So I finally got around to playing Earthbound, having bought it on the VC when it came out a year ago. I beat it late last night, so there will be (mostly very mild) spoilers, but I'll mark them. Anyway, my impressions follow:
Some games have a timeless quality, and lose nothing as the industry advances and our expectations of certain genres and the mechanics within change. Other games that are beloved are more a product of their time, and probably needed to be played when they were released for a person to fully understand just what the game meant to people, or how unique and groundbreaking it was. I can't help but feel like Earthbound is the latter kind of game in many ways. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it, but it was flawed, far more so than I expected. I was charmed, but I was also bored just as often, and I can't ignore that. Let's break this thing down into pieces like Ness smashing up an Octobot with a baseball bat:
Setting
The setting of Earthbound is, I believe, the main factor that makes it so beloved. The moment you realise that you're a normal kid in a normal world rather than a fantasy wizard or orc-slaying warrior or what-have-you is so refreshing. When you get to Onett and realise the game will constantly skit more po-faced RPGs with constant humour and fun NPC dialogue it's easy to fall in love with this little world. You actively want to seek out every NPC because what they have to say is usually whimsical or humorous in some way. This alone puts Earthbound miles ahead of most RPGs.
Yes, the game does bring you to the classic desert / ice / fire levels eventually, but each has a special earthbound twist, and there are places you go in this game that are so unique that have no equivalent in almost any other RPG, like
In particular,
is a piece of hilarious meta-commentary on game design that was about 15 years before it's time, perfectly executed. These places are pretty unforgettable, and Nintendo did a great job with the overall atmosphere of a normal american world tinged with a psychedelic strangeness, making everything feel just a little bit nostalgic but also a little bit unsettling.
Visuals / Music
Earthbound is incredibly basic looking for a 1995 SNES game. The sprites are simple, and there's a shocking lack of animation in pretty much all areas of the game, making things look a little dead and sterile while you wander the world. But it's hard to care too much about that because the art direction shines through, and the world of Earthbound is utterly charming. From the all-American towns and pizza parlours to the ludicrously inventive enemy designs (Dali's clock, really?!?), Earthbound has a style all of it's own, and it's one of its greatest strengths.
While the visuals are strong but dated, the music is utterly timeless, and was my favourite part of the game. This is one of the strongest soundtracks I've ever heard, and a huge amount of the considerable emotional appeal of the game comes from the music. Songs like Home Sweet Home, Onett, Twoson and Scaraba made me feel nostalgic for a game I'd never before played, and wistful for my childhood. I'd stay in area just to hear the songs loop. It's rare that a game's music gets its claws into me this much, but there was no way I wouldn't beat this game if only to hear all the music.
Gameplay
So far you'd think it was all roses, right? But a game is meant to be played, and here Earthbound starts to fall down. The battle system is weak, and ends up being very dull. Most of the time you simply mash the bash command. Early in the game you don't have enough PP to really use PSI abilities, once you do the range of useful attacking options is pretty much one or two per person, and a choice between 'hit one guy' or 'hit all guys'. There's little strategy involved. What's worse is the amount of random chance built into all battles. Everyone has a strong chance of missing attacks (worse if you're dumb enough to buy the wrong weapon), while the enemy AI is as dumb as an RNG and will constantly waste turns. It leads to situations where you can easily win one battle because the enemy wasted two turns and you hit him each time or lose because you missed and he decided to use a strong magic attack twice. You have no control over this, there's no strategy involved, no fun to it.
On top of that, there is a serious weakness in the real-time HP system. If a party member gets knocked out, it's a race to heal them. However you can never be as quick with your heals as the auto-battle system, leading to you relying on that system if you want to survive, and giving up your control of the game to, well, the game. The game can play itself faster and better than you can. On top of that, watching someone die because they took mortal damage after you comitted to a PSI attack with a long animation is very frustrating. Late in the game a
will typically be able to one-shot
with a single Starstorm, meaning constant healing is necessary. At this stage all the flaws in the battle system are seriously apparent and each one is just a chore as you push through to the end.
On top of that, the overworld gameplay is nothing special. There are no puzzles to solve, the dungeons are basic, and your characters are definitely on the slow side. A run button halfway through would have done wonders. This is exacerbated by the constant and annoying slowdown whenever more than two enemies are on the screen. Worse than this is the constant frustration of item management, as the game throws all manner of utterly useless items at characters who simply can't deal with them all. What about the difficulty curve? It's all over the place - the first two hours are by far the hardest in the game, Threed is a nightmare and then you won't be challenged again for the rest of the game until the final half-hour or so.
All of these issues combined with the dull battle system makes actually playing Earthbound a bit of a chore at times. Take the setting and music away and I just don't see how anyone can claim that the core 'game' here, the 'rules of play', are anything but sub-standard. It feels like they were considered less important than all of the clever moments and commentary. It feels like a game designed by a comedian, philosopher or novelist rather than by a game designer, which is something I never expected of Nintendo. I've not heard of the Director, Itoi, since (correct me if I'm wrong, I didn't look him up), so I suspect Nintendo might have come to the same conclusion as me. Brilliantly creative mind, but not a game systems designer.
