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La-Mulana (Read 2682 times)

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Marcus

#1 September 08, 2007, 08:20:34 pm

THE FAT ONE
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La-Mulana is a pretty fun independent game made by a small team of Japanese developers to have the same look and feel of a classic MSX game and even the on-line manual was custom designed to look like a classic manual. The graphics are pretty crude, but the game plays out like a mix between Castlevania and Legend of Zelda II. You run around massive dungeons, kill monsters, collect gold and items, and solve some pretty tough puzzles. The game is pretty difficult at the start, but as you get further in the game it starts focusing less on action and more on puzzle elements (although there's still quite a bit of monsters to kill). The graphics are poop, but the music is actually pretty awesome for integrated chip tunes and the game is fairly lengthy (12 hours in and I'm only about 50% done).

Screenshots, Download, English Patch

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JohnnyCasil

#2 September 08, 2007, 08:27:25 pm

Comrade!
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Oh, Thank you so much for this. I've been looking for this game for a long time. I saw a Youtube video of a puzzle in it that is supposedly incredibly hard. After I watched the video, I left, and then later I wanted to download it. Could not for the life of me remember the name of it though.

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Marcus

#3 September 08, 2007, 08:29:12 pm

THE FAT ONE
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I also forgot to mention that this game has incredible boss fights. For something so simple looking, they put Castlevania's bosses to shame.

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HL

#4 September 08, 2007, 10:30:38 pm

Will you walk the realms of Chaos with me?
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This game looks fucking incredible.

Thanks Marcus.

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Ragnar

#5 September 09, 2007, 07:07:22 am

Worthless Protoplasm
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Man

This game looks like Cave Story + Faxanadu + Monster Party which worries me but it's still amazing. Even though I can make comparisions it still looks nothing like those games at the same time. Any links to the MSX game this is based on?

I can't believe you said the graphics are poop though. This looks like nothing I've ever seen which is definitely saying something. Although it looks freaky as hell too, like just nonsensical area after nonsensical area which makes me wonder about the Japanese and substance abuse yet again

Last Edit: September 09, 2007, 07:16:33 am by Ragnar

http://djsaint-hubert.bandcamp.com/

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Marcus

#6 September 09, 2007, 07:11:51 am

THE FAT ONE
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It's an original game, it was just made in the same style as those MSX games. It has:

Castlevania's Style (experience points, items, a whip as a weapon, sub-weapons and magic)

Faxanadu's action

Monster Party's quirkiness (the dialog is downright WEIRD)

and Cave Story's music

It's basically ALL THE OLD rolled into something new... but still incredibly old. But the highlight of the game are the puzzles and bosses. There aren't many sidescrollers with puzzle elements AND action elements so you're getting the best of both worlds here.

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Ragnar

#7 September 09, 2007, 07:22:03 am

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Btw I just remembered how much Castlequest freaked me out. Like not only was it hard it felt like some sort of weird alternate reality where things aren't interesting at all but somehow the inhabitants have this amazing motivation to push on

http://djsaint-hubert.bandcamp.com/

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Novalia Spirit

#8 September 09, 2007, 02:27:01 pm

I do, Neophyte...
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Posts: 154

I'm glad you made this topic, angry black man, because I've been considering doing one myself for months. Without a doubt, La-Mulana is the best action game I've played IN YEARS (much better than Cave Story IMO), which is ironic considering that I almost gave up playing after an hour, so much the start of the game sucks. And before you guys continue to compare this game with other games: this game is nothing but a tribute to Konami's Knightmare II: The Maze of Galious for the MSX (which I ended up playing so much I loved La-Mulana, and which ultimately lead me to try and translate the MSX version of Golvellius).

