La-Mulana/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

 * A few things occured to me about La-Mulana last night. Firstly, the traps weren't put there by anyone. They're the Mother's immune system. And notice that the place is, well, ruins? This is why you have to kill the Mother: her body has degenerated to the point that even if she were sent into the sky, she would be unable to function, and she is in extreme pain. Furthermore, the front and back areas are a large part of a theme of opposites. The tutorial level Guidance Gate and the aptly-named Confusion Gate. The Mausoleum of the Giants, recording and honoring each member the dead race and filled with statues of how they looked while alive, stands in contrast to the Graveyard of the Giants, showing the cold reality that no matter who you were when alive, you are little more than a lump of organic materials once you die. There is, of course, the male Temple of the Sun and the female Temple of Moonlight, and the Chambers of Extinction and Birth. But this runs deeper, as the Mother has an opposite as well: you. She is Birth, and you are Death. She created races to let her get home, and you are a member of the race that forgot her wish. She is the idealistic hope that she can go home, and you are the grim reality that this is impossible.