La-Mulana 1 & 2 Bundle

Genre: Compilation / Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

La-Mulana 1 & 2 Bundle, released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2023, is a Compilation containing a the two named games.

I have separately reviewed these games. Here is what I thought of both of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
La-Mulana	Metroidvania	1	B
tl;dr La-Mulana is a Metroidvania about an Indiana Jones-style character exploring an ancient ruin, and this game has some really clever ideas and mechanics, as well as some difficult to parse puzzles and clunky platforming. For the sort of player who thrills in unravelling clues to solve puzzles, this game may well prove thrilling, but other players will find it extremely frustrating. Suffice it to say, while some will love La-Mulana, this isn’t a game for everyone.
La-Mulana 2	Metroidvania	1	C-
tl;dr La-Mulana 2 is a Metroidvania about the daughter of an Indiana Jones-style character exploring an ancient ruin, and this game follows its predecessor in numerous ways, even improving on some. Unfortunately, it has also added overly sadistic level design and poor performance, resulting in a game that goes over the top with its challenge level into “just plain bad”, which is a shame because parts of this game are so very good. However, in the end, I cannot recommend this game to anyone.

In short, I definitely had strong feelings about both of these games. La-Mulana is a Metroidvania with a strong focus on challenging and at times unclear puzzles, which won’t be for everyone but will really be delightful if that’s your niche. La-Mulana 2 is more of that… but with the really frustrating troll level design turned up to 11 and then with performance issues to make things even more infuriating.

When looking at the value this package presents, you’re talking about a $15 game and a $25 game being sold together for $35, which is a pretty modest savings… and it seems even less like a great deal when you can simply get the far better of these two games for $20 less than what the package costs.

In the end, I’m not very impressed by this bundle. I suppose if you want both of these games, this is probably the best way to get them, but even then it’s not an especially impressive deal. Personally, I recommend just skipping this bundle and only getting the first game, if even that.

tl;dr – La-Mulana 1 & 2 Bundle is a Compilation containing the two named games, but I strongly believe that only the first of these two games is worth playing, and this bundle doesn’t give players a very enticing reason to get the two games together. Unless you absolutely must have both of these games, just get the first La-Mulana and don’t bother with this bundle.

Grade: C

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