Finally I reached La-Mulana. The adventure starts here!

[revlob]

La-Mulana was a Japanese freeware PC game originally released in 2005. As a text-heavy platform adventure, it failed to make any waves outside of Japan's nascent indie scene until translation group Aeon Genesis provided an English patch, making it accessible to a much wider audience. AG are the same group who gave us the first English translation for Cave Story, a game with which La-Mulana shares more than a little in common.

After going down well as a charming (if fiendishly difficult) romp through ancient temples and dangerous dungeons as an Indiana Jones lookalike called Lemeza Kosugi, La-Mulana was scheduled for a WiiWare remake through Cave Story's Publisher, Nicalis. Developer Nigoro took up the task of brushing up La-Mulana's 8-bit graphics and MSX sound, and preliminary screenshots and videos were promising, showing a more vibrant and detailed La-Mulana, yet one which did not compromise the vision and feel of the original.

It eventually landed on the Japanese WiiWare store in June of 2011, but a scheduled Western release was continually pushed back as Nigoro fought with Nintendo over lot checks, leading to frustrations that would more than once reveal arguments between the developer and their publisher. This culminated in an announcement earlier this year, that Nigoro were abandoning their plans to release the game on the digital platform, due to the total and complete drop off of WiiWare consumers. They had missed the boat.

That's a very brief summary of several years' worth of frustrated waiting. Every couple of weeks I would visit the Nigoro blog, almost always resulting in a reinforcement of my despair. But all was not lost; visitors to their blog were told soon after the cancellation announcement that Nigoro planned to return to their roots and release the game on the PC. Hope returned to the faithful that one day English-speakers might be able to play the remake of La-Mulana.

Finally our wait has come to an end, as Nigoro announced on Friday that the English version of the La-Mulana remake would be made available for sale via Playism on the 13th of July. Sure, it's not a Steam release, but I'll actually be able to buy the real game with actual real money.

The original is one of the best games I've ever played. My avatar, unchanged since I joined this forum, updated in light of this news, is a tribute to this. I'll leave you with these videos for now, but I'll be back with a review once it's out:

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Now that looks very nice!

[Klatrymadon]

This is excellent news! Between the La-Mulana remake and ZOOM's update of Phalanx, the Western WiiWare servers have had some pretty crushing no-shows. I just hope my piddling little laptop will be able to run it...

[deerokus]

I was just thinking today that I want to play this, and was wondering when it was coming out,

[Klatrymadon]

Damn, it seems I won't be able to play this, even though the compatibility-checking program said I would. The game opens up in a window and displays the Nigoro logo (and slight animation towards the end), but then the window goes black and loads nothing further...

[Dr Derek Doctors]

Install it to somewhere other than Program Files (you're on Vista/Windows 7, right? I had the same problem) or run it as administrator.

[Klatrymadon]

Ah, thanks, mate! Yeah, I'm on Windows 7. I am the administrator, but I'll try installing it elsewhere.

Ed: got it working! I can't configure my controller, though. There are more commands than I have buttons, and I can't set the remaining ones to the keyboard without it losing all the others...

[mogawoods]

Talk about an overlooked masterpiece. This game is incredible.

I've been gushing about its brutal difficulty in this month's PS+ thread and, true enough, its difficulty is the first thing that wows you - the unforgiving platforming, hidden traps, enemies purposefully placed not to kill you outright necessarily but to impede your progress as fiendishly as possible - but such brutality is just the start.

Soon you realise the game is even more wide open than your favourite 'Metroidvanias' and, unlike Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, Guacamelee etc, La-Mulana does not nudge you gently in the right direction, does not lay out its upgrades and 'key' items in a roughly guided sequence for you to follow like yarn in a maze. As part of its design (as opposed to sequence breaking) La-Mulana lets you reach areas, solve puzzles and defeat bosses in what appears to be myriad ways. And there is zero handholding and zero condescension. It treats you with a certain dismissive respect: figure it out for yourself.

Along the way there are hints which at first seem unhelpfully opaque but as you progress they begin to make a vague kind of sense and then - aaaaaaaaah, I see! - you're running through a particular room for the ninety-ninth time, its mystery long unsolved and assumed insoluble until you acquire the requisite item or key, but this time something makes you stop, re-read the clue on the wall, re-examine the layout, try an idea that just occurred to you, and you realise the solution to the riddle was under your nose since the very first time you entered the room, as was the new item you've just unearthed by solving it, which - oh shit - is probably the item you needed to solve the puzzle in that room that's stumped you for hours, and off you run to find out...

