process. Depending on how frustrated you are with La Mulana, you may be 100% okay with this.

I had the good fortune of having someone very familiar with the game to nudge me through it, and I'm willing to return the favor to any of you if anyone actually feels like taking the challenge. A lot of the fun in this game is the discovery, but figuring out that you need to buy a bunch of things from this one store to unlock another store is just awful. If you're totally stumped, stuck on a boss, can't find an item, etc. just lemme know.

There's also no tutorial, so Mulbruk's here to get you started on the right foot:

YouTube Video

Yeah, I was aware of this remake for a while, but the preliminary videos didn't leave that great an impression on me at the time, because I was partial to the 8-bit style and chippier music. Even then, they kept postponing the release and I lost track of its progress.

Either way, I'm getting the PC remake just to see all the little tweaks and changes they've made. I loved the original, having beaten it twice, and have also cleared Hell Temple with a bit of help. I've even plugged it here.

I like how all rooms got names now, and that the game provides you with more information about the items you find, unlike the original where it left you in the dark and made you figure everything out. I'm gonna miss the MSX, though.

Box of tissues hehehe

I never played the original version; not sure whether to count that as a blessing or a curse of Mac ownership in this case!

I do know someone who's played the original a lot, and according to him, the main game has been made a tiny bit easier. You have a little more control over jumping, some puzzles are less obtuse and there are more hints, etc. So it's a bit more like an 8.5 or a 9 on the Old Game Rage scale instead of a 10.

But in contrast, most of the bosses have been made harder. Apparently most could be cheesed by spamming shuriken, but this is no longer the case. There's also at least one (non-lethal) trap added for people who've played the original, so look forward to being trolled anew. :cmb:

28 hours so far into the game and I haven't beaten the final boss yet.

And yeah, the game was so freaking hard but I enjoyed the journey until now, too bad I cheated and I relied looking at the wiki most of the time.

dear chz:
http://i.imgur.com/nbmI94h.png

<3

http://quiteajolt.com/gff/lamulana2.jpg

OH JESUS WHY

short talk with IndieGames.com

Good news, everybody! NIGORO has launched a Kickstarter for La-Mulana 2!

YouTube Video

>> insert money here <<

Money inserted.

(Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy)

Fuck yeah! Got into the $256 limited tier! :mulbrukdance: :mulbrukjukebox:

So should I have him draw Mulbruk or should I have him draw Mulbruk?

I have barely played the first one.

Your path has been chosen.

This seems like the appropriate place to mention that there currently is a 90% discount on the Steam version of La-Mulana. If you don't have it yet, be sure to make your move within the next 40 hours or so.

I'm broke as broke can be, but I can spare $1.49 for this.

Also as a fun aside, I've been hearing great things about this game for a long time, but I was totally mixing it up with Miasmata for some reason, no idea why. If I'd known this was something else and a Metroidvania-esque type of game I probably would have picked it up forever ago.

I... I have an extra copy of La-Mulana on steam. Do... do you want it?

Anyone who doesn't buy this for $1.49 deserves to have terrible things happen to them. Unfortunately, the only people who will have terrible things happen to them are the people who buy this for $1.49. Funny how the world works.

I already got it, but thanks! It's $1.49, not a big deal. I had about that much in card money, but spent that 2 days ago when Sword & Sorcery EP was on sale for the same price.

Another game I bought solely based on a thread I kinda skimmed. What a deal!

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwa...ieceofshit.png

::thispieceofshit.png::

I've played this a bit, recently. I'm convinced it's a lot more intelligent than I am, though. I might one day be able to get somewhere. The first time I played I didn't even manage to get into the caves. Got past that, but soon died a few times.

I don't want to look at a guide because it would really ruin the game, but I'm not sure I have the right kind of brain for this.

Damn, Q already found the axe and a game. You doing good buddy.

I've been making a lot of progress over the weekend. So far I've defeated Amphisbaena, Ellmac and Sakit.

I want to say I'm stuck but it's more like I'm not sure which place to focus on next. I unlocked the chamber of extinction but it sounds like it's too early to go there yet?

Diss trucked it all the way through the Chamber of Extinction in the fucking dark. u can do it q i belieb

That said if you want some :hintz: I would recommend working on the Spoiler: Spring in the Sky first.

