La-Mulana 2

 Switch
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82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews What's this?

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8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

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  • Summary: La-Mulana 2 features sprawling ancient ruins, mind-boggling mysteries, untold numbers of items, and terrible enemies combining to form what is possibly the perfect Metroidvania-style "archaeological ruin exploration action game".

    In La-Mulana 2, you take on the role of Lumisa Kosugi -    La-Mulana 2 features sprawling ancient ruins, mind-boggling mysteries, untold numbers of items, and terrible enemies combining to form what is possibly the perfect Metroidvania-style "archaeological ruin exploration action game".

    In La-Mulana 2, you take on the role of Lumisa Kosugi - daughter of the previous title's hero - as she explores the ancient ruins of La-Mulana, said to be the cradle of human civilization. Desperate to find the cause of the numerous recent appearances of monsters from the ruins, Lumisa heads to the "other" La-Mulana: the ruins known as Eg-Lana.

    Explore the vast ruins comprising multiple field maps, solve mysteries and riddles using the stone tablets and messages you discover along the way, and take out huge monsters known as "Guardians" as you make your way to the deepest depths of the ruins.

    You won't believe the awesome mystery of Eg-Lana awaiting you at the end of your journey...

    ABOUT LA-MULANA 2:
    La-Mulana was known as a "Metroidvania"-style game (a 2D action platformer with an emphasis on non-linear exploration). That said, the real core of the game is in deciphering the riddles scattered throughout the game, and solving the puzzles that exist as part of the ruins.

    A classic experience: As with its predecessor, La-Mulana 2 will not feature a tutorial or a long-winded sidekick. As a seasoned explorer, it's up to you to discover the secrets hidden within the ruins and find the truth on your own.

    Explore at your own pace: By deciphering cryptic text on the monuments scattered throughout the ruins, you will gradually unravel the mystery of the ruins. Which parts of the sprawling underground you tackle, and in what order, is up to you. Sometimes you will need to use changes in backgrounds, mysterious sounds, the strength of enemies, or the sneakiness of traps to detect subtle changes in your surroundings.

    A colossal adventure: We have designed a variety of zones, and have created a mystery deep enough to encompass a gigantic cave system. This is a very large-scale indie title. We predict newcomers to the series will probably be able to clear the game in 20 to 30 hours. Because of the non-linear nature of Eg-Lana, La-Mulana 2 will have plenty of replayability.

    New horrors, new weapons: Plenty of ferocious and terrifying monsters and guardians stand in your way in the depths of this new underground network. Fortunately, you will also have an arsenal of tools and weapons at your disposal to help you on your journey.

    Widescreen support: The first La-Mulana was a remake of a retro-style game that ran in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which made widescreen support impossible. For La-Mulana 2, the various maps and rooms are designed to be 16:9-compatible, making it perfect for widescreen TVs and monitors.

    The question we've asked ourselves throughout development is: "How can we make an old-school 2D game take advantage of advancements in present-day technology?"

    GAME FEATURES:
    * Become an adventurer and explore sprawling ancient ruins
    * Gather hints to solve the various mysteries of the ruins
    * Dive into the action as you fight off tough enemies seeking to impede your progress
    * A detailed and beautifully dot-rendered world
    * Seven main weapons and over ten sub-weapons
    * Over 60 items of various types to help you explore the ruins
    * Over 20 apps to install on your trusty adventurer's tablet, the "Mobile Super X3"
    * Includes reference book with over 200 monsters and other characters in the game

    GAME CHARACTERS:
    * Lumisa Kosugi (21 years old; fourth-generation Japanese; the game's protagonist)
    Some say she is Lemeza's wife's daughter from a previous marriage, while others believe she's Professor Shawn's illegitimate child. Either way, she is a Kosugi; that much is clear. She travels to La-Mulana to make her archaeological debut after accepting Xelpud's request to search the ruins.

    * Lemeza Kosugi (36 years old; the previous game's protagonist)
    Tales of his exploits in the ruins of La-Mulana may be known worldwide, but he was also responsible for the ruins' destruction, and has gone into hiding as a result. His love of exploration has not faded, however, and he still finds time to go spelunking in secret.

