A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed.
Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I examine a game series where hope & death go hand-in-hand, “Guacamelee”.
Death Isn’t the End of Hope
Heroes come from many walks of life including being humble agave farmers pining for the accepted love of someone outside of their social class. Juan Aguacate was such a man – a farmer simply working in a small Mexican village with the hope that one day his long-time friend and main squeeze would be able to run away alongside him. But all the good intentions in the world couldn’t stop fate as Aguacate’s love for this woman who just so happened to be El Presidente’s offspring would bring him face to face with death incarnate. Struck down by an evil charro skeleton warrior, Juan was banished to the Land of the Dead – a world parallel to known reality featuring deceased man & beast.
Juan refused to take his death lying down especially after seeing his murderer destroy Aguacate’s hometown and kidnap El Presidente’s daughter Lupita. Even in a world full of death, Juan found hope through a luchador named Tostada who offered him a chance to save Lupita and the world by giving him a mystical, enchanted luchador mask. Juan’s acceptance of said masked transformed him into a muscular, super-powered Mexican grappler ready to break through stone, smash skeletons, and maybe even free some captured souls stuck in the world below.
No matter the obstacle, Juan powered through and eventually confronted his killer, Carlos Calaca – a failed rodeo rider who sold his soul to the Devil to avoid missing a big meet. Juan would overcome the evil powering Carlos and more, reuniting with Lupita (depending on the player’s actions the point of reunion is incredibly different). No matter what you believe in know the truth that death is not the end of anyone’s journey … as long as you have an enchanted luchador mask on your head, a glorious mission in your heart, and pollo power in your body.
Have you learned any major life lessons from playing “Guacamelee” or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.
