La-Mulana 2

La-Mulana 2
79
Metacritic
83
Steam
81.639
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$24.99
Release date
30 July 2018
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
83 (655 votes)

The long-awaited sequel to La-Mulana, La-Mulana 2 follows Lumisa Kosugi as she explores the ancient ruins of La-Mulana. Desperate to find the cause of the recent slew of monsters appearing from the ruins, Lumisa discovers the "other" La-Mulana: the ruins known as Eg-Lana.

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La-Mulana 2 system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7 (64-bit)
  • Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 2.3GHz or above
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Graphic board with at least 1GB of VRAM
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 4 GB available space
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PurpleXVI
PurpleXVI

The sequel to La Mulana, a game that attempted to emulate a non-existent era of pathetically bad controls married to excellent presentation, mildly improves the controls but still leaves you randomly wandering a bunch of pointlessly convoluted corridors with platformer controls that were done better as early as the original Super Mario, if not before.

This is compounded by a world with sparse save points and instakill traps, because what I love more than anything is after spending half an hour trying to figure out what the developer was smoking during the design of a specific section, then having to redo it all again because a platform that looked a pixel off from another platform would instantly kill me.

Even when you're doing things right, it feels like you're exploiting edge cases in the game's atrocious air control and jumping(yes, bad jumping and air control, in a PLATFORMER) to accomplish anything at all, and extremely basic navigation options like "jumping off ladders" are gated behind ability progression later in the game.

La Mulana 1 and 2 are both excellent examples of everything that's wrong with retro gaming: mistaking technological design limitations and early game design mistakes, for wonderful concepts that should be replicated and carried into the future. Like I get it, you were traumatized by some bad games when you were a kid, but that doesn't mean you need to hurt others. You can let the trauma die and just make a good game instead.

Mind you, I wouldn't be half as upset by the game being as bad as it is if it wasn't presented wonderfully. So maybe just turn it on and have the soundtrack running in the background while you play a better platformer. Lord knows it isn't a challenge to find one.

HaateXIII
HaateXIII

I wish there were a way to have a mixed recommendation, but, as there isn't, this trends more towards the negative side.

Positives first:
+ a very interesting take on multiple separate mythologies.
+ the puzzles are very good, and not simple push over types of puzzles.
+ as any decent metroidvania, you'll be backtracking all over the place to find new things when you get new powers
+ amazing pixel work. the sprites are very fluid in their movements, and they just look great!
+ very good "other" art (i.e. everything that's not pixel work)

Neutral:
~ The fast travel system, whilst at times frustrating, does have a decent amount of nodes. Time between unlocking those nodes can be a bit long (and those nodes are also the only place to save).
~ the bosses are fairly difficult (as one would expect from a game with the "Souls-like" tag), but some of them are absolute push overs, if you find the right spot to stand/area to move around in; whereas others demand extreme precision to avoid attacks and be able to retaliate. Mostly, tough but fair, some do cross that line to "ok, this is no longer fair, this is straight up bull s**t."

Negatives:
- The movement is kinda jank. So many places that if you get looked at funny by an enemy, you get bounced down four to five screens, and have to *try* to claw your way back up. The control of your character in mid-air is slim to nil.
- It's VERY directionless. Like, once you're out of the first area, you're put into a "Right, here's the world, go find something to do".
- Whilst the puzzles are complex, there are quite a few of them that are VERY obtuse.
- OH HEY LOOK, IT'S AN INSTANT DEATH TRAP OUT OF NO WHERE WITH NO WARNING! Great. There's 20 minutes of platforming and exploration I'm going to have to do again.
- So, so many stupid traps that have no indicator. It's a "git gud" kind of play style, rather than "hey, you've been at this for 20 hours and have figured out the tells for the traps in this area, here's a bunch of other traps with either no tells or tells that you'll only find after the fact"

I did *kind of* enjoy my time with the game. At least enough to put in about 30 hours, but the frustrations I had overcame the joy I had. Rather than some games, where after I beat them, I'm excited for a second play through, or to find a randomizer of them, La-Mulana 2 is one that will go back in the shelf in my game library and likely not be pulled up again. I know there's post-game content, but I just did not enjoy my time enough to go back for it.

And note to people who think the movement in this game is fluid, go try Timespinner. *THAT* is fluid movement.

InnateX
InnateX

This game has so many good things going for it. The pixel art is amazing, and the in-game sprites are amazing. It has a lot of charm to it. The level design is complex but fun, the enemies are diverse with different patterns to learn, the music has that nice tonality, that makes every area unique, It has a deep and complex lore, and it feels like every single decision you make matters. How many of an item are you going to buy, do you really want to break that wall, are you really going to read that tablet for the second time? SO many decisions and a nonlinear map that feels like you are in Metroidvania Heaven...

So why the negative review? Simple, The Movement is straight up bad. The character feels stiff. It's excessively limited. You can't move in the air unless you jump, changing direction in the air is far too sensitive, but at the same time, limited. Attacking isn't any better, you can only attack what's infront of you, no upward, downward, let alone diagonal attacks. It's such a shame because I really want to continue exploring the game and all the things it has to offer, but subjecting myself to such a slow and annoying movement is so off-putting on an otherwise amazing game.

The other issue I've found are the boss fights themselves, They've offered almost no challenge, they're dull and drawn out, and are just, overall, not very fun. Then again, these issues are made worse by how bad the movement is.

Overall, I can only recommend this game if you like great metroidvanias that handle like a bad arcade game.

Final Rating:4.5/10

Λ | Jamorro
Λ | Jamorro

great game, confusing puzzles... for the ones who really likes the brick wall that only metroidvanias seem to be able to provide

Colorado Bradley
Colorado Bradley

After playing through all of the first game with a guide at my fingertips, I wanted to try La-Mulana 2 with no/minimal hints; I was worried that I was going to hit a brick wall early on but I found this game to be much more accessible than the first. There are still some headscratchers in there in terms of puzzles but most of the time I ended up overthinking things rather than the other way around. Overall a fun game to play! If you liked the original, I would highly recommend this

Jansim
Jansim

Awesome. Absolute buy if you liked the first

Masterings
Masterings

top tier indiana jones gameplay

tepig28
tepig28

I recommend you play La-Mulana 1 first as this game spoils the ending to that one. In terms of gameplay, this is very similar to La-Mulana 1 only with TONS of quality of life improvements. This game focuses on expanding the lore of La-Mulana 1 while adding in deeper ties to real-life mythology. I love this game and the original to death.

Vasectomboy
Vasectomboy

It's a fun exploration action adventure with a banging soundtrack, beautiful pixel art and game content for days.

It's also balls to the wall hard. So be warned.

Lalke
Lalke

This is an extremely ambitious indie project that not only delivers, but at times exceeds expectations.

While this is a metroidvania, it really offers something very unique when it comes to the puzzle and world design that simply no other game of the genre has. The puzzles will have you taking close notes, drawing maps, and straining your brain to make connections and draw creative conclusions. The world is fully interconnected in a way that completely blew me away when the pieces fell together and I realized how it was actually laid out.

The enemies and bosses can be very challenging (especially in the brutal hard mode, not for the faint of heart) but are designed in a simple way that promotes learning patterns and improving with each try. The wide array of weapons allow you to come up with creative solutions when faced with especially tough encounters, as well as give you some options for whatever fits your playstyle.

The soundtrack is incredible. I fully expected the excellent sountrack of the original game to remain king, but I have to seriously reconsider. There was not a single area in the game where I felt the music get repetitive, and other areas I wish were longer to simply be able to listen to it more.

If I had to put some flaw in this game I would say the last few hours of the game could have used some more polish in order to end on a strong note. While nothing gamebreaking, I also encountered quite a few glitches which is a shame on an otherwise solid game. Any other complaint would be a nitpick.

Needless to say, I think this game is fantastic. As I said before, there is just no other metroidvania, or game in general, quite like this game. The only thing it leaves me with is hope that La Mulana 3 can be a reality sometime in the future.

