Finally...
My screenshots folder i used to solve puzzles:
That's 200 screens with NPC hints, tablet texts, random rooms, maps, one text file to solve an especially nasty Brahma puzzle, several MS Paint drawings to make sense of Dark Lord's Footsteps and many more.
It helped me to solve most of the puzzles, but as expected i still got stuck many times and this time i can blame the game. Several bosses are hidden behind very specific order of meeting and talking to NPCs which is not hinted nor can be guessed intuitively. One boss is also blocked from you unless you smack a rather unremarkable detail in the background for which there is ABSOLUTELY NO HINT whatsoever. That is bigger BS than anything in La-Mulana 1 times ten. Even infamously outrageous puzzle solutions like "take a knee", "are you a fool or a wiseman" and "dive deep into
a pot" were still clearly telegraphed.
The puzzle i especially enjoyed was Dark Lord's Footsteps because of how early it appears and how encompassing it is of the entire game both in space and time. And busting out pen and paper to decode this puzzle felt really good. I also like how the puzzle is designed to be bruteforceable partially but then you will still have to actually understand what you did and then it clicks.
Once again, La-Mulana 2 builds lore of a cosmic scale and adds entirely new elements to the story of Children of The Mother. Several stories are turned on their head -- like tale of the giants from 1 gets an entirely new reading. Unlike in some of the other games, La-Mulana's lore is actively used to solve puzzles and you have to learn all the details because there WILL be a quiz later. Just like LM1 demanded you to learn and decode 2 languages, LM2 will ask you the meaning of yuga eras, what mala prayer beads stand for, how do you get to and use the benben stone and the symbols of maiden custodians. Nordic, Hinduist, Egyptian, Jomon and many mythologies are once again mashed into a salad and put into puzzles.
Many bosses seems completely unaproachable and their attacks look undodgeable at first but once you figure out the patterns it gets easier. I know it sounds generic and applies to all games but seriously bosses in this game are extremely committed to their gimmick. It's complete "how do even attack?" or "how do i even not DIE instantly?!" at first.
As i reached end-game more rushedness and straight up bugs started to pop up. It seems like they simply gave up by the end and that's why the very last area of the game feels so half baked. I don't even mind that it doesn't have any proper puzzles -- by that time in the game i just want to finish it and just look the solutions up because i am too mentally exhausted.
I didn't even had the patience to approach the final boss properly -- i just semi-cheated the final boss using overpowered weapons and several status effects with health and damage boosts.
It's still a great game still unmatched in scope of insane non-linearity of it's map and the way how it teaches you it's insane titanic lore. But 1 did nearly everything better.
Music in 2 feels less inspired too, while nearly all tracks from 1 were genuine bangers 2 i think has less standout tracks. Some were still great: