La Mulana Ex is a huge nonlinear 2D action adventure platformer thing, with hints of Super Metroid and much older 8 bit games. The original La Mulana is a 2005 PC game. 'Ex' is an updated version for your Vita, and happens to be free on PS+ this month (Sept 2015). 

Basically, you explore ancient ruins with your Indiana Jones type character, dealing with traps and monsters, unlocking treasure chests through puzzles, and finding new items that power you up or grant access to new areas and solutions. There are lots of hints, but it never really tells you what to do - taking notes would probably be advisable, but we could just discuss it on here instead...





I'm currently about 15 hours in, and still not near the end. It's huge, and tough, and sometimes bewildering, but it's a great exploration game. 

I'm happy to add tips to the OP to get people started, and would gladly take help from anyone who's got further in.

General Beginner's Tips:

There's not much to do on the surface to start with except go in all the tents (press up) to speak to folk and shop. The elder should give you what you need to enter the ruins.

You'll want the scanner and translator programme asap to make progress in the ruins (may need to save a bit of money first). When you get in the ruins scan any stone tablet and skeleton that you come across. Also scan the save point on the surface and any others you find. You can also often scan things like statues and murals in the background.

You can buy wooden blocks in one shop for placing on pressure switches (press down), and you should always have a few handy. Sometimes monsters drop them as well.

The Buckler for sale in one of the shops is a shield you can equip as a sub-weapon and use to block certain projectiles. Not very important at this stage.

The first part of the ruins, The Gate of Guidance, is the place to be for now. There's no need to go to any other areas until you've done a good chunk of it, although there are a few bits that won't be accessible till later. Following the hints from scanning should see you through it.

When you solve a puzzle that cracks opens a chest, you still have to whip the chest to get the loot.

And look out for breakable walls, ceilings etc. It's worth hitting stuff just to check a lot of the time. However, in some rooms there's an eye on the wall and if you hit certain 'sacred' objects it will strike you down with lightning, for severe damage.

You'll notice that monsters drop green orbs sometimes. These fill a gauge under your HP gauge. Basically, when that bar is full it refills your HP and then resets to 0.

Don't forget the hot spring on the surface - a few screens left of the save point. You can recharge HP here at any time. Always pop back if you're running low.