The combat and story really kept me hooked. The characters are all very charming. There is a lot this game pulls from, but doesn't directly emulate, such as The Legend of Zelda and Earthbound.

Edit: Bumped up half a star, due to implementing needed features, such as chapter select and the ability to play Earthborn from the main menu.

Switching between Sam and John in combat is a must since you can use the stun from Sam to wail on enemies with John. It's a nice combat gimmick that takes a little time to get used to.

The music is just great. I love so many of the tracks. The final phase of the last boss has a great track especially.

There are a couple of hangups, however. First, there is an crash that can happen every once in a while. However, the game is very generous with auto-saving, so it's not likely you'll lose a lot of progress, unless you were in a cutscene. And speaking of which, not being able to skip cutscenes was a bit of an annoyance. Particularly because of the above error.

The story has some pacing issues, and there is a lot left unresolved and/or unexplained. Especially with Solomon. We never figure out who or what he was supposed to be other than a recurring villain. Charon is hardly explained and some of the game's biggest mysteries are hardly touched. Who created the MIASMA? Why is humanity being purged?

Warts and all, the game is still a genuine delight. The settings were some of the best designed I've ever seen, the game was very charming, and kept me very engaged during its 20 hour runtime.