Challenge your wits and get creative on the beautiful La-Mulana 1 & 2 platform, available now!
La-Mulana 1 features archaeologist Lveza Kosugi and her adventure of finding ancient ruins that are said to have attained great wealth and mystery behind the origin of life. In La-Mulana 2, her daughter, Lumisa Kosugi, investigates the emergence of fast-moving animals in ruins while also curious about where her deceased father is.
This offline metroidsian throws the player into the unknown, with many deadly enemies, evil puzzles, and satanic traps between them and the ultimate truth behind the world.
Join us in this exclusive interview with creator Takumi Naramura about game design, story development, and lessons learned!
What inspired beauty?
The concept of art began by imagining what a good modern pixel art would look like when it came from the limited-color paint commonly used in retro games.
However, making it more colorful will not make it better. I think that the combination of color and contrast was the key to contemporary beauty, so I tried to do it in such a way that the colors of the walls and backgrounds in La-Mulana as a whole could be beautifully illustrated with each other.
How did you balance light-hearted jokes with the service of black and white comedy?
Personally, I don't really read books. When I was a child, adults told me to read books, but I rebelled against reading only lies. In other words, I have no basis or ability to create novels, which I build using playful writing style, instead of being used seriously.
But there are a lot of retro games that take place in a sensitive or laid-back world but have a comedy discussion. I love that kind of adventure or atmosphere; if it tends to be impatient, the impact of any development of serious matters is enormous.
Did you learn anything about the design and development of the La-Mulana used in La-Mulana 2? If so, what is the most important lesson?
The first type ever created was created without much thought. When that was redesigned, it was redesigned to be proud of us as a consumer-facing product (as it was not just a charity project). Although it is a game whose story is structured over lighthearted conversations, I thought it was important that it also conveyed the depth and depth of the dive.
During the development of La-Mulana 1, I studied ancient civilization and collected many items such as photographs and books. Although I have kept Wikipedia's level in my research to avoid being overly serious, and I have been limited to showing my book to suspicious people, such as those that are closer to spirit types than good research.
The first non-sequential study was used sequentially, La-Mulana 2. Speaking of which, the main focus of La-Mulana 2 was the mythology of the game (based on Nordic myth) as it was important to link this mythos to the original game and create a global game changer.
On the left are paintings of the immortal battlefield based on Midgard in Nordic mythology. I followed the map culture that illustrates the area around the sea, and I was connected with the map symbols accordingly.
It's a little difficult to understand this map because its size is reduced in the game, but the important part was to instill in the player a spirit of mystery and understanding when viewing it – the La-Mulana 1 & 2 is essential.
How did you find the balance between difficulty and player to enjoy when designing a puzzle?
To be honest, I'm not upset about thinking about puzzles, which has led to difficulties in figuring out ways to entertain players. However, instead of providing explanations and over-teaching, I aim for puzzles that once you try it further, you'll be able to understand it (such as trial and error).
Initially, puzzles were prepared to be solved using the references in the incident. As the game progresses, it becomes more difficult to find clues, which are spread over many places, and to come up with a solution. In the end, the player will eventually use the entire map to solve puzzles. This way of solving the puzzle was not intended in the original, original version.
In addition, those who played the original version became a huge help. From a lot of downloaded games, I saw many players leave the area immediately after solving the puzzle because they were avoiding any pitfalls I might have set. I believe this taught me what La-Mulana's brilliance goes back to: when it comes to entertaining players, the answer is to play on their sense of distrust.
Is mythology something you have always been interested in?
Most Japanese elementary school boys are fascinated with ancient civilizations, aliens, and refugees. In my generation, if you were to present a "archaeologist," the first thing to remember was Indiana Jones and his sharp helmet and scarf. '80s Hollywood movies were also influential.
During the rehearsal, La-Mulana watched all four Indiana Jones films, including The Mummy and the Tomb Raider, but only Indiana Jones was used for reference.
Twelve traps of crystals from the fourth Indiana Jones film was the idea I wanted to use from La-Mulana. But now, there are studies that reveal these crystals are actually art objects that are out of place. This is how I found that deep down in your own research and research of ancient civilization, there is a great chance that the love behind all mysteries will fade. Because of this, I focus my studies on sources such as Wikipedia and occult material.
My thought has faded since I can remember. Of all the different myths in the world, I have to say that Egypt is my favorite, which is why I made sure to play games like Assassins Creed and Assassins Creed: Origin. But since there are similar myths around the world, I like to play with the idea that perhaps each myth of a culture is rooted in the same historical and global event. La-Mulana is the result of these thoughts that came into my adulthood.
In La-Mulana 2, shoppers are characters from other video games. Where did that vision come from?
Most of our followers from the early days of Negoro became retro computer games. I thought that part should not be forgotten while doing this, so I mimicked the retro PC game titles for consumer names.
In La-Mulana 2, we had the opportunity to add some intriguing images. I strongly believed that I was still saving this color, which led me to watch games in these images as best I could without any difficulty. However, some of the shopkeepers were changed during the import process as it was requested that these characters be rewritten so that their similarity with existing figures would not offend their creators.
This really bothered me, as they did not understand the concept of parishes. I thought, "If I have to redo them so they will no longer be monsters, then I'll call my indie game friends and ask them to make a cameo!" And that is how interaction is possible.
Have you ever seen your game switched to the big screen?
If I did this, I would be in total trouble because then I would have done nothing more than clean up Indiana Jones. You're trying to set up, aren't you?
However, we at Negoro seriously wish to increase our average outside of sports someday.
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