Hello again. It's time for La-Mulana. I've been saying for a while now that I would revisit everywhere and search everything, but other things kept coming up. This time: I revisit everywhere and search everything. From a production point of view, this will be something of an inversion of the usual situation: this is the longest playing time of a single update by far at almost seven hours (!), but I expect it to be one of the shorter posts in length and I hope time spent compiling GIFs and screenshots and writing about them. I write from start to finish on these, so I don't know if that's true yet, but I think you can all be glad that this is a screenshot rather than video LP.
I start off today by going from one end of the Village to the other scanning and attacking every likely-looking place. At the top of the waterfall I find a spot that pings.
After trying every other weapon I break out the Pistol. Two bullets later, the wall breaks and the water pushes Lemeza into the cavity.
Scanning in the corner nets me Nemesis 3, a 1988 shooter that's part of the extended Gradius family. This revisit everywhere and scan everything lark is paying off already!
I go into the ruins. Straight away I find these statues. There are things like this all through the ruins, most of which ping when hit. I've been assuming they can't be broken, but I take a moment to try out all of my weapons against this one, including the Pistol. None of it works, but getting down to one bullet gives me a chance to test something: I equip the Ammunition and use it, then switch back to the bullet. As expected, the bullet that was remaining in the cylinder has disappeared and I'm back up to six shots. Bit of a waste, really.
I head through the Guidance and Confusion Gates without finding anything further. My method is to visit every screen and scan anywhere that looks like it might have something and strike every wall and any floor that has no room below it in case of something breakable. It's pretty time consuming. The second screenshot here is half an hour in in terms of play time, so my productivity has dropped. It does show that the wall Lemeza is standing next to was not opened by the Sages, at least.
Twenty minutes later I reach this screen in the Mausoleum and find Frogger in the hole in Led's chest. I can't believe I didn't scan this the first time I was here. It's a 1983 port of the 1981 amphib-em-up.
After another twenty minutes or so I stumble across this hidden chamber in the Graveyard of Giants. I can't do anything in there that I can find, though. I think maybe all these blocks are hollow and I can get in to this one because the ladder makes an opening?
I don't find anything in the Temple of the Sun, though I do manage to get stuck in a trap, but in the Temple of Moonlight I unearth Twinbee. It's a 1986 vertical shooter ported from the 1985 arcade original. Did I really not scan this stele before? Looking back over the LP, it looks like I did. What the what? Do I need to go and scan every stele again just in case? One other possibility is that the Salamander/Gradius 2 ROM combo that I've got active because I still haven't figured out what it does allows me to find things I'd otherwise miss. That would fit with the real-world combination of those ROMs - you can't get some items or the true ending in Salamander without having Gradius 2 in the second slot - but would also be super-mean on the part of the developers. Actually, I've been backing up my saves, so I can test this. Hang on a minute... OK. Twinbee can be collected without the ROM combo. So why didn't I get it the first time I was there?
A couple of screens over from Twinbee I attack an enemy and the wall behind it pings. I've been checking the walls anyway on this run, but it's a shame I didn't have that happen earlier. I cycle through all my melee weapons before finding that the Shuriken will break the wall. What's inside?
A whole lot of skeletons and an Anubis, the first one I've seen outside of the room where I got the item that makes me immune to their death field. For some reason there's a whole pile of collapsing floors in this room.
For no particular reason, here's me breaking a pot. Lemeza is an archaeologist.
The stele has a new clue, and one that's still relevant, even if it doesn't obviously tell me anything new. I take out all the enemies, but the barrier up top remains. How am I supposed to reach the door?
Good ol' Bombs. After some initial difficulty, I get the path open.
Inside I find the spirit of commerce. It sells me the Bracelet:
User's Manual:As I mentioned last time, this description is not in itself useful. Still, this is the last item, aside from the Magatama Jewel which I think is plot mandatory and probably not available until after I beat the eight Guardians. Go me! Even if I did cheat for a couple of them.
Bracelet: This is useful!
Look at that almost-full inventory. But what does the Bracelet actually do?
A minute ago I had a GIF of a pot breaking. Three hits to do the job, regardless of weapon used. This one goes in one, as will all in future. That is useful!
Elsewhere in the Temple, I use the Katana to check these blocks. A door!
