Video Game / Mulaka

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The Destruction of the World is Nigh.
Only one as powerful as a Sukuruame can attempt to prevent it.
Rise, Mulaka, Child of the Stars.

Mulaka is a Hack and Slash actioner developed by Chihuahua-based indie company Lienzo, one whose storyline is (expectedly) inspired by Mexican mythology, specifically based on Lienzo's native Tarahumara Culture, and graphics based on The Legend of Zelda.

In ancient times, the Tarahumara were shamans, a peace-loving folk descended from the heavens who inhabits the pains of Northern Mexico and the first humans in the land. As the region prospered, corruption begin spreading through struggle for powers between the ancient gods, and a prophecy that will spell destruction of the land emerged.

Sukurúame is a title bestowed to the best warrior among the Tarahuma's sect of magic knights, and players are in control of the new Sukurúame - descended from his father, the previous Sukurúame - who volunteers himself across the Sierra of northern Mexico, infested with monsters from another world, with his trusty spear and assorted spells allowing him to transform into various animals.

So, go forth! You have a long journey ahead of you.

• Amphibian at Large: The Apowa line of enemies are giant frogs, who attacks Sukurúame by pouncing on him or lashing out an Overly Long Tongue attempting to snag the hero. If Sukurúame is caught by an Apowa's tongue and fails to break out in time, he'll be Swallowed Whole and spat out almost instantly, suffering some health loss but isn't enough to kill him if he has more than half his health left.
• Animorphism: Collecting a different Animal Spirit Morph allows Sukurúame to transform into an animal, a move he performs very regularly. In order, the woodpecker (the first and most frequently-used form, granting Sukurúame flight abilities), bear (a Mighty Glacier for breaking down walls but borderline useless in combat due to being ridiculously slow), panther (useful for platforming elements) and serpent (allows Sukurúame to swim, and somehow this form also turns him into An Ice Person).
• Attack of the Monster Appendage: First boss Teré Machiré initially appears as a massive scorpion tail from under the sands, using it to lash out at Sukurúame while he crosses the desert. It's not until Sukurúame reaches the boss area when Teré Machiré shows itself by emerging from underground.
• Boss Rush: Re'le Na'irale, the Mexican Underworld Sukurúame traverses to face Terégori, the root of all the evil plaguing the land. Along the way, he needs to fight shadowy copies of previous bosses, supposedly their souls revived by Terégori to impede Sukurúame.
• Dead Person Conversation: Using the all-seeing eye allows Sukurúame to speak to spirits, which are depicted as translucent blue humanoid figures in certain locations. Some will reveal important clues for the hero.
• Disposable Decoy Doppelgänger: Wa'ruara Seeló, in both his boss fights, has the ability to conjure a dozen doppelganger copies of itself to fool Sukurúame into attacking nothing; landing a hit on a doppelganger makes it fade into nothing but leaves Sukurúame exposed to attacks. The all-seeing eye can be used here - doppelgangers tends to look different under the eye's vision compared to the real deal.
• The End of the World as We Know It: Sukurúame, prior to the game, uncovers a Tarahumara prophecy that the world is hopelessly corrupted by the forces of evil and doomsday will come, and as such embarks on a journey across the land to prevent it from happening. His quest leads into the underworld, and then it turns out Terégori, the supposed root of all evil and Final Boss, isn't the cause of the corruption, but a product of corruption caused by human nature, and that destroying the underworld's guardian won't reverse the course of nature either ways. The world shall still come to an end, but it's not doomsday - the world will merely be reborn from scratch. And so the game ends as such, with Sukurúame leading his people to transcend into a new world.
• Evil Is Bigger: The bosses - all of them - are larger than Sukurúame.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The player character is called Sukurúame by everyone else he encounters, which, in real-life Tarahumara terminology, is a title given to spiritual healers. His real name isn't divulged at any point.
