NWR Interactive > Podcast Discussion
RetroActive 40: La-Mulana
Crimm:
This is the talkback for La-Mulana. We'll be doing this as part of the telethon on Dec 2. We hope you can join us, but feel free to post your thoughts here as well.
ClexYoshi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcJZNRYRIpw
(EDIT: For posterity's sake, it seems like Youtube embeds on this forum are dead. the link to the youtube video will be provided instead.)
I highly suggest any people venturing into the ruins for the first time watch this video to get you started and give you a basic understanding of how La Mulana operates. none of the information within is necessarily hard to figure out, but is a good foundation to get your exploration started on!
ejamer:
It seems silly you need to watch a "how to get started" video... but it really does help!
The only "problem" is that you give away quite a few of the easy puzzles - and the buzz you get from finding and solving puzzles is what this game is all about. Things only get harder from here on out. :)
La-Mulana is a weird kind of game. It's (sort of) an open-world puzzle game that thrives on challenging you to progress when faced with non-obvious puzzles. Read tablets and (literally) take notes about what you've just read, because the obscure hints might apply to puzzles found on that screen, or elsewhere in the level, or in a different level altogether.
Actions taken on one screen might have key effects elsewhere - how will you know? First, by listening. A key item that you find very early (see the video) will make a sound whenever a puzzle has been unlocked. Second, by observing carefully. Sometimes there are clues in the background art that suggest links between screens or locations.
One thing I did note: this game reminded me in some ways of Toki Tori 2 - another open world puzzle game that requires much of the player. Toki Tori 2 is much easier overall, and probably will appeal to a wider audience because of that... but both are absolute gems in my opinion.
ClexYoshi:
Yeah, I know, but like... the thing is, I've heard stories on this very forum of people missing the Shell Horn or the Grail and needing to restart the game because the remake stupidly allows you to save at any Grail Tablet at any time.
(For the record, the original Freeware game had you insert a Game Master Save cart into your MSX laptop, and then Xelpud would save your game. there was no hot spring, so often times you were restoring your HP by using the Grail to warp to the surface by pausing the game and hitting a number on the numpad to warp, equipping the Game Master cart, asking Xelpud to save the game, and then load the game because it VERY PURPOSEFULLY wouldn't save your current HP value, but rather start you out at full HP when you'd load the game. although the idea of needing to get an item to give you the right to save and having such rigid requirements seems like it's kinda obtuse, it very much also prevented situations where you'd ever save in a spot where you wouldn't be able to venture back out to the surface)
I could have made the walkthrough longer and covered the whole Guidance Gate, but I chose to highlight a good 5 or 6 puzzles to get folks started, and there's plenty of info left for them to discover on their own.
Like... I can see someone like James LOVING things like the infamous Room of Gems and Scales.
I actually never tried Toki Tori 2. I might have to check that game out.
ejamer:
--- Quote from: ClexYoshi on November 14, 2017, 04:44:12 PM ---...
I actually never tried Toki Tori 2. I might have to check that game out.
--- End quote ---
You should!
The two games are very different, but always leave me with a similar feeling. Maybe it's being able to try and progress in different areas when you get stuck, or the way that you have to identify where the puzzles are before trying to solve them, or the satisfaction of realizing something was available to you the whole time and just didn't realize it, or the way it's hard to ask for help because there is no set sequence and people approach the game differently. Maybe it's something else entirely. Maybe Azeke can comment, as I know he's a big fan of both games.
Toki Tori 2 is much easier, so maybe it wouldn't draw you in the same way. Only one way to know.
--
Do people speed run La-Mulana? It seems ripe for that kind of play... (says the guy who can only get maybe half-way through the game).
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