The most important matter is that LA-MULANA isn’t a port of the original game. It’s an entirely new game, new engine–we’re not reusing the original assets or code.
Other than that, we should mention the original creators, Naramura, Duplex and Samieru, are developing it. We’re not just porting the original version’s source.
NICALiS asked if we would also use original version’s graphic and music in the same as Cave Story for WiiWare, but we declined that right away.
Even though there’s a small minority of people how know the MSX, the PC version is for nostalgic reasons. How will players who don’t know about it perceive the pixel art?
Even if the graphics could be changed for the new version, the pixel art and animation might seem awkward.
So, if the graphics were changed, the thought was if we should change the animation? Given time, we’ve put the most priority to enhancing the level of perfection of the game. And that’s the reason we’ve completely remade the graphics, music, system and mysteries. The future won’t come by looking back at the past.
Of course, it’s not a complete remake only because of the team and limited time: to customize the game for Wii, modify some of the areas which we wish could have been changed after the original development, add extra effects which can be appreciated with the new graphics and to adjust the sounds to compliment the graphics. That’s what we mean by remake.
However, many aspects are as of yet undecided. We are developing the game gradually. So, your opinions can count.
Examples: “that trap is no good!” or ”I would do it like ‘that’ If I made it.” and ”I’m not pleased with this point!”
If you give us feedback like so there’s a possibility that we might be able to take the idea into consideration.
Please give us feedback!
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I agree that there should be a bit more back-story on the children. Where the first children the ones who died in the chamber of extinction? Which children are the fairies? And what makes the 7th children different from the 8th? What did the other children look like? What was their history? Maybe I missed these somewhere, but I couldn’t find any record of any of these things. Reading about those would be very enjoyable.
Make Palenque immune to spears. When I first played the game, I spent a couple of hours fruitlessly trying to kill him with shuriken. Then I decided to try the spears, flew above him, and killed him within about three seconds.
Correction: I meant the Chamber of Extinction puzzle, the one where you scan a tablet in the darkness and shoot a flare to light the torch.
However, the Chamber of Birth white wall, which is related, was also a pain.
Thank you so much for listening to fan feedback!
I would love to see the following features:
+ Store all scanned clues in the laptop.
+ Mark all clue locations on area map. <—– this is especially important!
(If this is not a good idea or makes game too easy, perhaps at least group all clues from the same field in one location on laptop?)
+ If a particular puzzle is solved, mark it down or otherwise indicate a clue is no longer needed.
+ More contextual hints from the village elder would definitely help out beginning players.
+ Ability to heal and save game at all teleportation/grail points. (It makes sense not to require saving at Xelpud, and players could always restart the game to heal)
+ If player heals at a teleportation point, take away all EXP.
———
The only puzzle I _really_ hated was the Chamber of Birth puzzle. It felt cheap. However, if the tablet is partially lit, as MrUnimport suggests, then I'm all for it!
I know it’s been said a handful of times before, but I really like the idea of there being tablets telling the stories of the other areas they way it was done in the Giants Mausoleum. It really immersed me into the game’s world in that area, I’d like to see that feeling of being pulled in continued.
Actually, in Ba’s room (Assuming you mean the large flying thing) there is a thing you can hit right besides him that unlocks a shortcut to get back to him in case you do fall. Ba doesn’t start moving until you hit it first. As for what to hit, I’ll let you figure it out, or watch one of DC’s videos to be shown what to hit.
You know, watching the trailer, I really hope you don’t make items expire like they do in so many games. One of the nice things about La Mulana was that if a pot dropped coins, I had as much time as I needed to grab it. I saw coins bouncing around in the trailer, and I really don’t want to see them start flickering and disappearing after they sit too long.
I agree that glyphs could be changed to great effect. It would be nice to get the glyph reader without farming gold. Recording glyphs would be nice feature, as some tablets are VERY far away from the puzzle they refer to.
I would also like to see more traps in later areas of the game. Traps like the falling jaw in Guidance Gate, or the falling spikes in the Moon Temple and Birth Chamber.
There are some places where passages are one-way only. If you fall fighting Ba in Confusion Gate, you have to make an extremely long trek to get back to him. The top section of the Tower of Ruin has a similar problem.