    * Shawn Kosugi (67 years old)
    After revealing the "Treasure of All Life" he brought back from the ruins of La-Mulana, he returned to a hermetic life once more. Although he technically retired after finishing his research on the "Cradle of All Civilization", he finds himself slowly drawn back into the world of archaeology.

    * Elder Xelpud (Age unknown)
    Upon the collapse of the La-Mulana ruins, his life as a 7th Child came to an end. He's been spending his time running the "La-Mulana Ruins Tourist Spot" in hopes of finding purpose in life once again. As a result, he's become quite wealthy, and now lives a life of luxury full of beautiful women and fast cars.

    * Mulbruk (3024 years old; looks/hopes to look about 24)
    Since her release from the ruins, Mulbruk has been happily living aboveground, pretending to be a "normal" young woman. Using her amazing knowledge of history, she has become a treasure hunter. She's also become quite fashionable.    … Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Cubed3
    Aug 12, 2020
    100
    La-Mulana 2 ranks as one of the greatest metroidvanias ever made. It is steeped in lore, and has an elaborate interconnected world. The constant drip-feed of upgrades and items with devious traps and puzzles keep the pace flowing nicely for several dozen hours. It even has a sense of humour too, making even the most tired and cynical gamer stop for a moment to have a good laugh. It is such a confidently designed 2D adventure, with a clear and focused vision that has incredibly mature sensibilities. The overall aesthetics and music are the absolute tops that the genre has to offer, and Takumi Naramura proves himself to be a true master of his craft.
  2. Nintendo Life
    Mar 24, 2020
    90
    The original La-Mulana was a masterpiece in its own right, but we’d contend that it’s been edged out by the sequel. What we have here is an expertly-paced, crushingly difficult, and utterly mystifying adventure that constantly beckons you to explore deeper and acquaint yourself with its unique charms. La-Mulana 2 definitely isn’t for everybody – if you consider yourself an impatient or clumsy player, steer clear – but those who put in the time and effort to crack this nut will be deeply satisfied that they did so. We’d give La-Mulana 2 a high recommendation for anybody looking for a deep and challenging new Metroidvania for their Switch; it’s an acquired taste, but one you will come to savour.
  3. NintendoWorldReport
    Mar 23, 2020
    80
    I wish I loved La-Mulana 2. Everything about it is intensely engaging, from its tight controls to its interconnected world. The presentation—wonderful pixel art matched with an outstanding soundtrack—only makes the entire game more appealing. This game is an easy recommendation for anyone whose primary goal in playing video games is to overcome challenges. But let me serve as a cautionary tale for those who want other things out of video games. If this game is for you, then it is absolutely incredible. Sadly, with its high difficulty and demandingly complex puzzles, it is most certainly not for me.
  4. FNintendo
    May 7, 2020
    80
    La-Mulana 2 is a sequel that improves on the legacy of its predecessor in nearly every single way and which brings an overall improved Metroidvania experience to the Nintendo Switch. Its difficulty level may get frustrating sometimes but dedicated players will be duly rewarded by the effort they put into it, and with its charming 16-bit era visual world, wonderful soundtrack and entertaining plot and dialogues, La-Mulana 2 will certainly appeal to most players out there.
  5. Pure Nintendo
    Apr 8, 2020
    60
    I still enjoyed this game for the way it offered some youthful nostalgia. It delivers a definite challenge. But LA-MULANA 2 is cut from the same cloth and does very little that’s different from the first. While that doesn’t make the game bad, it does make it frustrating.

