Then, what can we do next?

Earthbound's design revolves around this run-of-the-mill question.

It's here that I came to believe that Shigesato Itoi never trod the line of conformity not out of a desire to avoid convenient creative stasis, but rather to adamantly push what makes a videogame truly great: Sincerity elevated by a wealth of personality and bravado.

From the sudden, brash noise collages in its soundtrack to its cheeky yet gripping meta-commentary on larger topics that weren't supposed to be in a kid's playthings in 1994, it just never stopped making me smile and astonished. Even the subversive aspects in its dungeon layouts, narrative parallels, and thematically cohesive gameplay mechanics still caught me off guard, even after playing most modern games of today.

Being brave enough to experiment and turn it into a timeless classic supersedes a difficult feat. It's not always about the drive to innovate; sometimes, it's about the heart to create.

And most of all, it's about mothers. So I'm in.

Completion Criteria: Credits Hit

The old meme "Earthound fan playing the game for the first time" really hits because the aesthetic of the game have still hold up very well. But mechanically this feels like its aged quite poorly mainly just due to the anti-quality of life.

Lets start with good. Aesthetically, I think still holds up as a retro game. It's easy to understand why people still copy it's style to this day. It's vibrant and clear. In terms of music, a lot of it is extremely unique and recognizable, just good stuff. In terms of the setting. I think this is something that may be a bit underrated honestly. The games atmostphere only works so well because it's not entirely modern, its pseudo-modern but alien enough to add aliens. The rolldown is great in concept and even though there are issues with it, it's way better then some alternatives like ATB. Instakill, and advantage/disadvantage systems are also good game systems so I can't complain about that

Ok, postive is done. So what are the issues? The game wastes a lot of time for the sake of form. Inventory management is always tedious and never really gets better. and is made worse by the multiple steps that need to be made to store and withdraw items. Whilst some key items disappear after use, some don't and this leads to more annoyances. You can't even save without money so you have to go to the atm to do even that. I can understand why you might think these things are minor especially in this day you can rewind and use save states but purely from an authentic point of view it's not good. In terms of combat, it feels pretty basic. as a lot of older JRPGs tend to. Use basic attack until the boss and then spam your best stuff until you win. I think by the end the rolldown health also feels against the grain. As if you have a KO incoming you will just attempt to mash through everything. If you get hit first, and you can't mash through it in time it makes you contemplate your luck. A simple fix for that would be being able to interrupt turns to immediately swap to defense.

I think dungeons are probably my biggest let down for the game. I think only three maybe stand out as enjoyable but most feel quite tedious or just bad. Monkey Cave stands out as a great example of what I'm talking about here. Personal preference but when you have bad dungeon designs, visible enemies also feel worse. They feel more frustrating when they get in the way of progress or if you think you get a backhit and it doesn't register, even worse when you lose advantage. Personally, I found some areas to feel like moonlogic, or just not fully fleshed out.

Also, if you have a map function, don't lock it behind an item especially when it comes down to such a limited inventory

Realistically. A lot of problems could easily be fixed by a remaster that fixed inventory and phone calls. It's the old "X will break your immersion in this game about aliens?"
Give them a more modern phone that can save and call escargo express. Give a card that can pay for things on the fly. Seperate Key Items from main inventory. Not necessary but let me sort the inventory, and swap items with others to avoid the rigmarole of dropping something just so I can swap in such a way to pass equipment or Jeff items.

I think there seems to be an overrating of the themes of the game also. It's very easy to suggest that this is a representation of puberty or manhood or enlightenment but I think I could fit that narrative into other games as accurately

I knew I wasn't gonna love this game because I had played it before and didn't enjoy it then. I think the game definitely picks up later on but unfortunately the most enjoyable areas may be early with the exception of some of the dungeons. Luckily this gives me another urge to jump back into Mother 3 which I do think precedes it's reputation and I can finally close the missing hole it my JRPG reputoire

When asked if this is my favorite game, I'll usually reply with an "Uh...I think so? Probably? One of them?". And it is, all of those things.