B-but I don't want to fight Bahamut ;_;

You've got the axe, don't be a baby.

Fine >=|~

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/bahahahamut.png

You are insane. I mean I could understand you doing hard mode after beating it normally but to do it mostly blind is just hellish. You are definitely going to regret this but I wish you all the luck.

Admittedly that was one of the dumber, more stubborn displays of my playthrough.

Additional Spam:
[10:15am] Q-chan|space: I've actually enjoyed it a lot
[10:15am] Q-chan|space: It's very much like a 2D dark souls in that sense
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: Don't be a sissy, Q
[10:15am] Q-chan|space: it will knock you over if you get careless
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: Go through Chamber of Extinction in the dark
[10:15am] Q-chan|space: but it remains tough but fair
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: BE A MAN, HOGAN
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: ahahahahaha
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: tough but fair
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: Gonna remind you you said that
[10:15am] Q-chan|space: and if you get into a really tough spot, there is room enough to explore elsewhere and make it a bit easier
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: When it stops being fair
[10:15am] Q-chan|space: lol
[10:15am] DisslaptopDATLAPTOP: And it does.

http://i.imgur.com/v4wpdfk.jpg

:judge:

And then there are those who elect to make it less fair right off the bat.

f yeah damage boosts

http://i.imgur.com/yXQ8tA4.gif

I am of weak constitution, so I'm not going to play through this game. But I've really been enjoying your guys' streams!

LURKIE I ALWAYS FORGET TO POST THIS WHEN YOU'RE IN CHAT BUT DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THE DETAIL IN THIS GAME LIKE HOLY SHIT I ORIGINALLY THOUGHT THE GAME LOOKED BLURRY AND DIDN'T LIKE THE LOOK BUT ACTUALLY THE SPRITES ARE SUPER GOOD AND OH MAN OH MAN LEMEZA HAS DIFFERENT SPRITES FOR WHICH SIDE HE'S FACING OR ATTACKING IT'S NOT MIRRORED AND HE ALWAYS ATTACKS WITH HIS RIGHT ARM AND IT'S JUST GIVING ME WARM FEELINGS

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/lemeza.gif

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwa...BIIIIIITCH.png

::SONOVABIIIIIITCH.png::

AHAHAHHAAH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[21:24:13] <Diss> loooooooooooooooooooooooooool Q
[21:24:32] <Q-chan|space> I could see it fall in slow motion
[21:24:40] <Q-chan|space> I had fucking 14hp left when I beat him
[21:24:42] <Q-chan|space> god damnit
[21:24:59] <Q-chan|space> "oh man, I freed the spirits woohoo WAIT"

So I started playing this and it took me half an hour to get into the bloody dungeon. I pay way too little attention to have a chance of finishing this...

You'll find this game has actual puzzles to solve and actual hints and clues you need to find and pay attention to.

EDIT:

And then the puzzles and hints are genuinely cryptic and you're lost and stuck for hours on end.

And sometimes the game is just complete bullshit. :mad:

That is actually a decent start.

ACER
ACER
ACER

http://i.imgur.com/O7Pj8Bw.jpg?1

:mulbrukdance::mulbrukdance::mulbrukdance:

To anyone who got caught by this asshole:




Also this was pretty badass

I didn't mean to be disparaging, Face. This time. I did legitimately think Thunderbird was one of the easier sub-bosses.

Haha, I've played and completed the original totally blind. /so hardcore

Of course, that first playthrough took me over 60 hours (10 of which was figuring out Hell Temple), but I managed.


Did you guys find the developer rooms yet? :iiam:

Definitely hit a new maximum level of mad in this playthrough, at least.

Acer, I hope 15–20 years from now, you'll be detached enough from this game to be able to look back at that Mega Man sequence and laugh at how horribly it went awry after you crossed the finish line.

Probably. I looked back at when I did that sequence and the same thing happened to me, and I laughed watching it just now.

CHz, I'm already laughing at how easy a solution it was. Just take some damage and double jump to the block in the second room. I'm surprised they didn't make that inaccessible from the ground. I'm just not good at that shit.

http://i.imgur.com/dVI5U85.jpg

:flex:

La-Mulana: "Well.. that was unexpected"

(yet somehow not)

Fine, I'll bite.