1. Music was the best part of the game <_<, it's the only reason the original game stood out at all among so many others like it
Oh yeah, and of course, one of the easiest ways of reducing difficulty without changing too many of the puzzles is adding more or more understandable hints.
I can’t believe I forgot to mention that, but I think it was already confirmed for the remake.
Due to copyright issues, I know it won’t be possible to include the Maze of Galious area in the WiiWare version of the game. Is it possible that this will be replaced with an area from another game? The La Mulana Wiki even brought up the possibility of things from Cave Story being in this game, since the WiiWare version is being made in conjunction with NICALiS. Is that possible?
I really like the Giant’s Mausoleum with the tablets speaking of the history of the field. That would be cool if we learned more about the areas. Also maybe we could learn more about the other children and more about the sub-guardians like where one tablet was about Shu. Or even learn more about the Guardians as a lot of the tablets talked about Taimat but the others were hardly mentioned. I like the idea of Xelpud offering hints or help with explaining what certain object do. Maybe even allow for him to “lead the way” when you get lost, for a fee. It would also be neat to have some sort of catalogue of all the monsters that Lemeza has defeated with a comment about what they were, where in history they come from, and finally a personal note by Lemeza like “Bats! They drive me batty!” or “Maskmen. I wonder what is behind those masks?” Maybe even add a death counter of how Lemeza died like “Spikes” or “Traps” or “THOSE DARN BATS.” You could maybe even have some of the games sketches as hidden treasures in the temple. These are a lot of things to consider but they would greatly add to this already great game. Question: I know the Temple of the Sun is Egyptian and it appears that Temple in the Sky is Babylonian, are you going to use other ancient civilizations for the other fields and if you are can you give us a hint on which ones? I think that would be great!
More possibility for sequence breaking is always a good thing.
A tutorial would not make me happy. I would prefer if Xelpud in some way told the player to come to him for help and had some extra hints.
More weights would be helpful. I always find it annoying when I run out of weights early in the game.
There is a problem in the Temple of Moonlight’s pyramid. I managed to escape from it by going to the room in the upper left where there are two ledges and a wall. The upper ledge leads out of the pyramid, so out of curiosity I tried jumping out. Lemeza almost made it, so I tried again, using a weapon so that the lightning would get me up there. Since the lightning knocks Lemeza the same direction that he is facing, I could get out by turning before using a weapon. Could that be fixed?
Messing with the puzzles will probably annoy your fans, and the old-school difficulty is one of the game’s main draws. However, some parts are out and out annoying, and would be simple to fix:
The glyph reader costs 100 coins. That’s really high since you need it early in the game and you haven’t found a lot of treasure yet. Later in the game, there are some special treasure pots with ~100 coins to help you buy everything, but there’s no way to identify them. Giving special pots a slightly different graphic would go a long way.
As others have mentioned, saving tablets you’ve seen would be a terrific idea. If you have memory to spare on the Wii, go for it!
Don’t expect the reader to read the manual. Have in-game help, a tutorial, or *something*! I’m not going to pick up the Antarctic Adventure ROM and say “Oh, the manual told me this lets me warp to back fields!”
Blue bats on a blue background are a bad idea. *glares at Twin Labyrinths*
Same goes for red buttons on a red background. *glares at Temple of the Moon*
The Mother’s first children were BATS.
The reward for defeating the first and second bosses is not very useful when you can defeat them.
The reward for defeating the third boss is too much (copper mirror, access to the pair connected labyrinth, opens the door on the sun level). It is very tricky to progress past this part without defeating him.
Enemies later in the game need to do more damage. This is true for the mini bosses in the dimensional corridor.
I like the non-linear nature of the game. I made some videos of going though much of the game without killing any bosses (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWM0lhOnnU8). I got to the shrine of the mother’s way point, would have been nice to go further. Adding a 1 way passage from the shire of the mother to the room with the map in the shire of the mother would have allowed me to enter the pair connected labyrinth without defeating the third boss (see my last video when I edit the game to allow this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXiF7ChWs9A time 3:28).
Please consider including the old graphics or music as options that we can turn on. With that design, we can have both the new and the old.
