Mulaka

 Switch
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 61 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 61
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 61
  3. Negative: 10 out of 61

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  1. JJTX
    May 8, 2019
    5
    I really wanted to like Mulaka. It has an appealing aesthetic, a unique setting, good music, interesting characters, and a very Zelda-like design. Unfortunately, it fails when it comes to combat. There is no “Z-targeting” system or anything similar, so landing hits on enemies is sometimes a crapshoot. There is a distinctive “three souls” health system, but in order to refill any of yourI really wanted to like Mulaka. It has an appealing aesthetic, a unique setting, good music, interesting characters, and a very Zelda-like design. Unfortunately, it fails when it comes to combat. There is no “Z-targeting” system or anything similar, so landing hits on enemies is sometimes a crapshoot. There is a distinctive “three souls” health system, but in order to refill any of your life bar, Mulaka (the player character) must stop in his tracks and perform a five-second dance, wherein he is totally vulnerable to attack. I finally gave up after repeated attempts at a particularly challenging boss fight, wherein I was stun-locked after multiple enemies ganged up on me and pounded the life out of me, and every attempt I made to use my life-refill potions was interrupted by another blindside attack. Then, the giant boss itself stomped on me and literally clipped me out of the map, costing me another “soul”.

    I applaud the developers at Lienzo for what they’ve attempted here, especially because it introduced me to a real-world culture that I previously knew nothing about. I just can’t recommend the game to everyone, because it lacks polish and smart design in the most essential gameplay mechanics.    … Expand
  2. BorisThe_Spider
    Nov 21, 2022
    5
    Despite this being the first 'big' game of the studio, it doesn't feel fun at all. It has some major problems with the battle sistem and the art designs feels kind of repetetive, not so creative nor interesting. It's a good first try, but still a clunky experience.
  3. SuperkenGaming
    Mar 3, 2018
    6
    Mulaka is an 8 hour long action adventure game set in northern mexico where you play as Mulaka, a shaman that sets out to gather abilitites from demi gods and rid the land of these creatures terrorizing his people..
    This game is a bit all over the place, up and downs in terms of quality and delivery, but overall is a really enjoyable and hard to put down experience..
    Mulaka is a game all    Mulaka is an 8 hour long action adventure game set in northern mexico where you play as Mulaka, a shaman that sets out to gather abilitites from demi gods and rid the land of these creatures terrorizing his people..
    This game is a bit all over the place, up and downs in terms of quality and delivery, but overall is a really enjoyable and hard to put down experience..
    Mulaka is a game all about map cleaning and gathering..
    There are 7 levels here all with the same goal
    Gather 3 gems to unlock a gate and move onto the next area…
    Though these 7 levels are not equal in their quality…
    My favorite levels and the majority of these levels are set in a small open world..
    and when I mean small, I mean like really really small yall
    not much exploring to do here at all which is a shame
    You have an ability know as Sukuruame vision that will point you in the direction of nearby collectables and locations of these gems but will also show oyu the health of enemies you run into along your way…
    Mulaka does a great job of spreading out its enemy encounters…
    There are enemies running all over the map, but engaging in combat is only required usually only when theres a reward at the end of the fight..
    Though if youd like you can grind enemies for their Korima as there is a light rpg element sprinkled in here as youre able to upgrade your health, magic, and spear..
    Your spear is used for flying enemies and hitting targets to unlock new paths and your magic is used for animal transformations that are used for unlocking certain paths…
    Youll run into many collectables throughout your journey that you cant reach until you unlock a certain demi gods transformation as the story progresses..
    Youll be able to turn into a bird to fly, a bear, a snake, and a jaguar..
    And youre able to call on these tranformations during battle…
    Or you can stick to just using your spear and filling up a meter for a finishing move…
    Comabt here is definitely challenging.. it never feels like button mashy busy work..
    youre constantly enagegd especially later on in the game as youre dealing with multiply enemy types..
    youll be switching between light and heavy attacks dodging and rolling and using different forms to take these enemies out..
    And to help you in combot there is a light crafting system here where you gather a material and it goes towards automatically crafting a potion for rage, health, a bomb or shield..
    and learning to master using these tools takes some time as your charcter has to do a dance that feels like it goes on for 5 hours to call in health or a shield… and these dances can be interrupted and annoyingly will use up the consumable even if you don’t get its full effect…
    The length it takes for your tools to hit you with some health or a shield is one of the most frustrating things about this game.. but it isn’t thee most frustrating thing.. that award goes to this games platforming
    As hinted earlier, not every level here is an open world styled map cleaner section..
    There are a few levels in here whos focus is promairly platforming and every one of them is awful..
    Mostly thanks to the games magic system..
    There are definitely some frustrating moments here as this games paltofmring feels floaty and unpolished on its own.. but the worst is one of the last levels of the game youll be climbing a watertfall as you switch between 2 different animal forms…
    This is made difficult by the fact that your magic is being drained while youre in form, so you have to try and angle your character right to pick up refills, but its mostly made frustrating because of how unresponsive changing into the jaguar is.. it rquires a prompt of pressing two action buttons.. one of the buttons on its own turns into bird form.. so as you can guess, mashing buttons trying to get this to work leads you to having less magic to get through a section.. which means a tonsof failing, hoping you land in water so you can respawn at the top and not have to make the climb again from the bottom…
    This of course could’ve been fixed with tranformations being tied to an action plus trigger command for example instead of two actions, but with patience its doable, and the section isn’t as long as it seems while youre doing it
    My biggest complaint though is just how inconsistent these levels are…
    the world ultimately feels so small and empty with only a puzzle or 2 to do in each, and they feel smaller and smaller.. Theres not much going on in this world at all..
    Until you finally open the gate to move on.. this is when you have to take down that levels boss…
    Each one feeling completely different from the last and are some of this games best moments…
    They break up the pacing of item collecting and enemy slaying and putting your combat and item timing to the test… The boss battles here are thankfully more fun than difficult and feel just as big and as important as the main levels themselves.    … Expand
  4. destinyfan1
    May 1, 2018
    7
    A game with a unique art style with fun bosses,and action
    The problem is that the combat get's repetitive quick,but that can be helped by changing into an animal and the small open world's are a missed opportunity
    Some of the enemies look a little bit to weird,the same goes for the npc's ,but i guess that's the style of the game But then again serving for a village is fun another    A game with a unique art style with fun bosses,and action
    The problem is that the combat get's repetitive quick,but that can be helped by changing into an animal and the small open world's are a missed opportunity
    Some of the enemies look a little bit to weird,the same goes for the npc's ,but i guess that's the style of the game
    But then again serving for a village is fun
    another annoying point are the stupid invisible walls that block freedom
    The puzzles are never a challenge,and there are so few in the game,there are even more negative points in the game like
    - climbing waterfalls is annoying af
    - empty worlds ,with enemies her and there
    I could give easily a 6 or a 5 ,but the overall combat,originality in this game makes it still a fun game
    conclusion:
    it definitely has fun moments,but the design of the game ,is just a let down,with to much annoying stuff to buy at full price
    wait for a sale.    … Expand
  5. apa-sl
    Mar 16, 2019
    6
    It has potential. I was pumped for it after seeing the trailers (world settings, art style, story behind). But while playing it there was something missing. Did not managed to finish it yet (went to my fav adventure games or things like Mario+Rabbits, Zelda, puzzle games).
  6. AllySky
    Oct 13, 2018
    7
    A rather decent game with a variety of abilities, enemies and bosses, as it tries its best to stay fresh through out the game. However there are some bugs, questionable item placements, and it at times feels rushed. It could have been better, but honestly feels like any other average game.
  7. ThePSButton
    Jun 5, 2020
    5
    Mulaka es un juego muy bonito y entrañable. Su narrativa inspirada en los Tarahumaras es preciosa y el final del juego tiene un mensaje muy interesante.

