La-Mulana: The secrets of the ruins won't solve themselves!

By their report it's coming along steadily. They email out a brief note once every couple of weeks showing how the stage and puzzle design is coming along. Most recently they mentioned that they're in the process of working out how closely they want to stay to the original graphical style.
IMAGE(https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/002/788/282/5596f095523b03c1c1aac563b62fcf11_large.jpg)

Thanks, Cathadan! I like the look of those sprites. Having some more defined edges like that would help the overall look, I think. I liked La-Mulana's (remake) style but the level of detail made it difficult to distinguish between objects in the foreground and background.

IMAGE(https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/003/006/154/26412a801986b590d1a2189092ef4593_large.jpg)

Most recently they updated with news that they have settled on using a 3D engine to run the game which will allow them to work with more polished editor tools and do some cool graphical stuff like dynamic lighting. They promised that in the end you will still be seeing the same hand-crafted pixel art that you expect, just with a fancier game engine behind the scenes.

Cool!

Here's a post from the PlayStation blog about what's been added/changed in La-Mulana EX on Vita, and another one at Eurogamer. Looks like they've added a monster bestiary, cleaned up translations, added better signposting for puzzles, made a way to undo Hard Mode, and other things to make it more accessible but not easier. Trailer:

If I could wipe my memory and play a game over again, I think this would be it. I'm jealous of anyone who gets to play this version for their first time.

That's out next week along with Helldivers? I'm in for a big release week!

garion333 wrote:

That's out next week along with Helldivers? I'm in for a big release week!

I have a hunch this might be part of the PS+ package for March. Eurogamer lists an NA release day of 3/3 and EU date of 3/4 which is right in line with the PS Plus release for those regions. Also it's a good way to drum up awareness with La Mulana 2 scheduled for the end of the year.

I played around with the Vita version a bit last night. They added a neat character encyclopedia and bestiary, and the translations and signposting seem to be improved.

Pros:
Sharp controls - it feels snappier (literally in the case of the whip attack) than the PC version. The jumping is tight with better control.
Bestiary/Encyclopedia - not indispensable, but it adds to the flavor of the game while also providing some useful info.
Portable - this is a great game to be able to suspend and walk away from when you're stuck. This is a personal preference, but the small screen space of a portable often helps me focus on the games better. I often feel distanced and get disengaged from "big screen" games.
Slight puzzle improvements - I haven't really encountered this yet, but it's welcome as I bounced off this one originally.

Cons:
Visuals - the game is STILL in 4:3 only. While this is in part due to the construction of the bordered screen/level spaces, there isn't even a stretch option to fill the 16:9 space. The result is the visuals are tiny and bordered, and I could see it getting to be a strain on the eyes over a long session.

Still brutally tough - a personal taste thing of course. Hopefully the portable format will help me progress as I really like this game but always eventually flounder.

Glad to hear the Vita port is good! Feel free to ask for guidance when you get stuck, I can make it as non-spoiler-y as you want.

Anybody know what's up with La-Mulana 2 these days? I can't find anything in English - looks like they're showing it off at game shows in Japan, though.

They're still posting regular updates to their kickstarter page, including a playable alpha build in June. (I did not try playing it, as I prefer waiting until this sort of game is all done.) The most recent update reports that they're done with the majority of the map design and are moving on to tackle enemy design next.

I really want to show the progress we make every week, but it's getting difficult to decided what to show because anything can be a huge spoiler at this point.

The most recent Kickstarter updates really make it sound like they'll be announcing either the launch or a very near release date at their "La Mulana 2 LiveStream Party" tonight at 7:30pm PST. I'm pretty stoked.

danopian wrote:

The most recent Kickstarter updates really make it sound like they'll be announcing either the launch or a very near release date at their "La Mulana 2 LiveStream Party" tonight at 7:30pm PST. I'm pretty stoked.

And, yep, La Mulana 2 launching July 30th, 10am PST. .... might need a new thread!

So far it seems like more of the same, if a little bit gentler on the puzzles. Really enjoying returning to the weird sensibilities that feel almost entirely foreign from a 2018 perspective.

Cathadan wrote:

So far it seems like more of the same, if a little bit gentler on the puzzles. Really enjoying returning to the weird sensibilities that feel almost entirely foreign from a 2018 perspective.

I really liked the gameplay of the first one but was absolutely terrible at figuring out the puzzles, so I never really made much progress.

