raocow's talkhaus

Anubis as the god of death? I guess in La-Mulana Egyptian mythology didn't reach the Middle Kingdom period; by that time Anubis had been demoted to assistant of the new god of death, Osiris. The ancient Egyptians had a problem with jackals digging up grave sites, so they decided that the god who protects graveyards, and aids the dead in their passage to the next life should be a jackal. Anubis has a wife and daughter; helping the dead is a family business. There's very few stories involving Anubis, when he is mentioned in myth he's just kinda there; presumably bringing all those dead guys to the afterlife eats up a lot of his time.

Argus/Argos on the other hand has some myths attached to him, even if he plays a minor role in them. Argus was a loyal servant of Hera, his one hundred eyes could sleep in shifts, so he was always awake and aware of his surroundings. His first major act in service of Hera was slaying Echidna because she ate one too many travelers on the road. Argus's second big myth doesn't end well for him. Hera tasks Argus with watching over her priestess Io (who has been turned into a cow), so that Zeus will not stick his dick in her. Nothing can stop the Zeusanator though. Zeus gets Hermes to kill Argus, then runs off with Io. Hera honours her servant by placing his eyes in the train of the peacock.
Hera and Zeus are beyond couples counseling.

Sebby19 wrote: ↑5 years ago Kay nevermind. I looked it up and was completely wrong. La-Mulana.exe was in a different spot than I was thinking. I did discover a couple more secrets though.

Was it

the old Hell Temple spot? Because I totally tried there too, and got frustrated until I hit every single wall in the Gate of Time.

maou shoujo wrote: ↑5 years ago

Sebby19 wrote: ↑5 years ago Kay nevermind. I looked it up and was completely wrong. La-Mulana.exe was in a different spot than I was thinking. I did discover a couple more secrets though.

Was it

the old Hell Temple spot? Because I totally tried there too, and got frustrated until I hit every single wall in the Gate of Time.

it's in a spot in the wall left of the ladder on the first screen of the surface.

can't wait for eden!

Arctangent wrote: ↑5 years ago
probably is, considering it's how you get an ankh jewel

and from what i remember, the other puzzle( s? ) that require manual gylph translation don't hide away mandatory items, just very useful ones

Regarding your spoilered text.

There is one other big puzzle that requires ciphering and that is the Counting in La-mulanese puzzle in the Infinite Corridor.

We've spent enough time now in the Tower of Ruin to post its musical theme, I think. Another relentless track for an area that can leave you feeling like a small part in a big machine. A machine full of crushers and lava. Or, rather, magma.

"GIGA-MAGMA" (theme for the Tower of Ruin)

maou shoujo wrote: ↑5 years ago

Sebby19 wrote: ↑5 years ago Kay nevermind. I looked it up and was completely wrong. La-Mulana.exe was in a different spot than I was thinking. I did discover a couple more secrets though.

Was it

the old Hell Temple spot? Because I totally tried there too, and got frustrated until I hit every single wall in the Gate of Time.

You are correct, that what I was erroneously thinking.

the real la-mulana starts now!

Is the Eden puzzle exclusive to the remake? I played the original a million years ago so I don't really recall, but I swear you could just enter the Gate of Illusion like any other field. That's some pretty awesome atmosphere whiplash either way.

S.N.N. wrote: ↑5 years ago Is the Eden puzzle exclusive to the remake? I played the original a million years ago so I don't really recall, but I swear you could just enter the Gate of Illusion like any other field. That's some pretty awesome atmosphere whiplash either way.

Yep.

Behold! You fools! Welcome to my favorite area of the game! The Gate of Illusion! Also known as Confusion Gate in the original. 2 main reasons I like this area. One: Wonder of the Wonder is my favorite music track (even if I prefer the older versions) in this game. Two: I'm very proud of myself for succesfully navigating the 1st part of Confusion Gate, 95% of the way through, without looking up a guide. Pretty much the only Field of the later game I did that.

