/vr/ - Retro Games

Aconcagua is an incredible adventure game with a unique premise and great production values. It begins when a plane crashes into Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America and part of the Andean mountain range. The survivors of the crash are all people who in some way are another were following Pachamama, another survivor, a revolutionary woman who is headed for her home country of Meruza to spark a revolution that will hopefully topple the brutal dictatorial regime. But now that said regime has made sure that Pachamama never reaches Meruza, the survivors must pool their skills to survive and make it off the mountain with their lives.

Aconcagua is a third-person 3D adventure game where you can switch between your playable characters at any moment; each have different abilities which will come in useful at different points. The game mostly consists of solving puzzles and finding items, and interestingly the characters feel like they have real agency in how the game progresses, as you need to make puzzle solutions make sense to them--not just to you--by having them communicate. This makes them really feel like virtual characters with thoughts and emotions.

Released late in the console's life, Aconcagua still looks pretty great for a PS1 game, which some particularly amazing setpieces and a rousing orchestral soundtrack. Its plot is refreshingly mature and told in a relatively level-headed way for a video game, but still sporting an action movie bent, making it a spiritual predecessor to games like Uncharted (but without going into full-on fantasy toward the end).

Though the game is JP-only, the voiced cutscenes were done in English (and occasional Spanish) for realism's sake, which can help players figure out solutions to puzzles with occasional help from a guide.