Even though many westerners do not have the experience of the MSX, we do have a lot of experience with “8-bit” graphics and sound. Therefore, many of us do still feel a bond with the traditional style presented in La Mulana.
The only other thing I would adjust is the amount of stone tablets that depict clues. Some parts of the game must be guessed by the player through “brute force”. Such areas include: the invisible ladder of the Confusion Gate, the wall we must destroy in the Chamber of Birth, or the hidden shop of the Chamber of Birth where we must purchase the Ahnk Jewel.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t change anything else, because I think La Mulana is sufficient in the current form.
I have one last suggestion to make, I think.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the game for me was going through the Giants’ Mausoleum, reading the tablets and piecing together the story they told. That’s what was great about that field– the tablets there told a story. It would be amazing if there were more tablets like that, in the other fields.
We know that the Giants are the second children of the Mother, and that the Sages are the seventh and humans the eighth; what are the stories behind the other children? What’s the story behind the Tower of Ruin? Who built it? And what happened in the Chamber of Extinction? Supposedly a great battle took place there, after all. What kind of battle? Things like these are all stories that the tablets could tell.
Perhaps the tablets that were previously blank could instead tell stories like these?
Oh god PLEASE don’t use WiiMote motion controls. They just wouldn’t fit in this game; they would feel totally wrong.
Am I the only one that found this quote ironic?:
“The future won’t come by looking back at the past.”
Isn’t that what Lemeza does anyway?
At any rate… Any way to modify puzzles to utilize the wiimote like some of the ones in games like Paper Mario & the thousand year door?
I always thought that one of the “old-timey charms” of LA-MULANA was that you had to write down all the clues and make your own maps – much like you had to do in games of old.
Although that was fun in a retro sort of way, it was also very annoying. Having the game do it for you would be a welcome new feature.
Ah, I understand why you declined using the original art and music. It would be a tad awkward for new players to understand why there’s all this “Old Music and Graphics” in a supposedly new game. It might make them think its a VC game or something.
You guys have to appeal to new audiences, right?
Will Lemeza still eat curry when you pause? And will still lightning hilariously strike you whenever you randomly hit a wall/statue?
Also, I’m pretty sure this page has a Japanese version. Doesn’t it have a blog like the English one?
I also like the idea of being able to log glyphs that you read. That way you won’t be forced to take a long trek back to a particular tablet if you forgot a clue.
About how many of the puzzles are you changing? Though The puzzles were cryptic and hidden, I found that an enjoyable part of the game was going around writting hints down in a little notebook and finding out when to apply them. Sure some will hate the mysticism, but did they want to play your game to begin with?
Also, me and my friend played through La-Mulana. How replayable will it be for us? I’ll buy it and play through it again even if you didn’t change anyhting. I’m a bit curious how much different of a game I’ll be playing.
I have a question for D.C.
will you be doing a new let’s play of new la mulana?
I really like the idea of recording tablets into Lemeza’s laptop as he reads them.
Oh, and speaking of tablets, maybe you could leave out all those tablets with no text on them? Those were kind of annoying.
Everyone above me has pretty much hit the nail on the head for me, but I feel I must restate them anyway, mainly because “Yeah, I agree” probably doesn’t help that much.
-The music was one of the key factors of why the PC version was so good. If you don’t or can’t include the original soundtrack, I really hope the new music lives up to the originals.
-My main concerns are: the Ankh Jewel in the Twin Labyrinths, and the lights in the Chamber of Extinction. I’m not sure about the Ankh Jewel, it was just confusing. As for the lights, there is a tablet that tells you to whip a white wall, but that narrows it down to just about every wall in the Chamber of Birth, or anywhere else with white walls (the Temple of Moonlight comes to mind). Maybe the hint could include the unlit torch by the wall.
-As for MrUnimport’s comment about the throwing knives, I think if you examine a skeleton in that room, it says: “The ghosts are scary”, or something like that, but I guess it could still be a bit more obvious.
-I thought all the bosses were fine, except Bahamut. I think you should either make the Scalesphere work there or try to make it so the boat doesn’t trap you so easily.