Anyways music time. Wonder of the Wonder actually has 3 versions. The original, the beta version of the remake that was on NIGORO's website while the game was in development, and then the final version of the Remake, with the scream.
Original:
Beta:
Remake
I love the Original and Beta equally. A good youtube comment on the Beta's video describes them perfectly: "The chiptune version is creepy in a cold, ice-water-dripping way. This one is just evil in a grand-hall-of-insanity way.
I prefer the Beta WAAAAYYYYY more than the final version. Beta has a better intro than the final's scream (that only plays once). The final also lost the heartbeat sounds that are oh so appropriate for this Field.

Sebby19 wrote: music stuff

I'm the complete opposite, tbh. The remake version is my favorite by a fairly large margin. The original version feels weak, and as for the beta, while the organ intro is really good, I don't think the track suits the gloomy mood of the Gate of Illusion. Also the heartbeat is kind of hard to listen to.

Now if it were for the True Shrine of the Mother, I'd agree with you 1000%.

Anyways, heeeeeere's Eden! Coming here with the fruit is something few will forget from this game. It's such a defining La-Mulana moment, an S-tier bait-and-switch. I had come here with the expectation that Eden wouldn't be the paradise it appeared to be. But I was just expecting it to be filled with strong enemies and devious puzzles. I didn't expect it to completely transform like this. The vicious environment, the brutal puzzles, the Eden bait-and-switch... all of these things, and yet, it's definitely my favorite area in the game. It's absolutely when La-Mulana gets serious about destroying you.

"Those who enter Eden, do not make light of this place."

I'd rank it the third most vicious area in the game, behind only the Chamber of Birth and Hell Temple itself.

Interesting to hear the thoughts and explanations of someone with the opposite opinion.

I never really considered Confusion Gate to have a gloomy atmosphere. I'd consider its neighbor, Graveyard of the Gaints, to be the gloomiest place, with all the frozen Giant husks and carcasses littered about. I guess it depends you definition of gloom.

As for the heartbeat in the beta music, while I'd argue it does fit the whole area, it reminds me the most of what's waiting at the end of the Field. Brr.

it is the '80s
and it is time for
the dancing man



(bonus: compare this with this)

Sebby19 wrote: ↑5 years ago Anyways music time. Wonder of the Wonder actually has 3 versions. The original, the beta version of the remake that was on NIGORO's website while the game was in development, and then the final version of the Remake, with the scream.

You seem very interested in this song.

Do you ever wonder about the wonder of wonder of the wonder?

Sebby19 wrote:I never really considered Confusion Gate to have a gloomy atmosphere. I'd consider its neighbor, Graveyard of the Gaints, to be the gloomiest place, with all the frozen Giant husks and carcasses littered about. I guess it depends you definition of gloom.

I always saw the Gate of Illusion as a destroyed paradise. What was once Eden became... well, this.

Sebby19 wrote: ↑5 years ago Interesting to hear the thoughts and explanations of someone with the opposite opinion.

I never really considered Confusion Gate to have a gloomy atmosphere. I'd consider its neighbor, Graveyard of the Gaints, to be the gloomiest place, with all the frozen Giant husks and carcasses littered about. I guess it depends you definition of gloom.

As for the heartbeat in the beta music, while I'd argue it does fit the whole area, it reminds me the most of what's waiting at the end of the Field. Brr.

Partly it's the music, but Graveyard of the Giants feels much more action-y to me. The song Giant's Cry has a panic feeling to it, due to the rising chorus and the rock-oriented drums and guitar building a crescendo through the whole song. It could pass as a battle theme in another game. It feels like "oh god I'm locked in the freezer, I've got to get out before I freeze to death", even though the cold doesn't have a damage over time aspect to it. Although, considering how easy it is to take damage by slipping into spikes and ice wizards, it might as well be causing damage over time. The puzzles also aren't very difficult, the Graveyard might be among the most straightforward areas.