...and lose so much health on the way there (to enemies, to spikes, to poison, to lasers, to falling goddamn giants, to noooooooo what the fuck a TRAPDOOR?) that you can't decide whether to keep going or to turn back and seek out some health (a fucking adventure in itself), and get so overwhelmed by other distractions (Yup. That was a trapdoor. Where the fuck have I fallen now? Is that a switch? Where does that ladder lead? How do I get to that chest? Oh shit, is that a shop? - all of this in the same room) that you forget even your perilously low HP for a moment: a mistake, rllmuk. A mistake.

And on your journey back to familiar surroundings - fantasising all the way about those sweet, sweet hot springs of health restoration - you clamber up some innocent ladder and find yourself locked in a room whose walls are made of snake. Bumbling so into a new room and discovering you've just minced unprepared into a boss's lair is an exercise in accepting your mortality ('I'm fucking dead' your last thoughts as you watch the first few frames of the giant fish boss's Jaws impression) as well as a reminder of everything you've regretted in life: 'Why the fuck didn't I save?' And there are bosses and sub-bosses in abundance, and not a health bar in sight. Some require Demon's Souls levels of practice and perseverance. On your twenty-second attempt: 'A few more hits and he'll die. Another few? One more?' *boss starts brand new phase of moves* 'Fuuuuuck!'

I first played La-Mulana a couple of years ago on Steam but didn't give it much more than a few cursory plays. The jumping seemed uncontrollably floaty, the 4:3 was offputting, the assets seemed incongruous, the translation felt off - complaints I'm sure many rllmukers will have when they first boot this up on their Vitas (all soon prove unfounded). I feel suitably ashamed to have waited for it to be free on PS+ before respecting its potential to be a good game the way it respects my potential to be a good player, and while I remain decidedly shit, La-Mulana gets better each time I play it.

[revlob]

I'm so happy this game is still finding new players.

[mogawoods]

Kudos for trying to bring it to people's attention in 2012. Wish I'd heeded you then! I see a sequel was successfully kickstarted last year too - very exciting.

[Stanley]

Are glyph readers consumables? I.e. I need a new one to decipher every bit of writing/stone?

[revlob]

No, it's a sub-item you buy once and use as often as you like. You may need certain software loaded in your laptop in order to read certain tablets though.

[Stanley]

Ah ok, cos it's not translating everything I find.

[Vemsie]

Excellent write-up Ann. And the good news is that a sequel is on the way as well.

[revlob]

The sequel to the best Metroidvania that nobody ever played finally has a release window! La Mulana 2 is out this Summer!

 

 

Sadly I think nobody will play the sequel either, unless they can get it on the Switch. I'll be there day 1 though.

[Wroth]

I played the first, absolutely loved the puzzles and the computer stuff, but hated the combat which really put me off completing it. That trailer looks to be pretty combat focused too so I probably won't be getting this one, but as you said, if either are released for switch, I'll probably go for it!

[BadgerFarmer]

I finished the first one on Vita. But TBH I needed a guide for most of the last third or so. A lot of stuff was too cryptic or too well hidden for me, and it's hard to experiment sometimes when things are relentlessly trying to murder you.

 

It's wonderful how much stuff is packed in it, and how rewarding it can be at times, but when you come to a dead end and realise the next bit of progress could be absolutely anywhere on the massive map, it's an exhausting prospect to revisit areas for the 5th time just to see if you can stumble across another route.

 

And I'm a fan of limited hand-holding in games, but I think you've got to narrow it down a bit. It was almost brilliant though.

[Wroth]

 

God damn, it's still looking awesome, even though I know I'll get stuck on a fight or platforming sequence 2 hours in and stop playing.

[mogawoods]

I've managed to avoid pretty much all footage other than a screen or two from a couple of years ago. I am utterly, utterly hyped. Playism hasn't sent me my preorder code yet though. 

[stefcha]

I found La Mulana to be absolutely impenetrable, and whoever decided that you couldn't jump off a ladder while climbing up or down it should have criminal proceedings brought against them. Doubly so, if they've not introduced any improvement in this 13-years-later sequel.