Tova
Tova

La Morelana

Everything great about the first game great about this game. Incredible puzzles, exploration, fights to make you very angry and very happy, etc. That's maybe it's greatest fault - it doesn't have a whole lot that LM1 doesn't to make it stand as a clear improvement. If LM1 is perfection to you, though, then it's hard to exactly improve on perfection, isn't it? Pointing this out feels like underselling the game though. Worth buying, worth gifting just to buy it twice.

Hitsky
Hitsky

Well.. Its La-Mulana allright. Besides "lack" of hell dungeon it feels the same, plays the same and looks gorgeous in its own La-mulanish way.
Is it better than first? In some ways yes. In playability sure since it feels more responsive and you officially lost some excuses for sucking.
Does it have puzzles?... ehhehehe... No. Because its La-Mulana. It is a damn puzzle.
Does it have bosses, minibosses etc. Sure does.
Does it have whole swathe of all sorts of stuff and crap you have to keep tabs on to navigate the dungeon? Yup.

Anyway its a great game for those who like La-Mulana. It drops the ball just a bit in the very end but not enought to make you remember all the traumas you collect during the journey.

.. except f*ck pepper... I have -Closed Nidavellir- Gate of the Dead theme ringing in my ears every time I walk to kitchen and happen to glance spice cabinet..
I give it solid 4 out of 5 traumas and earworm seal of approval.

coronel jerry lewis
coronel jerry lewis

this is the sequel of a really hard game. if you want to get into it, pay attention to absolutely everything around you cuz it matters. and don´t feel bad if you have to restart you game because you got lost and don´t know where to find answers. that´s all.

AlexKC
AlexKC

Incredibly Frustrating But a Unique Gaming Experience

The La Mulana series is all about exploring a vast and opaque complex of ruins with dense lore and deep mysteries. I keep coming back to La Mulana because very few exploration/adventure/metroidvania games give you a very real sense of discovery. You will feel like a total badass as you slowly work your way through these ruins solving puzzles and pushing your skills - you're basically thrown into the deep end and expected to swim and it feels like a real accomplishment when you figure things out on your own.

The major problem with this game and its predecessor is that the last third of the game - the really deep and involved puzzles - can be nearly impossible to figure out on your own. They involve remembering clues from 100 rooms ago and combining that with 5 other clues all equally obscure, or needing to break a particular wall with little to no clue which one it is... gets very frustrating and sometimes feels like you needed to be able to read the developer's minds to understand the solution. There's a very robust community of guides, maps, and walkthroughs because they are nearly essential to complete the game (some hardcore people might insist on doing it alone, but after 20 hours of wandering around rereading clues it's more fun to just look it up online). To really get the most out of the game be prepared to take screenshots of every tablet, make your own maps on paper, etc.

Despite all of that, and no matter how much this game had me cursing it, overall it delivers a really unique experience that games don't really deliver anymore. The game play elements are dense (lots of items to use and equip, skills that can combo,, etc.), the progression is really well though out in terms of finding a new clue that leads down a rabbit hole to the next clue or item, and you end up really feeling like a badass Indiana Jones.

Get the game, push yourself as far as you absolutely can. Push yourself a little more. When you're finally ready to give up check a guide, and go a little further.

DeeCeptor
DeeCeptor

Well we're back in the ruins once again. La Mulana 2 has us jumping, whipping enemies, exploring, solving puzzles and getting killed repeatedly by traps just like last time. It really does make you feel like Indiana Jones while you're in the groove. Unfortunately, the game makes some missteps that ultimately prevents it from being a true Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Art:
The art is good. Each area looks distinct, with different architecture and background scenes. For being small pixel characters, the characters and enemies are emotive and distinctive.

The only problem with the art is that it sometimes fails to make it clear where the hitbox is. Bosses and minibosses look good, but often it's completely unclear what parts of the boss hurt you when touching them. Some projectile attacks also have strange art that don't line up with the hitboxes (Niddhog's red glowy mistry shot, fin bossed strange diamond missile shots).

Sound:
The music is good. Not as catchy or original as the first game, but still good. Some short fanfares do an incredible job of setting the mood quickly, such as when a boss ankh is ready to be activated. The shop theme is also a highlight.

Sound effects are all fitting. Weapons sound good with the exclusion of the chain whip not sounding as cool as the original whip.

Story and theme:
The first game had a beautiful plot, pacing and setting. You go to a new area, meet one of the mother's children, learn about them, their failings. The areas reflected each child perfectly, and there was a clear progression. The boss of each area made sense. Slowly your understanding of the Mother increases.

In La Mulana 2 we get a jumbled mess. Each area (or two) we are presented with two different races. "WE ARE THE X. WE HAVE SEALED AWAY THE Y, BECAUSE THEY'RE BAD." This civil war motif is repeated, and gets confusing real fast as every race is from the 5th or 6th children. But the problem is that we're told that Y is bad, but never shown. To us, each area is the same, with slightly different enemies patrolling around. Every area is hostile to us. We never see any evidence of these races actually warring. It feels like a missed opportunity not to show enemies fighting each other.

This problem somewhat ruins a really cool plot development. As bosses are defeated, the Lokopala (the main antangonists?) spread out and appear in other areas, like they're conquering them. Except they don't fight any of the local enemies. The NPCs of the invaded areas don't even mention it - they're cool with it I guess? This is called narrative dissonance - what we're told and what we're shown are completely different. We're told of these civil wars, but never shown.

The entire theme and plot of the game are these civil wars and anger stemming from it. You literally go around absorbing their hatred of one another. And they got it wrong. Disappointing to say the least.

Next up is the theming of the areas. The first two areas of the game are dominated with Norse mythology. Loki the trickster is presented as the main antagonist that you follow for these areas, and they do a great job of it. He is the key to activating the boss ankhs, and following his bloodstains was a great visual clue of where to go next. I expected he'd be the one to lead me to all of the bosses, and the plot to revolve around his shenanigans. Sadly he disappears after those first areas. Twenty hours later and I was still wondering if he would show up again. Sadly he doesn't.

Fortunately, one strong villain takes Loki's place far later in the game in the form of Atum-ra. Atum is a fantastic villain, who is perfectly set up. In a previous area, the inhabitants mention and worry about him. One even worries he'll get kidnapped by him. Later you find Atum, chase him down through several rooms and find he just did kidnap that guy. What a fantastic and dramatic moment!

This shows that with stronger writing these shorter vignettes could all be really good. Unfortunately the other areas barely pack any narrative oomph. Most NPC’s aren't interesting, and frankly there are too many of them. This causes a problem for the gameplay later.

As a side note, I feel that the area Valhalla needs its own paragraph. This is an early area, thus making it very important for early impressions - game designers should always put their best foot forward lest people grow bored with the game and quit early. Valhalla is a bizarre area, and with a name like that you’d expect it to be heavily Norse inspired. Instead it’s… Yellow? Hindu inspired? Corn-themed? I really have no idea. You encounter genies, hinting of Hindu themes. It feels as if the name of the area is a mistranslation, or they couldn’t think of a better name. Then again, they went with a Norse dragon-theme for the boss. Confusing. This is strange that they didn’t follow the norse theming more strongly since the area is integrally linked with the Divine Fortress, which is chock-full of the Norse gods themselves (hi Thor!).

There are also some jarring surprises between the theming of an area, and its boss. Not every area gets a boss, so it’s important that the boss fits its area. It’s obvious much care was put into integrating the boss and area in the first La Mulana. You met the new race, explored its themed area, and then fought a derivative or that child exactly as a boss. Everything fit together perfectly. Not so in this sequel. Some bosses are fine, and fit ‘well enough’ with the area, but some are so jarring I put down my controller and exclaimed “Huh.”