-I like the keyboard idea. Figuring out I had to type things like BIRTH/DEATH was pretty cool. I’m also not sure how that’ll be done with the Wiimote, unless you add some sort of spells menu.
-I also hated the “waiting games” with the lizard and mud men to no end. You could try to either make different solutions to those puzzles or make the enemies a bit more cooperative.
-I also agree about anything you can screw up permanently, like the Dimensional Corridor life jewel and the mace. I think that’s a bit unfair.
-The pistol could have cheaper ammo.
-I think Tiamat should stay the way she is. The bats caused me enough stress even when she was bound. The hair and eye beams all the time would not be very fun.
-Finally, if you’re planning on making the game easier, I highly urge you to have multiple difficulty settings, or you may risk disappointing a lot of current fans.
Anyway, that’s my two (or ten) cents on the matter. I’m really hoping that this game will live up to people’s expectations, but still appeal to a wider audience. Thank you for your time.
I’d like to see a feature that would let us record the writing on the tablets into Lemeza’s laptop for future reference. I found the best way to play the game was by writing down everything you see, so why not have the game do it for you? Also I think the Mantra chanting shouldn’t be so specific on where you have to stand to do it. I had to be told by someone that I was typing the right thing but standing in the wrong spot.
I really like that our feedback is being considered especially since you have to translate it into Japanese before reading, that’s dedication. I have full faith in the project and believe it will be as great if not greater then the original.
My Japanese is very bad, I am sorry. I will try writing in simple English.
I enjoyed the SSCC music a lot in La-Mulana and would very much like to see it in the Wiiware version. You do not have to use it as the main music in the game; it can be bonus material [お負け]. Maybe it can be unlocked after completing the game.
The 11 minibosses in the Dimensional Corridor are very easy. If they were harder, that place would feel more like a challenge. You come there fairly late in the game, so it should be harder.
The puzzle for finding the Ankh Crystal in the Twin Labyrinth was very difficult and hard to figure out from the clues. It would be better if the clues were easier.
Bahamut is an annoying boss. It is easy to get knocked down and get stuck under the boat. I lost half my life most of the time because of that! It doesn’t feel very fair.
Hell Temple is very difficult — that’s good! But just finding the entrance to Hell Temple is really confusing. The clues Duracuets gives you are really hard to figure out. I had to watch DeceasedCrab’s videos to figure out how to get there.
(I had an MSX when I was little. It helped turn me into who I am today, so La-Mulana was very thrilling for me. I’m looking forward to the Wiiware version!)
Bob, the trailer music wasn’t in the game, it was from the La-Mulana Arranged Soundtrack (I think) available here: http://files.myopera.com/White%20Knell/lamulana_music/index.html
WiiWare suggestion: include the SSCC soundtrack somehow.
What is the current plan for how parts involving use of the keyboard in the original (BIRTH/DEATH spells in ToR, the Mantras and YOMAR in the Maze of Galious area) will be handled with the new controls?
Some things that I think could be better:
Chamber of Extinction entrance: I think players in general have a lot of trouble figuring out what to do here. The most obvious thing to do is just fumble around in the darkness for an exit. If the tablet telling players to use a flare to illuminate the area was visible in the darkness, it would be much easier to navigate. This would end up making the game a bit easier, but I think this is an unfair puzzle. I don’t think a lot of players would think to search the ground for a tablet that they don’t know is there. One more thing: I only discovered recently that the Chamber of Birth torch is what illuminates the Chamber of Extinction entrance permanently. Perhaps a clue could be given in the tablet that tells you to strike the white wall repeatedly?
Second: The throwing-knife subweapon. The tablet hinting that you should defeat the Masked Men while leaving the ghost enemies alone is damaged, leaving gaps in the clue. There does not seem to be a tablet that completes the clue, and the fragments given to the player aren’t clear enough to explain how to solve the puzzle and unlock the throwing knives.
DLC was already confirmed in a previous statement regarding the game. There’s supposedly special stages, boss rush, and other things.
Anyways, here’s my second bit of feedback, namely dealing with boss fights.
Bahamut: You already have the scalesphere by the time you fight him. You don’t need to lose health by being in the water during the bossfight. I agree with the earlier statement that you can oftentimes get stuck underneath the boat if you fall off of it. If you still want the water to be damaging here, make it easier to get back onto the boat if you fall off. Make the boat like those kind of platforms you can jump on from underneath.