Gate of Illusion on the other hand is the opposite mechanically. The enemies are not particularly aggressive and there are much less spikes, but the puzzles WILL make you want you want to beat your head against a wall. Wonder of the Wonder's horror reflects that. It's slow, plodding, and methodical, with a steady beat that travels in circles. While it does feature some guitar and rising action, it's not over the whole song like Giant's Cry; instead it rises and falls more than once, and repeats some of its note phrases many times over. It reaches the point of wanting to break down sobbing saying "HOW many times have I been past this spot? Where am I, where could I even GO?"

This has been the extremely amateur analysis hour from someone who knows a little bit of gameplay and soundtrack design and wants to learn more. It would be a fun experiment to swap the music tracks between various areas and see how it affects how both the songs and the areas feel.

Draexzhan wrote: ↑5 years agoI always saw the Gate of Illusion as a destroyed paradise. What was once Eden became... well, this.

I guess it also heavily depends where you're coming from. I only ever played the original, which didn't have Eden, so I couldn't get that sense of a destroyed paradise.

maou shoujo wrote:Partly it's the music, but Graveyard of the Giants feels much more action-y to me. The song Giant's Cry has a panic feeling to it, due to the rising chorus and the rock-oriented drums and guitar building a crescendo through the whole song. It could pass as a battle theme in another game. It feels like "oh god I'm locked in the freezer, I've got to get out before I freeze to death",

When I said the graveyard was gloomy, I was strictly speaking of the idea of the place. But when the music is factored in, it's impossible to make that same assessment, so I agree with you there.

Voltgloss wrote: it is the '80s
and it is time for
the dancing man



(bonus: compare this with this)

Or go even further and turn Moonlight Dance into Thriller.



A "high-quality video game rip" so fine it was done twice.

As for the original soundtrack vs remake soundtrack as a whole, I don't really have a strong opinion one way or the other, but I do have a few specific tracks I like the original more for:

- Sacred Tomb's chiptune version has a different, slightly more mysterious feel especially to start out rather than instantly putting you on full blast.

- The intro to M.U. is a little more... distorted, possibly? There's some more pitchbend in the intro that I like.

- The remake of Primitive Dance just cuts out a section that's in the original.

- and the theme of

Area 4-B

, which raocow hasn't heard just yet, has this one instrument in it I love that got toned way down for the remake. I can get why though, it does get up to a pretty high pitch.

Sebby19 wrote: ↑5 years agoWhen I said the graveyard was gloomy, I was strictly speaking of the idea of the place. But when the music is factored in, it's impossible to make that same assessment, so I agree with you there.

If you're looking at just theme/lore, I can see it. It makes me wonder why they chose to design certain areas the way they did, things could easily have felt totally different. I'd love to see interviews or extended dev notes if they exist.

Isn't the Gate of Illusion / Confusion Gate where you encounter

Chu Ye and his waterfall of sacrificial virgins

? That's pretty ghastly to me.

Oh yeah. That's what the heartbeat in the beta Wonder of the Wonder reminds me of.

Draexzhan wrote: ↑5 years ago

I'd rank it the third most vicious area in the game, behind only the Chamber of Birth and Hell Temple itself.

I'm in full agreement with that assessment but the Gate of Illusion is still by far my favorite area in the game. Chamber of Birth has a really decent song to go with it but it's an utter shit show to try and solve the field. And Hell Temple is Hell Temple. Most of it is fine but there's one room in it that's basically unforgivable. (And they brought it back as a required room in La-Mulana 2 because why the fuck wouldn't they? Room made me outright quit LM2 and is the entire reason I have yet to beat it despite having near 100% completion, sans one glossary entry I'm locked out of, and being like 3 rooms from the final battle.)

Gate of Illusion is, unironically, one of my favorite things in any video game. So much respect to Naramura for daring to conceptualize an area like this and actually managing to pull it off too.

I wonder (of the wonder) why they decided to add all the Eden stuff (lock away Gate of Illusion behind a puzzle). I know some of you have said that the transition is extremely memorable.
But in my opinion, I don't think Confusion Gate needed any help in that department.