At the heart of this fantastical Spanish tale is a suave young gentleman named Juan who is ultimately chosen to save the world from the grasp of the evil dead. As fate would have it Juan finds himself to be a victim of a certain dead hombre's quest for vengeance during a failed rescue attempt. After seeking to rescue the El Presidente's daughter from her abductor (Calaca) early in the story the soon to be hero finds himself facing an untimely death. With the aid of a female luchador deity though Juan is able to overcome his demise, and traverse the land of the dead as well as the living at will. After obtaining the mystic luchador mask from the mysterious female luchador Juan sets out to not only resuce the damsel in distress, but to also save the world from the hellbent fury of the dreaded Calaca. Along the way he will encounter wacky residence of a distressed Spanish communtiy, as well as various otherworldly inhabitants. It is with the aid of these characters that our new found hero will foil Calaca's plot to merge the land of the living, and the land of the dead.
As I mentioned earlier in this review "Guacamelee" borrows a lot of things from the platforming games of yesteryear. You'll find that the core gamplay mechanics mainly stick to the Metroidvania style games that you are likely familiar with. Things like wall jumping, double jumping, melee attacks, and special attacks are all a part of this game. Aside for the Metroidvania basics though you will find that "Guacamelee" also has it's own unique combo based fighting system that can be combined with later earned special abilities to perform longer combo chains. When you first get into the game though you will find that Juan is just an average guy with average abilities. You'll have to visit different persons located around the 2D town, and surrounding areas in order to progress the story. As you talk with the town's various citizens they will ask favors of you in a style similar to that of the later "Legend of Zelda" games. Completing these tasks are optional, but rewarding if you manage to fulfill the requests.
Your ultimate goal in this "Mexivania" platformer is to rescue the El Presidente's daughter, and keep Calaca and his minions from merging the world of the living with the world of the dead. After you have secured the mystical luchador mask during the first portion of the game's plot you will be able to switch between both worlds at certain areas of the game. This ability will eventually become an instant thing later on in the game though, and will allow Juan to visit usually unreachable places as well as allow him to complete certain requested tasks that weren't initially made available while he was alive. This highly important changing of worlds will also make platforms disappear, and reappear so that Juan can reach new areas of the map. Speaking of the map you will find that "Guacamelee" includes an accessible map similar to the ones you'd find in the 2D "Castlevania" series. Unlike Castlevania though the map shows all locations. It also allows the player to see the completion percentage of each area they are currently in as well as hidden treasures/items that are within the vicinity.
Needless to say there's a lot of things to see, and do in this one-of-a-kind platformer. As I previously mentioned you'll find a lot of things that pay homage to older platformers, and other iconic video game industry things. Switching between worlds will often times yield different posters, signs, and structures that showcase these said tributes. Aside from the usual tributes though you will also find that some main character, and boss battle interactions will result in the revealing of such video game tributes.
As much as "Guacamelee" is about combo based brawls you'll find that it also utilizes the signature health bar, and character/skill based upgrades that you'd find in the "Legend of Zelda" games. Along your journey for heroic justice you will find hidden chests containing "Corazons (Heart Pieces)", as well as "Death Mask" pieces. Collection three of each will reward Juan with a health meter upgrade (Corazon), or a stamina upgrade (Death Mask). I should have mentioned earlier on that the special abilities/attacks use up "stamina". Both the health, and the stamina are shown on the game's HUD display allowing the player to know how low they are on each. Aside from the health, and stamina offerings the game also has it's own shop which doubles as a checkpoint. In the game these shops are shown as a memorial table with candles, and a "Day of the Dead" skull. By clicking (Triangle) in front of this memorial you can access the in-game store, and purchase everything from health upgrades to special moves that can be applied to the game's combat system. As you can likely imagine things in the store do have a price, and that is gold. As you battle enemies, and find certain gold treasure chests within the game you will earn gold with which you can buy goods from the store.
Last, but certainly not least is the co-op mode. Guacamelee features a drop-in, and drop-out 2 player co-op. The game itself basically plays out the same as it would if you were playing single player, but the second player gets to control the female luchador deity that I talked about earlier on in this review. As of now I cannot give you many more details than that since I don't have a co-op partner to play the game with. I can tell you however that the second player can be played using the PS Vita, or a standard PS3 controller. I also believe that the three additional moves that can be purchased in the game's shops are co-op specific, but don't quote me on that. I should probably also mention that the game has a global leaderboard for those looking to do a speed run. As far as I know the only thing that the leaderboard shows is the speed run time completions alongside the PSN ID od the gamer who achieved the rank.