Baphomet: Make it so you can’t damage him during his startup sequence. It prevents a quick kill like in the speed kill videos.
Tiamat: It should be one of the hardest bosses, but it’s also the only boss that can be forced into a pattern that disables her more potent attacks. She should be able to shoot out her eyes and hair even when the infinity symbols on the corners of her screen are all destroyed.
And finally, some general stuff.
Pistol: Sure it’s the strongest weapon, but aside from finding a couple of roms it doesn’t really have much use because bullets for it are extremely hard to obtain because they’re the most expensive item in the game. I can see the Scripture going for 500 coins but bullets should be a little easier to obtain (Although there is that one shop that sells them for 400 a piece)
Minibosses: Mini bosses in this game don’t do any more damage than regular enemies. For those mini bosses that are in rooms that don’t have a ton of obstacles in them, they would provide a better challenge if they did more damage either by contact or the projectiles they throw around. With 11 of these all in one area it would help the Dimensional Corridor stand out as a battle intensive area.
Bombs: They seem to go off rather randomly and are a bit hard to use. They also don’t seem to do a whole lot of damage to enemies. I always got killed by Baphomet when I tried to use them on him. 😛
It is silly that some people are unhappy with the new changes. They will always have the original PC version, so they should be looking forward to how this version turns out. I have faith that the developers will make the game enjoyable, for both old and new fans alike.
Anyway, I have a few questions and suggestions.
What exactly do you mean by “complete remake?” Will the game not feature all dungeons/content? I would understand if you could not fit the whole game in due to limitations, but if that is an issue, the option of DLC could easily add it back.
How exactly will the music sound? Will it be more MIDI like, or more SNES sounding? Will there also be two different sound modes available?
I have recently learned that the version of “Fearless Challenger” played in the trailer was not made specifically for the trailer, but was in fact in the original PC game. Will it sound anything like that?
And my suggestion is that there be two modes of difficulty – one for the original difficulty found in the PC version (for old fans and those looking for a challenge), and a slightly easier mode (for those new to the game). This should please old fans, and provide a pleasant experience for the new players, who can later try the more challenging difficulty.
I’m guessing that the easiest was to reduce the difficulty for the easier mode would be to simply remove some of the traps and more brain wrecking puzzles. One other thing you could also change to make it easier is to have ways to undo certain permanent traps, as they mostly prove to be more of annoying detours than anything.
And as for DLC, I think the best way to go would be to provide brand new content.
Unfortunately, I have only recently started playing La-Mulana, and have not yet beaten it (I have a busy schedule), so I am unable to provide more feedback.
I’m sorry if my comment is hard to understand. I tried to word it simply.
Hmmm. I have no problem with the graphical upgrade but I’ll miss the SSCC music for the Wii version. Going through the game, here’s the feedback I can come up with so far.
– Startup: Since the Wii version won’t be so much on the MSX references, feel free to take out the MSX style loading times when you load a saved game.
– Glyph reader rom: Since it’s an item you’ll be using from the beginning of the game it shouldn’t take overly long for the player to get a hold of it. I’m fine with it being purchased from the village but it should be a tad cheaper. How about something like 60-80 coins instead of 100?
– Grail: Make it so you can warp to back area grail points sooner. Instead of putting one ROM needed for this combination all the way until the Twin Labyrinths, which is towards the middle of the game, put it in some back area you’d run into sooner, like the Confusion Gate or the Graveyard of the Giants.
– Mausoleum of the Giants: Make the weight scale a little bit easier to access. It can still require the grapple claw, but I’ve always had trouble wall kicking from the very top of the screen it is on to reach it.
Also, I haven’t really figured out the pattern behind the sun/moon/star machine. Why have it so you can only access two patterns and then have to leave the screen and come back in order to create the third? I think it would make a bit more sense to be able to come up with any of the 3 patterns as you’d like.
– Spring in the Sky: Try moving the grail point to dry land. That way it won’t be as punishing to players who happen to warp there without the scalesphere handy yet.