Boss-area dissonance is especially egregious in Annfwyn. Annfwyn is land of the faeries, and gives a Hindu vibe combined with Indiana Jones’ Temple of Doom. To me the theme of the area is death. Everything is trying to kill. Fake doorways that turn into snakes, arrow traps, trap doors, spikes, mimic chests, infinite spawning floating enemies, spike-filled elevator rooms, etc. So the boss should be themed around this ‘death’ idea, right? Maybe a giant version of those fake snake doorways. Maybe a boss room filled with spikes and poison? A giant skull?
GIANT MECHANICAL BOAR.
Umm, excuse me? What? Kujata is a mechanical boar created by the villainous Lokopala. There are no Lokopala soldiers in this area. The Lokopala aren’t here. Death themed iconography is here. Why the hell is there a giant mechanical boar here?

Other areas also suffer from boss-area dissonance, though none are quite so egregious. Some fit, though many feel arbitrarily distributed.

Ugh, encountering the character limit here. See the full review here: https://pastebin.com/raw/R8bpaN8a

Summary:
From all my complaints it sounds like I hate the game, but the opposite is true. This ain’t a masterpiece like the first game is, but it is still a GOOD or maybe even GREAT game. Despite the mis-steps listed above, the obvious creativity, passion, ambition of the game still shows. There are NO other games like this. No other game actually makes you feel like Indiana Jones. Even if this is inferior to the original, it’s still worthy of praise and attention - there’s just nothing like it. Also, that whip sound will be forever burned into my memory. *WHIP SOUND*

kaleb.fenoir
kaleb.fenoir

Been a fan of La-Mulana for a long time now, and was waiting for this game to come out. It's fantastic, and also ridiculously hard. If you liked the original, you'll like this one.

Freedom_Pulse
Freedom_Pulse

Not as good as the first game, but still very enjoyable (if not infuriating at times, as is common with the series). Would recommend if you enjoy very difficult Metroidvania-style puzzle games and you liked the first game.

Interwoven
Interwoven

By the time you complete this game, you will feel accomplished, skilled, and wise.
Getting there will challenge you!

Nico
Nico

Un très bon jeu de recherche et d'aventure avec des boss bien costauds!

Rappelez vous de toujours faire des screenshots (F12) des tablettes que vous lisez.
Au début ça n'a pas trop de sens, mais au fur et à mesure vous verrez que toutes les réponses s'y trouvent.

Maxwell644
Maxwell644

A "fun" metroidvania sequal too a game i played back in 2008? i think?

Unlike just about any other metroidvania i can think of this game makes you have external notes about the game, outside of the game, that you need to be taking as you go. If you wana try this game please take screen shots of everything you see, the in game method of recording things is limited on space and will not save certon things like where it was physicaly located which can be important latter.

I tryed this game when it launched on steam and got pretty stuck like 80% thru the game, and even replaying the entire game now i still got stuck in the same spot because i didnt record some kinda notes outside of the game.

The puzzles in this game compared to the first are slightly easyer to fowlow (besides one big puzzle which was optional) if you find the hints too them i think, but theres a couple puzzles latter on that i felt had hints behind the needed answers butt maybe i just couldent find "the intended" path it wanted when it wanted me too, after 2 seperate playthrus.

One more time if you wana play this game take screen shots of points of interest and things you read or are told, your not gona have a fun time latter on if you don't, more then once i figured out what needed to hapon just reading over notes i took hours ago.

Also on replaying the game now vs launch, they have patched the text and names of a few things to be easyer to fowwlow if your referancing the room names and biestiarys vs the raw text dumps you get.

chump change forever
chump change forever

this is the experience I wish I had for the first game, but I was a weak-willed wiener at the time. I trudged through LM1 out of some dumb sense of gamer obligation and resorted to a guide for most of it. I didn't have enough patience to enjoy how and why it was miserable on purpose; now even though I was sure I knew what to expect, I (barely) had the brains & confidence to get through the sequel without a single hint. and when I wasn't lost for days on end it was super rewarding: the movement, the music (!!), the ~lore~... everything rules. the ruins are just more Fun this time around and it's worth powering through or enjoying the first game, whichever side you luck out on getting, to get to this one. I mean, Moonlight Daze... man oh man

CrypticGhoul
CrypticGhoul

TL;DR Absolutely fantastic game that is a joy to play if you're okay with dying until you get something right and a somewhat unforgiving but fair older design style of gameplay. The game constantly requires you to think outside the box and some of the puzzles are quite ridiculous but overall this game is one of my all time favorites.

Updating my review now that I am further in. This game is an absolute blast to play, provided you either have a helpful guide handy courtesy of the internet or take notes like a madman.

The game is absolutely phenomenal in my opinion, it's been a while since I've had a game that just has me constantly thinking about it.

Great:
Puzzles can make you feel like a genius when you finally solve them.

The game feels very fair. It's pretty rare that I lose tons of progress to one of the numerous instakill traps or from dying. In fact, most of the instakill traps are kind of funny.

Honestly I love the combat.

The soundtrack is top tier. Love all the sound design as well.

Bosses are incredibly hype and I'd like to praise the fact that if you die during the main boss fights, you reload right in front of the fight so you can attempt again without slogging through some less desired platforming to get back to them.

Level design feels great.

Bad (quick note: "field" is the game's term for zones):
Puzzles are very obtuse. It gets incredibly bad past the halfway point as the game opens up immensely. For example, no spoilers, tablets in another field entirely that you haven't been to will give you absolutely necessary hints to progress.

The game is almost too open ended at times, which is a problem due to the non-linearity of the game. It's very common that you cannot complete a field without information or an item from another field. So without a guide you can just end up wandering around for hours checking older fields and looking for new ones you haven't been to.

Manacap
Manacap

Such a fun puzzle platformer, and a great sequel to boot.

Chii
Chii

Overall very solid game, much like the first one, though it feels less polished than its predecessor.

Bosses are an incredible letdown compared to the first game, with some of them having unreadable or outright unfair patterns and being therefore extremely annoying to take down.

Puzzles are still very complicated, but not as obtuse and stupid as in the first game. There were only two instances of me having to look up a guide to progress, as some things are simply senseless.

I would recommend the first game over this one, despite the quality of life changes. This one feels more rushed and less polished than its predecessor, mainly because you can get soft-locked out of the ending at the very last minutes of the game (during the very last sequence of the game, by all means do NOT save inside the Underworld. You've been warned).

imperialgourd
imperialgourd

(FYI, I didn't beat the game)
Lots of Aha! moments, lots of IRL note taking, lots of satisfaction, lots of crying out bullshit. Unforgettable experience. 10/10

lazerous42
lazerous42

It's legit amazing, provided you like tough games

Russel
Russel

The sequel to an already fantastic title irons out a lot of the first's flaws. If you've played La-Mulana or its remake, La-Mulana 2 offers more of the same experience except with a lot of edges sanded off. A fantastic metroidvania experience that involves deep puzzle solving and fun exploration, as well as mechanical challenge. Requires a bit of patience, though!

Timo★
Timo★

Excellent follow up to the first game, but fails to reach the same glorious heights. It just lacks that spazass the first game has.

Magmar
Magmar

It sure is the second La-Mulana game. if you liked the first you'll probably like this

Keyrock
Keyrock

If you have played the first game then you already know what to expect. If you haven't, then La-Mulana 2 is a hardcore metroidvania. Tricky platforming, fiendish traps, tough boss battles, and a giant labyrinth await you. The best part is that the solution to everything is given to you in the game, you just have to find said solution and make sense of it. It may be scrawled on a wall, it may be a mural, it may be a statue, etc. A lot of the clues are cryptic and it can take a lot of time to figure out what a clue means and what it pertains to. You will get frustrated, you will get lost, but if you persist it will be well worth it.

Unrelenting Farce
Unrelenting Farce

While La-Mulana 1 might be a hard sell for most gamers interested in the Metroidvania/platformer/puzzle genres, I think La-Mulana 2 is a lot easier to recommend because it plays better, has more QOL improvements, has a gentler learning curve, and more consistently uses its own game mechanisms such as sub weapons. However, it isn't an easy game, and only the people who want a hard, puzzling, exploration-heavy platformer should consider it. As for whether to play 1 before 2, I think 2 stands alone sufficiently well enough, though you are at some disadvantage for puzzles unless you read all the glossary entries, notes, etc. that help explain the world, lore, and recent history. The game does take steps to inform the player about what happened in La-Mulana 1, and there's new information there for people who completed 1.

