Lanus Maximus

That’s the marketing slogan of the game, anyways in the West.  No wonder that it didn’t do well.  People wanted a game more like Final Fantasy (which were, don’t get me wrong, great games).  The graphics turned people off, which are simple, but I’d argue they are beautiful in their own right.

Earthbound is the sequel to Mother, which I reviewed sometime last month.  The games are similar – even though Earthbound definitely has better graphics and all that, the look of the game, which takes place in a world similar to our modern world, are the same.  There are department stores, drug stores, burger shops, etc.  However, this game is bigger than Mother and you visit more varied locations (a giant city!  a swamp!  where the Nazis live!).  Like the previous game, there are touches of humor.  There’s also the first questionably gay character in any video game.  Lots of pop culture references.

Game’s plot is also similar – Gyigas is attacking!  But you’re not ready to fight him, so go to 8 ‘Your Sanctuary’s and gain your powers.  So, it’s a little different (if anything else, it’s a weaker plot than Mother, where you also had a reason to find the 8 melodies so that Queen Mary can remember her song.  There is a bit of a twist – your next door neighbor, a fat kid named Pokey is helping Gyigas.

Like the last game, you are ‘supposed’ to name the characters after yourself – this actually makes the game a lot more interesting, because it draws you more into the game then regular RPGs do. Why must I let Locke save the game when Lane can?

I need to point out how unusual the ending is – you can visit any of the world’s location, and talk to anyone you want. This way you see how beating the game affects the world.  It’s actually a pretty nifty thing that more games need to include.

The game itself is much easier than Mother, but there are some still major spikes in difficulty (I forgot how hard Ness’s Nightmare was, especially with this one-hit kill…other places include Peaceful Rest Valley, the area when you escape Threed…).  Even better, this game actually tells you where you need to go.  Yes, it’s more linear then the previous game, but there are parts where you can go off the rails, if you’d like.

What really surprised me was how just literally fucked up some of the scenarios in the games are.  Early in the game, your character, in order to go to the next city, has to prove his strength by defeating 7 cops.  You’ll get kidnapped by a hot chick who is working for zombies in one town, and attacked by her cohorts in a hotel room.  Your neighbor hates your guts (that’s an understatement). Happy Happy-ism. Giant piles of barf are after you.  One character goes through training where he is dismembered.  The final boss is really, really creepy (and might be inspired by a slightly risque scene that the producer of these games saw as a kid).  In fact, I really do think that if there was a Earthbound movie, David Lynch would be a fantastic director – it’s a quiet ‘kids game’, but there are some generally creepy moments.

It’s a great, fun RPG that will keep you entertained, but won’t make you frustrated enough to throw your controller against the wall. It gets hard enough at the right times to keep you challenged.  The characters and dialog are moving, and humorous enough to make you keep coming back.  The story, a bit cliched, but it does well to avoid other RPG cliches (giant evil empires!  amnesia!  Techno dystopias!).  If you haven’t played this game, play it, just to see why it’s sad that Dragon Warrior-esque games are falling out of favor.  Simple, is sometimes the best.

The next game I’ll be playing is Mother 3, which is completely different, so this’ll be a fun adventure.

Also, I’d like to announce that I’ll be also doing similar reviews of prototype games for the NES and SNES.  I used to be in this scene, and I’m coming back to it.  Stay tuned for the first one, soon.