Now Onto The Gameplay Mechanics ...
Juan is a very complex character to control, but is fairly easy to learn since the game eases you into the mechanics. You'll find that Juan not only has the basic "Metroidvania" abilities (double jump, wall jump, wall cling ...), but that he can also punish his adversaries with multi-hit combos. As you progress through the game, and it's plot Juan will earn new special abilities along the way to assist with these basic melee combos. These "Abilities" are hidden away in certain tribute based statues that can be found within certain areas of the game. These newly earned abilities will not only allow Juan to break past certain color coded bricks that block paths to secret areas, but will also allow him to break through the color coded shields of enemies. You'll find that the most difficult part of managing the color coded attacks is that in some instances you will have to switch world views in order to attack certain enemies. In other words some enemies are in the land of the living while others are in the land of the dead. This in turn makes for some pretty tough situations in the sub-sections of a level where you have to battle against multiple enemies at one time. The fact that some enemies have multi-layered shields, and specific weak points also adds to the chaos of battle.
In one of the game's town areas you will find a "Fighting Chicken Arena" that will reward you for learning the games many different basic, and advanced combos. While the game does try to place emphasis on learning these combos I found that you can basically hammer out random combos on your control pad, and still come out victorious. In that respect it's a game that can be played casually, or professionally. Either way you will likely make it through the game's many battles with little to no problem at all. You'll find that the most difficult portions of the game are actually the ones that require platforming puzzle solving to advance. In these situations you'll often times have to apply you new special abilities along with your platforming know how in order to advance through different areas.
Now Onto The Verdict ...
Guacamelee is a game that excels in all areas. Not only does it pay noteworthy homage to the video gaming industry, but it does so in a manner that does not take away from the excellent core gameplay. The story itself is engaging enough to hold the players attention indefinitely. I sat in front of my HDTV for a couple of hours at a time during my playthrough session, and never once grew tired of trying to complete the game's many daunting tasks. Even the hardcore platforming puzzles didn't deter me from trying over, and over again to complete them. I absolutely loved the fact that you could switch between the world of the living, and the dead. The characters, and characteristics of both worlds were beautifully rendered making for some amazing eye candy. The various billboards, signs, and tributes scattered throughout DrinkBox Studio's vast Spanish world were designed with such great attention to detail that players will likely play through the game more than once just to reference it all. There's not much else I can say at this point other than I had a blast playing through this game. It's one of those rare gems that happens around only ever so often. If you have not got this game yet I HIGHLY recommend that you do! $14.99 is a good price for what this game has to offer. The fact that it's across-buy (PS3 & PS Vita version for one price) only makes it better!!!
As I mentioned earlier in this review "Guacamelee" borrows a lot of things from the platforming games of yesteryear. You'll find that the core gamplay mechanics mainly stick to the Metroidvania style games that you are likely familiar with. Things like wall jumping, double jumping, melee attacks, and special attacks are all a part of this game. Aside for the Metroidvania basics though you will find that "Guacamelee" also has it's own unique combo based fighting system that can be combined with later earned special abilities to perform longer combo chains. When you first get into the game though you will find that Juan is just an average guy with average abilities. You'll have to visit different persons located around the 2D town, and surrounding areas in order to progress the story. As you talk with the town's various citizens they will ask favors of you in a style similar to that of the later "Legend of Zelda" games. Completing these tasks are optional, but rewarding if you manage to fulfill the requests.
Your ultimate goal in this "Mexivania" platformer is to rescue the El Presidente's daughter, and keep Calaca and his minions from merging the world of the living with the world of the dead. After you have secured the mystical luchador mask during the first portion of the game's plot you will be able to switch between both worlds at certain areas of the game. This ability will eventually become an instant thing later on in the game though, and will allow Juan to visit usually unreachable places as well as allow him to complete certain requested tasks that weren't initially made available while he was alive. This highly important changing of worlds will also make platforms disappear, and reappear so that Juan can reach new areas of the map. Speaking of the map you will find that "Guacamelee" includes an accessible map similar to the ones you'd find in the 2D "Castlevania" series. Unlike Castlevania though the map shows all locations. It also allows the player to see the completion percentage of each area they are currently in as well as hidden treasures/items that are within the vicinity.
Needless to say there's a lot of things to see, and do in this one-of-a-kind platformer. As I previously mentioned you'll find a lot of things that pay homage to older platformers, and other iconic video game industry things. Switching between worlds will often times yield different posters, signs, and structures that showcase these said tributes. Aside from the usual tributes though you will also find that some main character, and boss battle interactions will result in the revealing of such video game tributes.