For La-Mulana 1 players. At first, I was skeptical that 2 had resorted to holding the player's hand excessively, but I was pleased to learn that, at a certain point, the hand-holding stops and the game opens up pretty wide in a La-Mulana sort of way. Also, I'm pleased to report that the tools available feel a whole lot cooler. I'm not done with the game yet and will update my review for this section when I am. The game really does a great job of expanding on the setting, too, in my opinion.

I have one spoiler-free tip for anyone picking up this game. This game assumes you are taking notes. So, take screenshots of everything that appears to convey information to you. Tablets, things that seem unique, conversations, map locations for some of these things, etc. For exmaple, 25 hours in, you might remember something you saw 2 hours in, somewhere in the game, and you can save yourself a lot of hassle -- or the temptation to look it up -- if you've documented it already. And the puzzles only get tougher and more obscure as you go.

MochiCrunch
MochiCrunch

I didn't like the first La Mulana game, but I liked certain aspects of it. I heard this game was much better about the misdirection and long drawn out puzzles. While that's entirely true, this game still suffers from a lot of the poor game design decisions that starts funneling you into using a guide to actually complete this game. Fortunately, I can say that I didn't run into any of the bugs that were previously reported and I completed the game just fine with a wiki and guide.

If you like playing games very punishing and unforgiving games where you need to consult a wiki/guide to get through it, this game is enjoyable.

If you are extremely OCD to the point where you take screenshots of every screen in your note book and write down every text that you come across, and then you make web graphs of everything like an insane person, then this game is perfect for you.

If you are neither of those things, then stay away from this game.

Pros:
- Most puzzles are clever, mysterious, and the rewards are always fulfilling and interesting.
- Unique style of game play
- Early/mid game is pretty fun

Cons:
- Combat is pretty dry, tedious, uninteresting, repetitive, and awful.
- This game still assumes you write down an insane amount of notes and backtrack throughout the game non-stop.
- This game doesn't suffer as bad as La Mulana 1's translations for puzzles, but the phrasing is still poorly
translated in context to the puzzles you are trying to solve.
- Often poorly explained puzzles/mechanics.
- Due to all the previous problems, you will get lost, even with a guide because this game obfuscates your goals and a lot of the real information you need to progress. You end up wandering aimlessly and backtracking to rooms that you thought you had already cleared, only to discover through the guide that you weren't supposed to attack some random wall with just your whip, you need "X" to go with it as well. Or some walls being only blown up by certain sub-items, or unlockable with key fairies, etc.

EPM
EPM

Not as good as the first La-Mulana, in my opinion, but still an enjoyable game of the type. My review boils down to the belief of "difficulty solving puzzles is good, difficulty identifying puzzles is not", so if you disagree with that, feel free to disregard the rest of this. One is a game challenge, the other is simply poor communication to the player, and LM1 did a much better job of it.

LM2 suffers quite a bit from making too much of the game available too quickly, which is a serious problem in a puzzle game of its nature. Why? I would say I spent more time grappling with FINDING puzzles as opposed to solving them. LM1 paced itself in a much superior way. This is definitely a case of sequel syndrome, as the principle of "the second game should have more" is not kind to the La-Mulana game format.

It also has too many overlapping puzzles that span the whole game, one of which being wholly unnecessary for game completion. Unlike LM1's chain whip puzzle, this one spans far larger territory, is presented much earlier and more frequently, and features recurring setpieces in various areas that seemingly represent puzzles to solve. This, among others, leads to a serious info-clogging effect. Steam's screenshot feature makes tracking information much easier, but the sheer obfuscation caused by so many simultaneously overlapping puzzles and pieces of information is a real detriment.

The over-reliance on the Mantra system also sticks out. For an item that needs to be constantly used throughout the game, it's very clunky to be constantly equipping and unequipping it, nevermind tweaking which mantras are being used in the menu.

It does also lean a bit more into mythologies that the player is likely to be much more familiar with (egyptian, nordic, japanese, etc.), thus decreasing the overall mystique and exoticism of the adventure (which also features many more 'standard platformer environments' than the original). The storytelling is also much less focused, though to detail in what way would be to spoil too much of the game. This is purely subjective, however, and has no bearing on overall enjoyment, but did detract from the same sort of environmental feel of LM1.

Kitsyfluff
Kitsyfluff

If you've played the original La Mulana, you've probably already made up your mind. This sequel is everything you could ask for. If you haven't played the original, well, I would play that first because this one is harder!

Wesk Alber
Wesk Alber

La-mulana 2, despite the occasional misstep, is a masterclass in what all puzzle games should aim to do. A lot of the puzzle solutions you may find within the first hour of gameplay may not come into play until deep into endgame. Even the first tablet you can see but can't immediately read, advertises itself as a far endgame puzzle. You may see it, save it, and not come back to it until you get a major hint that you should check back to it.

These tablets can be nonsensical, completely deranged and not even possible to use. Yet when you find what the tablet refers to, it all makes sense. It all clicks, and you start making huge leaps in logic effortlessly, even across other puzzles. The most infamous puzzle, the puzzle of Brahma is both my favorite puzzle in probably all of gaming, yet also objectively flawed in many ways. That's the level of quality in La-mulana 2 in the puzzles.

Not every puzzle is perfect though. One mini-boss is a kind of puzzle that has no hint to how to do it. You have to use an object that only appears in this fight. But when you do, the mini-boss dies in 3 hits. Maybe I just didn't parse the specific hint but far as I know, no such hint even existed.

After playing both in normal mode and a no subweapons for Bosses Hard Mode run, I can say the weakest art of the game by far is the bosses. One or two of the bosses, even on normal mode, are just boring or otherwise frustrating to do. Some of the Hard mode changes are overly punishing especially without subweapons. The 8th boss I might even say is easier on Hard, despite having what i think is a higher damage output. The 9th boss is basically the same across both but some of the movements involved just feel unfair.

Weirdly, the final boss felt extremely satisfying with no subweapons despite having some purposefully annoying strategies needed. It's a VERY mixed bag. Oh, and hitboxes across all the bosses can be a bit frustrating. It's in their advantage rather than yours, basically every time.

Combat itself is really fun though, even if the boss design can be hit or miss. The fun bosses are REALLY run. It's just unfortunate they're in the minority. It's good there's dozens and dozens of sub bosses that are on the average really fun. Though Ratatoskr can go die in a fire. Especially the final match after solving the puzzle involved.

But long as you stick to normal mode, the annoying and bad bosses are short enough or easy enough that you can push through in a try or two when using the right strategies and subweapons. 8th boss being the sole exception as far as I am concerned.

But bosses are very much only a fraction of the gameplay. Sub bosses take far more and still aren't all that much when you take into account all the playforming and normal enemy fighting. There's some heinous animation lock if you attack while standing on the ground but this just forces you to think about your attacks and not just spam.

In the end though, this is a game better spent experiencing than reading on. I've been as explicitly vague as I could be for the purposes of anyone who actually reads this goes in blind, and gives it everything they got. If the Nigoro team ever does something more, be it a "La-mulana" 3 or something completely different, I hope to experience it.

Yuki
Yuki

you don't need a guide to beat this one

Yung BladerJoe-
Yung BladerJoe-

The sequel to La Mulana will let you explore a mysterious ruin all over again.
Gameplay for the most part is similar to the original but movement is much more fluid. For example you can change direction mid-air and grab ladders while jumping.

The game kind of has a tutorial area that starts of easy and teaches you different mechanics e.g. like floor switches before really opening up the ruins after your first bossfight for endless exploration.
You get very early access to the warping grail, shellhorn and a text tracking software for convenience.

La Mulana 2 does not feel as punishing as the original. Instant death traps usually are near save points yo you should not lose hard earned progress. If you die to a boss you will respawn at the ankh, no more walking back all the way to the boss room. You meet lots of helpful NPCs from the first game that will give you hints throughout the game.