What keeps it at the top is not so much its slightly quirked-up RPG tropes---the rolling HP counter, items not stacking, recieveing accumulated money from your dad over the phone instead of right after a battle--for all of these do not add up to a "better" "RPG gameplay" experience than something like Final Fantasy VI or even a modern Persona. Figuratively, Earthbound is a JRPG with tank controls; it moves slowly and at times requires more-than-reasonable jumps in logic to progress or even do so in the most efficient way. It can be frustrating, and I can't blame anyone for wanting to put the game down after a few souring experiences with it. I love it, but I also have to admit that it's clunky and doesn't always hold up.

And yet, to me, the quirky world surrounding the quirk is how its identity rises into the cosmos to a league of its own. Its tethering to real world, 90s-era Americana is unfailingly charming, and the charm is expounded upon with each strange little encounter with a walking mushroom, a cultist, miniature UFO or wayward hippie. By itself the setting doesn't come across as fantastical as a Dragon Quest or any number of steampunk-medieval mashups from releases of its time, but the magic comes from the contrast of hanging out in a cozy small town and the alien oddities just outside it. If we're truly role-playing, it's the only game where I can say "my friends and I ate burgers at the mall before we fell into a nearby cave and walked with live dinosaurs in a prehistoric world". Or perhaps I can say "we explored behind a watefall and discovered a village of aliens with whiskers and bowties before sitting down and reflecting on life over a cup of coffee". This particular flavor of imagination is amongst my favorites.

This game reminded me how much magic there is in our day to day lives if we care to stop for a moment and read between the lines, which coincidentally is why I now use a Hobonichi planner made by the same creator. I'll probably play it several more times whenever I'm feeling a little lost in life. And I'll call my Mother.

I could take my time and type out a detailed review of EarthBound that goes into all the usual games review stuff, but I feel like it would be a disservice.

EarthBound is a game that makes you laugh. EarthBound is a game that makes you wonder. EarthBound is a game that surprises you. EarthBound is a game that always seems to inspire people.

EarthBound is one of the best games of all time, and it fundamentally changed how I think about games: what they are capable of being, and what they are capable of evoking in the player.

This is the game that made me realize that an RPG didn't need to take place in a fantasy setting.

The whimsical world, the characters, art style, story, and especially the music by Keiichi Suzuki make for a truly memorable game.

In the US it came with a strategy guide, and in the back of that guide were collectible scratch-n-sniff cards. I can still smell the mole smell just like I can still hear the menu music.

Fuzzy Pickles!

I would pay any amount of money to see a kid in the 90’s experience Giygas for the first time

Earthbound is a game I’ve tried and failed to play for almost a decade at this point, but I finally sat my ass down and really enjoyed myself. It’s insane that this game came out when it did, because so much of its identity translates perfectly to the gaming scene of today. After playing so many games inspired by what Earthbound does, it’s really endearing to go back to the source and see why it’s such a cultural touchstone for the indie community. The world and characters are really charming, and despite the sometimes clunky and old nature of the combat, I think it holds up really well.

I was actually kind of surprised by the combat, as I always thought it was pretty basic JRPG fare. While that’s true near the start, the game quickly evolves little by little and becomes a fun combat loop. Each character has a unique role, and minor conveniences like auto battle and instant killing weaker enemies makes fights much less tedious, something JRPGs still struggle with today.

In terms of criticisms, I still don’t like how limited the inventory is, even though that becomes much less of a problem in the later game. I wish Escargot express was more accessible and less tedious to use, but it is what it is. Also, it feels easy to get lost in some parts of the game where directions are ambiguous and solutions to puzzles aren’t implemented as well as they should be, but it’s not terrible at all.

Really happy I finally saw this one through, looking forward to playing Mother 3