twist
1994
one of the most endearing games i've ever played, with beautiful art direction and such a genuine feel to everything, from the coming-of-age themes to the littlest of details scattered around the world. there's a great sense of adventure upheld by many unforgettable scenes and the surprises and gimmicks that you come across from quest to quest and level to level. the game also offers a pretty damn big cast of characters and almost all of them are very memorable, thanks to the witty dialogue and the great localization.
crazy psychedelic visuals and weird ass soundtrack (which is a major plus) too id just like to reinforce that
the key issue with earthbound, though, is that it's a very old jrpg, so the gameplay is quite rough around the edges and dated. many QoL issues (scarcity of save points, bad inventory management) and a pretty stiff, lackluster combat can make the game frustrating at times, but it's fair to say that literally everything else compensates for that (and goes beyond).
crazy psychedelic visuals and weird ass soundtrack (which is a major plus) too id just like to reinforce that
the key issue with earthbound, though, is that it's a very old jrpg, so the gameplay is quite rough around the edges and dated. many QoL issues (scarcity of save points, bad inventory management) and a pretty stiff, lackluster combat can make the game frustrating at times, but it's fair to say that literally everything else compensates for that (and goes beyond).
2016
This review contains spoilers
i didn't expect this game to be as good as yakuza 0 because that'd be unfair, but even then i was still disappointed. it feels like a dlc for 0, since so much was reused, but without some of the core components that made that one so good. i get that it's a very faithful remake of the first game in the series and that the studio hadn't quite found their footing for the franchise then, but some aspects of the gameplay would've been dull even in 2006 and some of the new features aren't that enjoyable either.
most of the main story quests are painfully boring and many involve running to some location then running back to where you came from. fetch quests, such as the funeral armband and the SAVE THE DOG quests, have very roundabout progression and feel pointless. i found it hard to really be motivated to complete many of these.
it also doesn't help that a lot of the sidequests are unfunny, repetitive and/or unrewarding. there are some diamonds in the rough though, like the one about the hand towels, but most of them seem uninspired.
the majima everywhere minigame has its moments -- like the zombie shenanigans -- but it also gets quite repetitive and intrusive. sometimes i just wanna hit smile burger but majima is sitting under a comically large traffic cone, ready to jump me and give me the same lines of dialogue and the same fight AGAIN. the other thing about these encounters is that they sorta trivialize your fights against majima in the main story, making them feel less unique. it was also weird when majima was seemingly put out of commission in some story missions, only to reappear down the street ready to beat my ass... like he didn't get stabbed two minutes prior.
and speaking of ass beatings, RGG studio took yakuza 0's combat and made it a LOT worse. at least on normal difficulty, the majority of boss fights are mind-numbing and frustrating. bosses are incredibly tanky with wide health pools that regenerate at least twice throughout fights and they block way too often. some fights may take up to 10 minutes of button mashing and getting knocked around. they also included many mini-bosses in regular story fights that have more advanced AI, which basically means that they block more than your average enemy. boring
however, i could definitely look past the blocking and regeneration when i fought nishiki and arase. i think i found the combat so unfun partly because of who i was fighting. i didn't really feel anything for, say, yasuda or the red gang leaders -- there just wasn't enough development to compel me to care about fighting these goons.
the best fights happen in levels like abandoned building and the funeral, where you can run through these places while beating the shit out of everyone. it never gets old and it's badass: especially abandoned building, which reminded me of why kiryu is a legend in this universe.
this is a story-based game and i don't have a lot to say on the narrative. it's interesting but the second third drags on (father and child chapter was a slog); kazama, yumi, majima and, most of all, nishiki are pretty entrancing characters; the ending was a bit too cheesy and the main antagonist, jingu, sucked because he kinda "emerged from the shadows" and kept laughing like the joker. i guess the narrative may pave the way for the other games that i haven't played and i'm curious enough to see how kiryu's relationship with haruka will develop.
most of the main story quests are painfully boring and many involve running to some location then running back to where you came from. fetch quests, such as the funeral armband and the SAVE THE DOG quests, have very roundabout progression and feel pointless. i found it hard to really be motivated to complete many of these.
it also doesn't help that a lot of the sidequests are unfunny, repetitive and/or unrewarding. there are some diamonds in the rough though, like the one about the hand towels, but most of them seem uninspired.
the majima everywhere minigame has its moments -- like the zombie shenanigans -- but it also gets quite repetitive and intrusive. sometimes i just wanna hit smile burger but majima is sitting under a comically large traffic cone, ready to jump me and give me the same lines of dialogue and the same fight AGAIN. the other thing about these encounters is that they sorta trivialize your fights against majima in the main story, making them feel less unique. it was also weird when majima was seemingly put out of commission in some story missions, only to reappear down the street ready to beat my ass... like he didn't get stabbed two minutes prior.
and speaking of ass beatings, RGG studio took yakuza 0's combat and made it a LOT worse. at least on normal difficulty, the majority of boss fights are mind-numbing and frustrating. bosses are incredibly tanky with wide health pools that regenerate at least twice throughout fights and they block way too often. some fights may take up to 10 minutes of button mashing and getting knocked around. they also included many mini-bosses in regular story fights that have more advanced AI, which basically means that they block more than your average enemy. boring
however, i could definitely look past the blocking and regeneration when i fought nishiki and arase. i think i found the combat so unfun partly because of who i was fighting. i didn't really feel anything for, say, yasuda or the red gang leaders -- there just wasn't enough development to compel me to care about fighting these goons.
the best fights happen in levels like abandoned building and the funeral, where you can run through these places while beating the shit out of everyone. it never gets old and it's badass: especially abandoned building, which reminded me of why kiryu is a legend in this universe.
this is a story-based game and i don't have a lot to say on the narrative. it's interesting but the second third drags on (father and child chapter was a slog); kazama, yumi, majima and, most of all, nishiki are pretty entrancing characters; the ending was a bit too cheesy and the main antagonist, jingu, sucked because he kinda "emerged from the shadows" and kept laughing like the joker. i guess the narrative may pave the way for the other games that i haven't played and i'm curious enough to see how kiryu's relationship with haruka will develop.