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For fans of the game: Help me understand the appeal. I fired it up once on an emulator and played for like 15 or so minutes and was just completely "meh"-ed.

For fans of the game: Help me understand the appeal. I fired it up once on an emulator and played for like 15 or so minutes and was just completely "meh"-ed. Is it something that pays off later and you just have to play it for a while or what?

jordigh 11y ago
It's just a quirky RPG with western culture as understood by the Japanese. You fight with baseball bats and frying pans instead of swords and bows. Your enemies are zombies, cultists, aliens, and bike gangs. Your dad gives you your allowance which you collect over ATM. The towns you visit are called Onett, Twoson, Threed, and Fourside, because their only importance is the order in which they appear in the game. Depending on the version you play, you run around in your pajamas or birthday suit because you just got out of bed. It's not a game you play so much for the mechanics, which are not bad, but not hugely novel. At the time, when all console RPGs were based on high fantasy, a quirky RPG based on a bunch of silliness was very different.
- dccoolgai 11y ago
  Thanks for the explanation - maybe I'll give it another try. I am totally open to quirky JRPGs. I think I was just measuring this one against Chrono Trigger (another quirky JRPG for the uninitiated, which oozes charm) - which I went into with a skeptical attitude and 10 minutes later was completely drawn into the story and felt like some kind of magical child. Didn't have the same experience with my 15 minutes of Earthbound, but maybe I just needed to give it a little time.
  - jordigh 11y ago
    The story in Earthbound doesn't make a lot of sense. You play it more for the individual story elements than the actual overarching plot. Kind of like how the plot in The Big Lebowski is ultimately irrelevant.
  - Tiktaalik 11y ago
    Regarding the gameplay mechanics, the game is a parody of Dragon Quest, so it intentionally stays pretty close to how Dragon Quest plays.
  - eropple 11y ago
    Chrono Trigger isn't particularly "quirky". It's a pretty straightforward presentation of a somewhat different story. Earthbound plays with the medium in a way that games a decade later still aren't very good at (see the love for Undertale, which I don't think is all that good either but does paint the fourth wall in a way that feels fresh and original because of the relative rarity of it).
dragontamer 11y ago
Its a 90's RPG that makes fun of other 90's RPGs. I'm not sure if the "message" of the game is easily translated if you weren't playing JRPGs in the mid-90s. But for example, the "bee" that is dying early on always manages another explanation (should you ask for it). Its a very dry sense of humor, that would be lost on anyone who hasn't played many 90s era RPGs. Instead of a crazy innovative storyline, it is more of a long comedy sketch that makes fun of other JRPGs. For example: when you get a "Bike" (fast movement) in the game, you aren't allowed to use it as soon as you get your 2nd party member (only one person can ride the bike at a time, duh). Fast movement is basically a joke in the game. Overall, the game is willing to mess with game mechanics as a joke in of itself. Example 2: A giant pencil will eventually stop you in your tracks. To get rid of the giant pencil, you need to find the "Pencil Eraser". Get it? Its an eraser... that erases giant pencils. Pun pun pun... Its more about quirky jokes and humor than overarching plot.

jordigh 11y ago

It's just a quirky RPG with western culture as understood by the Japanese. You fight with baseball bats and frying pans instead of swords and bows. Your enemies are zombies, cultists, aliens, and bike gangs. Your dad gives you your allowance which you collect over ATM. The towns you visit are called Onett, Twoson, Threed, and Fourside, because their only importance is the order in which they appear in the game. Depending on the version you play, you run around in your pajamas or birthday suit because you just got out of bed. It's not a game you play so much for the mechanics, which are not bad, but not hugely novel. At the time, when all console RPGs were based on high fantasy, a quirky RPG based on a bunch of silliness was very different.

dccoolgai 11y ago
Thanks for the explanation - maybe I'll give it another try. I am totally open to quirky JRPGs. I think I was just measuring this one against Chrono Trigger (another quirky JRPG for the uninitiated, which oozes charm) - which I went into with a skeptical attitude and 10 minutes later was completely drawn into the story and felt like some kind of magical child. Didn't have the same experience with my 15 minutes of Earthbound, but maybe I just needed to give it a little time.
- jordigh 11y ago
  The story in Earthbound doesn't make a lot of sense. You play it more for the individual story elements than the actual overarching plot. Kind of like how the plot in The Big Lebowski is ultimately irrelevant.
- Tiktaalik 11y ago
  Regarding the gameplay mechanics, the game is a parody of Dragon Quest, so it intentionally stays pretty close to how Dragon Quest plays.
- eropple 11y ago
  Chrono Trigger isn't particularly "quirky". It's a pretty straightforward presentation of a somewhat different story. Earthbound plays with the medium in a way that games a decade later still aren't very good at (see the love for Undertale, which I don't think is all that good either but does paint the fourth wall in a way that feels fresh and original because of the relative rarity of it).

dragontamer 11y ago

Its a 90's RPG that makes fun of other 90's RPGs. I'm not sure if the "message" of the game is easily translated if you weren't playing JRPGs in the mid-90s. But for example, the "bee" that is dying early on always manages another explanation (should you ask for it). Its a very dry sense of humor, that would be lost on anyone who hasn't played many 90s era RPGs. Instead of a crazy innovative storyline, it is more of a long comedy sketch that makes fun of other JRPGs. For example: when you get a "Bike" (fast movement) in the game, you aren't allowed to use it as soon as you get your 2nd party member (only one person can ride the bike at a time, duh). Fast movement is basically a joke in the game. Overall, the game is willing to mess with game mechanics as a joke in of itself. Example 2: A giant pencil will eventually stop you in your tracks. To get rid of the giant pencil, you need to find the "Pencil Eraser". Get it? Its an eraser... that erases giant pencils. Pun pun pun... Its more about quirky jokes and humor than overarching plot.