I lost count how many times I attempted to complete these games. It's one of those games that I keep starting, but never sticked to it long enough to reach the end. Furthest I been was up to Fourside once, otherwise I kept getting lazy by the third town or so. This cycle kept occurring over and over again. It began when I was 12, and lasted until the tender age of 25. Finally, I manage to recently complete it for the first time, and conquered what is perhaps THE JRPG I tried the most attempted playthroughs on. The only other JRPG I can think of that I attempted to playthrough many times is Final Fantasy VI, and I beat the GBA version for the first time last year.
It's tough pointing out exactly why it was difficult for me to play through this game. Sure, I am a lazy gamer that does not often finish a game that I started, feeling usually content with just playing it. Even so, there are not many games, at least with JRPGs, where I took that many tries to finally beat a game I wanted to beat. At most, it takes probably three or four attempts to not be lazy and finally push through the end, even if the gaps in attempts are between years. After this last attempt, I felt that the rough gameplay, some pacing issues and not much of that mysterious x factor is what made it hard for Earthbound to grab me that long.
Gameplay wise, it felt rough. The combat is a fine, standard, Turn-based RPG that I do wish more games incorporate an auto-win feature against weaker enemies. The problem stems more from the interface and some other stuff. The hoarder in me really disliked the limited inventory and hated the ordeal of managing items between party members, and stressing out on which items I should keep on me. When it comes to things like uncommon/rare healing items and special one-time use ones, I tend to be reluctant to use them. It's not because I want a greater challenge, but it's rather because I wonder if this one item I used early would be needed about 30-40 hours later kind of worry. It's also obnoxious that the equipment and key items I need at all times take up part of the inventory space. I guess it's kind of realistic in that regard, but in a bad way. Granted other games around that time and before had the same issue, but it varies from game to game on how it affects me.
I was also not all that big on the pacing. There were moments where I felt bits of the game felt pretty dull, and parts can feel a bit too dragged on. The low points for me was primarily all of Threed and some of Fourside, and the amount of backtracking felt too excessive in combination with the slow moving speed. The gaming music junkie in me also didn't like Earthbound's audio, but it's no longer the case. I'm a gaming music fan that likes something very melodic, and memorable enough to hum to outside of the game. Earthbound does not really have that sort of music to me, but is still good in a different way. The music, especially in the dungeons, can get very abstract and alien that I thought poorly of this approach. However, it does work well with the quirky nature of the game, and there are some cooler songs later on. I remember years back when I was saying to some online friends on saying I disliked Earthbound's music; I used the Dungeon Man theme as an example, despite never getting that far. That was premature on my part to make that song an indicator of a weak soundtrack and having no idea of the context on why the song sounds that way.
Other than these factors, I guess it was one of those games that don't seem to have that much staying power with me, and can't really rationalize on why that is the case. I've been through my share of JRPGs and games in general that can have such similar issues, but were far more faulty and painful to get through. Yet, I did finish some of those games for reasons even I don't understand. I guess Earthbound is just one of those games with me that don't hold my full attention along with all the hype my peers give it that made me didn't fully get what's the big deal about it.
Now, in spite of all the negatively I've been spouting in the last few paragraphs, it really did feel worthwhile to finally play this all the way through. I most definitely loved the setting and concept, which is what this game, and the Mother series in general, really shine on. It's such a quirky, imaginative world, full of surprises and feels so refreshing to venture through amongst all the fantasy and sci-fi realm x's out there. The NPCs were very amusing to talk to and each time I enter a new town, I take the time going through all the houses and shops to talk to them, and see what kind of absurd or amusing banter they would share. That's an aspect of the game I didn't seem to care for or remember much beforehand, but I greatly appreciate the silliness of it all now. It is a shame that Ness' whole crew is such flat, quiet characters, and it bothered me for a while. Even now, I find a bit jarring to me when Poo suddenly came back to the party at the end of a boss fight after a fairly short absence and no one said anything. I don't really care about that anymore though since the setting, supporting cast, NPCs and such all more than made up for it.
In spite of the faults I had with the game, there is no denying it has quite a few memorable moments both big and small. Here is a listing of some moments or things in the game on the top of my head that stood out to me:
-Pokey in general
-Those trippy battle backgrounds
-Onett police force
-Buzz buzz's demise
-Colorful array of enemies like New Age Retro Hippie and Abstract Art
-Orange Kid and Apple Kid
-Pencil Eraser
-Pencil Eraser
-The Happy Happiest cult
-Runaway Five crew with their cool theme song and nifty performances
-Mr. Saturn
-The trippy coffee bits
-The five third strongest moles
-MOONSIDE!
-Billboards
-That $7500 "dream home" with a funny snippet
-Unconventional status effects like homesick
-Dungeon Man!
-Magicant
-That final boss (man, talk about a nightmare fueled mind trip)
There may be some other stuff I'm overlooking, but I guess they are not all that memorable. Writing this list makes it more baffling that it took me this long to beat it. I love weird and quirky stuff, but I guess that alone was not enough of a staying power for me with Earthbound. In comparison, I've beaten Mother 3 in about a week or 2, shortly after the English patch got released. It has less overall zany or out there moments, but I felt engaged by it and managed to stick that through. I recall that it remedied the rough interface woes, and has a more interesting story that made me wonder what will happen next. Even now, it feels hard to forget the final chapter where it has a hilarious final dungeon, followed by a very heart wrenching finale. I understand those who do prefer Earthbound since it's a bigger classic and has great moments, but Mother 3 felt better to me. Maybe I should do a 2nd playthrough of that to see if the point still stands.
I certainly sounded harsh about Earthbound despite the things that bug me and didn't click. It's a bit too hyped up, but it is still unique. In spite of my negatively, it is still a game to try out at least once, and felt worthwhile to finally make it through to the end. It's a one of a kind JRPG experience that I don't think will ever get an English rerelease due to all the license issues with it. What a shame.
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