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I've heard nothing but good things about La Mulana, so i've been meaning to play it for a while. I just picked it up during the sale that coincided with their Kickstarter reveal, but i don't know when i'll get around to playing it.

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SOOO EXCIIITEEED.

 

I would also throw in Fez to the meets meets meets equation. In order to make sense of a lot of the puzzles you have to throw yourself into the game's mythology and logic. It will eat your mind and, if you're like me, make you paste the walls above your desk with crazy-person sticky notes. A lot of the puzzles are 90's adventure game level absurd, though.

 

edit: The link in the top post seems to be broken FYI

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I think the closest and best description of what La Mulana is is a 2D Archaeology-based Dark Souls.

I'm not wrong for perceiving a massive Castlevania influence in La Mulana, am i?

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So how bad at video games can I be and still enjoy La Mulana? If the meets-meets-meets of the game is Spelunky/Dark Souls/Fez, that seems a little scary to me (who is a baby apparently).

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I don't like La-Mulana. I keep trying to like it, but it's just blargh. It's upsetting. By all accounts it should be something I love. Maybe I just keep trying it at the wrong moment, when I'm not in the mood. I DON'T KNOW.

 

I think I'll give it another chance today.

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So how bad at video games can I be and still enjoy La Mulana? If the meets-meets-meets of the game is Spelunky/Dark Souls/Fez, that seems a little scary to me (who is a baby apparently).

 

The combat/platforming requires about the same level of skill as something like Megaman 9 in that it's fair and well designed but definitely taxing. There is a way to cheese some of the more difficult boss fights if you lose patience (which I can't deny I did a few times). By the way, there are a ton of boss fights in the game and they're pretty much all great.

 

As for the puzzles... that's another story. At best they make you pay extra attention to the level design and reward outside-of-the-box thinking. The game is full unique set pieces and art and almost all of it is significant in some way. But at their worst the puzzles are so obtuse that it's hard to imagine anyone solving them without stumbling into the solution via blind luck. I loved the game but it annoyed the hell out of me at some points. If you play, don't be afraid to peek at a walk-through now and then.

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I would say it's a bit more brutal than a Megaman game, but still doable. Also, yeah, most of the puzzle are just better if you skip them and use a walkthrough instead.

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I've been spending some time with it and i'm not sure how i feel about it. The jump mechanics are weird, but i dig the silly laptop conceit for the UI stuff.

It seems like a lot of the puzzles can be just straight up broken and failed?

 

Also, yeah, most of the puzzle are just better if you skip them and use a walkthrough instead.


Doesn't this mean they're just bad puzzles, then?

 



Soundtrack's rad though.

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Not, some just really require you to do your "homework" and figure out a riddle and few are actually very complex.

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As far as I can remember there are only a couple of puzzles that can be rendered unsolvable, and they're for optional items (more powerful versions of existing weapons). You can also get an extra shot at them via an easter-egg.

 

In the original version, there was an actual unsolvable block-pushing puzzle which was just put in to mess with players... they removed that for the re-make, but that shows you what kind of people the developers are.

 

Also the jump mechanics are really intuitive once you get used to them. The game as a whole controls very well.

 

If you get stuck at a specific point, I can toss you hints. That would probably be a better way of going through the game than using a walkthough.

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As far as I can remember there are only a couple of puzzles that can be rendered unsolvable, and they're for optional items (more powerful versions of existing weapons). You can also get an extra shot at them via an easter-egg.

 

There's been quite a few spots where it looks like i've done something out of order and broken a puzzle, but the puzzle's state is set permanently with no other solution presently in sight.

What am i missing here? Is there a way to reset the puzzles, or are the solutions much less evident than it seems? Am i simply missing the items i need?

 

Also the jump mechanics are really intuitive once you get used to them. The game as a whole controls very well.

 

Yeah, the game controls fine, i'm just used to having more air control.

 

Regarding the use of faqs, i'd at least like to see how far i can get without one, it would just be too dull to follow a walkthrough. The whole appeal of a game like this is the exploration, it would be pretty self-defeating if they made a game so filled with untelegraphed obscurities that it cannot be beaten without carefully following a guide.

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What am i missing here? Is there a way to reset the puzzles, or are the solutions much less evident than it seems? Am i simply missing the items i need?

 

It depends on how far into the game you are. You probably won't encounter a puzzle that can be rendered unsolvable until you've beaten at least one boss. If you describe the puzzle in a spoiler I can let you know.

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I think i got it figured out.

Just to be clear, there are events in the game that are just traps with no other purpose, right?

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Regarding the use of faqs, i'd at least like to see how far i can get without one, it would just be too dull to follow a walkthrough. The whole appeal of a game like this is the exploration, it would be pretty self-defeating if they made a game so filled with untelegraphed obscurities that it cannot be beaten without carefully following a guide.

 

I think I got maybe... halfway through without really relying on a walkthrough?

 

An additional annoyance is that while there are less than a handful of unsolvable "lost forever" type puzzles in the game, there are still a lot of puzzles that punish you harshly for guessing wrong or for not knowing the solution before you engage with them.

 

I thought the game was hardly a bore with a walkthrough, though. It's still very challenging. And as far as the puzzles/exploration go with a walkthrough, at the very least it's an impressive game just for how clever and intricate it is, even if it's impenetrable to most people.

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I think i got it figured out.

Just to be clear, there are events in the game that are just traps with no other purpose, right?

 

Oh yes.... oh god yes.

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How do you do the falling jumping puzzle in the inferno caverns? It's driving me mad!

 

More of a vague hint than a spoiler:

 

If you mean the narrow pit with jets of fire shooting out of the walls, you may want to come back after finding a certain item.

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I do. Thanks :) I decided to re-visit La-Mulana as it turns out I still had it installed on my computer. Now I remember why I stopped playing, because I'm stuck on bosses instead of puzzles.

 

Next question: How the flip do i cheese the fish boss? I think the other boss I'm having difficulty on is the minecart boss? Not so sure on that one.

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The cheesing process is the same for every boss because it is really just a super-fast way to farm money, which you use to fill up on pistol ammo.

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