If you are new to the La Mulana series La Mulana 2 will spoil the overall lore of the first game but it will not spoil any puzzles. In my opinion it is a bit easier than the original and the controls feel better so you still might want to start with 2 and then play 1 after you got addicted.

This is not a game for everyone. You cant play this casually, you will get stuck at some point if you dont pay attention to the details of the ruins and keep records of hints or even write some notes down on paper so you can remember them later.

pattersong
pattersong

La Mulana 2 is not my favorite game of all time.

This is mostly because La Mulana 1 exists.

KingEli
KingEli

Weird game with crappy controls and not even a 1920x1080 resloution.

Blade Tiger
Blade Tiger

It's a great sequel - good music, good gameplay, good puzzles, bosses are more strategic than in LM1 - except for the part where you can softlock 20 hours in because a miniboss you need to kill to finish an endgame puzzle despawns and never reappears

That they still haven't fixed this as of 2021, two and a half years after release, isn't a good look for the devs.

vocab
vocab

La Mulana 2 is a good game that had a lot to live up to being a sequel to a cult classic game that was kind of a game like no other. Does it succeed as a good video game sequel? I would say yes. Is it the best La mulana sequel we could of got? I don't think so. You'll notice some negative reviews at the games launch. It was indeed buggy which for a game like this would of made me upset as well. Everything that was buggy or an issue is fixed as of now. My biggest problem with the game is the reuse of some major gameplay/puzzle aspects of the first game. Did we really need fairies or mantra related puzzles again? Did we need to have a lot of the same items as the first game? A lot of it felt predictable in terms of approach that it diluted the mystery, and that's a shame. It just felt like there wasn't enough newer mechanics to learn and explore. The fields were all really good, but I think there needed be more to think about (not Brahma's Trials). However. some of the bosses felt very rushed/uninspired. I did like the last 3-4 bosses though.

I will say the portraits and sprite work they did for every npc for the dialogue scenes is fantastic. This was a huge surprise, and really adds to the games charm. I came into La Mulana 2 expecting kind of weak music, and I was wrong. Most of the field tracks are really good. The boss music tracks felt really flat. I'm not sure why I feel that way. Either it didn't feel exciting enough or perhaps the sound effects some of the bosses had drowned out the music where it was barely audible in some places.

Overall, La mulana 2 is definitely more La Mulana. If you like the first one, you'll probably like the second one. Most of the fields are great, and yes you'll get stuck if you don't have good notes.

ᴰᵉᶜᵏ Rambo M
ᴰᵉᶜᵏ Rambo M

La-Mulana remake is a decade old, runs full speed on refrigerators, is quick and painless to set up, and has at or around a dozen different resolution options.

La-Mulana 2 is "made for modern PCs", offers exactly two windowed resolutions (squinting at 960x450 or windowed fullscreen, no inbetween), wastes space within that resolution with mandatory letterboxing and borders, complains if you try to map "cancel" and "use item" on the same button - yes that's why it's doing that, and yes the text leads you to believe the UI is bugged - and seemingly having your progress softlocked out of the blue, in this long and often cryptic video game, is a feature and not a bug overdue to be fixed.

What year is it, again?

(The rest of the game is alright I guess)

(Really though, I want to continue this game, but the polish of the user interface is not something you can take for granted in PC releases, let alone the potential for people to unwittingly brick their save data)

Kmj10
Kmj10

pain

has a few ??? "how was i supposed to KNOW that" puzzles, especially near the end of the game, but the rest of it is just a strictly upgraded La-Mulana
8/10, if you liked la-mulana you'll love this, if you get lost for more than 2 hours i'd say just look up a guide

that stupid figurine...

waycooler
waycooler

If you liked La-Mulana 1, you'll like 2. If you haven't played La-Mulana 1, I recommend playing it first, if only because it's also a good game, and La-Mulana 2 spoils it heavily.

It's a really hard game, but it feels along the lines of older Castlevania titles (especially the early GBA ones). It never quite feels "unfair", but rushing through things is a great way to end up dead (to traps, spikes, enemies, or some combination of the 3).

The in-game text recording app covers most of your "taking notes" needs, but the map app is woefully inadequate. If it at least had room names and kept track of connections to other areas, it'd be enough. I highly recommend mapping it yourself - either get Excel open and recreate the maps with notes, come up with a room numbering system (like, room A3) and keep notes in a text file, or something. The game quickly becomes much less painful that way.

I have about 15-20 hours played at the time I'm writing this (the rest is an initial unfinished playthrough on release, and afk time) and I'm maybe about ~halfway through at best. It feels like closer to 1/3rd.

Aelyanne
Aelyanne

This game is unmatched, one of my favorite games ever. But also very hard. Maybe even better than La-Mulana 1

Edaqa
Edaqa

A confusing mess of a game with bad controls.

I endeavoured to sink into this game and enjoy it, but there's too much that gets in the way. The biggest problem is the lack of direction. I continued to go back and forth between realms and rooms looking for something I might have forgotten. For every new room I discovered I revisited and old one 20 times or more. But regardless of where I went there was always something missing, blocking progress. Perhaps that'd be fine if there were some indication of where to go next, or where the needed items might be, but there is not.

The interface is a message in this game. This is aside from stiff controls that respond as they wish. There are layers of menus, and sub-menus. Several essential activities are hidden in tabs in the computer interface. Sometimes you acquire "something" and have no idea what it was, or where to find it. And they are all hard to navigate with a controller as it responds poorly, just like during the action in the game.

There looks to be a lot of content to this game, and I'd like to continue exploring, but it's merely frustrating. There's no frustration in endless backtracking looking for a missing item, or missing clue on the walls, and reading pointless messages.

The Z Dude
The Z Dude

The La-Mulana series is an endlessly fascinating work of art. It subverts some of the most basic principles of game design and is so much better for it.
Trying to give it a distinct genre is difficult. Many terms apply, but nothing really captures what the game is like. It is a metroidvania in the sense that you get more items and access to old areas, but a substantial amount of progression is tied to knowledge, not items. I'd say the game feels more like an adventure than any other game I've played, but that's still vague.

The main gameplay loop is based on reading cryptic tablets with riddles on them, and determining where those riddles apply and how. The interesting thing is that these riddles are written almost like the password hint on your computer. Only intended to have meaning to the ones who wrote them. That's what makes it so rewarding. It often feels like the game itself is against you. That the game is not meant to be beaten. Giving up isn't letting yourself down, it's letting the game win.

It's easy to say that this game isn't for everyone, but I'd say that not everyone will see it to completion. It's alienating at every step of the way. However, if you are interested in video games as an art form you owe it to yourself to give this series a shot in order to see what can be done with the medium.

La-Mulana and its sequel are the most unique games I have ever played, by an incredible margin.

Mário
Mário

A good and really big sequel to the original game. It's a lot easier than º1, specially the bosses and sub-bosses, more focus on the puzzles, frustrating features were fixed. It strangely seems more linear than the first game dispite being a Metroidvania.

Peep Troop Guapo
Peep Troop Guapo

it's not AS good as the first one but that's okay, it's still good. However you felt about the first game, you'll feel pretty similar about this one. I think the music and world structure aren't as good but that's just my opinion, I've been quitting most games before I beat them lately so it was nice to play something where I felt like my 45 hours were well-spent.

Linkdx
Linkdx

WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER YOU BEAT BOTH LA MULANAS? LIFE HAS NO MEANING

🅱ilL.i.aM
🅱ilL.i.aM

Like Dave Chappelle once said, "This is doodoo, baby!"

El último teorema de Fernet
El último teor…

If you liked the first La-Mulana then you MUST play La-Mulana 2. It has so many quality of life improvements and it's much much more of what you like. There's not much else to say, play both games. You don't need to play the first one to enjoy the second, but the lore and the context makes it worth it. And it's a pleasant jump.

You may need to look up a guide if you get stuck, but it's really fun when things click. All these puzzles are solvable, even the more bullshitty ones.

Natendo
Natendo

Great sequel that improves on many things and is just as clever as the original.

Yuppi
Yuppi

Just what was expected, another La-Mulana.