Hell Temple, here we come!

Q getting mangled by the traps I missed makes me feel warm inside.

The La-Mulana Bossless Challenge: collect as much stuff as possible without defeating any Guardians! Look, I didn't sign up to fight giant two-headed snakes or discover the secret of life. I'm just here to grab as much loot as I can hold and stuff my maw with as much bat curry as I can stomach, and I assure you that both my carrying capacity and appetite are enormous.


Here's what happens when you play the game like a normal person (hereafter referred to as "a sucker"):


And here's what happens when you fly the bird at the rules and sequence break:

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/baphomet.png

BURN YOU SONOVABITCH GOD DAMNIT AAARRRH THIS FUCKING FIGHT

I guess I've put off hard-mode no-subweapons Palenque as long as I can. :(

FUCK YES I FINALLY GOT THEM HERE WE GO WOOHOO PROGRESS TIME TO PUT DOWN SOME WEIGH-NONONONONOAWFUCK

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/AWFUCK.png



[00:32:04] <Diss> Aaahahahahahhahaah
[00:32:19] <Q-chan|space> and I even thought "thaaaat is probably gonna come back" as I jumped up
[00:32:23] <Diss> You can warp places, remember
[00:32:24] <Q-chan|space> and it did
[00:32:34] <Q-chan|space> yeah but I was too busy laughing
[00:32:39] <Diss> ahahha
[00:32:54] <Q-chan|space> just felt so silly "yup it totally came back"
[00:32:59] <Q-chan|space> "I had this coming"


Also aww yea

Moving this into its own post because Q is impatient and doesn't want to double post.

[17:25:24] [ +Q-chan|space ] diss go post about dat in the thread

[2:07:59] Abby: are you still busy with that awful game
[2:10:10] Mark: yes
[2:10:18] Mark: falling down endless pits
[2:10:20] Mark: constantly
[2:10:24] Abby: fien
[2:10:33] Mark: why
[2:10:50] Abby: just wondering
[2:11:42] Mark: would you like to see some of my favourite memories
[2:12:04] Abby: no >=|
[2:12:14] Mark: WELL TOO BAD
[2:12:28] Mark: IN THE CHAMBER OF BIRTH THERE IS A ROOM WITH A PIT
[2:12:39] Mark: FALLING DOWN IT WILL MAKE YOU DROP OUT FROM THE TOP
[2:12:43] Mark: IN AN ENDLESS LOOP
[2:12:57] Mark: AND IF YOU GET HIT, YOU GET A NES STYLE KNOCKBACK
[2:13:00] Mark: AND CAN'T MOVE
[2:13:05] Mark: SO YOU FALL ENDLESSLY
[2:13:20] Mark: UNLESS YOU WARP OUT OF THE PIT AND HAVE TO TREK ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE CHAMBER OF BIRTH
[2:13:35] Mark: IT'S A BEAUTIFUL PLACE
[2:13:41] Mark: I TOOK A FEW TRIPS TO IT
[2:13:52] Mark: HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVOURITE MOMENTS

[2:13:53] Mark: moonwalker.png

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/moonwalker.png

[2:14:00] Mark: goddamnit.png

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/goddamnit.png

[2:14:07] Mark: AFSALFJSAL.png

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/AFSALFJSAL.png

[2:14:13] Mark: AAASSSSSSSSS.png

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwa...ASSSSSSSSS.png

[2:14:17] Abby: >=|||||||
[2:14:23] Mark: >=|
[2:14:41] Abby: those arent even DIFFERENT
[2:14:57] Mark: they are totally different
[2:15:07] Mark: each one was a five minute trek back to that same spot
[2:15:14] Mark: only to get hit and fall down the pit again

Hell Temple is really hard. :(

Well at least I beat Mother today.

AcerBanditGFF - La-Mulana: Let's fight with Mom again - Twitch

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/palunk.png

AWWWW YEAAAAHHHH

EDIT:

lol lamp of time assisted damage boost

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/damageboost.gif

(of course I fell right back down from the room above)

(have fallen down from there three five six times now and I still haven't gotten the chest)

(:()


EDIT2:

WHEW

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/whew.png

Heard on Garr's stream, while fighting Sakit:

"I like the little fist-pump he does when he gets his rocket back. He thinks he's the shit, but he's a fucking asshole."

