Games based on the mythology of small nations always attract special attention. Can you remember The Mooseman, telling about the Finno-Ugric peoples, or Never Alone, built on the traditions of the Inuit – the indigenous people of Alaska. Mulaka – from the same breed of cultural and educational games. From it you will learn about the myths, legends and traditions of the Tarahumara Indians, living in the mountainous region of northwestern Mexico.
Hunting for stones
We take on the role of one of the last powerful shamans of the tribe, who seeks the blessings of local demigods in order to defeat the forces of evil. During the process, Sukuruame (this is his sacred name) does everything that action/adventure heroes with Metroidvania elements do – fights some scorpions, frogs, walking mantises, beetles and other representatives of the local fauna, solves riddles, collects some artifacts and bonuses. To see marks indicating the location of the next point of interest, we need to turn on special vision, which consumes our magical energy. This is also the only way to see and defeat some mythological creatures.
At every level in Mulaka you need to find three “very important” stones that will open the doors leading to a battle with the next huge “boss” who comes from local legends. These stones, of course, are well hidden – they can be behind other doors, lie somewhere on a high mountain ledge, in a well or in the mouth of some local mystical monster.
Therefore, we have to work hard to get them – blowing up walls and passages with bombs made from plants, throwing our spear at buttons to open something somewhere, solving riddles. And somewhere we need to help local residents – for example, find the missing husband of a woman screaming in hysterics so that she agrees to give us an artifact.
The bear took away all my feelings!
And often we need to use the powers of those very demigods whose blessings we seek. These are large sacred animals – a huge bird, deer, bear, snake and others. Having passed their test, our “last of the Mohicans” will learn to turn into these animals – in the guise of a bird, of course, we can fly much higher, as a sea snake we overcome water obstacles, and having turned into a bear, we break down walls. And all these exercises require magical energy, so, for example, you won’t be able to fly like a bird all the time.
Available in Mulaka and collecting https://drake-casino.co.uk/ various herbs, from which healing potions, bombs and other useful items are immediately created, and pumping elements. By killing enemies and finding special hiding places, we replenish our supply of “exp”, and then go to a special granny in one of the villages to spend it on various improvements. So, you can make our hero stronger, increase the damage from the spear, reduce the recovery time of magical energy, and so on.
If it becomes difficult at the next level, then there is always the option of returning to previously completed locations in order to accumulate “exp” and, using your new abilities, get to those places that were previously inaccessible.
This circuit is simple
The mechanics, as you can see, are quite traditional for such games. And it has both its pros and cons.
The main complaint is, of course, some monotony of the process. At each level, everything is repeated: we fight, look for artifacts, then go through the main doors and beat the “boss”. The riddles are often repeated: all the way, for example, we have to correctly direct water into statues of snakes and catch some fidgety birds that cannot fly – they then suddenly start talking and agree to become a kind of springboard, helping the hero jump somewhere.
Battles very often take place in closed arenas, from which we will not be allowed to leave until we have defeated all opponents.
Still, the advantages Mulaka outweigh. Firstly, all the levels are large, bright and interesting. Secondly, fighting, running, jumping and using abilities is just nice here. The controls are convenient, nothing irritates or distracts. And this is especially important in fights, given that they often turn out to be very intense – at the same time, as a rule, various types of enemies attack, which forces us to spin like a top, run, jump, dodge and accumulate energy for a crushing ultra-attack that grinds everyone around.
The bigger the cabinet, the louder it falls
Fights with “bosses” are especially enjoyable. These are always huge creatures that you need to find your own approach to. So, when fighting some giant frog, you need to guess the moment when it opens its mouth, turn into a bear and throw a large piece of fish into its mouth with one blow – after that the “wah” will lie on the ground and pull out its vulnerable tongue. Another “boss” is so huge that to win you need to fly like a bird onto his head. All this, of course, keeps you in suspense, making you forget about some of the monotony of game mechanics.
Finally, Mulaka very colorful, stylish looks and sounds – chopped, pointed figures are perceived as animated drawings, and our hero communicates with demigods and local residents in some completely incomprehensible language, sometimes turning into strange, meditative tunes. This is fully explained by the theme of the game and is perceived as more than authentic and atmospheric.
Mulaka — the second work of the studio Lienzo, this time much larger and of higher quality. Despite all the traditional gameplay, it looks very bright and original, allowing you to try on the faces of different animals and touch the traditions and myths of the old Indian people. Of course, ideally we would like more content and variety, but in this case we need to give a discount to a small independent studio – it has already done a great job to Mulaka looked at least as good as some big-budget action-adventure games.
Pros: exciting classic gameplay, mixing fights, riddles, magic and pumping; unique animal abilities acquired as you progress; original graphics; atmospheric music.
Cons: riddles are often repeated; I would like more variety.
