Maybe it's been too long since I played Undertale, but I'm not sure I really understand the sentiment that undertale shows some crazy growth over this; the most memorable parts of that game to me always were the music (which uh, is here) and the writing, which is very funny here too (and it's not like it's hidden away either, half of the NPC dialogue in Twoson is already that level. The item descriptions and other easter eggs at that point are just a bonus). The story writing is edgy yes, but like... it's for Halloween (you may notice it's in the name) and also has tons of jokes besides; is The Evil Dead "too edgy" to those who say this? I admit that's a bit of an exaggeration as the shifts here are sometimes jarring, and the hack's no masterpiece of narrative for damn sure, but it comes up with a good justification for a hellish version of the EB world to exist and then an original-ish way of pushing the player through it which is more than I ask of almost any mod.

Part of that 'originality' (at least compared to the original game) unfortunately includes a near-mandatory grind that I would say is a pretty inexcusable timewaster for a fan project with such little content besides. The original enemies honestly include some quite nice Halloween enemy ideas, more outwardly horrific ones, and corrupted/funny riffs on existing enemies, so either having more of those or enough of an EXP boost to not have to fight each type 100 times would probably help to keep the luster of the moment-to-moment experience of playing the game. Fortunately, the bosses are all pretty great and generally are beatable enough that you won't wear out their impression via constant retries -- the fact that the grind is still necessary though makes this a double-edged sword as it is in fact moving through the areas between bosses without getting your party wiped by near-unavoidable mob ambushes that makes up the real challenge.

Overall, worth a play for anyone interested I would say; plenty of romhacks and mods try to have stories but few can elicit a reaction from the player, be it fear or laughter, aside from the anger that a difficult one can prompt. The Halloween hack at varying times achieved all three reactions, which I think is no small feat for a small project.

When factoring in how edgy the dialogue can get and the numerous spots that can softlock the game, I understand why Toby Fox has distanced himself from this "creepypasta-esque" Earthbound hack. It also doesn't last long enough to make much use of the original game's rolling HP dial mechanic. On the other hand, I love all the creepy enemy designs throughout the different worlds, and most of the humor hits a satisfying middle ground between Earthbound and Undertale. It's certainly faithful in terms of capturing the RPG experience of a world worth exploring in every detail. Hearing the first appearance of Megalovania is a wonderful historic event as well. If you enjoy Toby Fox's work, it's definitely worth checking out one of his very first projects (with save states used frequently).

ive known about EBHH since I was just fourteen really but ive Never actually played it myself and seen it firsthand, kinda just heard oh its broken oh its so edgy ohh its this and that

And i mean yeah it totally is LMFAO but in a funny way T B H id even go as far as to say that EBHH has the feel and bounce of some earthbound dialogue quirks but also clearly being written deranged in a way thats just .... hilarious??? Like theres some moments that are so mean spirited in dialogue that i cant even take it seriously

But aside from all that i genuinely do like the sprites and the weird use of the more unsettling music, the game balancing itself though could literally be some shit where "oh i guess i got my ass beat by a mushroom that can deal 540 damage now" (meanwhile ur at like 20 hp and lvl 1)
i feel like i can actually get some semblance of a good AU idea and journey in the darker aspects of the series and having a story where the remaining NPCs have to cope with bittersweet victory and loss

it's just that its also very silly about it and... lets go with Strange abt how it conveys these things

but its a 3/5 game purely cause its an actual finished earthbound hack
its funny(mostly)
and i actually do like the shakeups with the PSI learnset ig
Some of the tone and aesthetics are pretty pleasing to me too

this also connects the mother franchise with some series called brandish that ive never played before but apparently there's references to it in the dont care name select and other shit of that nature
i never played those though so this is the romhack equivalent of those cursed videos where duncan from total drama action is dying on his deathbed and everyone in the total drama cast is there but also abraham lincoln from clone high is there for some reason

like
h u h?

but yeah its WAY shorter of a game than Earthbound even is and if youre a MOTHER fan and u can put up with some dumb shit and horrible balancing and maybe getting softlocked for the holidays on accident...... distant seagull cry

Then yea try it, there's even the funny andonuts thing
i actually do think its interesting to explore him feeling bad but also he's kind of a goofy asshole thats inattentive to most ppl in his life anyways so this is sure is... A Interpretation. Funny that even way back when Toby was out here doin whatever you can taste traces of his writing/game design ideas here.

tldr; ea-