I'm really enjoying it so far as well. I would echo Cathadan, feels like more of the same, but that's no complaint. I have a (bad? good?) feeling that it's going to get more challenging and strange further on.

The first few hours of gameplay seem much easier on the sorts of puzzles you're asked to solve. I'm hoping they developed a better sense for what an actual difficulty curve is like in the years since the first one.

So far so good, 15 hours in. The bosses are scaling in difficulty, and the puzzles seem to be scaling in proportion to the number of places you need to look. I reached a point where I had to make some maps to keep track of everything, and in retrospect don't know how I got as far as I did without them. The areas are large and it doesn't become clear for a while how/if they're connected to each other.

My Annwfn Map for example. Spoilers for that area, naturally.

There's a La Mulana 2 Discord channel with spoiler-free and spoiler-full channels, including ones dedicated to recording all the tablet data, making maps, offering help, creating speedrun routes, etc.

I've been casually avoiding clues (except for one puzzle that turned out to be dead obvious and a jump where I was pressing the wrong key) but I've enjoyed finding out that people have encountered things in an entirely different order from me. For example, I happened to see someone ask a question about boss #2...and everyone in the thread was talking about a different boss #2.

danopian wrote:

My Annwfn Map for example. Spoilers for that area, naturally.

See, I thought I was completely done with that area but there's one detail on the map that is utterly baffling to me and I have no idea how you got it in that state. Clearly I missed something...

Cathadan wrote:

The first few hours of gameplay seem much easier on the sorts of puzzles you're asked to solve. I'm hoping they developed a better sense for what an actual difficulty curve is like in the years since the first one.

I'd guess they have. I mean, I'm not sure I'm the best yardstick, but some of the later stuff has been tricky. The early puzzles were signposted, but it ramped up and at this point I'm making connections between clues all over the place and inferring things from the lore. There's a bunch of stuff I've done that I would have sworn was impossible when I started.

Pretty much every time I've picked up the game to play I've managed to complete something, discover something new, or come to a new realization. I am now 60 hours into the game.

Are there time sensitive events in this one? Stuff you can't do after X amount of time has passed in the game?

Tyrian wrote:

Are there time sensitive events in this one? Stuff you can't do after X amount of time has passed in the game?

Not that I've encountered so far. It doesn't mean there aren't any--this is a complex game after all--but nothing has gotten locked out for me that I know of.

Maybe someone who knows more spoilers than me has a definitive answer?

Gremlin wrote:
Tyrian wrote:

Are there time sensitive events in this one? Stuff you can't do after X amount of time has passed in the game?

Not that I've encountered so far. It doesn't mean there aren't any--this is a complex game after all--but nothing has gotten locked out for me that I know of.

Maybe someone who knows more spoilers than me has a definitive answer?

Sure. There's just something about knowing there are things that you miss out on by playing slowly and/or methodically that gets to me. I am never good playing through games at higher speeds. Admittedly, it also messes with my completionist tendencies for there to be things I can miss out on simply through inaction.

I'm really curious as to what order people are solving the game in, because I'm pretty sure the route I took isn't the only one, or even anywhere close to the optimal one.

After defeating 5 guardians, here's the areas I've visited, in the approximate order I remember visiting them (mid-game spoilers, obviously):

Spoiler:

Yggdrasil
[Defeated Yggdrasil Guardian]
Divine Fortress
Valhalla
Annfwn
Corridor of Blood -> Malice
Immortal Battlefield
Icefire Treetop
Annfwn (again)
[Defeated Annfwn Guardian]
Frost Giants
Gate of the Dead
Dark Star Lord's Mausoleum
[Defeated Valhalla Guardian]
Takamagahara Shrine
Heavenly Labyrinth
Malice
[Defeated Immortal Battlefield Guardian]
Ancient Chaos
[Defeated Ancient Chaos Guardian]

If I could remember the order I picked up items in it'd probably be even more variation from other people's runs.

danopian wrote:

My Annwfn Map for example. Spoilers for that area, naturally.

See, I thought I was completely done with that area but there's one detail on the map that is utterly baffling to me and I have no idea how you got it in that state. Clearly I missed something...
[/quote]
Specifically:

Spoiler:

I have no idea what is going on with the chest in the lowest row, second from the right, in the room with the three pillars. I've thoroughly investigated that area, but I found something different there...