I don't know where to start with this. It's both very of its era and simultaneously ahead of its time.

I'm not too familiar with RPGs from the 16 bit gen, but from what I'm aware, this seems fairly typical on the surface. But once it gets going it becomes so meta and self aware it really feels like it could have come out today.

It's tough going in the begining until your get your first party member. If you can make it to that part you're in for a treat. It does seem to plateau difficulty-wise until the very end game so make sure you do a bit of grinding and choose your items wisely.

Unfortunately the game doesn't do a great job of telling you what items do until you've bought them and checked. So it's a bit of curiosity and trial and error.

It's got great Goonies/Stranger Things/Americana vibes. Check it out if you can.

Started on my Super NES Mini, then later transferred the save data to my laptop, and finally onto my modded Wii, where I finished it using SNES9x a total of five years after I started. I managed to beat the game without using save states, but I did fast-forward through some parts.

I finally see why so many people love EarthBound. It's a bold RPG for its time with lots of fresh ideas, and there's an irresistible charm to just about everything in it, especially the solidly localized dialogue. Truth be told, I may have gotten a little frustrated at several points, but this is a game is one that I'm glad I saw through to the end.

Positives: I had only tried EarthBound Beginnings/Mother for a little while before deciding it was not for me, but I had played it long enough to see that its sequel is a massive step up. Random encounters in the overworld are now replaced with visible enemies that initiate battle when the player comes in contact with them; they can be approached from behind for an advantage, and will run away from the party if the player if leveled up high enough. You can even defeat foes before a battle starts if they're weak enough, and I think that's pretty neat. The party is evenly balanced; not every member can perform the same moves, yet each of them have distinct advantages that help them contribute to battling. Best of all, the game does a really good job of explaining things, utilizing friendly moles that offer you tips, and this hint salesman who shows up in the towns and tells you what to do next, for a fee. As for the story? Yeah, I suppose it's good, but the finale is spectacular: I won't spoil for those who don't know yet, but it does such a good job of building up tension and blows your expectations out of the water, there's truly nothing quite like it.

Negatives: I'm sad to say it, but there were some things that prevented me from enjoying EarthBound to the fullest. The most glaring issue is the inventory system, with each party member being limited to a measly fourteen slots. That might sound like plenty, but in this game, equipable gear and key items necessary for story progression take up those same slots. You can transfer out unneeded items via the Escargo Express delivery service, but they will only deliver or pick up three items at a time, so inventory management becomes a needless hassle. EarthBound also has these annoying gimmicks that don't meaningfully contribute anything to the game. For example, when battling, you gain experience immediately upon victory, but in order to claim the money you've earned, you need to find an ATM, into which the unseen father deposits your winnings; the same father calls you on your receiver phone repeatedly to suggest taking a break from the game. In addition, the main character has a really irritating tendency to develop homesickness, and you can only combat this by calling your mom at every available opportunity, so she can repeat the same 3-4 lines of dialogue. Neglect to do so, and your performance in battle will start to falter noticeably when you're in the middle of a dungeon, and no, you can't make outgoing calls. There's several other issues, like the rolling HP meter not being useful until the late game, and enemies ganging up on you in the overworld because the run button is gone, but I firmly believe a majority of these problems could be fixed in a proper remake.

My final verdict? EarthBound is very good, but it hasn't aged well enough for the average gamer to appreciate its innovations. I hope Nintendo sees this game for what it's worth and gives it the remake it deserves, because as far as I can tell, this is an RPG that could make a non-RPG fan reconsider their outlook on the genre.

nada vai conseguir expressar o que EarthBound expressa. Eu nao esperava nada de Mother 2, literalmente nao tinha uma expectativa sequer, e esse jogo conseguiu acabar com qualquer barreira de expectativa que eu ousava criar ele em meio a minha jogatina. O que mother2 representa pro mundo dos games e do rpg em geral nao consegue nem expressar o tanto que esse jogo marcou toda a industria, graças a sua existencia, gigantes dos Indies e do Mainstream estão hoje de pé sobre toda sua magnitude e criatividade, Undertale, Omori, Oneshot, Yume NIkki, Deltarune, diversos nomes a lista continua

