Forum Overview :: Reviews :: La Mulana

[quote name="Lurker 58913"]I saw this game on Steam Greenlight, so I went ahead and bought it on GOG. I know there's still a freeware version on the official website, but it looked like they had changed enough to warrant a purchase. The game plays like any other Metroidvania, but with the original Castlevania's inertia jumps and a Dark Souls sense of pushing as far as you can without getting murdered. For the first couple of hours, you're solving clever puzzles, figuring shit out, exploring, finding cash money, and getting your ass handed to you by bosses. At some point, maybe at the 7-8 hour mark when you start to explore all of the mirror world areas, the puzzles start to turn into obscure bullshit that's just impossible to figure out without a guide or the willingness to hit absolutely every single thing with your whip. BUT WATCH OUT! For some reason, they decided it'd be a great idea to have certain "Holy Elements" (puzzle objects) be protected so that if you even nick them with the top of your attack, you'll get lightning blasted for 1/3 of your life. I'll admit this still makes me freak out and jump in my seat sometimes, but when the lightning eye isn't even anywhere on screen and the "Holy Object" is completely indistinguishable from the rest of the level, it gets old fast. I'm currently in an area called the Gate of Illusion (by in the area I mean that's where I assume I'm supposed to be since it encourages you to spread out a little bit in every direction at once). Normally, you solve puzzles by reading tablets for riddles and checking your map (every area has exactly 20 rooms, with no more than 4 rooms in one row or 5 in one column) to figure out secrets. For this section, however, the game decides to up the bullshit and make it more or less impossible to progress without a walkthrough. Apparently, the puzzles were even HARDER in the freeware version while the updated versions opted for harder boss fights. I'll probably go back and finish it after this, but after getting one shotted by a lightning trap after spending an hour running back and forth, my spirit is broken. Some other quick points: -There's so many fucking bats. In every single stage. With at least 5 on screen at once. There's supposed to be an item that lets you walk through them without taking any damage, but by the time you get it I figure it'll be too late anyway. -There's a caltrops sub-weapon (Updated version only). -The bosses require perfect pattern memorization and exact timing to beat. Your mileage may vary depending on how much you like that sort of thing (I loves it). -There's an easy to accidentally discover money exploit once you unlock a certain ability. This is actually a HUGE positive since once a breakable container drops money once, it'll be empty no matter how many times you reload and break it again, meaning money is a limited resource despite it being the only way to reload your sometimes required sub-weapons. -For the most part, it's incredibly refreshing to be thrown into a giant puzzle world with absolutely nobody there to grab you by the hand and pull you to the next goal. -It managed to completely ruin my sleep schedule for a week. -READ THE MANUAL FIRST. Holy shit will you hate this game right away if you don't get through that. There's way too much Engrish, but I guess you can just roleplay archaeologist and pretend you're reading an imperfect translation of an ancient language (kind of true?). I know this sounds like a lot of bitching and complaining, but it really is a great game. If you go for the updated version, you'll definitely be getting your money's worth (I'm already at the 9 hour mark and I've only killed half the bosses). It's a 2D Dark Souls with a focus on puzzle solving.[/quote]