– Inferno Cavern: Make the seal locks stand out from the background some here. I can’t believe how many times I forgot how to get to the chain whip because I forgot about the seal lock in the background.
– Chamber of Extinction: You wouldn’t know that you could light the section at the at the beginning until you read a glyph hidden in the darkness after climbing down a ladder you didn’t know existed. See if you can light up that particular glyph to make it easier to see.
– Endless Corridor: I agree with the other people so far not knowing a whole lot about the 2012 puzzle. Everything else to me looks fine here.
– Twin Labyrinths: The Ankh Jewel puzzle is a bit misleading.
– Confusion Gate: You’d sometimes have to wait quite a while to lead the lizard soldier into the light source. That’s my only complaint for this area.
– Temple of Moonlight: There’s a part above the grail point which is a one way point with no exit that contains a ROM.
– Dimensional Corridor: The Life Jewel can still be a platforming section, but put it in a room where you can go back to it later instead of having a monster that never reappears again be your only means of reaching it.
There is no “that trap is no good” in La-Mulana, the point of the traps here is to be nasty and unfair, that spices the game a bit. I WANT HELL TEMPLE ON WII. Even though it’s probably gonna be left out. But seriously, do not lower the difficulty, don’t do it, don’t give a damn about the little kids who have spare Wii Points and want to download it, they have to suffer like we suffered on our NESs with those obscure and yet addictive games. La-Mulana is a spiked candy, it isn’t easy to eat, but heck it’s good.
I’m sorry if my comment was hard to understand. ):
If you need me to explain anything again, just ask.
A few suggestions, if you want some more feedback:
*I agree with other people that the original music should at least be an option in this game. I understand your reasoning behind not having original graphics and that’s fine as I appreciate the graphic overhaul. The music, however, is not something that would necessarily age the game as it really is very good: the compositions more than make up for the ‘limited’ sound structure of the MSX. I cite Megaman 9 (Rockman 9) as an example of old-style music remaining fresh and catchy in today’s world.
*I also want to second DigitalMushroom’s idea of keyboard support. The Wii has not really used the keyboard feature so much, and opting that for an option of control would be rather unique and fits perfectly for this style of game which has its inspirations from a computer system.
*Will it still be possible to keep the names of the ROMs? I understand they are all MSX games and they are under copyright; it may not be possible to keep the original names of the ROMs without some legal work. Will the ROMs be renamed, or would they possibly even be of Nintendo games instead?
*I ask that jumping physics be a bit more forgiving. They seemed rather strict in the original game, especially if you need to change directions in midair.
*Lastly, are you considering downloadable content (DLC)? Be it for free or for a price, it would be an interesting idea if new areas could be downloaded, or other such items and missions to extend replay value.
I have to agree with the comments on the Pistol being mostly useless and the Ankh Jewel in the Twin Labyrinth being very hard to find.
I think most of the prices for things and bosses are fine as they are.
I believe that the later parts of the game need more traps.
I am unhappy to hear the original graphics and sound will not be available. They were good as they were, and they kept things in the original Konami/MSX style. Even though I never owned an MSX myself and haven’t played many of it’s games, I thought the look and feel of La-Mulana was excellent. Although I look forward to the new graphics and sound, I will miss the old style.
Well, that’s a start for answering questions, even if we might not like the answer. Still many questions to answer, and some new ones.
Questions
1. How are you changing the difficulty of La-Mulana?
2. What will the MSX Roms and peripherals be replaced with? NES Carts? Generically titled games? Archaeological relics?
3. There are at least three sections/minigames in the game that directly parody or mimic other games. Will all or any of those sections or minigames be removed or changed?
4. Will there be the standard switches for old/new graphics or old/new sound? Will both the original SSCC or SC88 music modes be supported? – ANSWERED: “Old graphics/sound not supported.”
5. Will the MSX and Kobami logos be removed?
NEW – 6. Will Hell Temple remain, and if so, will it be changed?