• Evil Living Flames: Sipabúara Ma'chiri is an enemy type resembling an orange fire with a face that appears in dark environments, chasing after humans to burn them. They're not very durable, Sukurúame whacking them a few times via spear makes them fly off into a distance like a deflated balloon.
• Gashadokuro: Terégori, the Final Boss, is a giant demonic skeleton shrouded in shadows whose bony ribcages, limbs and interior skeletal forms are visible through it's shadowy flesh. It's skeletal form is revealed periodically during the boss battle, and in the final stages when Sukurúame is near victory Terégori finally bares it's true, bony self completely.
• Healing Herb: Sukurúame can collect plants to rejuvenate his stats, with Aloe vera being the default herb for restoring stamina.
• To Hell and Back: Subverted in Re'le Na'i'rale, the final stage, the Mexican equivalent to the underworld where Sukurúame confronts Terégori, the Lord of the Underworld, in a shadowy realm. Sukurúame wins, but turns out Terégori isn't the cause of the corruption plaguing the land, but a product, and Sukurúame's victory isn't going to stop the world from being reset. Nevertheless, Sukurúame's deeds has proven him to be worthy of being reborn into a new world, where he then exits hell and in the last cutscene, is soaring above the skies as a woodpecker above a reborn world.
• An Ice Person: The Serpent Morph has freezing abilities, where besides being used in combat, can also freeze certain surfaces into solid ice, allowing Sukurúame to smash open an entrance icebreaker style.
• Javelin Thrower: Sukurúame can hurl his spear at enemies, and regenerate a new one after each toss with some mana.
• Justified Save Point: Magical stone altars serves as save points where Sukurúame can perform an incantation and record his current progress.
• Left Stuck After Attack: Using Sukurúame's Serpent Morph will create ice pools around him, that can snag enemies missing a blow leading to their arms or claws embedded into the floor. As they struggle to free themselves, they're exposed to Sukurúame attacks for a few seconds.
• Made of Evil: Terégori, the shadowy entity who rules the underworld who's allegedly the root of all evil and corruption? He's actually a product of the evil and corruption that already exists in the heart of men, and Sukurúame's quest to destroy it basically means squat because the world still ends anyways.
• Magic Knight: Sukurúame is a shaman who's skilled in magic, and a competent fighter using his trusty spear.
• Magic Potion: There's quite a few variety of potion pickups available for Sukurúame. Besides the usual Mana Potion and Healing Potion, he can also consume a Rage Potion (that gives him Unstoppable Rage) and a Shield Potion (which forms a translucent forcefield around him for several seconds - it works even if Sukurúame is currently in animal form).
• The Marvelous Deer: Cho'Mari, the Holy Stag spirit who serves as the wise council to the children of the stars, appears after Sukurúame won his first boss battle against Teré Machiré, where it's depicted as a majestic fawn spirit who provides guidance and advice to Sukurúame on his journeys.
• Mini-Game Credits: The end credits depicts Sukurúame, in his woodpecker form, flying through the credits as the world is reborn anew. Players can actually control Sukurúame around to avoid or collide with the onscreen text, which doesn't affect his health either ways since the game's already over.
• Mushroom Man: Wekogí Norí, who inhabits the plains, are sentient animated mushrooms as tall as Sukurúame, with a massive, fang-loaded maw placed in it's bark Belly Mouth-style it uses for chomping.
• No More for Me: In one stage Sukurúame dispels his panther morph in a village, right before a drunk citizen. If approached, the drunk will let out this line.
  Did... did you just got here by turning into a puma? Oh boy, oh geez... I guess that'll be enough Izquaite ^note some traditional Mexican beer made of fermented corn for today.
• Poke the Poodle: The Mantis men terrorizing the civilians of Samalayuca, besides controlling large portions of the land, also likes messing with local aqueduct tubes to prevent water from reaching the village, seemingly for shits and giggles. More than one stage requires Sukurúame to eliminate Mantis mooks guarding aqueducts, then complete a series of puzzles to redirect the water back to the village.
