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

[revlob]

This isn't a spoiler as such, but a warning I'd have appreciated:

 

Spoiler

If you encounter an NPC who wants to charge you for something (and I'm not talking about shops), save your game before spending that cash! Money is just as tight in this game as it was in the first, so if you're parting with it, make sure you know why!

 

Nothing a more careful player wouldn't already do, but something that cost me a bit of time unnecessarily.

[Lovelyman]

On 30/07/2018 at 17:41, DC said:

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.

Hollow Knight is better than Ori imo. 

[DC]

5 hours ago, Mrs Horribleman said:

Hollow Knight is better than Ori imo. 

So I’ve heard. I need it to come out on PS4, Vita or Xbox.

[mogawoods]

The area where you find the claw is fucking brutal. My god. I spent so long tonight trying at least to find the area's save point, but when I finally found it I couldn't bloody get to it. 

 

I was a tiny bit worried the game was going to be too easy, but nope! It's destroying me again and again: lots of fiendishly placed environmental hazards - that La-Mulana domino effect of jumping carelessly into a flying enemy, landing on a spike, bouncing off it straight onto a trapdoor and falling into a pit of fire and so on - and a good few unexpected boss rooms so far that have disposed of me in seconds.

 

I have five main areas open to me so far, not including Surface or the original ruins. I have no real idea which I should be focussing on, so I'm taking my time with pen and paper and mapping them out like a good little cartographer.

[mogawoods]

Make that seven areas open to me now. 

 

Oh wow, I think this seventh area I've discovered is intended to be the second area you discover. No wonder I was getting my ass kicked. 

[revlob]

19 hours!

 

That's how long it took me to locate the third boss. In that time I've unearthed all kinds of weapons and items, and maxed out the storage in the text app. I was about to give up hope and shamelessly seek advice online, but I finally located the one thing I'd overlooked this evening. Props to anyone sticking with this, doubly so if you're doing it without assistance.

[easternheath]

I'm still playing, loving it so far. Kicked myself so hard yesterday. I'd been way over-thinking a puzzle in an early-ish area which held an essential item to progress, 20 hours later and I know the rest of the dungeon like the back of my hand, got more weapons than I know what to do with and got a really really helpful weapon upgrade but i'm still only two bosses deep! So I went back seven or eight areas and under-thought a bit and lo and behold... some much needed forward progression and a good, hard kick in my over-thinking head. They totally set me up for that fall as well, the devious swines.

 

I came very close to peeking at gamefaqs as well @revlob, still plugging away as nature intended, for now...

 

 

 

 

 

[revlob]

Four bosses down, and I've just discovered the double-jump, which opens up a number of additional routes to explore.

 

I've encountered a bug which may have screwed my progress though, I've logged it with the developer and hopefully I don't have to go back to an earlier save. Just in case anyone wants to know:

 

Spoiler

It's regarding mantras.

 

Spoiler

Specifically, the Vindr mantra. When I scanned the mantra tablet, I was in the middle of a screen transition (I was falling). I think that messed up the acquisition of the mantra, so it's not listed in my mantra app, even if I re-scan it. So don't scan mantras while you're falling!

 

 

[revlob]

The grail diary continues to be filled with the desperate scrawls of an explorer unsure whether each note he encounters is the final piece of some grand puzzle, or mere graffiti from the ruin's denizens.

 

I've moved on considerably since my last post, but my progress has halted somewhat, as I've encountered a second progress-stymying bug. The good news is that the developers are aware of both issues and are working to rectify them as soon as possible. There are one or two avenues of investigation left for me to pursue in the meantime, but I do hope we get a patch soon. There are some wonderfully tricky puzzles in this game, however they have a habit of only revealing their solutions once I've started to feel a little exasperated, so removing these blockers would give me some relief.

[mogawoods]

Oh my god.

 

 

 

Coming to Switch, PS4 and Xbox One 'early 2020'. £60 including delivery on the NISA Europe store. I would have made a new thread but approximately two of us care. @revlob basically. 

[mdn2]

I posted about it in the Switch thread. 

[mogawoods]

Today I completed La-Mulana.

 

I first dabbled with the game in 2013 or thereabouts, but didn't make a serious start until 2015. From then until now, across PC, Vita and now Switch, I've racked up maybe a couple of hundred hours playing it, overcoming its bosses and traps, plundering its treasures, mapping its many regions physically with pen and paper, and, above all, penetrating its most cryptic of riddles and mysteries, with a smidgen of additional clues from revlob when things got really dark and hopeless. It's been a part of my life for so long it's going to be weird not having new ideas, attempts, frustrations and breakthroughs, no new notes to write or maps to draw.

 

I'm going to write something more substantial about what makes this game absolutely peerless in the varied ways it challenges the player, but for now, seven years after starting, I can rest. 

 

Or not: now there's an entire sequel to get stuck into. I dipped into La-Mulana 2 very briefly on release but shelved it for whichever future date I'd complete La-Mulana 1. I don't think it can possibly live up to its predecessor, one of the greatest achievements in the medium, but maybe it can come close. And that would be quite fucking something.