Inside I find a silent computer. After racking my brain to remember the ROM combo needed to talk to it, I get a message from Samieru, one of the three members of the game's Development team. His description of the project strikes a chord with how I'm starting to feel about this LP.
Samieru is credited with SUB-PROGRAM, TOOL-PROGRAM, and SOUND. The music from the fight with Sakit (the Giant) plays during this talk. Maybe that's his favourite? I like it, too. This talk is still reminding me of my experience with the LP.
I'm not quite ready to declare it my soul, though.
Next stop is the Pyramid. I've had killing all the enemies and breaking all the pots on my to-do list forever, but the VIT loss from the lightning strikes has made it impractical. For the enemies, I've used my brain and taken them on with time frozen, minimising the strikes needed to take them out. Doesn't get me anything, though.
Having the Bracelet makes taking out the pots more realistic, though I still have to leave the pyramid to top up my EXP for a VIT refill before I finish the job. Again I don't get anything much from this (one of the pots drops ten coins, but that's it).
After breaking the pots I went back to Xelpud, saved, and called it a day. On reloading I checked for combos with Twinbee, since I'd forgotten to do it at the time, and found that there was one with Gradius 2. It causes coin drops to appear as bells, similar to the powerups in Twinbee. This is kind of odd, actually: on the MSX you can get powerups to appear as bells in Gradius 1 with Twinbee in the second slot, but not in Gradius 2. I'll add the Gradius 2/Twinbee combination (or as the autocorrect on my phone calls it in the notes I was taking while playing this update, the "Twinned gracious 2 combo") to my list.
I don't find anything in the Spring of the Sky, so I carry on to its rear, the Tower of the Goddess. This katana strike produces a ping.
After exhausting my other options, I try the Pistol. After six rounds, the wall breaks and I find A1 Spirit. It's an alternate version of F1 Spirit (which I already got from a shop in the Confusion Gate) that came with a steering wheel peripheral.
You might think it would combine with one of the two F1 Spirit games I already have, but instead it goes with Badlands, the laserdisc game I picked up in the Tower of Ruin last time. When I press F4 to run the MSX (which I'm pretty sure I did by accident intending to hit F3) I get this password screen. I thought maybe I'd found the Mantras and would need to go to different Fields and run the program to get more of them, or to scan altars to change the password, but nothing I tried seemed to do it. Perhaps ZEUS is the only password? I also don't know how to use it. I've tried typing it in on gameplay screens, on the title screen, and I think on the MSX screen seen here. Maybe there's another ROM combo that will ask for a password? Maybe it's a Mantra I have to use somewhere to access a secret once I get the Magatama Jewel?
While I'm in the Tower, I head to the upper bit of the Confusion Gate. I skipped it on my earlier pass at the area because it's a pain to get to. I still need to scan on top of the platform above Lemeza in this shot. Can I make it up there this time?
Yes! But scanning doesn't turn up anything. A wasted effort?
Not entirely! Striking the angel makes it disappear, and the "you did a thing" sound plays. But what have I done?
I drop to the screen below, where the wall at the right has been replaced with a ladder. I can now get from the lower part of the Confusion Gate to the upper side without the long trek through the Graveyard and/or Goddess Tower. Too bad I just did the last thing I wanted to do up there.
Up next is the Inferno Cavern, where I once again face this grappling challenge. This GIF is the end of five and a half minutes of attempts at this.
I don't find anything in there, other than that these pillars have gone back down. I suppose if I'd just carried on instead of resetting when I locked myself out of getting the Chain Whip then I'd have the chance to get it now. I wonder if it would take the place of the Mace (which would be a downgrade)?
My trip through the Tower of Ruin is similarly fruitless. I finally manage to kill a decent number of these things with time stopped, at least, but get nothing for it.
I make it to the upper left of this room for the first time and learn that these fairies will attack eventually, though. I wonder if that's in response to me attacking them or just a matter of time?
At this point I decided to go back to the Graveyard to see if I can find any more hollow ice blocks like the one in the middle of this GIF. I don't, but I do find something else: notice how the first Spear in this GIF goes all the way through the floor while the other two stop a bit higher?
Twenty Throwing Knives later, I'm able to open the wall to reveal what looks like a shivering person in a snowsuit huddled next to a fire. The knives that went after the wall broke made a pinging sound, but I didn't follow up on that while playing.
I can't seem to get in there. Attacking doesn't do anything apparent.