Additional Spam:
Also: "You're a fucking asshole, I hope you die of asshole cancer. But you're a robot, so you don't even get cancer, so I hope you get a fuckin' trojan or something."

okay.jpg

Holy shit Garr, looks like you made giant strides after I went to bed. I will have to watch those boss fights on the recording!

(Getting hints now and then is okay. The game is a bitch.)

oh boy so much this

Also heard something along the lines of "You can't believe the size of my erection right now" during that fight :twitch:

[12:48:36] <^___^> hey
[12:52:30] <Q-chan|space> two fucking splurge lasers in a row are you kidding me
[12:53:09] <Q-chan|space> I mean SURE WHY NOT
[12:54:42] <^___^> HI Q >:(
[12:57:43] <Q-chan|space> not now


http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/AAAARRRHHHH.png


During one attempt, my Dual Shock 4 just randomly stopped co-operating and Lemeza wouldn't move. I couldn't pause the game and tried to unplug and replug and nothing worked.

Another fight I'd just randomly switched to knife somehow during my panicked laser dodging without actually noticing, so running low on hp, I finally saw an opening to jump up and attack (and hopefully finish her off) and out comes a horizontal knife poke as Lemeza hovers under her chin pathetically.

That sounds a lot like Garr attacking Sakit.

Man, I have to give mad props to Garr for sticking to trying to kill Sakit's second phase with just the knife.

Sorry I missed you dominating the guardians after getting the chain whip. I did see you fight Ponzeru for the first time though before I konked out so I knew you were on the way to eventual success. Good times. =)

Noooooooooo.png

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/noooooooo.png


WILL THE SHIT THIS GAME PULLS ON YOU JUST NOT END

spoketoosoon.jpg :(


PS: YOU WERE WARNED

[02:28:31] <Q-chan|space> whew

http://www.gamingforce.org/staff/Qwarky/finaltime.png


bonus:

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...ulana/0002.jpg

THIS. PLACE.

No matter how many times I play the game, I'm guaranteed to get terribly lost here. I think I'm getting thrown off by the changes they've made. In the original, you first access this field from the opposite side. All this Eden stuff didn't exist either.

Garr's adventures in Graveyard of the Giants:

"Ah, Ice Dick Man, we meet at last."

"I broke your ice dick, fuck you!"

"Augh, I got ice-dicked in the face."

"All right, I got a bone to pick with you, Ice Dick Man."

"Bombs everywhere! Ice dicks everywhere!"


Accurate.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...14-22807AM.jpg

FUCK YEAH

http://i.imgur.com/joSjySG.jpg


P.S.

[00:08] <+DisslaptopDATLAPTOP> Subweapon chump pshhh

NOPE
NOPE
NOPE
NOPE
NOPE

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...4-121746AM.jpg
That behemoth ha ha!

I think I broke this room (?), as I clipped through the spikes instead of doing it "the right way."

sup Chamber of Birth most confusing shit ever

This is how you break that room: teamparty - La-Mulana: Furious sighing noises - Twitch

The Worst Area in the Game

lmao Garr

[11:31] <@CHz> http://www.twitch.tv/garrmondo/b/516113238?t=2h21m30s
[11:33] <+^___^> he sounded so confident :(
[11:34] <@CHz> Best ghost doesn't give a fuck about confidence.

And it doesn't end! :tpg:

I'm curious though. Is there a tablet or anything (aside from that vague clue in the room) that tells you about the Serpent Staff bit, or am I pretty dense? That puzzle always feels out of place. Besides, going back to the roots, that thing had one use.

Anyways, I got the key, so I'll deal with Tiamat first. Screw that place.

The only clue is that Spoiler: the snake in the background next to the spot is black, whereas all the other background snakes are white.

Never feel dense about that zone. Everyone understands. :cmb:

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...14-73952PM.jpg

HELL

WE MEET AGAIN

Went and made a highlight of me getting pretty mad.

AcerBanditGFF - Wherein I get pissed at Mega Man blocks - Twitch

Skip to around 13:20 to see me at my angriest.