[Paulando]

45 minutes ago, ann coulter said:

Today I completed La-Mulana.

 

I first dabbled with the game in 2013 or thereabouts, but didn't make a serious start until 2015. From then until now, across PC, Vita and now Switch, I've racked up maybe a couple of hundred hours playing it, overcoming its bosses and traps, plundering its treasures, mapping its many regions physically with pen and paper, and, above all, penetrating its most cryptic of riddles and mysteries, with a smidgen of additional clues from revlob when things got really dark and hopeless. It's been a part of my life for so long it's going to be weird not having new ideas, attempts, frustrations and breakthroughs, no new notes to write or maps to draw.

 

I'm going to write something more substantial about what makes this game absolutely peerless in the varied ways it challenges the player, but for now, seven years after starting, I can rest. 

 

Or not: now there's an entire sequel to get stuck into. I dipped into La-Mulana 2 very briefly on release but shelved it for whichever future date I'd complete La-Mulana 1. I don't think it can possibly live up to its predecessor, one of the greatest achievements in the medium, but maybe it can come close. And that would be quite fucking something.

Lovely post. What kind of game is it exactly? Is it an all-out puzzle platformer, or would you say it’s a mix of genres?

[mogawoods]

1 hour ago, Paulando said:

Lovely post. What kind of game is it exactly? Is it an all-out puzzle platformer, or would you say it’s a mix of genres?

 

I've read it described as a Mystroidvania which is quite accurate, as the game weaves all the fiendish obscurity of Myst's puzzles into a punishing 2D Metroidvania template. Punishing, as in, it might take you hours to figure out the solution to get into a particular room (there are hundreds of rooms) only to discover it's inhabited by an extremely difficult sub-boss, which, after dozens of attempts, you finally manage to kill, only for a fucking booby trap to kill you on the way out of the room, before you've managed to save. There are hundreds of written clues and drawings scattered around the ruins helping you to unearth items, tools, weapons - oh, and not forgetting software for your in-game laptop  - that will further your navigation of the ruins. I don't think I've seen an Indiana Jones movie the whole way through, but it's probably also accurate to describe the game as Indiana Jones: The Metroidvania. There are a few references to the movies in the game, I believe. I'd describe it as a 2D archaeology sim with a Dark Souls approach to combat and narrative delivery, but devised over a decade before Dark Souls existed.

[mogawoods]

I started La-Mulana 2 properly last night. I'm nerding out over absolutely everything. Lore for miles, NPCs everywhere, superb glossary art. The music! It's a bit on the easy side so far but part of that is being so familiar with the mechanics from the original.

 

This time I'm going digital with the note-taking and map-making. This way I can colour code for easy reference and do electronic searches of key words when I get stuck. Somehow I've already written over 2000 words of notes, and the first five maps are coming together bit by bit. Examples of my doodlings for one early area:

 

 

 

If only I took as much pleasure in researching real life archaeology or science stuff that's actually fucking useful. 

 

When I'm done I might put together a collection of almost-blank map templates, one for each area, to be filled in by anyone curious to play but put off by the time consumption of cartography from scratch. Because more people need to give these games a proper go.

[Cyhwuhx]

Currently going through La-Mulana after picking up both 1+2 on the PS Store sale. I did play it on the Vita a bit, but that was when the Vita was slowly dying and I got sidetracked by the Switch et al.

 

Delightful to be playing it on the big screen now. Determined to not be using any guides. Should be fun!

[revlob]

@mogawoods!!! I missed your accomplishment because I was taking a break from the forum at the time, but well done! That final boss, eh?

 

I also missed out on that limited edition annoucement, so that's just been purchased even though I bought La-Mulana 2 in a sale just last week.

 

Love your note-taking. I've re-started 2 on the Switch, and have been copying my own old notes into a fancier 'grail diary':

 

 

Yours are a lot more complete than mine, but I'd previously gone much further on the PC, before my save was crippled by a progress-blocking bug Once I get back to where I was and run into those walls again, I'm sure I'll be back to scrawling down every little detail again.

 

Thanks for bumping, @Cyhwuhx. I love these games.

[dug]

Thanks to this thread I've downloaded the first one. Had a quick bimble around last night and explored the area outside the ruins and the first area of the ruins. Found what looks suspiciously like a boss room, but there's no boss in it. I got enough money to buy all the stuff from the shops in the village. Found the shuriken in the ruins.

 

Any tips for beginners?

[revlob]

5 minutes ago, dug said:

Thanks to this thread I've downloaded the first one. Had a quick bimble around last night and explored the area outside the ruins and the first area of the ruins. Found what looks suspiciously like a boss room, but there's no boss in it. I got enough money to buy all the stuff from the shops in the village. Found the shuriken in the ruins.

 

Any tips for beginners?

 

Don't be ashamed if you need to look up a walkthrough if you're struggling.

 

It's a game that's designed to make you feel like Indiana Jones, whipping bats and solving ancient riddles, but it's not your average metroidvania. Progress is gated not just by having the skill to beat bosses, and access to the right items, but also by solving a series of fairly obtuse puzzles. You'll need to read the information on tablets with your scanner to piece together the answers. Generally, for each area you'll have to have found your way into the boss room, and discovered the ankh jewel required to shatter the ankh there.

