La-Mulana 2's sole glaring omission present in the first entry was no doubt the Hell Temple - an out-of-the-way optional dungeon, leagues harder than anything else in the game. Punishing, borderline unfair masocore puzzle platforming, demanding the player makes smart use of the tools they've acquired on their main journey. Detestable stuff.
The very fact that you can purchase this DLC and spend days combing over the entire map with absolutely no idea how to even access the content should tell you all you need to know. Gets the ball rolling with unhinged puzzles that demand the knowledge of the world map's nichest details, and the ransom note just keeps on going through to the very end. As a longtime La-Mu fan, the way Oannes dishes out cruel gotcha moments by flipping the game's rules upside down sent me into laughing fits, and it never feels unbearable because there really is a sense of mastery to it all, as well as a generous checkpoint system.
I kind of forsee this to be the last piece of La-Mulana content to ever come out, it has a kind of "so long and thanks for all the fish" vibe going on I can't help but find very sweet. The way La-Mu 2 featured Eg-lana, Oannes let us visit the final unexplored area in 1's now 11 year old roadmap, you can't help but salute to the finality of it.

Reviewed on Jan 31, 2022


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