Mas saindo um pouco da parte mais teorica, queria focar em quanto mother2, é marcante em sua historia e na sua forma de se expressar, todo o design com cores vividas e saturadas dão o ar de infancia, nostalgia e aquele sentimento confortavel dos tempos de criança, em earthbound você nao é um guerreiro de verde escolhido pra salvar a princesa e acabar com o fdp das trevas. Tu é a porra de uma criança que o destino foi roubado pra matar um demonio intergalatico no passado pra salvar o presente. Enfim, além disso, earthbound tem seus momentos(momentos ou seja o jogo inteiro, pq o jogo inteiro é bom pra caralho) suas mecanicas, suas músicas, seus inimigos, seus dialogos(que ainda tem alguns ainda salvos na minha memoria e me faz sorrir toda vez que lembro) Esse jogo é impecavel, é um tutorial de como fazer um RPG que consegue ser digno de se tornar uma peça de museu por ser uma fucking obra-prima. esse jogo me marcou, e provavelmente vou criar um Mother-Like e tentar conseguir fazer oque earthbound faz (nao copiar mas sim criar algo como Mother)

Mother 2 é uma experiencia, experiencia essa que me fez chorar, e que com certeza eu vou rejogar, e passar por todo esse universo novamente, e minha nossa senhoras e senhores que Universo e que Experiencia do caralho.

When reviewing an older game, there's a question you have to answer befroe you start. What matters more: influence, or accessbility? More than any other art form, games age. What was once tricky can thirty years be frustrating to a loathsome degree. Some slight mechanical friction will often fester to a point of borderline jank, making it hard to justify playing these older games when so many have come out since that have no doubt improved on these base mechanics.

But then there likely wouldn't be any of those later games without that janky, wobbly game that's so difficult to enjoy now. Without the first Metroid, there's no Symphony of the Night, no Hollow Knight, no Ori, no Cave Story and so on. And so it is with Earthbound too. Without it, there's no Undertale, no Hylics, no Moon, no Omori, no Lisa and god knows the impact lost for so many games that aren't so obviously aping it. Earthbound is easily one of the most influential games ever made, and extending from that, one of the most important too. Yet it's also hard to return to now, especially with the poorer design elements of it.

Normally this question demands an answer. Influence or fun, which matters more? With Earthbound though, I don't feel as much consternation writing about it as I do with so many other games from the time. I finally finished it for the first ever time, and I knew I had experienced one of the most charming, well written stories ever put it into game form. Sure, there's problems, oh boy there's problems. The inventory management never stops being annoying, the combat is uneven, either a complete cakewalk or brutally unfair and the game slows down a ridiculous amount if there's more than two moving NPCs on screen at once. Beyond all that though, Earthbound is a masterpiece.

I just can't conceive how one would go about writing and creating such a startlingly original game so long ago. There's simply no precedent for the Mother games. There's a perfect balance in tone, swinging from goofy, charming jokes to heartfelt, emotional moments. It's not a subtle game by any means, but it's also not ironic. Earthbound is exceptionally sincere, even the jokes feel like they come from a place of positivity and are never meanspirited. You're taken on a truly epic journey, travelling through varied locales, meeting interesting characters all the while scored by a fantastic soundtrack, then it all culminates in one of the creepiest final bosses of all times, and overcoming it genuinely moved me.

What's most astounding to me is how it doesn't feel cliched. Often with these titans of game history, what makes them special has been aped and copied so much that the experience of playing the original feels overly familiar. While that should be true of Earthbound, it still somehow feels startlingly original. There's an inimatable heart here and I would challenge anyone to not feel moved by Earthbound at some point. Few games have made me smile as often or well up as quickly as Earthbound has. In spite of its flaws, its undoubtedly still one of the best of its genre.