Topic: RetroActive 40: La-Mulana

[ClexYoshi]

...
I've unlocked the Palenque and Tiamat battles now, and am getting ready to for those battles.
...

All guardians down!


Finding out what the software combination was to increase damage from my Axe was crucial to beating Tiamat (given my general lack of skill or tactics for the battle), but Palenque was maybe one of the easiest bosses in the game.


Now I just have to figure out what to do next.  There are a bunch of clues left to decipher, many of which are already recorded in my laptop, and a couple of areas I haven't finished off (Chamber of Extinction and Tower of Ruin).

ah, yes, good.

Honestly? I'd take Azeke's advice on the wedges.

Also, although this isn't important to beating the game at all, There IS an item you permanently lose access to now that all the bosses are defeated. it's literally just a piece of software that combines with MIRACLE.EXE to make the weapon fairy come 100% of the time when you touch a fairy point.

If you haven't been back to the Shrine of the Mother, you may want to do that, since you have to reclaim the Grail Point there.

[ejamer]

Pretty sure I've got all the software - so not worried about that.

Got through the wedges pretty easily. Spent some time trying to figure out how the compasses work, but didn't quite there there. Decided it was faster and easier to just run through rooms spamming the mantras until all wedges popped. The clues helped a lot for getting through this quickly.

Got to the True Shrine of the Mother and was a bit confused at first. Thought I had to do something to remove the tentacles, but then realized they were all supposed to be there. Quickly got to the final boss, but after four or five attempts haven't been able to win that fight yet.  Feels like I'm getting close though - she was spamming boss moves, but I ran out of useful sub-weapons (flares) after she got Tiamat's attack pattern and ended up dying.


Is there like a Metroid ending or something to this game?  Mulbruk told me there is an exit from her room, so I strongly suspect that I need to go back there after beating the boss... (Don't actually tell me.  With any luck, I'll have actually finishing this crazy game over the weekend. Really looking forward to it.)

[ejamer]

Wasn't a weekend finish, as gaming time was in short supply... but managed to finish off La-Mulana yesterday before bed. Total playing time was roughly 26 hours, which seems ok for the first time through the game.

Ending sequence was very decent. I liked how the levels changed as you were running through to simulate collapsing ruins, also altering the paths you were able to take (mostly in a helpful way except for one point close to the Temple of the Sun entrance where I almost got crushed by a huge block of falling debris). Glad I had read the messages from Mulbruk and remembered her talking about an exit - would've been frustrated if I had to go through the entire boss battle a second time.

My only regret? I started a new game afterwards, thinking it might be a good way to lower my total playtime with the knowledge/experience I've got now. Then I accidentally saved over the "just before the final boss" save. The only proof I've got of my progress is the PSN trophy, and it looks like I'm not going to be going back in to try and unlock any other trophies for a while. Oops.

Anyway, still love the game. Yes, it's got some moments of obscure or punitive BS... but it's also got a lot of fun exploration and clever ideas. It's also one of those games that you can gain a certain type of mastery over, which feels rewarding and empowering in a second run-through (even if the first run isn't as enjoyable). Super glad there was a retroactive that encouraged me to go back and spend more time with the game.

[azeke]

Congrats on completing La-Mulana!

Don't do Hell Temple!

[ejamer]

Congrats on completing La-Mulana!

Don't do Hell Temple!

I was going to do the Hell temple, but my save file was lost. That's the only reason I'm skipping it.


(Hint: That's NOT the only reason I'm skipping it... although I might've tried the first room or two if I didn't accidentally lose my save. I'm content with just beating the game for now.)
 

[azeke]

So. I discovered that there is Randomizer tool for La-Mulana yesterday...



Yeah, it's insane.

Freebie chests that previously had just maps and i just skipped can suddenly have things like Dimensional Key of Pochette Key (why are these in Gate of Guidance lol):



Items are shuffled around not only in the chests but also in the shops, i bought Flailed whip in the shop in Gate of Guidance.

That's super neat.

Too bad i can't find reader so i can't teleport even if i did found holy grail.

[ejamer]

Randomizer is neat... but isn't there a high possibility of making the game impossible this way?  Or is it not truly random, so you'll be assured to get everything you need in the chests available?

[ClexYoshi]

As someone who JUST got into Link to the Past Randomizer... This is something I'm interested in, but like... not now. This does seem like it's a fun way to replay, if only they keep Glyph Reader, Hand Scanner, and the grail nice and early because of how vital those are to completion and... having any sort of good time at all. Still, early game Flail and Fairy Clothes is pretty nice, Azeke!

[azeke]

Randomizer ensures that game is still completable because it checks every seed during a rather lengthy shuffling process.

Also you can set up Holy Grail, Hand Scanner available from the start among many other options:



You can also set up Hard mode from the start, and many other features: like activating warp points by just walking by (no need to scan). It's basically a game "trainer" as well.

[ejamer]

Oh wow, that's pretty awesome. 


Guessing you'd want to be pretty familiar with the game before playing this way, otherwise it would be hard to know what different items are used for. However, this would make the game a really interesting challenge. Some parts could be extra challenging if the life jewels that extend heath are randomly put in late-game areas. Of course, you could be grabbing more powerful weapons and tools early on if that's the case...


Side note:  My physical copy of La-Mulana (Vita) arrived last night. Pretty awesome, but I've wrapped it for Christmas so won't get to open right away.

[ClexYoshi]

yeah, that's good news. I think the Link to the Past Randomizer could use one or two of those options. as is, the only item you can set up to be in a set position in that is the regular sword.

Still, yeah, you'd have to have knowledge of all the money chests at the very least, as I imagine items can get shuffled among those as well. It SOUNDS like it'd be a really fun time gien that the game's open-ended structure probably supports it way better than even LTTP does.

[pokepal148]

Super mega bump.

I picked this up on Vita and I've been running through it. This is a game that was born to be played on a portable and while I try to avoid saying "This game needs to be on Switch" because well every game needs to be on switch... This game needs to be on Switch.

Portable La Mulana is one hell of a drug.