{"id":234704,"date":"2025-05-10T13:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T13:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/apple-2\/despelote-is-a-picture-perfect-portrait-of-childhood-obsession\/"},"modified":"2025-05-10T13:27:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T13:27:20","slug":"despelote-is-a-picture-perfect-portrait-of-childhood-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=234704","title":{"rendered":"Despelote is a picture-perfect portrait of childhood obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"


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For a kid with an obsession, it\u2019s impossible to think about anything else. When I was really into skateboarding, every piece of architecture was filled with a potential for tricks that I could never actually pull off. When I was on a quest to complete Super Mario Bros. 3<\/em> on my own, any piece of paper became a sketch of a new level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For eight-year-old Juli\u00e1n in the new game Despelote<\/em>, that obsession is soccer, and it becomes the backdrop for a sweet, and short, slice-of-life drama about passion and memory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despelote<\/em> is set in Quito in 2001, just as Ecuador is on the verge of qualifying for the men\u2019s World Cup for the first time in its history. The story follows Juli\u00e1n through the qualifying stages, as he goes about his life \u2014 or tries to, at least. There\u2019s a lot going on at the time, as the country is still dealing with the effects of an economic crisis<\/a>. Soccer becomes something of a relief valve, a hopeful story to follow during difficult times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Image: Panic<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The game plays out from a first-person perspective and takes place across several days, during each of which Ecuador has an important match. The scenes are small but surprisingly open, often forcing young Juli\u00e1n \u2013 and also the player \u2013 to decide where to focus. He might be playing a 16-bit soccer game while his mom tries to lecture him, or staring out the window idly watching people kick a ball around while he\u2019s supposed to be listening to a lesson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sometimes he has a goal to complete, like getting home in time for dinner or keeping an eye on his little sister in the park. But there\u2019s always a distraction. And it\u2019s almost always a soccer ball. Most of the time, Juli\u00e1n has a ball at his feet, either kicking it around with friends, or by himself while everyone else parties. When there isn\u2019t a ball, he makes do, kicking around anything from a glass bottle to a copy of Shrek<\/em> on DVD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There\u2019s a real specificity to Despelote<\/em> in terms of its place and time, but it also evokes a very universal feeling of being a kid. Those choices between what Juli\u00e1n wants to do and what he is supposed to do are tough, and often his mom will let him have it when he messes up. At one point, while playing hide-and-seek, I lost his sister, and became petrified of the reaction I\u2019d get if I didn\u2019t find her in time. There are also moments where control is pulled away from you, and Juli\u00e1n\u2019s mom will drag him by the hand wherever he\u2019s supposed to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Image: Panic<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The interactivity of these moments really puts you in Juli\u00e1n\u2019s shoes, and there were key scenes that brought me back to my own childhood. (Especially having a younger sibling distract you while you\u2019re playing a video game.) It\u2019s all rendered with dreamy, oversaturated backdrops and comic book-like characters. It feels like you\u2019re in a memory, which is amplified by adult Juli\u00e1n \u2014 the game was developed by designer Juli\u00e1n Cordero and animator and musician Sebasti\u00e1n Valbuena \u2014 setting the scene through narration at the beginning of each chapter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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All the while, tension is building as Ecuador inches closer to qualification. (At most points in the game you can find your way to a TV to check the score in the current match.) It all culminates in a beautiful fourth-wall-breaking moment that puts this autobiographical story into a larger perspective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despelote <\/em>only lasts around two hours, and most of that time is spent kicking a ball around. And yet it manages to capture so many feelings of childhood and the all-consuming infatuations that come with being a kid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despelote is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, with a Switch version also in the works.<\/em><\/sub><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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