Aconcagua (video game)

Aconcagua (アコンカグア) is an adventure video game developed by WACWAC! and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released only in Japan on June 1, 2000.

The game is set on a mountain after a plane crash, and allows for the switching between characters. It received a full English language fan translation in 2022.

Plot
The setting of the game is in the fictional country of Meruza – which was named after the actual Argentine province Mendoza; the country is currently undergoing political turmoil as the result of an independence movement. The movement has split Argentina in half, and a 33-year-old activist named Pachamama goes on a flight as part of a politically motivated independence tour. During the flight, a terrorist detonates a time bomb, which causes the plane to crash near Aconcagua's peak; only five passengers survive the crash.

Gameplay
In Aconcagua, the player controls a Japanese journalist named Kato, whose job, along with Pachamama's, is to guide the survivors safely down the mountain. The game is organized in a series of missions which the player must complete from a third-person perspective. During the descent, the terrorists, knowing their plot failed, try to eliminate the survivors via helicopter drops. It also involves various problem-solving and survival skills while using items left behind from the downed plane. The game features over 80 minutes of cinematic cutscenes to advance the plot.

Aconcagua has been compared to Chase the Express, as well as Dino Crisis, Parasite Eve and the Resident Evil series. However, its gameplay and structure more closely resembles point-and-click adventure games.

Release
The game was released in Japan on June 1, 2000. The game was previewed on Sony's website, which showed trailers that featured English dialogue. Aconcagua was set to be released in North America sometime in late 2000, but it was never released there, despite the game having voice acting and subtitles in cutscenes in English.

Reception
The Japanese game magazine Famitsu gave the game a score of 29 out of 40.

German magazine Video Games gave it a score of 70%.