LogFAQs > #951151391

#14. La-Mulana 2 (PC, 2018)





I have kickstarted two games in my life. One was Mighty No. 9. Following the great success of the Mega Man's revival in Mega Man 9, I was eager to make that happen again. And then, uh, well, see... yeah, let's move on. The other kickstarter was for La-Mulana 2. I've also mentioned before how much I enjoyed La-Mulana, and knowing that it came from just a group of three guys, I was excited to help make it happen again. Or even, to get a game anywhere close to La-Mulana.

See, La-Mulana felt like a world crafted with such painstaking care to arrange it properly and make it cryptic enough to be hard, but still possible, I doubted they could actually hit that again. I had concerns that La-Mulana 2 would end up being too cryptic, or that hints might be too obvious and thus too easy, or that the world just might not connect up at all. There was also a long long wait from when I donated to kickstarter, and when La-Mulana 2 released. In that time, Mighty No. 9 came and went, and I had a lot of concerns about a kickstarter project turning out terribly.

I'm sure you can guess from its position on the list that La-Mulana 2 turned out decently well. The gameplay is largely the same as the first game. There are numerous areas to explore in a non-linear way, clues are hidden all over and fairly cryptic, but make sense with some thought. There's items to collect that grant new abilities and open new areas. The areas are new and interesting, and there are a lot of great songs, so that aspect is different. But it's largely the same stuff, and as I said above, I really didn't expect them to meet the same level. It's also a bigger and longer game than the first, so the epic exploration adventure seems even more intense this time around.

Like the gameplay, the The game stars Lumisa, daughter of the first game's protagonist Lemeza. The La-Mulana ruins were destroyed after the first game, but monsters are still coming out for some reason. It's discovered that there is an entrance to a second set of ruins, which Lumisa then goes and explores. The starting village is the same location (although it's a bit more of a tourist trap now) and some characters reappear. The story also works in the previous generations of people again as well. Both on the story and gameplay front, it ends being a lot like La-Mulana, just on a bit bigger of a scale.

It's worth going in to some specific events that helped make this game extra special for me. This game was released shortly after my daughter was born. I was on leave from work for a couple weeks. Now, taking care of a baby is a lot of work, very stressful and tiring, as they need a lot of attention and time, and you're on their sleep schedule. But in those early months, kids also can't go anywhere, and their sleep schedule includes lots of naps. So whenever there was that little bit of downtime for a nap, or because she was on the playmat, I would play La-Mulana 2. And then I'd have to stop to hold and walk around the room, or to change a diaper, or whatever, and I'd sometimes be mulling over these clues and puzzles. Then a nap would start, and I'd jump in to try some things. I think the La-Mulana games are tough to just rush through on a first play, and need some of that thinking time, and it worked out really well in that regard. I also get lots of thoughts back to those infant months when I think about or play La-Mulana 2, and it's a nice association to have.

I also decided with this game not to look up solutions to anything. I wanted to solve every puzzle on my own. A couple hours in, I got hopelessly stuck. So I turned to a strategy I hadn't used in decades, and I pulled out a pen and notebook. I drew maps of every area and diagrams and notes and ideas. I think again, being home more with a kid, I had some extra time at home to really devote myself to this. I went full old school with the game, and it was honestly a great time. There were a lot of a-ha! moments, a lot of struggles, a lot of moments where I felt like a genius. Writing everything out also helped me catch some nice design decisions, things that just added to the feel of the world. I think as a result of when that first play happened, and how I went about it, I'm always going to look a little more favorably on this sequel as compared to the original, even though they are both fantastic games.





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