Adam
Adam

I enjoy the cryptic puzzles, riddles, and general aesthetics of La Mulana. I love the metroidvania-esque layout and gameplay loop, and the wonderful art and audio.

I don't care for the project spamming enemies, nor for the way damage knocks you back and grants you iframes, except for spikes, leading you to be punished twice for taking a hit.

I especially dont like how my upgrade to neutralise lava is itself neuralised by new SUPER LAVA that kills you even faster than regular lava.

Agagus
Agagus

I played the first La-Mulana (the remake, also on Steam) before this one and that was the best game I'd ever played.
Now I've played the sequel, and this is the new best game I've ever played.

Just remember the golden rules: anything can be a hint no matter how innocent-looking, and everything is a death trap until proven otherwise. Take notes.

This game is not meant to be beaten, but you can do it if you're stubborn enough. All the hints are there and every puzzle can be solved without a guide. I had to look for a hint once, but all it did was redirect me to the correct piece of information I'd forgotten to consider. Good luck! I'm gonna need some myself to tackle the game on hard mode without using subweapons on bosses now...

Allblaster
Allblaster

You have no choice but to play this after beating the first game. Has improvements but some of the puzzles are much harder and annoying to the point where you just have to follow a guide letter by letter. Also I feel like the puzzles in general were made more lazily.

Don't start with this game, play 1 it's better.

A-okay
A-okay

a few weird design changes but overall It's just as good as the first game. keep a notebook for this one too.

You are the entire circus
You are the en…

Accidentally activated hard mode...

10/10

haelian
haelian

One of my most treasured games now. A bit more approachable than the first game but still has amazing, head scratching puzzles. Not for the impatient unless you're using a guide (which is fine and is still fun), chalk full of surprises and amazing lore. 100% recommend if you're into Metroidvanias.

PT
PT

Some of the puzzles are absurd but overall it's a really fun hardcore metroidvania.

jalex898
jalex898

This is a game for those who know what they're signing up for. It's everything I liked about La Mulana, a good chunk of what I didn't like, and a healthy dose of gameplay, puzzle solving, and hair pulling. Loved every second of it, for over 100 hours.

Johnny KaBoom
Johnny KaBoom

La-Mulana 2 is an acquired taste for sure. Brutal challenging and obtuse, this is 2D adventure game that has very few comparisons. It's a side scrolling exploration game with hard combat and tough puzzles. Take notes you'll need em'! Good art, fun music (except for Gate of the Dead) and one of the most difficult play experiences you can find. If you're looking for a challenge and you've got chutzpah to conquer these ruins, bring it. Defeating La-Mulana 2 even with a walkthrough is crazy hard. Enjoy!

FatCatInc.
FatCatInc.

Just as great and insane as the first game!

BlueSolution
BlueSolution

Makes every other metroidvania you've played look like a joke

Yes that includes Symphony of the Night

Throw off them babbypants and earn your fun

Easily worth a buy even if not on sale

October
October

The exploration based gameplay of Mulana, with some minor changes. The early game has been altered to make the new player experience slightly less brutal. Many more NPCs haunt this game's ruins to expand on the classic tablet based lore delivery. You'll need their help to solve the game's (still very difficult) riddles.

The platforming has been beefed up for the sequel. Many more bosses and mechanics have been added. Jumping mechanics have been made a bit less restrictive, and the more boring upgrades from the first game have been repurposed.

La Mulana is tagged as "Metroidvania" but tbh the game's core gameplay loop is more like a mash-up of Myst and Metroid. And, at least in my experience, the puzzle side of the equation takes up the vast majority of the time so if you're looking for a standard Metroidvania this is probably not the game you want.

Overall, solid follow up to the great experience of Mulana 1, would recommend.

B'twin
B'twin

One of my favorite flawed series. The La-Mulana games are 2D metroidvanias with a lot of emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving. You will gain only a few mobility upgrades, but will gain a lot of artifacts needed to solve puzzle.

It is not a game for everyone. The puzzles are confusing, and the combat is tough and can be janky at times. But it's also overall a far better experience than the first episode (if that's where you are coming from).

You will still need to take a lot of notes, maybe make your own maps to remember places of interest, and pay attention to clues, as they range from hints to the current or nearby puzzle room, to cosmic brain meta bread crumbs for late game stuff.

If you choose to try your chance, you will be looking at some really nice pixel art, and will listen to great tunes along the way. You are also looking to around 40+ hours of playtime (double that if you are adamant on not using a guide).

I'd suggest you try your best to not use a guide as long as you can. And even if you do, try not to rely on it too much and solve stuff on your own instead, as I believe it will make the experience more gratifying. No judgment though, I did use a guide at some point every playthrough I went through.

A few hints (no spoilers):
- The game is an open ended metroidvania, and you can push really far into the game while having skipped some important upgrade, or missed some vital clues, so if you are stuck on a puzzle, the answer might be somewhere else entirely.
- While back tracking inside Eg-Lana is the name of the game, try to revist places outside of Eg-Lana regularly.
- Talk and re talk to NPC often.
- Read the tablet texts, but look at the pictures if there is one, as they are often great clues themselves
- Look at the background too!
- Never assume that a new area is not explorable in your current state. You will probably find more clues there!
- Don't be afraid to fight sub bosses, they often guard new areas or items and generally only have a few patterns to learn.

I finished this game 3 times now, and each time was great. Obviously, with each playthrough I remembered more and more stuff, but the game is big enough that it made the experience enjoyable each time. It has definitively become one of those game that I will replay again every few years.

Caveman
Caveman

Can't even beat the first sub boss 11/10

2Dollarbill
2Dollarbill

A very cryptic and borderline frustrating game to play. You don't play this game like you would traditional exploration and platforming games, and you really do have to toss out Common Sense. Don't assume anything, just read what the game tells you and you'll pull through.

Overall I really enjoyed my time with it, but I can't recommend this to people who don't have the patience to really thoroughly explore areas, both in gameplay and in story.

reisba
reisba

The game is just too hard and punishing. All I can say is that it is not for me and I would not recommend the game.

There were moments especially when exploring and discovering little secrets and puzzles and just traversing the world where I could totally see why people love this game. It was really drawing me and I could totally ignore the old style graphics and all I could think was heck this is cool. It was totally my jam.

But what kills it for me is the total, abosolute lack of direction and hand holding. You have no idea what direction to go to. You can go to ridiculous lengths with no idea if where you are heading to is a total dead end or if you just missed some tiny puzzle that would allow you to progress. You can totally screw yourself over in fights spening limited weapon resources with no idea if it is worth it. And you can do a single mis-step and it is intant death. The fun of exploration is killed because of the punising difficulty and not knowing if you are actually making progress or if you are just wasting your time.

Example: I got the first (?) boss fight that is on the steam page images with the flying dragon. I had no weapons other than throwing stars that I could even hope to damage it with. I spent all the currency to stock up on enough throwing stars that I could hope to kill it and tried the fight million times. You have to repeat the same pattern flawlessly 50-100 times in a row to throw 1-2 attacks at a time that barely damage to it. And after agonizing repetition I manage to kill the boss after using up all my consumable resources and yay, I open a new path. I go throughthe opening and in 10 seconds fall into instant death. And that is where I closed this game and will not resume again.

Now I don't know if that was supposed to be the first boss to fight or I should haver found something else first. I have no idea. This game will give you no direction. If I check Youtube videos then that is certainly is not what is listed as such and I never figured out how to intiate that boss fight on the video even though I did find the room for it. But the game allowed me senslessly bash my head against the boss I found and which seemed like the most logical point of progression. And if I did not senslessly bash my head against it, it seems all progression in the game was blocked.

I don't find exploration like this fun and had I continued playing, I would expect another 50 hours of frustration.

We lost
We lost

A direct upgrade to the first game. Completed the entire game without hints and it's absolutely feasible if you just accept that sometimes you will be stuck until you have that serotonin rush "a-ha" moment.

