Rom Di Prisco & Peter Chapman - Guacamelee! (2013)

 

Composer: Rom Di Prisco & Peter Chapman

Console: PS3, Modern PC (Steam, GOG)

Game Release Date: 2013-04-09

Soundtrack Release Date: 2013-09-13

Runtime: 1:29:45, 34 Tracks

It's time for another paid soundtrack! This time for the unique metroidvania, Guacamelee!  developed by DrinkBox Studios. This was apparently released first for PS3, but I could have sworn it came out for the PC at the same time. Wikipedia disagrees.

The game is one of the most unique metroidvanias ever made and deceptively so. Back in 2015, just seeing screenshots and images I just thought it was another indie platformer. I'm not sure what happened to make me purchase it, but I am glad I did give it a fair chance. I think it may have been me seeing it on /r/metroidvania and just being curious enough to look at it further than screenshots. Regardless, back in 2015 I did a full playthrough of it. I loved it. Guacamelee ended up being in my top 3 best games of 2015 list (3rd place) and the best metroidvania I played that year. I have fond memories of coming home from school, setting my laptop up to the TV and playing it until the rest of the family came home.
 

Guacamelee relies heavily on its central American/Mexican folkloric aesthetic. From the day of the dead to indigenous Mexican theological concepts to Mexican landscape it ties it all together in a beautiful bundle that sets this game apart from its other contemporaries. Most Metroidvanias focus on a gothic aesthetic while Guacamelee instead focuses on a completely different style.
 
The game follows Juan, an agave farmer. It is the day of the dead and Juan is planning to go meet up with an old friend of his, Lupita, the president's daughter. As the festivities begin all hell breaks loose (literally) and a skeleton/demon called Carlos Calaca attacks the village, unleashing a horde of undead on it. He also tried to kidnap Lupita. Juan intervenes and is killed instantly. In the afterlife he finds a statue and a spirit called Tostada. She gives him a mask that turns him into a luchador and sends him back to the world of the living. Now, Juan (and Tostada if you’re playing co-op) need to stop Calaca from uniting the worlds of the living and the dead.
 
The game features huge and absolutely gorgeous levels. It makes use of bloom and lighting effects to make everything look so much better. Even in the "night" areas it just looks extravagant. The game also features a complex fight system with many combos. Anyone good at fighting games should have no problem doing this. I've beaten the entire game sans the trials and extra stuff in the postgame and loved every minute of it. My favourite boss design was Flame Face. Such an interesting character.
 
Difficulty is tolerable. I fancy myself good at metroidvanias and fighting games, so I didn't have too much difficulty in it. Only tough areas were the finale and the postgame trials, but I am sure even the best players would feel challenged at the trials. I played it on medium difficulty. My favourite area was Canal de las Flores. The beauty of the night ride and the excellent music made me revisit a few times.
 
A sequel was released in 2018 but with how long it takes me to get to games I probably won't be playing it until sometime in the future. Really happy this game is as popular as it is.
 
RYM has the music tagged as mariachi, electro house and Mexican folk music. I'd be lying if I wrote I had any familiarity to those. The only electro house song I really know is Stromae's Alors on danse and that sounds nothing like this. If I had to describe the music in the game I would probably agree with the tags. The soundtrack is an amazing fusion of the two. Even in intense scenes and depressing scenes the music still fits and steers that fusion into somber of battle-ready tunes. With the amount of backtracking required in a metroidvania you get used to it.
 
I was going to write that my favourite song on this was Canal de las Flores but that doesn't even appear on the main soundtrack. I guess it was so good it required its own separate release.
 
The soundtrack was composed by two people, Rom Di Prisco and Peter Chapman. Rom Di Prisco, aka Romulus Mars Priscus has already appeared once in my blog before for his work on the War in Heaven. He's a Toronto-based composer who is mostly known for his work on this game. He also has a few solo albums and done work for other games like Unreal Tournament 3 and Need for Speed II.
 
Peter Chapman on the other hand is a new name for the blog. He's known on RYM for this soundtrack and his work as Coins - Daft Science (2014), a beastie boys remix project. He has also done work for games like ModNation Racers. Both artists are still active today
 
Like any Bandcamp album you have the option of anything from v0 MP3 to FLAC.
 
Bandcamp: https://drinkbox.bandcamp.com/album/guacamelee-original-soundtrack
Free Bonus Tracks: https://drinkbox.bandcamp.com/album/guacamelee-super-turbo-bonus-track-edition