That being said, here's my third Reader's Review, and this time, I am going to talk about the timeless classic; Earthbound!
Title: Earthbound (also known as Mother 2 in Japan)
Date Released: August 27, 1994 in Japan, June 5 1995 in the United States
Company: Nintendo
Genre: RPG
Platform: SNES
ESRB Rating: K-A (Kids to Adults and re-rated as Teen for the Virtual Console re-release)
Brief Background: Earthbound is a 1994 video game released by Nintendo. It was co-developed by Ape and HAL Laboratories for the SNES. Notable people like Shigesato Itoi (writer), Hirokazu Tanaka (sound designer), and the late Satoru Iwata (co-producer) have taken part of the game's development. Upon its initial release, Earthbound suffered from poor sales in the United States; most notably due to its simple graphics, not-so-serious marketing strategies, as well as the market's lack of interest in the Japanese RPG genre at the time. Fortunately though, with the rise of a dedicated fan base, Super Smash Bros, and its recent re-release in the Virtual Console, Earthbound became a huge success as a modern-day video game.
What do you do here?
You play as Ness, a young boy living in the outskirts of Onett, where you travel across different locales to find the secret behind Giygas' attack and to stop the said menace on destroying the world. Along the way, you'll also encounter other characters that will help you or, otherwise, hinder your progress, as well as other typical RPG stuff where you battle enemies, level up, collect money, you get the point.
What makes the game interesting?
Well I did mentioned a while ago that Earthbound is just a simple RPG of sorts. However, what makes Earthbound interesting is on how it is presented. The colorful, vibrant, and modern feel of the game is a very ambitious contrast to the usual dark, grim, and medieval setting that usual RPGs offer like Final Fantasy and Shin Megami Tensei.
The art style in this game has that particular Peanuts-esque feel to it, since most of the character designs in the game kinda reminds me of paper-cutouts mashed in a sea of oil-pastel filled suburbs and city landscapes. It's just that beautiful! Another thing that it has going for is the humor. It is funny and light-hearted at best, which can be very deceptive as the game takes on a darker tone later on.
Speaking of a darker tone, Earthbound is also infamously known for its story transition; from fun and lovable, it then transforms into something eerie and disturbing, which is considerably evident to the game's main villain, Giygas, who was also arguably to be one of the most horrifying and bizarre (in a good way) bosses of all time. The battle of Giygas is also memorable, but I won't spoil the fun on why.
Enemies can be encountered in the overworld; with sprites representing certain enemy types. What's interesting in this particular system is that when you approach an enemy from behind, you gain the upper hand, but if it is the other way around, then the enemy gains the advantage; which is a matter of risk against reward.
The battle system of this game is what you expect from other RPG's; attack enemies, use items, cast spells, and other stuff. What makes this interesting is the rolling HP meter, which adds tension to the already challenging game. When you take fatal damage that can otherwise knock you out, you are still given ample time to perform actions until the HP rolls to zero, it's kinda like a "proto-type" version of Final Fantasy's Active Time Battle system. If you heal before the character's HP falls to zero, then that character survives, adding length to some battles. There is also an Auto-Battle system which switches your control to the computer and do the battles for you, which is OK if you're too lazy, but with the difficult and complex enemy AI, it can be rather punishing.
The game is also widely known for its use of homages, such as musical clips and cultural references. However, there are some of them that needs to be altered or removed in order to neutralize any potential prejudices it may inflict upon players.
What are the flaws of this game?
One of the major setbacks of the game is that it is heavily reliant on grinding, which can be disheartening to some players who are new to the genre.
The difficulty of the game is as hard as it gets; kind of like "Shin Megami Tensei" hard (for those who played the latter, then you know what I mean). This is where the grinding aspect will take place; allowing you to level up during crucial points of the game, but it will also consume a lot of your time and inventory space.
Additionally, with the massive places around the game, it's easy for you to lose track on what to do next. Well, there are several "hints"that are scattered around the game, but it's not really helpful since that it usually requires a hefty amount of money, which you can use in buying resources instead!
Speaking of resources, Earthbound also forces you to play smart! Each character only has 14 slots, and some of the items are so indispensable that you can't even afford to keep it away from your pockets, such as food stuffs and key items. Also, you can only store 3 items at a time via Escargo Express; limiting your options on what items to be kept or to be stored away indefinitely. Also, with a lot of useful items scattered around the world, the game will force you to make a tough decision on what to throw away...
Inns, which serves as healing hubs in the game, are expensive which forces you to defeat a whole lot of enemies to get more money. Again, grinding is taken into account here, making the game even less forgiving as you proceed. Even hospitals can cost you a fortune should a number of your party members fall. To make matter's worse, the enemy AI is aggressive, also opting you to defeat said enemies to grind money and to utilize the services that they provide to you.
Another thing I considered a "flaw" is the pacing of the game. While it conveys a sense of depth to the actual story, it is kind of slow at best, which can bore most people.
You can only get the money you gain from enemies by talking to your dad on the telephone, which is OK and adds a certain realism to it, but it doesn't help that much since that you'll be on the field most of the time. There are also pay phones that you can use, which is essential since it certainly helps curing Ness' homesickness (by calling to your mommy), but it's not the most efficient way to save the game since that the black telephones (the one you'll usually encounter) practically does the same thing (except the aforementioned homesick cure) and unlike the aforementioned black telephones, pay phones requires you to PAY! Duh!
Is Earthbound a good game till this day? Why or why not?
I've never played Earthbound that much, and I've only known about the game only recently (from Classic Game Room, ProJared, among other things), but after playing the game for the first few minutes, I can't imagine on how much potential this game has to begin with. Everything about it screamed "old-school", while also managed to survive the bombardment of other obscure yet cool RPGs like Lufia and Breath of Fire. However, there is one thing that Earthbound possesses that makes other RPGs very typical, and that is the amount of nostalgia that it exudes right in your face! I think it does not try to be an RPG, but it has this unique blend of incredible cast of characters, colorful backgrounds, playful musical scores, and a very straight-forward battle system while adding some awesome spices to it. All in all, Earthbound is a classic that anyone should try!
Can you recommend this game?
If you are a fan of old-school style JRPGs, then you'll definitely enjoy this! For those who have missed the fun back in the 90's, then there's no need to worry for there are a lot of ROM sites out there to download a copy of the game. However, if you are a video game purist, then tough luck since Earthbound is a VEEEEERY rare game nowadays, being hunted down by collectors till this day.
Overall Rating: 9.1/10
While many modern-day RPG fans will not be able to appreciate the sheer goodness of Earthbound to its entirety, such talent and charisma should never be ignored. Earthbound is not just a video game, after all, but it has become an idea that many fans of the series will never, ever abandon for the rest of their lives.
--END OF REVIEW--