* MUCH better introduction/tutorial
* better presentation/graphics
* better soundtrack
* the puzzles are cryptic, clever, but not nonsensical (im looking at you, la mulana 1 mantra puzzle)
* movement is less restrictive and bosses/enemies are a bit tougher to compensate
* lots of QoL upgrades, for example autosaving at ankh jewels so you don't have to backtrack to guardians if you die

The game did have some issues/bugs at release, but that was in 2018, and i had 0 issues at the time of this review.

I guess my only real complaint is that there is one really dumb puzzle to make an ankh appear in a certain area, where you have to open a certain door, and then talk to 3 NPCs in order, and then it just magically appears.

But then again, that doesn't even come close to the absolute nonsense that is navigating through 5 million arbitrarily hidden walls in la mulana 1 chamber of birth with that DING DING BING BING ass soundtrack.

Doommsatic
Doommsatic

I hate this I hate this I want to kill people, after getting the first game, I wanted to feel pain once again.

10/10. game about beating up your younger sibling

robert.the.rebuilder
robert.the.rebuilder

At first I thought I could work out what to do on my own. Then I would look up the occasional hint, get a bit further, go exploring on my own - and get my a$$ handed to me. Then I would follow the walkthroughs, get further, go up against tough bosses, somehow defeat them with the awkward controls. Then I just gave up, since this was not fun.

T U N D R A
T U N D R A

Imagine Takumi Naramura using a mallet to crush your balls, if that sounds like fun the go ahead

DrHerrDoctor
DrHerrDoctor

For anyone who loves side-scrollers, tight controls, and a grand sense of adventure and discovery, this is a must get.

If you try to binge this game, you will get burnt out trying to solve all the puzzles and clear all the fields. In my opinion, the game works best if you pick it up for an hour or two a day and come back to it later. There are so many details, puzzles, hints, and items that you will miss entirely if you breeze past it all.

Take your time, explore everything, read the tablets, and talk to all the NPC's. You'll appreciate and enjoy this game the way it was meant to be if you take the time to dig deep into each area and discover as much as you can. You'll also succeed more if you do! The game rewards ADVENTURE!

ZettaVolt
ZettaVolt

It's la mulana (but 2)
nothing quite like it
what a game 10/10

Don Arturo
Don Arturo

They're justified, and they're ancient.
I hope you understand.

Bakazuraz
Bakazuraz

OVERVIEW:
La-Mulana 2 is a challenging Metroidvania that can be very punishingly difficult, and has a strong focus on puzzle-solving. The game has a charming visual quality and humor, while having a pretty great retro soundtrack. The difficulty in this game comes not just from the combat and platforming, but also from the puzzles - which are the primary appeal of this game. The puzzles in this game can be challenging, cryptic, and will require out-of-the-box thinking. However, finding the solutions to them is a highly satisfying reward. If this sounds interesting to you and you're fine with brutal difficulty, then this game is right for you and is a steal even at full price.

DISCLAIMER:
Because this game has a strong focus on using your own ability to decipher and solve clues, it is strongly recommended to avoid trying to look up the solutions in a guide as that will spoil a lot of the enjoyment. I had to use a guide to get through the last major chunk of the 1st game, and it definitely diminished my fun. I played this one right after beating the first one and did my very best to avoid using a guide because I had a better idea of the challenge I was getting into. I managed to complete about 90% of the 2nd game without using a guide, and primarily used the guide just to make sure I had the items I needed to be able to complete the puzzle or not (so I wasn't wasting my time trying to solve an unsolvable puzzle) instead of using it to get the solution. Overall, I found myself enjoying this game more than the first, probably in part because I was much stricter with myself on trying to solve puzzles on my own without using a guide as a crutch. Despite my disclaimer, if you find yourself completely at a dead end, there is no shame in needing to use a guide for this game - it is very challenging - just do yourself a service and give it your best before you look up the solution to a puzzle.

PUZZLES:
The puzzles in this game are primarily presented to the player in the form of hint tablets that will start of with easy enough clues (use X item on this spot), but will eventually get much more cryptic later in the game. The puzzles at times will require at times for the player to even have to translate some of the text from the games's fictional language. There are many times where the player will be given many hints for a puzzle that will not even be able to be solved until much farther in the game, and will often time be referencing an area that is distant from where the hint was originally found. Because of this, it is STRONGLY advised to either keep a running text document/spread sheet, take physical notes, take screenshots through Steam, or a combination of all three. Otherwise, you will inevitably forget a crucial hint that is necessary for progression. I personally started off with screenshotting everything and deleting my screenshots when I was certain I no longer needed that hint as I already solved that puzzle. Even when I did this, I still at times would have well over 100 screenshots of "not yet solveable" hints. Plus, having to go through 100+ screenshots every time I wanted to reference a specific hint became cumbersome. I eventually started writing down and compiling hints that I knew were referencing the same puzzle. In retrospect, it would have probably worked best to do a combination of some screenshots while also keeping a running spreadsheet to make it easily searchable for certain keywords to easily find the hints that I was looking for.

COMPARISONS TO THE 1ST GAME:
Overall, I prefer the 2nd game to the first. While I prefer the more varied environments of the 1st game, I feel the overall flow, and pacing progression is better in the 2nd. The 2nd one has a lot more text, dialogue, and lore, which can slow things down and is a point against it compared to the pure gameplay experience of the 1st. The 2nd game has a lot more quality of life changes and actually features a tutorial of sorts that makes this game more accessible to new players, and is arguably a better starting point into the series instead of the 1st entry as a result. The 2nd game's puzzles felt easier to me in part because they were less cryptic, gave more pertinent information (e.g. references to locations), and the more cryptic clues were often closer to the puzzle they were referencing - instead of the 1st game sometimes having a cryptic hint that references doing a specific action in a specific place (that the hint didn't reference), at a location the player will not even discover for another 20 hours of game time. Also, the player has more control of the character's mid-air jump trajectory, so this game is definitely more forgiving and easier than the first on this matter.

Taisetsu na Miko
Taisetsu na Miko

I do not recommend for numerous design decisions, but I will start with positives.

+ A phenomenal soundtrack. The updated soundtrack is great.
+ Story starts really strong. There are many interesting answers to archaeology, mythology and established lore. Also, the game holds many characters to talk with. However, I wish we understood how these people sustained themselves in the ruins. They lack food and the water is poisonous.
+ Game mechanics and tools mostly improved, but also degraded in some ways. Spaulder, Chakram and Earth Spear are fantastic. Mantras are brought in early to diversify puzzle-solving. But the original slower pace is removed with easy ladder movement and few intrusive objects of divine punishment. Jumping is also less organic and makes platforming less fun to me. Enemy knockback seems increased in general and some have extra knockback, which would be fine if spikes were not upgraded to ignore invincibility and do insane damage.
+ Deviates from the Guardian and Area themes like frontside and backside dungeons. Refreshing.
+ Guardian fights are really fun, diverse and a lot more manageable in most cases. Mini-bosses can be a different story with later ones being occasional nonsense without sub-weapons.
+ An item gives weapons new meaning. Weapons that start out underpowered can become invaluable.

That should be every positive. A lot of subtle things feel inferior. Maps are bigger to their detriment because the Feather fails to be useful in exploration and everything feels less engaging. It is usually for jumping out of a fall rather than reaching higher places. Ironically, the game scales difficulty based on your progress, leading to more and new enemies to populate every room. Most painful are skeletons, which not only are less easy to differentiate, but also are often blue skeletons that make the game frustrating for no reason. It takes many hours before you can get their weakness and you probably will not face many after getting the upgrade anyway. Additionally, bosses increase in HP and damage. I explored much out of order. By the time I fought the 3rd guardian Kujata, it felt like a final boss and I imagine most players quitting there.

