can you give me some tipes on how to combine software, and what exactly the "games" do?

SPOILERS - SPOILERS - SPOILERS - SPOILERS - SPOILERS

Okay, let's see...
Software combos work in pairs. When you trigger one, the two pieces of software glow white for an instant, letting you know you've just found a combo. They don't tell you the effects, though. You are supposed to find out for yourself. But if you want to know, here are some of the most useful combos:
Miracle + Mekuri: Forces Key Fairy.
Miracle + Capstar: Forces Item Fairy.
Deathv + Move: Extended invincibility time after taking damage.
Randc + Mekuri: Knife/Axe/Sword/Katana power-up.
Move + Lamulana: Whip power-up.
Miracle + Mirai: Enables easter eggs. Only works in certain empty rooms (there are three of them). Okay, this one isn't really useful, but it's still kinda funny

EDIT: Oh, by the way, "games" do nothing on their own. Except Mirai, which lets you warp to backside areas (press down on the warp screen).

I have been totally abusing all kinds of guides...
I have now advanced to the final battle. Tried it twice but failed miserably.

It's a weird thing that using guides lessens the experience and still doesn't matter too much. It's a hugely entertaining game even with knowing some of the puzzless and boss encounters beforehand. It has such an imaginative world that even with using guides there is a lot for the mind to wander in. I kinda wish though that this game would be the ONLY piece of entertainment in the whole world and everyone should beat the game without any help. If there wouldn't be lots of other entertainment to have and other things to do in life, this game would have have me check out each screen and each hint with a great focus. It's absolutely amazing how there actually is a hint to EVERYTHING in the game. Even the most absurd solutions have a reason. It's like what REAL archaeology would be; you have to CAREFULLY examine every single detail everywhere. It would be absolutely amazing to figure everything out my myself, but finding out all of these things by reading them on guides and discussion forums is also surprisingly entertaining.

I stopped playing this game for a while during the Dimensional Corridor, because I was actually afraid of facing Tiamat. And man, the whole Dimensional Corridor system with "children" and whatever there was that had to be done to reveal Tiamat was so much tickling the part of my brain that loves adventures and mystical things, that it ended up coming into my dreams too.

Well, I was able to defeat Tiamat and after using some guides I managed to find the final place. I don't know when I'm ready to fight the final boss again, but what I do know is that the whole mythology and everything I've seen in the game has left a great impression to me. The world in La Mulana might be the most exciting game world I have ever been in.

I can find absolutely no fault in this game. Even the absurd feeling puzzles and the general hardness of the game aren't bad things at all. That is all very well fitting in the game's logic.

I might even go and say it has been the best game I've ever played.

Acctually, i've been using guides (and help on this forum too) way too much; this is kind of ruining the experience for me
If i was the game desiner - or from the localisation team - I would make the game text much clearer... nearly every pluzze hint we read from tablets only makes sense After you randomly solving the pluzze or reading a guide. I would also make the maps more interactive, being able to navigate trought the different room's names or even write notes. The sound you hear when you solve a pluzze and open something on other room should indicate where it is - maybe a flashing light on the map (metroid does that)
On the positive side the game is HUGE and the challange is just right. Maybe i'm not that intellinget to remember everything that is on everyroom... it's a very pluzzing game !

I had to quit playing this game cold turkey, it was starting to drive me crazy lol. That, and after using a guide a few times it kind of killed the magic for me. I'm glad I downloaded it and got to experience the game though, and I may end up playing it again one day.

so, 50 hours in i´m now hopelessly stuck at every puzzle in the game.

can´t figure out how to get the key to the endless corridor.
i think i need to "prove that i`m small" and defeat a boss. but it´s all too confusing. please help before wii u comes out ;D

I recall you had to get a "mini doll" or something like that from somewhere and then show it in front of a Giant in Mausoleum of the Giants. I'm not sure if you had to show it also in front of the tablet that says you need to prove you're small.

There was a tablet somewhere in the mausoleum that said something like "Next to the giants thou art small, like a doll".
Which means, equip and use the doll next to any giant statue in the Mausoleum of the Giants.

aha ok. i love you both.

La Mulana is so ridiculously amazing.....within the first 10 hours of gameplay it already became one of my all time favorites!

Cool! Now, since this is your first playthrough, remember to stay away from that one tablet you are forbidden to read twice, unless you want to play the rest of the game in the rather unforgiving Hard Mode!

time for me to get back into this game. I'm sure it will take LESS than one lifetime to beat it.

I think I just beat the 2nd boss and need to find some more secrets before trying to beat the 3rd boss again.

I've been playing the hell out of this game for the past month and I still have some questions...
Can someone explain the field mantras and wedge locations? Is there some rhyme or reason to them?

The tablets in Mulbruk's room hint at the location of the mantra tablets and the order in which they are found. To get there you have to go to the right, past the place where the two-headed statue that fired at you used to be.

The wedges are all in the opposite side of the boss rooms. You know how all main areas come in pairs: front side and back side. For example, Gate of Guidance (front side) and Gate of Confusion (back side). In each pair, bosses are in either in the front or in the back, but never in both. That's why Gate of Confusion didn't have a boss, because the boss of that pair was found in Gate of Guidance. Now, those burning crosses in the background are sort of compasses. There's one in each main area, and they are in the same room in each pair. They also show up on the map screen if you have the detailed map program running. Using those crosses as reference, you are meant to determine where the boss room is in the opposite side, and chant the mantra there.

Of course you can also brute-force it and chant the mantra in every room of the opposite area until you stumble upon the right place.

I actually accomplished stuff. Got the fairy, 2 more warp points, lots of the Sky Spring or whatever. Now to find a helmet item to get past waterfalls.

I was loving this game until I realized I had permanently activated the hard mode. Then I said to hell with it and stopped playing. I'm fine with a challenge but that was just cruel.

Meanwhile there is a full walkthrough on GameFAQs. I think it would be a better idea to orient oneself to the text version than to a 90-part YouTube playthrough.

How do you activate hard mode? O_o

There's a tablet in the Mausoleum of the Giants that says something like "You are forbidden from reading this tablet again". If you read it again, it activates hard mode for the rest of the game. Once activated, it can't be deactivated. Lots of people fall for that one trap, it seems.

Nice to see I'm not the only one who is stuck on this one. I'm only a couple hours in and figured a handful of puzzles out but now I feel like I'm wandering aimlessly as I'm solving nothing. Am I supposed to solve all puzzles in the Gate of Guidance before moving onto the other areas or do I explore any and every area I can currently access? I love this game so far, just need to better understand its structure of progression.