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Sunshadow87
    Nov 14, 2021
    9
    La Mulana es un metroidvania indie que no tiene el reconocimiento que se merece y que en mi humilde opinión esta a la altura de juegos comoLa Mulana es un metroidvania indie que no tiene el reconocimiento que se merece y que en mi humilde opinión esta a la altura de juegos como "Hollow Knight" o "Axiom Verge", pero con la personalidad de mostrar su propia premisa.
    La continuación de "La Mulana" es un digno sucesor de la primera parte, complicando todavía más el lore, pero atando todos los cabos sueltos, mejorando el sistema de combate, haciendolo más desafiante, y subiendo la dificultad en general fuera de los puzzles, especialmente hacia el final del juego.
    Es importante mencionar los puzzles, ya que es lo que le da su propia personalidad a la saga "La Mulana". Estamos hablando de un metroidvania donde nos metemos en la piel de una exploradora tipo "Indiana Jones" (en este caso, la hija del protagonista del primer juego) mientras exploramos unas ruinas llenas de misterio que se suponen que son de donde surgió la humanidad y que nuestro padre ya exploro en su día (primer juego). Esto implica que la orientación en este juego es altamente importante, así como ir descubriendo el lore para interpretar los muchos puzzles que tiene el juego. Estos puzzles pueden ir desde presionar o no un boton (las ruinas estan llenas de trampas y algunos mecanismos es mejor no activarlos), hasta puzzles que interconectan varias areas y necesitamos reunir el lore desperdigado ya sea en tablillas con texto, imagenes simbolicas, objetos de nuestro inventario... siendo infernalmente dificiles algunos (avisados estaís).
    Aún así, a pesar de las mejoras, este "La-Mulana 2" se siente menos fresco y su mapeado menos orgánico que el original. No deja de ser un juego altamente disfrutable siempre que te atrevas con su elevada dificultad en puzzles, y asumas que en esta ocasión el combate se complica también bastante (y que hablar de cuando ambas cosas se combinan...).    … Expand
  2. tehko
    Jul 4, 2020
    6
    After putting around 50 hours into this game I'm about ready to give up on it because the frustration is starting to outweigh any satisfactionAfter putting around 50 hours into this game I'm about ready to give up on it because the frustration is starting to outweigh any satisfaction or fun I'm getting out of it. I feel the need to vent even though maybe no one will ever read this. I played the first La Mulana and enjoyed it after accepting that I would need to look up several of the late game puzzle solutions online. Hoping that the sequel would improve on some of the shortcomings of the original, I had really high expectations after such a long wait. La Mulana 2 does so many things very well: the visuals, the music, the atmosphere of mystery and sense of exploration really draw you in initially, just like the original La Mulana. But so many aspects of it are just plain bad in my opinion.

    First of all the game performance feels poorly optimized. Load times feel inexplicably long for a 2D game that is not even remotely graphically demanding. Occasionally the framerate stutters, which can happen at the most inopportune moments causing you to miss jumps, usually leading to instant death. The controls, while slightly improved compared to the first one, still feel needlessly stiff and awkward. After playing games like Ori and Hollow Knight, which have amazingly fluid responsive character movements, La Mulana 2 just feels a lot less fun than it could be. A lot of the difficulty stems purely from the awkward controls, which in this day and age is quite frankly just poor game design in my opinion. Many of the boss battles feel very underdeveloped. Initially most seem impossible until you discover that you can stand in certain places and pretty easily avoid damage and just spam range weapons. In one particular case the boss moves incredibly fast compared to you, but I got it into a loop where we just traded attacks one for one leading to a victory of attrition since I had enough health. When the simplest and best way to beat a boss involves cheap tricks, that's not good game design.

    All of this I was willing to forgive though, because the game really does enough things well to hook you. However, progression in the game just gets frustrating to the point of tedious after a while. It does not feel well thought through enough for such a complex game. Too many areas open up fairly early on, giving you too much space to trudge through as you maneuver your way around countless instant death traps over and over again trying to figure out what you need to do in order to progress. For me, worst of all is that it feels like some of the clues are written in such a way as that key words and phrases are designed to be deliberately misleading. Maybe it's a translation problem, but after finally breaking down and looking up a few of the solutions online, I was very disappointed. Some solutions require very loose interpretations of the clues. You keep thinking that maybe you need some item or need to chant some mantra that you haven't acquired yet, or will find some clue that you missed, so you end up wandering around aimlessly for hours.

    In some cases you just have to talk to some npc again in order to trigger something essential to progress. Sometimes the game makes this clear, other times not at all, and it's something easy to overlook as the game overwhelms the player with information, much of it useless, or only useful until much later. This tends to just encourage trial and error. I read an interview with the developer who actually said that many of the puzzles are designed to reward trial and error. It is really unfortunate that they put so much emphasis on making the game punishing and deliberately frustrating, instead of putting a little more effort into making it fun to play. The obsessive stubborn part of me may win out and compel me to finish the game eventually, but I no longer expect it to be enjoyable or rewarding. The game actually tells you early on, anyone who values their life should leave immediately. Maybe I should have taken that advice.    … Expand

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