For a kid with an obsession, it’s 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 on my own, any piece of paper became a sketch of a new level.
For eight-year-old Julián in the new game Despelote, that obsession is soccer, and it becomes the backdrop for a sweet, and short, slice-of-life drama about passion and memory.
Despelote is set in Quito in 2001, just as Ecuador is on the verge of qualifying for the men’s World Cup for the first time in its history. The story follows Julián through the qualifying stages, as he goes about his life — or tries to, at least. There’s a lot going on at the time, as the country is still dealing with the effects of an economic crisis. Soccer becomes something of a relief valve, a hopeful story to follow during difficult times.
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 Julián – and also the player – 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’s supposed to be listening to a lesson.
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’s always a distraction. And it’s almost always a soccer ball. Most of the time, Julián has a ball at his feet, either kicking it around with friends, or by himself while everyone else parties. When there isn’t a ball, he makes do, kicking around anything from a glass bottle to a copy of Shrek on DVD.
There’s a real specificity to Despelote in terms of its place and time, but it also evokes a very universal feeling of being a kid. Those choices between what Julián 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’d get if I didn’t find her in time. There are also moments where control is pulled away from you, and Julián’s mom will drag him by the hand wherever he’s supposed to be.
The interactivity of these moments really puts you in Julián’s shoes, and there were key scenes that brought me back to my own childhood. (Especially having a younger sibling distract you while you’re playing a video game.) It’s all rendered with dreamy, oversaturated backdrops and comic book-like characters. It feels like you’re in a memory, which is amplified by adult Julián — the game was developed by designer Julián Cordero and animator and musician Sebastián Valbuena — setting the scene through narration at the beginning of each chapter.
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.
Despelote 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.
Despelote is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, with a Switch version also in the works.