 

Actually there's a sort of interesting question, how long is the longest gap between original and sequel? Shenmue 2 to 3 beats this, but there must be more. 

[deKay]

11 hours ago, stefcha said:

 

 

Actually there's a sort of interesting question, how long is the longest gap between original and sequel? Shenmue 2 to 3 beats this, but there must be more. 

 

Kid Icarus 2 to Kid Icarus on the 3DS was 20 years.

[deKay]

Oh, and Bubsy 3D to Woolies Strike Back was 21!

[BadgerFarmer]

5 hours ago, deKay said:

Oh, and Bubsy 3D to Woolies Strike Back was 21!

Not long enough.

[DC]

Having just completed Ori and being reminded that Metroidvanias are THE BEST type of game, this is timely. I got it on PS+ so will try and make some headway into this. It feels like an old NES game based on the 15 I've played so far but compelling in its challenge.

[mogawoods]

Quick first impressions an hour or so in. Spoiler warning for La-Mulana fanatics. (Er, that would be just me and revlob, then.)

 

I can't believe La-Mulana 2 actually, finally exists and I'm actually, finally playing it.

 

Exploring familiar locations with a crazy new twist is soooo good.

 

Music is La-Mulana as fuck. That main theme! 

 

NPC art when you visit shops is sublime.

 

Visuals loyal to the original but with immediately noticeable modern interface.

 

Scrolling screens. 

 

NPCs hanging around in the levels. 

 

Shitloads of lore already. Nerding out so much.

 

Jumping is completely different - you can now change direction mid-air. First worrying sign.

 

In La-Mulana, it took me hours and hours to figure out how to get the Holy Grail. In L-M2, an NPC straight up tells you how to get it, and you possess it within about 15 minutes of starting the game. Second worrying sign.

 

Xelpud doling out maps without you having to find them, or solve puzzles for them, or even pay for them. Wat. Third worrying sign. (Edit: OK, no longer worrying. Now I get what was happening. )

 

Maps are still terrible and as user-unfriendly as ever. A relief.

 

OK, intro done. Loved it. Now to get stuck in to the game proper. I haven't pulled an all nighter in years. I just might tonight.

[revlob]

I've started!

 

I love the sprite work in these games. It looks like 2 has even more little background details than the first, like the way dust falls from mechanisms, or how lights flicker and cast a glow on their surroundings.

 

The intro is a little more accessible, but it's not long before I'm having to rely on things I learnt in the previous game, like how software works and how to use the scanner to read signs. Anyone who hasn't played the first is going to have quite a learning curve.

 

Already been insta-killed by a trap. Love it.

 

[mogawoods]

I've been insta-killed by a few traps too, and the early sub bosses are destroying me. I really hope this is the balance the sequel continues to keep - make the interface and tutorials more accessible if absolutely necessary, but keep the gameplay as brutal and unforgiving and unfathomable as ever.

[easternheath]

Anyone still playing this? I'm completely hooked, as per the original game. Music, difficulty and meticulous detail all present and correct.

 

I've gone down multiple winding paths, opened up five or six new areas, beaten a few bosses. Got two ankh keys in the bag but can't reach any more ankhs. Have one sigil but can't find the second. I've murdered a squirrel three times. Filled three pages in my notebook in very small handwriting with tiny hand-drawn maps. I'm completely stuck but always have five things in my mind to check. Frustrated and swearing and living the dream. This is brilliant!

[revlob]

Ha ha!

 

I'm two bosses in too, @easternheath. Found the second sigil today though. I've got my own grail diary I'm filling with maps and notes, it's proven helpful to keep track of routes I can't access yet. Loving the difficulty, it's just the right side of brutal.

[easternheath]

Difficulty level is perfect so far, I'd agree.

 

I couldn't begin to keep track of the layout of the ruins in my head, let alone the granular detail for puzzle solving. I'd say keeping a diary is essential.

 

I've still not found sigil 2, but I have uncovered a bunch of new areas, some of which seem absolutely savage! I've also started re-checking the tablets and skeletons from the first few areas. I love the way fragments of the story stitch together as you gather evidence, it's so satisfying. 

 

This game is great. The best sequel to a Rick Dangerous clone ever.