It's been more than four years since the "archaeological ruin exploration action game" La-Mulana 2 was successfully funded on Kickstarter, to the tune of $267,000. Work has slowly (apparently very slowly) but surely progressed since then, and today developer Nigoro threw open the doors to a "teaser" website and a Steam page.

"The release is happening this Summer," La-Mulana creator Takumi Naramura wrote in a Kickstarter update. "Have most of the users already lost their interest during all these years? No! It's the opposite! These days we have seen many indie games being released after years of development and they all succeeded. If the game is good, people will follow, that's all."

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La-Mulana 2 stars Lumisa Kosugi, daughter of the hero of the first game, who embarks upon an exploration of La-Mulana in an effort to learn why monsters are suddenly emerging from the ancient ruins. Her quest will eventually take her to the "other" La-Mulana, the ruins known as Eg-Lana, a vast area made up of "multiple field maps," with messages to discover, mysteries to solve, and huge monsters to battle.

"La-Mulana was known as a 'Metroidvania' style game (a 2D action platformer with an emphasis on non-linear exploration). That said, the real core of the game is in deciphering the riddles scattered about the game, and solving the puzzles that exist as part of the ruins," the Steam page states. It estimates that "newcomers to the series" will take 20-30 hours to finish the game.

The system requirements are relatively undemanding.

Minimum:

OS: Windows 7 (64-bit)

Windows 7 (64-bit) Processor: Intel Core i5 2.3GHz or above

Intel Core i5 2.3GHz or above Memory: 4 GB RAM

4 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX 12-compatible graphic board with at least 1GB of VRAM

DirectX 12-compatible graphic board with at least 1GB of VRAM DirectX: Version 12

Version 12 Storage: 4 GB available space

4 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 12 compatible sound card

OS: Windows 10 (64bit)

Windows 10 (64bit) Processor: Intel Core i7 3.00GHz or above

Intel Core i7 3.00GHz or above Memory: 8 GB RAM

8 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX 12-compatible graphic board with at least 2GB of VRAM

DirectX 12-compatible graphic board with at least 2GB of VRAM DirectX: Version 12

Version 12 Storage: 4 GB available space

4 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 12 compatible sound card

The original La-Mulana is currently on sale on GOG for $5, which is 67% off the regular $15 price.