I clear the room of enemies so that I can get a nice clean looping GIF of it. I guess this is just some kind of easter egg? I was lucky to find it.
I return to my trip through the Fields. In the Chamber of Extinction, there are still a rock and a wall that get me struck by lightning when I hit them (don't know what that's about), and I find another ROM by scanning a doorway. Man, have I been scanning all the doorways in this update so far? I can't remember. Anyway, 1984's Hyper Olympic 1 (the "1" is on the title screen) is the first (surprise) game in the Track and Field series.
In the Chamber of Life I make sure to scan all doorways and sephirot, and it pays off when I find King Kong 2, a 1986 movie tie-in. It's got pretty cool cover art and combines with Firebird, though I haven't yet figured out what the combination does. Apparently in the real world this combination will allow you to save and load the game to tape. You have to put King Kong 2 in slot 2, which would normally mean Firebird would run, but in this combination runs KK2 instead.
I then go back and scan in front of all the doorways in the Fields I've been to so far this update. I don't find anything, though I do pick up some more bullets from the shop in the Temple of the Sun. The doorway I'm scanning in the Inferno Cavern here is beyond the Grapple Claw jump that cost me five minutes earlier in the update. This time it only takes two and a half.
I return to the trip through the Fields. In the Twin Labyrinths I find an invisible passageway in a wall containing a ROM. I really should have found this already, since I found a similar passageway in the equivalent room on the other side of the Field. Usas, aka The Treasure of Uşas, is a 1987 platformer that looks kind of like La-Mulana, really.
I also take yet another shot at this. My latest idea was that there would be some way to pass through the right side wall and come out on the left side, which would allow me to push the upper block where I need it to go. It doesn't seem to be so.
I've been going to the front Fields followed by the reverses, but for the eighth pair I mix it up and do the Dimensional Corridor first. This is because you can't warp out, and exiting through the door on this screen takes you pretty near the start of the Endless Corridor. Also, supposedly the Dimensional Corridor is actually the front, it's just been warped to the back by Tiamat. Anyway, the only thing I find in here is a woman hiding in a wall.
As with the person in the ice block in the Graveyard, I have no idea what this is about. I can't get in to this gap in the wall, either, or do anything with my weapons.
I head through the door to the Endless Corridor. At the screen with the door to the Mausoleum of Giants, there's a new fancy stele. Reading it I get what looks to me like the first Mantra: "MARDUK"
Stele:This is the entrance to the corridor that continues forever, so this must be the first Mantra. Man, it's good to know what those are! Now, I've just been to pretty much every screen in the game (still got the rest of Endless and the Shrine of the Mother to go) and I haven't seen any more of these. Maybe I have to chant the first Mantra before the next one will appear? The appearance of this stele could be the fourth path opened by the Sages, the finding of which is on my to-do list. Nothing else I've seen in this trip through the ruins seems likely to be it.
The first Mantra is in a corridor. The entrance to the corridor that continues forever.
I run through the rest of the Corridor and the Shrine without finding anything new. I still get a "you did a thing" sound when I weight the dais in the first of these shots, and I still don't know what it means. I still haven't found a way to the dais in the second shot. I've now been all through everywhere I've been before, so it's time to wrap for this update. I head back to town, save, and quit. Whew!
It's been a fairly successful trip, even if a very lengthy one. I found lots of ROMs (I now have 78 out of 84), an item, a few clues, and some secrets. There are still things outstanding (presumably Naramura has a hidden computer somewhere to go with Samieru and Duplex's, I need to figure out what to do with the ZEUS password, and I'm pretty sure there's an optional dungeon somewhere that I haven't found), and I'm not sure that the six remaining ROMs are all in unexplored areas, but I'm feeling like I've found most things. Time to crack on, take out Tiamat, and progress the game.
Maps:
Temple of Moonlight:
Clues:
"PASSWORD: ZEUS"
Village:
"Have you found all the ROMS? Something good will happen if you do."
"Tiamat has distorted the front and rear of her part of the ruins. Yes, endlessness is the back."
"In obesiance to the Four Sages, we guarded the ruins. The four Sages realized that they could not grant the Mother's wish to return to the skies. Therefore, they wish at the very least to grant her the peace of death. That was the final conclusion that the Seventh Children reached. It is a sad thing that wish must be passed on to you, the eighth children. All children must eventually leave the parent's nest, I suppose. Your father was after the treasure of Life, the remains of the Mother's spirit once she dies. I hope you can get it in his place."
