Lemeza's Character Development

[Dentorhedge]

Something easy to overlook in LA-MULANA is the message of the game. The way that Lemeza feels and talking about "shoulds" is absent from the story- but the story here, as simple as it is, still gives us enough detail to com to some greater meaning.

I believe the story of LA-MULANA is about the challenge of overcoming your forebears and becoming independant. Lemeza was always a step behind his father and was unable to build a relationship with Shawn/Shorn because he was left with his grandfather. His arc of going to the ruins, seeing his father rejected by the philosophers, and finally seeing his father's own admission of defeat at the heart of the ruins is simple enough, but what makes it great is that we actually become Lemeza over the long stretches of time between these scenes: we are facing all of the difficulty and wracking our minds to progress and better ourselves, putting us in the same mindset.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=473816311

So this small message that we can improve beyond the what came before us works perfectly in a game format, since we prove the message as we play. Not only that, but while Lemeza is becoming independent from his father, the children of the Mother (The 6th and 8th) are more explicitly trying to move beyond the goals and wishes of the one who made them. As much of an elder god as she might be, she is still a mother.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=473823863

This is even mimicked by the development philosophy of LA-MULANA and NIGORO as a whole: LA-MULANA was supposed to be the evolution of Knightmare II, and the greatest MSX title that never was, while since then NIGORO has decided to make their modus operandum to "bring 2D games into the modern era". Of course there are thousands of studios who are doing this, but none I've heard of who make it their explicit goal to be better than what came before without rejecting the ideas of the past in their totality.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=473803754

I may prefer the freeware version in the end, but I'll say that how HELL TEMPLE was tied into this message in the remake surpasses the freeware. Even if the original's design was more hellish, the remake's HELL TEMPLE, just by making Draquet the father of Mulbruk, turns the bonus dungeon into a story about the consequences of falling into step with and playing by the rules of the wrong role-models instead of trying to forge your own path ahead- a nice evolution of the main-game's tale.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1121891329

The fact that Lumisa (the protagonist of EG-LANA) may or may not be the daughter of Lemeza, and how Lemeza did NOT abandon her because he is irresponsible, but rather to keep the anger of the public about the ruin's destruction away from her means the sequel will probably have an even more interesting message about moving on from your parents and making your own history. Even the antagonist, the ninth child that may be trying to resurrect the mother using its own body (that isn't spoilers, just speculation) is an interesting evolution of the original game's vision.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1203100785

So- do you think that my thoughts are a bunch of hogwash? Do you think these messages were intended from the start, or adopted over time by the developers?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=173800148