I will explain why I fell out of order. Many hints have issues. The English is far more plain than La-Mulana 1, but the philosophy has become disorienting. In Annwfn are two treasures I had desperately needed, but missed until about 20 hours in. I had explored more than 10 different areas, but only received life upgrades, maps and crystal skulls, as well as glossary entries (which are a really bad secret. Like Shin Megami Tensei V essences, they ruin the feelings of discovery and improvement by gathering many items that rarely benefit you.). It had dissatisfied me and felt unwise to open so many areas from the start. La-Mulana 1 is a non-linear game, but it is hard to miss out on the most essential items to solve puzzles in new areas if you do branch out. But in La-Mulana 2, you are punished for wandering and you find nothing. All could have been remedied if hint tablets did not gloss over the most vital items. They give multiple hints on some very obvious puzzles; actually inducing confusion. For example, a puzzle in Shrine of the Frost Giants tells you to fill in a pillar. There are TWO tablets for this, but I beat the game without finding what is meant by this. I thought I had made progress on the puzzle, until I had checked the initial state of the area and saw no difference. In the end, it likely hinted toward a breakable wall, which is illogical.

I present another problem. This game has gone through a lot of weird patches which cause hints and other elements of the game to become irrelevant. For example, I had thought I found an unintentional puzzle solution in Roots of Yggdrasil. I have learned that I did it correctly, but the puzzle seems to rely on stopping time. In fact, stopping time is hinted at WAY TOO EARLY, so I had begun thinking I access it earlier than in La-Mulana 1. This belief had caused SO MUCH PAIN. The Time Lamp takes LONGER to get than in La-Mulana 1. I had hoped they would introduce it earlier, as with the mantras. But instead, the early Time Lamp recharge stations are distractions. There are many recharge stations, yet no one would suffer with having only TWO. Time Lamp is necessary only two or three times, but the area design implies you need it many times.

Another reckless decision is naming an area Buried Fortress after there are references to digging into an entirely different nearby area. This had me miss vital clues for a long time as I focused on a whole area, not a room. And this is a super important item. I had to look at a guide or I would almost never have found the solution. Something very direct in theory becomes really disorienting with sloppy use of related words.

What started getting really inconsistent is writing, which really started dissipating mid- to late-game. Even during the most climactic story moments, character dialogue stagnates, even in main characters. Before the mid-point of the game, numerous dialogue changes happen. You can even find premature hints that should have been spread later. Some side characters also ignore events regarding them. For example, you meet Eurydice’s lover, but after meeting with Eurydice and solving her problem, the lover’s dialogue is unchanged. There are also characters with scant meaning in a game where talking to an NPC can be vital, which discourages you from a good behavior you develop. In fact, many NPCs in harder to reach areas do not say anything valuable.

Also worth noting that end-game songs are really messy. The last three songs pale in comparison to those in La-Mulana 1, which includes the final boss theme. Previous Guardians have many of the greatest songs.

The Guardian doors get annoying, but they also existed in the first game, more subtly. It stinks that every Guardian feels important with doors and treasures they open, but later become almost meaningless. It goes from 5 souls to 9 with nothing to open in between. No 5 soul doors give anything truly valuable, which again ruins the value of exploration. And the treasures past 5 souls also get meaningless.

Oh, and you may hope to influence the plot, but the only scene meaningful in this way prevents a logical solution from applying, which frustrates and cheapens the plot surrounding that character. Also, there are two secret bosses, but they only provide extra glossary entries with little to say.

Ancient Chaos and Dark Star Lord’s Mausoleum waste what seem like something to dispel by solving certain puzzles. They serve no purpose than being generic holy relics.

Lastly, this game draws from its predecessor too much. Many refreshing concepts are possible, but instead 80% of your possessions match the first game. Only one new weapon, and garb and item which act like more. The main weapons lose meaning too, since almost nothing requires specific weapons to open.

Quidjibo2021
Quidjibo2021

~ DIFFICULTY ~

🔲 Visual Novel
🔲 Easy
🔲 Normal
🔲 Hard
🔲 Dark Souls
✅ Dark Souls is for pussies compared to this. ( see notes )

~ GRAPHICS ~

🔲 MS Paint
🔲 Meh
🔲 Graphics don't matter in this game
🔲 Good
🔲 Beautiful
✅ Masterpiece ( see notes )

~ MUSIC ~

✅ Bad ( see notes )
🔲 Not special
🔲 Good
🔲 Beautiful

~ STORY ~

🔲 So bad, it's cringe
🔲 So bad, it's funny
🔲 Predictable
🔲 This game has no story
🔲 Well written
✅ Epic story

~ PRICE ~

🔲 Free
✅ Under-priced
🔲 Perfect Price
🔲 Could be cheaper
🔲 Overpriced
🔲 Complete waste of money

~ REQUIREMENTS ~

✅ You can run it on a microwave
🔲 Average
🔲 High end
🔲 NASA computer

~ LENGTH ~
🔲 Long enough for a cup of coffee
🔲 Short
🔲 Average
✅ Long (if u can even finish it)

~ FUN ~

🔲 I'd rather watch paint dry
🔲 Hard to enjoy
🔲 Repetitive
🔲 Enjoyable
🔲 Ride of your life
✅ Will replace your life

~ REPLAYABILITY ~

✅ It's a one-time experience
🔲 Only for achievements
🔲 If you wait a few months/years
🔲 Definitely
🔲 Infinitely replayable

~ Bugs ~
✅ Never heard of
🔲 Minor bugs
🔲 Can get annoying
🔲 The game is a terrarium for bugs

~ WORTH BUYING ~

🔲 No
🔲 Wait for sale
🔲 Yes
✅ YES!

~ SUMMARY ~

This game is the Metroidvania to end all Metroidvanias.

DIFFICULTY - The puzzles can get insanely hard. You won't exactly be asked to solve differential equations, but you will need to recall clues on the other side of the map from 10 hours ago to make solve some of them. The good news is there is actually an in-game 'app' to store most of these clues for you. You will feel like a crafty melon-farmer. Some will probably turn out to be too much for you (...idiot :3), but there is a dedicated wiki that can get you out of any jam. Said puzzles rely on pattern-matching, noticing missing objects, paying attention to the historical context provided by the various NPC-s, and solving riddles. While I really enjoyed the difficulty (thinking about these puzzles became my only excuse to stop playing), others might not. You do you.

The platforming and combat are equally challenging. The platforming in particular is punative: The character stops on a dime, which is frustrating and takes getting used to. There is no forward momentum when the character is jumping forward, either. There are also TONS of absolutely hilarious traps that you will not see coming. You will not be angry about the creativity of some of them. Others will frustrate. You will learn your lesson and keep coming back for more though.

MUSIC ~ The music isn't inspired imo, and there is one level in particular that will make you want to tear your ears off your head (or put on a podcast instead). The rest of it is at worst ok though.

GRAPHICS ~ The levels feature beautiful ascended PlayStation-era pixel art, but the best part of the game are the painted and animated NPC's. The style in which these characters are rendered come to define the game experience. There are a handful experiences in the game that leave a chilling impression. The totality of this experience convinced me to call the the Graphics a "MASTERPIECE"

condasoup
condasoup

just like la-mulana 1 (painful)

Large and in charge
Large and in charge

Amazing soundtrack, interesting puzzles, Tough boss fights. Overall a very good game.

Fireeye
Fireeye

Like its predecessor, La-Mulana 2 is a tough-as-nails Metroidvania that will screw you over six days to Sunday with floors that disappear under you, ceilings that come crushing down atop of you, and riddles that are akin to a thousand-part puzzle whose last missing piece seems just out of reach.

Bluntly put, this isn't a game for everyone. If you're the type that gets easily frustrated, you probably won't like it. If you're the type that can't be arsed to carefully write down and catalogize every last snippet of information the game gives you, chances are you won't like it, either. And if you're the type who ragequits after a boss mopped the floor with you ten times in a row - well, you get the idea.

But if you're a bona-fide masochist and actually enjoy having the game troll you at every opportunity, each solved riddle and each finished bossfight rewards you with a dopamine bomb shoved straight into your brain. The game's fantastic worldbuilding and story acts as the icing on the cake.

Daero
Daero

A true gem. If you enjoy puzzle solving and Metroid style game play then this is a must buy.

RefugeZero
RefugeZero

This game does not work at all. There are glitches reported years ago that still happen. If you are lucky enough to get past the game's loading screen, then you still can't play because the input is broken.