Guidance Gate:
"Eight souls rest in this land. The souls are those of the Guardians that protect these lands."
Confusion Gate:
"The mother ocean watches kindness and charity."
Temple of the Sun:
"Chant the correct Mantras, and seal off Tiamat, Baphomet, Palenque, Viy, Bahamut, Ellmac, Sakit, and Amphisbaena."
"
"The second Mantra is by the feet of the twins. The place where their feet connect."
"The third Mantra is a green beast. By the side of the guardian of Hell."
"The fourth Mantra is by a serpent. The path connecting to the pyramid Nu Wa guards."
"The fifth Mantra is below the goddess. By the feet of the goddess who gazes at the crumbling tower."
"The seventh Mantra is by many spikes. Spikes that protude from seven floors."
"The final Mantra is eight stars."
Temple of Moonlight:
"The Guardians protect something else. In those places lie wedges, eight wedges which can give form to a soul."
"Welcome, chosen one. I am Alsedarna, one of the four Sages - the Sage of Death. I shall tell thee the secret of the ruins. We went into a long sleep to grant the Mother's wish. The Mother came to the Earth from the skies. We do not know where she came from. But she wanted to return. Having lost the power to move, the Mother breathed life into earthen dolls -- us humans. We were born to return her to the sky, and were given wisdom here in these ruins. Then we were send out into the wider world, to look for a way to return the Mother to the skies. Yes.... these ruins themselves are the Mother. Alas, returning the Mother to the skies is not possible. If we cannot grant her wish, then all we can do is grant her an eternal rest. Chosen one, please release the Mother from her suffering.... That is our wish...."
Spring of the Sky:
"Welcome, chosen one. I am Giltorriyo, one of the four Sages - the Sage of Knowledge. These ruins are the Mother's body. She can not be defeated. Thou must defeat her soul. Summon the soul of the Mother and give it a form in this world. The method to do so is already prepared. As the 7th children, we have devised a secret art for this.... And now we shall tell it to thee. Drive 8 wedges into the Mother's body. Find the Wedge and the Magatama Jewel, and chant the Mantras. The Mantras have been inscribed on Tablets. Drive the wedges through the rear. Please, chosen one. Grant our wish and release our Mother...."
Tower of the Goddess:
"The mischievous Rusali. Yaksi, who beguiles men. Dakini, dancing enticingly. Only one of them has a pure heart."
"The right eye sees Charity."
"Welcome, chosen one. I am Samaranta, one of the Four Sages - the Sage of Power. The soul of the Mother sleeps in the Shrine of the Mother. There lies the final Ankh. The final red light will bring forth its true form. Ye who hast conquered these ruins. Only thy power can grant the Mother rest. We four Sages sealed off four paths. Mine is now open. For the others, find Fobous and Giltorriyo. Now go, chosen one...."
Tower of Ruin:
"The kind, mischievous fairy. The kind, lonely fairy. Her mischief is innocent. Innocent mischief will do thee no harm."
"Ascertain those who would lead thee astray. Ascertain those who are truly pure."
"The left eye sees Kindness."
"To ye who hast made it this far, undertake the final trial. The Mother's wish can no longer be granted."
Chamber of Extinction:
"If thou cannot go left, go right."
"There is a medicine that can give form to a great soul. Consult the correct spirit."
Chamber of Life:
"Charity, Kindness, Charity, Charity, Kindness, Charity, Kindness, Kindness, the endless sound of the waves."
"Drive in the wedges. Awaken the Mother. The Shrine of the Mother will then show its true form."
Twin Labyrinths (Front):
"Cast a spell on the spirits that have the elixir. The Elixir gives shape to souls."
"The King of Hell, Beelzebub. He guards the eight souls in front of the Mother."
Endless Corridor
"Chant the name. The one who Tiamat loved and hated. The source of all the pain who gave birth to the 11 monsters. MARDUK."
Dimensional Corridor:
"Make praise, the bright sun shines into day, the dark moon will then vanish, push from the celestial wall forever."