As much as "Guacamelee" is about combo based brawls you'll find that it also utilizes the signature health bar, and character/skill based upgrades that you'd find in the "Legend of Zelda" games. Along your journey for heroic justice you will find hidden chests containing "Corazons (Heart Pieces)", as well as "Death Mask" pieces. Collection three of each will reward Juan with a health meter upgrade (Corazon), or a stamina upgrade (Death Mask). I should have mentioned earlier on that the special abilities/attacks use up "stamina". Both the health, and the stamina are shown on the game's HUD display allowing the player to know how low they are on each. Aside from the health, and stamina offerings the game also has it's own shop which doubles as a checkpoint. In the game these shops are shown as a memorial table with candles, and a "Day of the Dead" skull. By clicking (Triangle) in front of this memorial you can access the in-game store, and purchase everything from health upgrades to special moves that can be applied to the game's combat system. As you can likely imagine things in the store do have a price, and that is gold. As you battle enemies, and find certain gold treasure chests within the game you will earn gold with which you can buy goods from the store.
Last, but certainly not least is the co-op mode. Guacamelee features a drop-in, and drop-out 2 player co-op. The game itself basically plays out the same as it would if you were playing single player, but the second player gets to control the female luchador deity that I talked about earlier on in this review. As of now I cannot give you many more details than that since I don't have a co-op partner to play the game with. I can tell you however that the second player can be played using the PS Vita, or a standard PS3 controller. I also believe that the three additional moves that can be purchased in the game's shops are co-op specific, but don't quote me on that. I should probably also mention that the game has a global leaderboard for those looking to do a speed run. As far as I know the only thing that the leaderboard shows is the speed run time completions alongside the PSN ID od the gamer who achieved the rank.
Now Onto The Gameplay Mechanics ...
Juan is a very complex character to control, but is fairly easy to learn since the game eases you into the mechanics. You'll find that Juan not only has the basic "Metroidvania" abilities (double jump, wall jump, wall cling ...), but that he can also punish his adversaries with multi-hit combos. As you progress through the game, and it's plot Juan will earn new special abilities along the way to assist with these basic melee combos. These "Abilities" are hidden away in certain tribute based statues that can be found within certain areas of the game. These newly earned abilities will not only allow Juan to break past certain color coded bricks that block paths to secret areas, but will also allow him to break through the color coded shields of enemies. You'll find that the most difficult part of managing the color coded attacks is that in some instances you will have to switch world views in order to attack certain enemies. In other words some enemies are in the land of the living while others are in the land of the dead. This in turn makes for some pretty tough situations in the sub-sections of a level where you have to battle against multiple enemies at one time. The fact that some enemies have multi-layered shields, and specific weak points also adds to the chaos of battle.
In one of the game's town areas you will find a "Fighting Chicken Arena" that will reward you for learning the games many different basic, and advanced combos. While the game does try to place emphasis on learning these combos I found that you can basically hammer out random combos on your control pad, and still come out victorious. In that respect it's a game that can be played casually, or professionally. Either way you will likely make it through the game's many battles with little to no problem at all. You'll find that the most difficult portions of the game are actually the ones that require platforming puzzle solving to advance. In these situations you'll often times have to apply you new special abilities along with your platforming know how in order to advance through different areas.
Now Onto The Verdict ...
Guacamelee is a game that excels in all areas. Not only does it pay noteworthy homage to the video gaming industry, but it does so in a manner that does not take away from the excellent core gameplay. The story itself is engaging enough to hold the players attention indefinitely. I sat in front of my HDTV for a couple of hours at a time during my playthrough session, and never once grew tired of trying to complete the game's many daunting tasks. Even the hardcore platforming puzzles didn't deter me from trying over, and over again to complete them. I absolutely loved the fact that you could switch between the world of the living, and the dead. The characters, and characteristics of both worlds were beautifully rendered making for some amazing eye candy. The various billboards, signs, and tributes scattered throughout DrinkBox Studio's vast Spanish world were designed with such great attention to detail that players will likely play through the game more than once just to reference it all. There's not much else I can say at this point other than I had a blast playing through this game. It's one of those rare gems that happens around only ever so often. If you have not got this game yet I HIGHLY recommend that you do! $14.99 is a good price for what this game has to offer. The fact that it's across-buy (PS3 & PS Vita version for one price) only makes it better!!!
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