[Wiper]

I'm finally planning to give the Mulanas a go, so a couple of quick questions:

 

1. would I be as well starting with LM2 as 1?

2. should I be getting some graph/plotting paper ready?

[revlob]

14 minutes ago, Wiper said:

I'm finally planning to give the Mulanas a go, so a couple of quick questions:

 

1. would I be as well starting with LM2 as 1?

2. should I be getting some graph/plotting paper ready?

 

Despite being games all about delving into their lore and history, there isn't really a huge amount of narrative that you'd be missing out on if you decided to start with 2. The sequel is set after the events of the first game, but aside from having experience with the old-fashioned platforming physics, playing 1 first won't convey a lot of advantages.

 

Personally I'd recommend starting with 1. The gameplay experiences are quite similar, and 2 doesn't introduce much in the way of new mechanics, but the sequel does branch out in crazy ways much earlier than the first game does, which makes it much harder to solve puzzles in my opinion.

 

As for needing graph paper, unless your memory is photographic, there's no way you'd complete one of these games without taking notes.

[dug]

I like this. Making some progress. Done three areas so far, the first one, mausoleum of giants and the sun temple. Killed the bosses, that is. Don't know if that means I really have 'done' those areas. Now doing the Spring, but can't seem to make any progress, it's all dead ends. I think I need a helmet. I've found the Twin Labyrinth, but that just goes round in a circle. Also have the Endless Corridor and Inferno Cavern to look at but haven't done anything in those yet.

[caseycoo]

Does anyone know if the PS Vita version of this has been taken off the store?  I know you can only browse now through the Vita's app, but it's not showing up there from what I can see

 

[dug]

Well, I'm stuck. 

 

Explored the inferno Cavern and found a snazzy Cape that lets me swim in the lava. Ideal. Also found a sub weapon that shoots fire straight upwards. Nice. But the only other thing I can find is an entrance to the twin labyrinths that takes me to a griffin or something which is rock fucking hard. 

 

But it seems to be the only way open to me. Every other path leads to dead ends which seem to require items/abilities I don't have yet.

 

Time to git gud, I suppose.

[revlob]

I'm impressed you've gotten that far already!

[dug]

2 hours ago, revlob said:

I'm impressed you've gotten that far already!

 

Thanks! 

 

I've cheated though. 

 

I looked up where to get the helmet. And before I had looked it up I would have sworn that I'd already looked there. I guess not though. Now I'm banging my head against the boss of the Spring. He's a tough blighter, but I'm going to get him.

 

Full confession: I looked at a hint guide after I had done the first area, which said it was highly recommend to get the 

Spoiler

Holy grail

 

before continuing. From the room name it was obvious which chest it was in but I couldn't figure out how to open it.

 

Spoiler

Well, you have to push the block onto the floor plate, clearly, but it looks impossible to get onto the correct side of the block. After aimlessly trying stuff for ages I gave up and looked it up. You have to go to the other side of the map and through a wall and it warps you there Pac Man style! How the balls was I supposed to work that one out? The only way of solving that one legit is to accidentally stumble across it, surely?

 

But then in the hint guide it says that the game manual straight up tells you how to do that, so I don't feel so bad about cheating there. And the resulting item is incredibly useful, to the point of it being unthinkable to me to not have it now. I think I would have given up by this point without it.

 

Anyway, time to smash Mr Hippofishthing and crack on.

[dug]

I've found the bronze mirror and discoverd what it does.

 

Spoiler

Are you shitting me?

 

Are you telling me that every area in the game has a mirror version?!

 

I thought I was making progress, but I've barely started.

 

[dug]

This is quite a game, isn't it? I've been dipping in and out over the last few weeks and both have and have not made progress. Have not made progress in that I haven't killed any more bosses since my last update (bosses that you need ankhs for, that is. I've killed several sub bosses). But I have made loads of other progress, finding new areas and new items. 

 

The biggest breakthrough I think was finding the feather 

Spoiler

which lets you double jump.

That really opened things up.

 

Most recent breakthroughs are solving the puzzle to enter Eden (although I can't seem to actually get anywhere in Eden yet) and finding the computer software which allows you to warp to the areas you previously couldn't warp to.

 

Spoiler

The mirror areas, that is. Incidentally it was a piece of game software which allows you to do that. I have two other pieces of game software but they don't seem to do anything. Do they actually have uses or are they red herrings?

 

Still haven't killed that griffin which I mentioned a few posts ago. Now that I have stronger weapons and an item which allows you to attack faster (not to mention quite a bit more health), I think I'll have another bash at it.

[revlob]

For metroidvanias, these games are super-stingy with gating items. I'm ten hours into the sequel and I've only just acquired the first item which expands the basic moveset.

[dug]

I've found the boss of Inferno Cavern! And I wish I hadn't; it's absolutely kicking my nuts in. 

 

I even looked on the hint guide on Steam, and the first hint is "honestly, it's not one of the hardest bosses." Well, that's me told.