Most people have probably not heard of this game. It's hard to recognize every single title that came out in the crazy year that was 2023. With all the crazy AAA titles going around it's hard to keep up. Every once and a while it is nice to find a simple game that only takes a few hours and has a compelling story. That game, is American Arcadia.
American Arcadia was advertised as basically “Truman Show” the video game. Although that is true in concept, in story telling it has more twists beneath the surface. You play as Trevor Hills who is voiced by the amazing talent that is Yuri Lownthal. Trever is an average Joe living in Arcadia, a fictional city where people are “adopted” at birth and placed as characters in a vastly popular television show by the same name, American Arcadia.
Without spoiling too much, I want people to understand this game is not revolutionary to the industry. No high resolution 60 FPS to brag about. No major Metroidvania mechanics ready to become the next side scroller of the year. Its concept is simple. You play as two characters, Trevor, and a secret employee on the inside assisting his escape named Angela.
Where the game shines is the way they split up the gameplay. As Trevor you are in a platforming side scroller solving puzzles. With Angela you sort of have two rolls. One, aiding Trevor utilizing cameras within Arcadia and controlling doors, lights, robots ect… and two solving puzzles in first person as you explore a linear map.
The puzzles are not mind breaking but are far more challenging than I'd like to admit. But my favorite part of this entire experience was the story. For it's short 8-10 hour run time it kept me engaged and had small twists that were more surprising than I anticipated. The art style is very creative and allowed the studio to be creative with camera angles and switch seamlessly between characters.
All in all I highly recommend American Arcadia. Not because it's ground breaking or something everyone NEEDS to play. But because it's cheap, fun to play, and more importantly a nice break from crazy in depth games we are so addicted to. Ironically it plays on the idea of media being the enemy. Us as an audience allow the terrible events of the game. The game breaks the fourth wall and reminds us of the unforgivable world of social media we live in.
If you want a break from the big world of gaming. This is a breath of fresh air. I hope you enjoy.
Interesting