La-Mulana was a legendary game that pushed the puzzle/adventure genre to the extremes. Sometimes it was a bit unfair, but at the end of the day it was a great game that really worked out your brain. La-Mulana 2 is an embarrassment to that game. Puzzles have been replaced with simple, clear instructions that usually involve running back and forth through the same few levels, collecting items. If you can't open a chest or figure out a tablet, 99% of the time the solution is to come back later with more gear and/or tablets. I guess Nigoro decided the puzzles in the original were much too hard, since they completely omitted them this time. The enemies were mostly harmless in LM, and they are as well in LM2. But this time, they aren't there to hurt you. They're designed to be as annoying and time-consuming as possible. They're also frequently placed on ledges and other inconvenient locations. The boss fights are just plain terrible. This is the most disappointing thing for me. They were arguably the best part of the remake, and very good in the original game as well. But the sequel's bosses are a joke. They're very easy, and like the smaller enemies, designed to be as lame and tedious as possible. Now finally, we have the traps. They were a fairly minor part of the first game, but in La-Mulana 2 they are absolutely everywhere. Instant death crush traps, trapdoors sending you back a few screens, inescapable pits, etc. They're all there, randomly placed throughout every level. Some are visible, some aren't. At the end of the day, it's just another huge annoyance that doesn't make the game any more difficult. In summary, La-Mulana 2 is a very long and tedious mess of endless backtracking, and nothing else. It is a game that is simultaneously both very boring and very frustrating. It's like going to work, except you're paying to be there. Also the music sucks, the translation is obnoxious, the items are recycled, and the hitboxes are even worse than the original.