"Welcome, chosen one. I am Fobous, one of the Four Sages - the Sage of Life. The Mother's power is the power to create life. In ages past, others attempted to create life as well. Tiamat, Nu Wa........neither could compare to the Mother. With the Medicine of Life, one can attain the power of the Mother. The pure-hearted mischievous fairy has been entrusted with this medicine. Seek her out. When thou findest her, cast BIRTH, the spell of life, upon her. Cast DEATH, the spell of death, on the false fairies that would lead thee astray. If thou attainest the wrong medicine, return here. Without the correct medicine, thou cannot attain the power of the Mother........"
The Shrine of the Mother:
"Endlessness and dimensions. With her great power, Tiamat bent the laws of both."
"A land guarded by 8 souls."
"The Sages will only show the path to the chosen one. At its end lies a great soul."
"Is this my son reading this? I hope so. I've made it this far, but was not chosen by the sages. I could not wake the Mother. Please do what I could not. The source of all life is here. Oh yes, please hit the "off" button now."
To-Do:
Anywhere:
-Find Shorn Kosugi
-Figure out what the red crosses do
-
-Clear each screen of enemies at least once
-Complete the software use and software combinations lists in the manual
-Find other key fairy locations, if they exist
-Get all the ROMs
--Have something good happen
-Find the Magatama Jewel
-Figure out
--Chant the Mantras from the rear to drive the eight wedges
-Undertake the final trial
--Defeat the Mother's soul
---Give the Mother's soul form
-Beat PR3
-Figure out where/how to use PASSWORD: ZEUS
Village:
-Return to hidden door at 4/2 with all the ROMs
Confusion Gate:
-
Temple of Moonlight:
-
Tower of the Goddess:
-Enter door: 1/-1 (behind water)
Tower of Ruin:
-Get the medicine of life
--Identify Rusali, Yaksi, and Dakini
---Cast BIRTH on Rusali, and DEATH on Yaksi and Dakini
-Figure out what weighting the dais at -4/1 did
-Do something with the blue cross at -3/2
-
-Interact with background woman at 0/3
-
Twin Labyrinths (Front):
-Solve block puzzle at 3/-2
--Find way to push leftmost block to the right
---
Dimensional Corridor:
-Defeat Tiamat
The Shrine of the Mother:
-Weight dais: -3/4
-Do something at the box platform at -3/0
-Defeat Beelzebub at -1/1
--Open the core of La Mulana
-Chant the correct Mantras to seal off each Guardian at their images (?)
-Bring forth the Mother's soul and its true form, and grant it rest
--Find the final red light, perhaps in the Endless Corridor
Fairy Locations:
-Confusion Gate -6/3
-Temple of Moonlight 0/-1
-Spring of the Sky 3/1
-Tower of the Goddess 2/5
-Chamber of Extinction 8/-3
-Endless Corridor 0/-2
ROMs:
-Antarctic Adventure -Athletic Land -Badlands -Break Shot -Cabbage Patch Kids -Circus Charlie -Comic Bakery -Contra -Diviner Sensation -F1 Spirit -F1 Spirit 3D Special -Firebird -Frogger -Game Collection 1 -Game Collection 2 -Game Collection 3 -Game Collection 4 -Game Collection EX -Game Master -Game Master 2 -Glyph Reader -Goonies -GR3 -Gradius -Gradius 2 -Gradius 2 Beta -Hyper Olympic 1 -Hyper Olympic 2 -Hyper Olympic 3 -Hyper Rally -Hyper Sports 1 -Hyper Sports 2 -King Kong 2 -King's Valley -King's Valley Disk -Knightmare -Konami Baseball -Konami Boxing -Konami Golf -Konami Pinball -Konami Ping-pong -Konami Soccer -Konami Tennis -Magical Tree -Mahjong Dojo -Mahjong Wizard -Metal Gear -Metal Gear 2 -Monkey Academy -Mopi Ranger -Nemesis 3 -Parodius -Penguin Adventure -Pennant Race -Pennant Race 2 -Pippols -PR3 -Q-bert -Quarth -Road Fighter -Ruins RAM 8K -Ruins RAM 16K -Salamander -Seal of El Giza -Shalom -Shin Synthesizer -Sky Jaguar -Snatcher -Space Manbow -Super Cobra -Time Pilot -Twinbee -Unreleased ROM -Usas -Video Hustler -Yie Ar Kung Fu -Yie Ar Kung Fu 2  |
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Next Time:
Part 45: Tiamatricide
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