Story / Characters
But so what, right? Lots of JRPGs have dated and mediocre gameplay saved by an epic story, and frankly I was expecting Earthbound to be exactly that. The problem is that that story... isn't there. There's actually no story to talk about. I was pretty shocked at this. There's a bit of exposition in the beginning, but then Ness just travels the world for seemingly no real reason, with no 'story beats' to keep the main plot ticking over. There's no urgency to the action, no clarity as to what's going on or why.
Worst is the treatment of the actually present bad guy, Pokey. He appears maybe 3 times, and his motivations and actions are completely vague. Is he a brat? A bad person? Is he mind-controlled? I was legit shook
The player characters are another issue. I actually liked them less at the end of the game than the start, because by then I realised that they aren't characters at all, just empty vessels drawn in the broadest strokes. You've got memorable characters like "Boy" (brave, strong, the chosen hero!), "Girl" (physically weak, but mentally strong! gets kidnapped! twice!), "Nerd" (timid but useful! relies on his more powerful friends!), and "Foreigner" (wacky and weird! can't eat normal food or use our items!) There was just nothing to them, and no reason to care about any of them. You know who I ended up caring about more than anyone? Apple Kid. Because he was a cool guy and had the most lines. When Apple Kid is your standout character (along with Bubblegum Monkey and your dog, for christsakes) then you've messed up somewhere.
People make
out to be something very special, but it wasn't for me. I was ready for the game to end, and lucked into figuring out how to beat him very quickly.
The one place Earthbound nails the story, though, is the 'Return of the Hero' phase of the classic hero story.
Conclusion
Most games are mediocre and forgettable. Many are worse than average in all respects. Many great games are lots of fun and make you think but can't make you feel. Many really fun games to actually play are ultimately forgettable for whatever reason.
So what to make of a game that wasn't much fun, didn't challenge me or make me think, but DID make me feel, and WAS unforgettable? How do you judge a game like that? I just don't think I can write off the 'game' part as unimportant as others obviously do when judging Earthbound. I can't separate the systems from the setting. I was bored too often. The story let me down. Yes, I also loved visiting a new, wacky town and chatting to people while listening to music. That's not quite enough, not on its own, to make a game great. The interactivity of Earthbound was its weakest point, and when it's a video game in question that's got to cost it points. As such I often felt like the this wonderful and inventive world would have been better off as an animated movie.
So, Earthbound. It's a classic, alright. A game I won't forget. Does it stink? No.
But it's a mediocre game, and that's a shame.
Some games have a timeless quality, and lose nothing as the industry advances and our expectations of certain genres and the mechanics within change. Other games that are beloved are more a product of their time, and probably needed to be played when they were released for a person to fully understand just what the game meant to people, or how unique and groundbreaking it was. I can't help but feel like Earthbound is the latter kind of game in many ways. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it, but it was flawed, far more so than I expected. I was charmed, but I was also bored just as often, and I can't ignore that. Let's break this thing down into pieces like Ness smashing up an Octobot with a baseball bat:
Setting
The setting of Earthbound is, I believe, the main factor that makes it so beloved. The moment you realise that you're a normal kid in a normal world rather than a fantasy wizard or orc-slaying warrior or what-have-you is so refreshing. When you get to Onett and realise the game will constantly skit more po-faced RPGs with constant humour and fun NPC dialogue it's easy to fall in love with this little world. You actively want to seek out every NPC because what they have to say is usually whimsical or humorous in some way. This alone puts Earthbound miles ahead of most RPGs.
Yes, the game does bring you to the classic desert / ice / fire levels eventually, but each has a special earthbound twist, and there are places you go in this game that are so unique that have no equivalent in almost any other RPG, like
Moonside or Magicant.
Dungeon Man
Visuals / Music
Earthbound is incredibly basic looking for a 1995 SNES game. The sprites are simple, and there's a shocking lack of animation in pretty much all areas of the game, making things look a little dead and sterile while you wander the world. But it's hard to care too much about that because the art direction shines through, and the world of Earthbound is utterly charming. From the all-American towns and pizza parlours to the ludicrously inventive enemy designs (Dali's clock, really?!?), Earthbound has a style all of it's own, and it's one of its greatest strengths.
While the visuals are strong but dated, the music is utterly timeless, and was my favourite part of the game. This is one of the strongest soundtracks I've ever heard, and a huge amount of the considerable emotional appeal of the game comes from the music. Songs like Home Sweet Home, Onett, Twoson and Scaraba made me feel nostalgic for a game I'd never before played, and wistful for my childhood. I'd stay in area just to hear the songs loop. It's rare that a game's music gets its claws into me this much, but there was no way I wouldn't beat this game if only to hear all the music.
