So yeah, I've been waiting a while for this. Sure it's on Steam PC, but I have a zillion PC games, I decided to show the Wii some love.
Nothing fancy, but I think we could use a thread to discuss it.
I know very little about the game, besides that it's an archeological metroidvania game, supposedly hard as heck, and it took years to make this WW release happen, so we ought to support it. (Especially since it's bound to be the last notable WW release, period.)
I'm still very early in the game, but it's an absolute joy to explore the ruins and learn about the lore of the world. La-Mulana doesn't hold your hand at all and is a challenging experience right from the start. Great stuff!
I would have picked this up already, but I hate dealing with the Wii Points system. 1000 minimum. Why can't I just add the 300 I need on top of my existing 700? Argh.
You can buy one in one of the tents right at the beginning. If I'm not mistaken, it should cost you roughly 10G. You'll find tons of weights in the ruins later, too.
Buy this game folks, this is a true Metroidvania type game. The game doesn't fuck about, but it's never impossible or unfair (so far anyway). I've played for about 2-3 hours so I'm not exactly an authority on the game yet, but it's clear a lot of love was put into this. It's open-world, challenging and you get a real sense of exploration travering the ruins. So far all the items I've found actually serve a purpose, so actively seeking them out is a must.
Borderlands 2 kinda got in the way of me really plunging deep into this for now, but La Mulana is much more my type of game and could end up high on my game of the year list.
Bought a couple of days ago. Didn't even knew it was released until i looked at the shop and searched, since there's no advertising for it. :/
But i'm founding it to be a really great adventure game. I'm just one hour in and i'm in love already. It could be a little easier, cause i'm having a really hard time, though. Hehe
Already beat the PC version (the freeware original too) and I cannot stress how much I'd recommend this game, despite having a couple sections with bullshit puzzles.
Here's a couple protips for newcomers:
- PRIORITY: The first area of the ruins - Gate of Guidance - has the holy grail. You need this. It'll let you teleport between scanned checkpoints anytime, from anywhere (except during bosses and in a certain area). It's
behind a fake wall next to a skeleton
. This is going to save your ass all the time.
- Additionally, some checkpoints won't appear on the grail teleport menu because of reasons. You need a special software for that to happen - it's
mirai.exe
. I don't think they ever tell you what it does ingame but spoilered just in case.
- Scan everything. Stone tablets, skeletons, background items, etc. That's how you'll get clues and solutions to puzzles. It helps to take notes. Room names (displayed on the map) are important too.
*Exception: the one tablet that says you'll get cursed if you scan it a second time - this one triggers hard mode on and you do not want hard mode on.
- Hidden shit everywhere. If the room doesn't have one of those puzzle safeguard eyes hit every wall, floor and ceiling tile. Sometimes there's even invisible pedestals.
- On that note, always carry at least 20 weights with you.
Sort of. They fill your EXP bar and once it's full you get your HP back. It's not reliable at all until you get a treasure that doubles the gain ratio, and even so going back to the hot spring in the village is the best/only choice most of the time.
- Scan everything. Stone tablets, skeletons, background items, etc. That's how you'll get clues and solutions to puzzles. It helps to take notes. Room names (displayed on the map) are important too.
Oh, additionally: save often in several slots. There's a couple irreversible* puzzles that'd net you optional but incredibly useful weapon upgrades and get all of the HP upgrades before defeating the eight main bosses.
*You can reset them at the very end of the game but by then the items will be pointless.
The music is pretty damn awesome too. There's a handful of compositions that get arranged differently into several tracks (especially noticeable in boss themes) to great success.
It's a shame Wiiware size limitations (?) made them drop the quality of the instrumentation. Oh, it's still very good, but a few of them lack punch. On the PC port you can simply drop a folder with the original MSX-like soundtrack or the incredible official remixed album and it'll work.
I would have picked this up already, but I hate dealing with the Wii Points system. 1000 minimum. Why can't I just add the 300 I need on top of my existing 700? Argh.
I didn't find this thing before falling into the trapdoor in the Mausoleum of Giants, so now I'm kinda stuck in there, and can't get back to the surface. I fell into the room where a statue is holding up the ceiling, and there's a weight up in the left corner. There's a ladder in the upper right corner that should make me escape, but a wall in the adjacent room stops me from getting to the ladder. Is there a way to break down that wall?