Shame the old style won’t make it back, but if you guys are truly adding a lot of new content, I can see why porting over the old game would not be possible. Before La-Mulana, I had never heard of the MSX, but even so the pixel art was still nostalgic of older games. As for the music, I have faith that you will maintain the atmospheres the SSCC soundtrack created for each field. One thing I really hope you guys keep in this remake is the wide variety of monsters form the first. Just like the music, they helped make each field different and unique. I also hope that the inventory will be just as if not larger than it was in the original because the feeling of getting equipment is a great feeling. One thing I would do is make the breakable walls make a certain sound to indicate which weapon breaks it so you don’t waist time figuring out which one works. I agree with the Ankh Jewel in Twin Lab not really needing much thought. Maybe since its a maze you could make it so we have to go a certain path to unlock the chest, or something. Also, the Lamp of Time needs less time to charge. The life jewel in the Dimensional Corridor was so annoying to get. One question is, How will the Mantras and Spells be done without the keyboard? Will a keyboard pop up for typing or will something new replace these? This is just a thought but the Wii offers USB connections for keyboard for the Internet Channel. If you could, maybe you could offer the keyboard as a possible control scheme option (but that might be way to hard to finish in time). I might think of more things later but this is a start. Good luck!
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LA-MULANA STAFF
Thank you very much for clarifying the intent of the La-Mulana remake. While I enjoyed many of the puzzles and traps in the original game, I felt a few were just too difficult and I had to solve them with outside help.
These included the 2012 puzzle in the Endless Corridor (I recognized “2012” from the Aztec Fifth Age, but relating it to the seals didn’t occur to me). And in playing Hell Temple, I thought that having to get such a high score on PR3 to progress was unfair; I’m not good at shmups at all, and it calls for an entirely different set of skills than what I have.
The traps, while highly damaging, were very fun and I really enjoyed them. I think there should be more of them in the later areas, since they appear mostly in Guidance Gate, Temple of the sun, Giants’ Mausoleum, etc. in the original game. Except Hell Temple. That one doesn’t need any more D:
I’m more than a little disappointed to hear that the original music won’t make it in. All I can say is, I hope you really hit a home run with the Wii version’s music, because the original music got it right in so many ways. I had never even heard of the MSX before playing La Mulana, but I still liked the game’s music and the way it sounded. The fact that it sounds like something from the MSX (I think?) was only incidental to me.
But that’s not what you wanted to hear, was it? Alright, I’ve got a bit more feedback.
The game’s difficult, and that’s not a bad thing, but I do think there need to be fewer puzzles that can be permanently ruined if you do them wrong. It’s really off-putting to have to consult a guide just to avoid irrevocably screwing up a puzzle, when it feels so much better to figure something out on your own.
Bosses like Baphomet and Viy were hard in a fun way. They don’t need to be changed. However, Bahamut was hard in a way that was frustrating and not very fun at all. I think fighting that guy gave me a headache. The boat was difficult to control, and when he lunges at you, a lot of times it’s impossible to dodge. It’s also very easy to get stuck under the boat if you fall in the water. You wind up taking more damage from the water than from the boss. I’m not sure how he should be changed, but something needs to happen there.
The puzzle used to reveal the Ankh in the Twin Labyrinths was a bit too opaque in my opinion. The hint was “The witches convene, and Baphomet is summoned”; I understood what it meant, but getting them to gather around in one spot takes more luck than skill or brains. It’s also a bit unintuitive, since you know the Ankh has to be in the front side, leading you to think that you should do the puzzle in the front side too; but the witches you need to do the puzzle with are the ones in the BACK side, even though there’s an identical set of witches in the front! This puzzle needs to be either simplified or replaced with something else.
I’m not sure what I think about the traps that seal you inside a room. On the one hand, traps like these are VERY bad to fall into if you haven’t found the Grail yet; but on the other, if you DO have the Grail, then all it will mean is an annoying trek back from the nearest grail monument. It seems a bit silly that these traps are more annoying than they are scary. I’m not sure what you should do about that, though.
The Glyph Reader is important enough that I think it should be a bit cheaper. Or maybe you could find one in the ruins somewhere, after solving a puzzle? That would be cool.
On the subject of prices, I understand that the Pistol is a powerful weapon, but it seems a bit silly that Pistol ammunition is so expensive that you can’t even really use it. Perhaps it could be just a LITTLE easier to get?
I had a lot more to say than I thought I would; I apologize for being so wordy!