Gameplay
So far you'd think it was all roses, right? But a game is meant to be played, and here Earthbound starts to fall down. The battle system is weak, and ends up being very dull. Most of the time you simply mash the bash command. Early in the game you don't have enough PP to really use PSI abilities, once you do the range of useful attacking options is pretty much one or two per person, and a choice between 'hit one guy' or 'hit all guys'. There's little strategy involved. What's worse is the amount of random chance built into all battles. Everyone has a strong chance of missing attacks (worse if you're dumb enough to buy the wrong weapon), while the enemy AI is as dumb as an RNG and will constantly waste turns. It leads to situations where you can easily win one battle because the enemy wasted two turns and you hit him each time or lose because you missed and he decided to use a strong magic attack twice. You have no control over this, there's no strategy involved, no fun to it.
On top of that, there is a serious weakness in the real-time HP system. If a party member gets knocked out, it's a race to heal them. However you can never be as quick with your heals as the auto-battle system, leading to you relying on that system if you want to survive, and giving up your control of the game to, well, the game. The game can play itself faster and better than you can. On top of that, watching someone die because they took mortal damage after you comitted to a PSI attack with a long animation is very frustrating. Late in the game a
Starman's Ghost or Final Starman
Paula and Jeff at the same time
On top of that, the overworld gameplay is nothing special. There are no puzzles to solve, the dungeons are basic, and your characters are definitely on the slow side. A run button halfway through would have done wonders. This is exacerbated by the constant and annoying slowdown whenever more than two enemies are on the screen. Worse than this is the constant frustration of item management, as the game throws all manner of utterly useless items at characters who simply can't deal with them all. What about the difficulty curve? It's all over the place - the first two hours are by far the hardest in the game, Threed is a nightmare and then you won't be challenged again for the rest of the game until the final half-hour or so.
All of these issues combined with the dull battle system makes actually playing Earthbound a bit of a chore at times. Take the setting and music away and I just don't see how anyone can claim that the core 'game' here, the 'rules of play', are anything but sub-standard. It feels like they were considered less important than all of the clever moments and commentary. It feels like a game designed by a comedian, philosopher or novelist rather than by a game designer, which is something I never expected of Nintendo. I've not heard of the Director, Itoi, since (correct me if I'm wrong, I didn't look him up), so I suspect Nintendo might have come to the same conclusion as me. Brilliantly creative mind, but not a game systems designer.
Story / Characters
But so what, right? Lots of JRPGs have dated and mediocre gameplay saved by an epic story, and frankly I was expecting Earthbound to be exactly that. The problem is that that story... isn't there. There's actually no story to talk about. I was pretty shocked at this. There's a bit of exposition in the beginning, but then Ness just travels the world for seemingly no real reason, with no 'story beats' to keep the main plot ticking over. There's no urgency to the action, no clarity as to what's going on or why.
Who is Giygas? Why does he destroy the world in the future? Is he behind the strange actions of people and various problems towns are having? It didn't seem so. What's with the pregame image of spaceships attacking Earth? Never happens. Why is Ness the chosen one? Why is Ness collecting music? Why is Giygas letting him?
when he turned up out of nowhere during the final battle. I mean, what? I had him pegged as a comic-relief rival character.
The player characters are another issue. I actually liked them less at the end of the game than the start, because by then I realised that they aren't characters at all, just empty vessels drawn in the broadest strokes. You've got memorable characters like "Boy" (brave, strong, the chosen hero!), "Girl" (physically weak, but mentally strong! gets kidnapped! twice!), "Nerd" (timid but useful! relies on his more powerful friends!), and "Foreigner" (wacky and weird! can't eat normal food or use our items!) There was just nothing to them, and no reason to care about any of them. You know who I ended up caring about more than anyone? Apple Kid. Because he was a cool guy and had the most lines. When Apple Kid is your standout character (along with Bubblegum Monkey and your dog, for christsakes) then you've messed up somewhere.
People make
the final Giygas fight
I was disappointed because at first I thought I'd stumbled on the most amazing Easter Egg ever, rather than the solution.
Getting to return home and wander the world after the final battle was really surprisingly emotional. I like that a lot, more games should do it.
Conclusion
Most games are mediocre and forgettable. Many are worse than average in all respects. Many great games are lots of fun and make you think but can't make you feel. Many really fun games to actually play are ultimately forgettable for whatever reason.
So what to make of a game that wasn't much fun, didn't challenge me or make me think, but DID make me feel, and WAS unforgettable? How do you judge a game like that? I just don't think I can write off the 'game' part as unimportant as others obviously do when judging Earthbound. I can't separate the systems from the setting. I was bored too often. The story let me down. Yes, I also loved visiting a new, wacky town and chatting to people while listening to music. That's not quite enough, not on its own, to make a game great. The interactivity of Earthbound was its weakest point, and when it's a video game in question that's got to cost it points. As such I often felt like the this wonderful and inventive world would have been better off as an animated movie.
So, Earthbound. It's a classic, alright. A game I won't forget. Does it stink? No.
You can't scratch and sniff the Gamepad, after all.