I can go into a couple other areas: The Twin Labyrinth and the Endless Corridor. Is it possible to get back to the surface via these places?
There's a ladder in the upper right corner that should make me escape, but a wall in the adjacent room stops me from getting to the ladder. Is there a way to break down that wall?
I didn't find this thing before falling into the trapdoor in the Mausoleum of Giants, so now I'm kinda stuck in there, and can't get back to the surface. I fell into the room where a statue is holding up the ceiling, and there's a weight up in the left corner. There's a ladder in the upper right corner that should make me escape, but a wall in the adjacent room stops me from getting to the ladder. Is there a way to break down that wall?
I can go into a couple other areas: The Twin Labyrinth and the Endless Corridor. Is it possible to get back to the surface via these places?
The room with the elevator stuck in the statue's mouth, with the white floor/block to the left? A room to the left of that leads over to it. That panel opens the chest, which has the grail.
It's THAT easy? Damn, I should have figured it out by myself I've spent a couple of hours trying all kinds of other things. But I was out of weights, so it didn't even enter my mind. Thanks a bunch!
Picked up this game yesterday and I'm really enjoying myself so far. There is so much to explore. Took me longer than it should have to find the map reader and glyph reader because I didn't think about going left from the start.
There's a recommended order to do the guardians in and you cannot progress until some have been defeated, but you can loot all the accessible areas freely. Grail will get you out of nasty situations, even midbosses.
Most puzzles are spread out all over the ruins and will require additional equipment and/or backtracking, but you can fight the bosses in the first 2-3 areas right away.
I'd suggest trying to beat the Guidance Gate guardian to see how it goes: make the Ankh appear somewhere by solving a specific puzzle within the zone and find the Ankh Jewel to summon him.
Really, the only things you should watch out with in La-Mulana are:
> The secret room in
Inferno Cavern
with the 2 stone pillars you have to ride to open a chest is a one time chance. It's right after the
Pazuzu
sub-boss. Save before attempting.
> Reading the table in the Room of Scales (starts the puzzle, permafailed if you screw up or leave the room). Only do this when you know you can solve.
> Killing the
Water Dragon
sub-boss in the
Dimensional Corridor
before taking the Life Orb. You need his attacks to reach it.
> Killing all 8 Guardians before having a full HP lifebar. Access to one Life Orb is lost.
I've put about an hour into it and it's definitely the kind of game that caters to the "no bullshit" audience. There isn't much in terms of hand-holding (other than the email system) and you have to really explore the environments and figure things out for yourself. I don't like using the term "hardcore gamer" but La-Mulana is a hardcore gamer's game.
I have a feeling this game won't really do well, in terms of sales. Maybe word of mouth will help it, though. It's just been so long since the original announcement of the WiiWare version.
For anyone doing a purist run, I recommend reading this very small early game spoiler that will improve your quality of life a lot(regarding how to warp):
The warp item is in the Gate of Guidance and does not require any other items to find. You shouldn't go anywhere else until you've found it.
Also, save yourself a lot of headaches and just write down everything from the very start. I recommend doing a hand-drawn map with notes on every single thing that seems fishy and you're not sure what to do with yet or how to get it. Seriously.
You just install it with other "game" software for various level up effects (double EXP, higher drop rates, half damage, etc). It's a nod to MSX, which offered some weird bonus stuff sometimes if you plugged in two games together.
You just install it with other "game" software for various level up effects (double EXP, higher drop rates, half damage, etc). It's a nod to MSX, which offered some weird bonus stuff sometimes if you plugged in two games together.
Yep, enjoying this one WAAAAAY more than Cave Story (and that one's pretty fucking awesome too!)
WiiWare swan song? Barring any major late-game surprises, I'd say so!
I just wanna remind people that WiiWare has a sales limit threshold for each region that means the devs/publishers won't receive any profits for sales in that region unless they sell a certain amount of copies, so if you have a Wii and can spare the $10 you really should pick this up, not just because it's an awesome game but because it'll help NIGORO and EnjoyUp recoup some of their losses.
