LogFAQs > #950615402

#25. La-Mulana (PC, 2005)



La-Mulana is not a game for everyone. It's heavily inspired by old games from the 1980s, mostly for the Japanese MSX computer system, with Maze of Galious being the primary inspiration. The main character is a little Indiana Jones-ish and carries a whip, and goes to explore the ruins of La-Mulana after receiving a letter from his father, who has also explored the ruins. There ruins consist of several interconnected areas which make up a large, non-linear world. You collect items to unlock passages or gain abilities and proceed, similar to what Metroid/Castlevania games do. But true to its older inspirations, the control is stiffer, the clues can be incredibly cryptic, and the ruins are full of traps that can lead to quick deaths, so there is some trial and error involved. And although the traps can seem random, there's usually a hint that they exist or a yeah, I saw that coming feeling to them, so it's not completely unfair.

The original version of La-Mulana was a freeware game created by just three people. The graphics and music were built to be very accurate to the MSX appearance and sound. The main character even carried around an MSX computer, and some of the collected items were program cartridges that you could load in solo or tandem to gain abilities. It later received a remake, in which the graphics and sound got a pretty significant overhaul, and a few parts of the gameplay were cleaned up/smoothed out. The MSX carried by the main character was slightly more modern in function now. I think I prefer the original music and its much more faithful chiptune emulation, but for the most part, the upgrades work well.

(screenshot from original version of the game)


I spoke earlier of just how cryptic the game is, but it's worth noting just how extreme this is. There are tablet with notes all around the ruins you can read, left by past adventurers in the ruins. There might be a tablet in the 3rd area referencing an item, and another tablet in the 6th area with more information on this item, and a tablet in the 7th area telling about the puzzle to get the item, but the item is in the 2nd area and you have to use it in the 4th area to make progress. It's a game that strongly encourages taking notes, because you're never going to remember what each hint was or immediately realize what they mean. The remake is nice for this, because it allows you to save the text of a limited number of tablets for later reference. But even when you have all the text, La-Mulana is very good at speaking in riddles, and you may be clueless about a solution right in front of you. The ruins can become very thinking-heavy. Especially with the amount of traps and instant-deaths, brute forcing your way through puzzles will very rarely work out. My first time through, I had to look up a couple solutions, because I just felt totally stuck, but I did my best to try and reason out as much as I could.

At the end game, there is an optional Hell area that can be unlocked. It's basically kaizo-style gameplay, full of tricks and "gotcha" traps in every room. I'm not sure who ever found the place first, or made it through all the Hell puzzles first, because both can be so so so convoluted, but I am thankful for that person. That allowed me to look up the few hints I needed to experience the true struggle, but still work my way through.

There is also a story that is way more deep than it would seem at first glance, with a whole history on the people in the land worked in. The amount of work put in to the story, all the complex clues and puzzles, and piecing together the massive non-linear world is crazy impressive, because again, it was just three people who made this game. I've played through the game a handful of times, and due to the massive size, I've had to completely re-work puzzles in my head each time. It's just a very satisfying experience and gives a feeling of accomplishment to play through.

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