La-Mulana 2

 Switch
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
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  1. 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 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. HopingAfter 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
  2. 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 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    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 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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic 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.
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  2. 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.
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  3. 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.
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