• Restart the World: The entire ending. Sukurúame destroys Terégori and confronts the Powers That Be, only to find out the world is due to reset anyways regardless of his final battle's outcome because it has become hopelessly corrupt because of human nature. Sukurúame eventually accepts You Can't Fight Fate, but his journey allows the Tarahuma people to continue their existence in another realm. The game ends with Sukurúame, in his woodpecker form, flying through a blue void which is the new reborn world.
• Quicksand Sucks: Samalayuca desert, the first stage, has quicksand pits that swallows Sukurúame instantly the moment he steps in - time to reload last save.
• Ribcage Ridge: Most desert regions, including Samalayuca desert which is the first stage, tends to have giant bony ridges taller than Sukurúame adorning the background, despite how there aren't any living monsters that huge. Some of these can be explored, and many contains pickups and items.
• Rock Monster: Ganoko Kubechi is a gorilla-like monstrosity made of boulders with a... disproportionally-sized little head. They usually serve as Giant Mook enemies in the game's second half, and three of these (allegedly brothers according to some villagers Sukurúame interacts with after the battle) are a Triple Boss.
• A Rotten Time to Revert: Sukurúame's animal morphs will consume his mana, which drains onscreen and once he runs out, he reverts back to human form. This is especially undesirable when using his animal forms to traverse great distances, like Sukurúame as a woodpecker flying across great distances - he might suffer Falling Damage or drop to his death outright.
• Scary Scorpions: Machirés are swarms of oversized scorpions inhabiting Samalayuca desert, the first enemies Sukurúame encounters. They're only a threat in large numbers however, and the stage ends with Sukurúame battling the giant scorpion boss Teré Machiré.
• See the Invisible: The all-seeing vision is a power that's seemingly granted to all Sukurúame shamans, allowing the hero to see spirits, and certain invisible enemies like the Rusíwali Kuta and Sipamea Ma'chiri who can otherwise appear from nowhere to ambush the player.
• Slaying Mantis: The Seeló-class enemies are giant mantis humanoids of different sizes (the smallest as tall as Sukurúame himself) and they're terrorizing the townsfolk in Samalayuca. They attack everything in sight as well and is a recurring enemy since the second stage, ranging from low-level Rejói Seeló Sukurúame kills aplenty to armored Rejói Wa Seeló whose giant forearms can become improvised shields providing greater defense to the flying Inima Seeló and Wa'ruara Seeló (who has magical abilities besides flight, and the latter is the second boss).
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Sukurúame can talk to pheasants, seemingly an ability granted to all shamans of his type. The birds seemed quite chill about it too, frequently divulging hints and directions for Sukurúame.
• Super Drowning Skills: Be wary of pools and rivers in the forest areas - they may not look that deep, but the moment Sukurúame steps on a watery surface a meter away from shore, he's a goner (reload last save)
• That's No Moon:
  • Wa'ruara Watakari, a humungous amphibian monster boss, initially appears as a small islet in the middle of a lake, overgrown with trees and vegetation. The cutscene revealing the whole creature has it rising out from below surface, where it turns out the islet is Wa'ruara Watakari's back.
  • Gano, oldest of the giants who's rumored to inhabit the mountains, reveals itself as the penultimate stage's last boss; turns out it is a mountain with trees as limbs, that Sukurúame needs to battle by performing a Colossus Climb and targeting the crystals embedded on it's body.
• Too Many Mouths: The Wa'ruara Rusíwali boss is a giant spirit-demon thing made of glowing orange energy, whose body is lined with mouths filled with fangs. As the creature simply towers over Sukurúame, he needs to climb up platforms and target the mouths from a distance via javelin while avoiding the creature's attacks.
• Tornado Move: By pounding javelin on the ground Sukurúame can summon a pillar of tornado energy damaging everything surrounding him, but this move has a pretty high mana cost.
• Waddling Head: Trilobites are insectoid monsters resembling giant human skull on spider-legs crawling after Sukurúame. Being an early enemy, they're not very difficult to deal with, especially how concentrated spear jabs will lead to a trilobite turning Flipping Helpless. Later on there are Trilobite Cho'ri and Trilobite Ená who resembles demonic eyeless faces on insect-legs, and they're far more difficult than thee default trilobites.