And yes, this game is long, VERY LONG. It took me over 40 hours to reach the final boss (which I've never defeated) despite the fact that I've been using a walkthrough every once in a long time. Speaking of which, this game has INSANE, sometimes illogical puzzles, and it will be very difficult for anyone not to get stumped at some point in the game, as you'll sometimes have to re-explore all the worlds (there are 17 in the game) on the look out for hints, new things and things that might have been missed. Being a huge fan of adventure games myself, I can't help but like that aspect of the game, not to mention this game has a shitload of items (approximately 160 items; beware that some of the weapons can be missed permanently if you fail to solve a certain puzzle on your first attempt) and secrets, and an addictive soundtrack. Note that walkthroughs for this game only exist in the form of videos, one of which can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=DeceasedCrab&p=r

Alternatively, you can check the following website, though it provides no help to solve the more complex puzzles:

http://files.myopera.com/White%20Knell/lamulana/index.html

Here's a video that shows how cool and crazy some of the boss battles can be:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTevN1yVk6U

You guys must play this game, you won't regret it.

Last Edit: September 10, 2007, 12:11:17 am by Novalia Spirit

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Feldschlacht IV

#9 September 09, 2007, 06:26:40 pm

The Notorious M.O.G.
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Wow, this looks surprisingly fun! I think I'll give it a shot. Has anyone here beaten it yet?

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Marcus

#10 September 09, 2007, 07:03:48 pm

THE FAT ONE
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Well if Novalia, master of the obscure who has iron patience (the dude had like 120 hours logged on FFX-2... I beat the game 100% on my first playthrough in 60 hours AND I COULDNT EVEN EMOTIONALLY TAKE IT!!!) hasn't beaten the game then I doubt anyone else here has either!

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Drule

#11 September 09, 2007, 07:13:20 pm

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I thought it was pretty boring and horrible but cool I guess if they were aiming to make it look like an old MSX game.

Last Edit: September 09, 2007, 07:17:15 pm by Drule

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Ash

#12 September 10, 2007, 01:32:27 am

Peasant
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This actually looks pretty impressive. Too bad I don't posses the reflexes to be proficient at those classic platformers.

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Ragnar

#13 September 10, 2007, 01:58:21 am

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Did I mention this game looks trippy as fuck

http://djsaint-hubert.bandcamp.com/

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Supra Mairo

#14 September 12, 2007, 02:30:03 pm

[Utada Hikaru <3]
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Well I got this ages ago but I kept dying and I really sucked at it a lot so i quit playing. But I guess I'll dig this up sometime.

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Marcus

#15 September 16, 2007, 12:47:39 am

THE FAT ONE
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This game has a really, REALLY steep learning curve because it hardly gives you any information at all and it's pretty hard. I suggest watching the first 3 or 4 "walkthrough videos" by deceasedcrab on youtube. It basically shows you how to get started (getting the hand scanner, the warp shortcuts, saving your game) and once you figure out how to do that, the game INSTANTLY becomes easier to get into...

but it's still pretty frikkin hard.

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dark_crystalis

#16 September 17, 2007, 12:40:26 am

The devil himself
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I want this on Mac

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Nightmare

#17 September 17, 2007, 09:11:44 am

Nightmare
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I got this game but...uh...it wasn't really as awe-inspiring as you said Marcus. The bosses are very well done and the game is pretty cool, but I still found it somewhat boring. It really turns me off when people hype over something and the game in question turns out to be boring for me. Nevertheless, the game is still pretty good.

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Marcus

#18 September 17, 2007, 12:34:04 pm

THE FAT ONE
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then maybe the problem is with you! i recommend checkig into a mental istitute, baby

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Chubby Skelly

#19 September 18, 2007, 12:12:26 am

Got the powerup and won the game
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This game gets the Doozer Seal of Approval. They did a great job on the presentation, and I'm looking forward to a big world to explore. It was hard to get started, but I started to figure out what to do. Still haven't gotten the rune translator thing, but I think I just have to press into a couple of the adjoining areas before I can afford it. I wonder how long I can go without looking anything up.

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Bisse

#20 October 03, 2007, 04:48:56 pm

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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Man I'm going to have to necromance this topic right here because, hell i've been playing this game for some time now and it's probably the best freeware game i've ever played. The puzzles are amazingly difficult but at the same time perfectly logical and fair - I just figured out, after four hours of not making any progress, that there is a hidden room in one of the worlds, where something important is hidden. Figured out too, based on clues. I've been able to get really far without a walkthrough because there hasn't been a single cheap riddle so far.

It's just a brilliantly designed game in every aspect. Go get it, or i'll come get YOU.

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