    El diseño y variedad de enemigos también es uno de sus puntos fuertes. Desgraciadamente en cuanto a la jugabilidad va de lo regular a lo pobre. Tiene algunas mecánicas interesantes, pero en general en su apartado técnico se siente de    Mulaka es un juego muy bonito y entrañable. Su narrativa inspirada en los Tarahumaras es preciosa y el final del juego tiene un mensaje muy interesante.

    El diseño y variedad de enemigos también es uno de sus puntos fuertes.

    Desgraciadamente en cuanto a la jugabilidad va de lo regular a lo pobre. Tiene algunas mecánicas interesantes, pero en general en su apartado técnico se siente de baja calidad.

    La dirección de arte es buena, pero el diseño de niveles es promedio y el título como tal no es tan entretenido.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

84
#84 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Gaming Age
    May 7, 2018
    67
    It’s a shame, then, that such an interesting story and such fantastic designs are kind of wasted on a game that’s basically your standard action-adventure. Sure, you’re exploring a brightly-coloured desert with enemies based on creatures you’d find in northern Mexico, but at the end of the day, you’re just hacking and slashing and throwing spears and, er, magicking at them.
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  2. Nintendo Insider
    Apr 8, 2018
    70
    Mulaka’s strength as a game comes from the painstaking effort that has been made to sufficiently portray the culture of the Tarahumara people, and, as such, there is much joy to be found in exploring the sun-baked region and learning from those that inhabit it.
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  3. Vooks
    Apr 2, 2018
    80
    Despite its flaws in some aspects, Lienzo's passion shines through in every aspect of Mulaka. It's far from perfect, and not everybody will be able to look past those flaws, but those who can will find a diamond in the rough.
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