[Bennett]

I played through up to the Dimensional Gate in the new one. I have to say, I think the first 10 or so hours of this game are incredible, but after that the puzzles cross the line and the game becomes too baroque. Even if you're playing with a stack of notes, and even if you read every tablet, even the ones in Mulanese, there are still some puzzles that most people could just never solve without a FAQ. I'm fine with the difficulty level of the platforming and combat, but the puzzles are a bit ridiculous.

I don't mind it being too hard for most people to get optional things like the chain whip or randc.exe but the puzzles to access certain mandatory items like the ocarina and the crystal skull are just too arbitrary. The prove you are small challenge is bullshit. The challenge where you break all the pots in the room at once is bullshit. I think a game like this should have a certain amount of bullshit but I think that they go way over the line in the second half of this game.

I would still recommend the game to anybody, but with the caveat 'play until you need to read a FAQ, then stop'. Maybe they designed La-Mulana to be played with a FAQ, or with friends, but to be honest I don't think it's much fun when you play it that way.

[Bennett]

[Bennett]