Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

Has anyone here played Earthbound? That is the best game I have ever played, even better than any FF game.

If so, who is your favorite character?

Mine's Poo, definitely. Starstorm kicks major a**!!!

--------------------

They say the opposite of "pro" is "con."

So isn't the opposite of progress Congress?

Or did I just blow your mind??


-America, the Book by the Daily Show

ure kidding right. the only character i got was NESS! so ill say Ness


--------------------

go To My New MegaMan Online RPG for some Fun

"It Begins Now X. A New World Will Be Born. Hahahahahah"-Vile

Yes, I have played Earthbound and it rocks. Maybe not the best game ever but it still rocks. I can't pick a single favorite character but the Runaway Five were cool. Sure, they weren't too smart with their pocketbooks but they were still cool none the less. Also, I loved to fight strange enemies, like New Age Retro Hippies. I never could predict that game untill the very end. It had an indescribable feeling to it. That is why it is still considered to be one my favorite video games to this day.

This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 22nd November 2004 04:51

--------------------

Role reversal at its finest.

Ness, becuase hes got a red hat and can use Super Psi magic. And, he has a violent baseball bat.

Ness and Poo rock! Paula was alright, but Jeff's random junk for making weapons took up too much space. That's probably the only thing I hate about the game: the extremely limited room for inventory.

Earthbound is still one of my top five favorite RPGs, so I agree it's one of the best. The final battle itself is one of the most memorable battles in a video game in my opinion (and one that took me a month or so to figure out the 'trick' to). And then there's the epitome of video game personalities: Mr. Saturn(s)!

--------------------

Words of Wisdom:

If something can go wrong, it will.

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

Boing! Zoom! - Mr. Saturn

I loved Earthbound so much. My favorite character was definitely Jeff, because of his Big and Multi Bottle Rockets. Those things were awesome, better than any magic. Great music, great characters, and the most hilarious townspeople ever.

--------------------

Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

I love Earthbound, because it's just so different from other RPGs. It has a modern setting, a weird premise, and some wonderful humor. The characters were fantastic as well, and the whole quirky, off-beat atmosphere was just perfect. They really need to make more games like Earthbound.

My favorite character was probably Poo. His personality is pretty level, and though he isn't stellar when you first get him, he quickly evolves into an incredibly powerful fighter. Plus, his unconventional consumption of items and lack of weaponry (except for the free Sword of Kings) made it somewhat easier to buy for him.

Actually, one of my absolute favorite things about Earthbound was the extremely limited space you had for inventory. It's always been a personal gripe of mine that being able to carry 99 potions or swords or whatever is entirely unrealistic, and Earthbound's curbed storage capacity lent a whole new dimension of challenge to the game.

This post has been edited by Super Moogle on 23rd November 2004 00:37

--------------------

"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."
~Dorothy L. Sayers

"The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."
~T.S. Eliot

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!"
~ Bruce Lee

I liked the game, though it's not high on my list of favorite RPGs. It was very interesting, but it didn't really grab me like other games do.
The battles looking like a drug trip was very off-putting.
I agree with SM about the Item storage, but the lack of it only ever became an issue at the worst possible moments, as if they planned it that way.

I HATE how

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

the final battle was scripted.

--------------------

"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

i tried to play it, but just couldn't get into it.

--------------------

moé in the streets, senpai in the sheets

Earthbound (aka Mother 2) was really cool, I loved how it took place in a modern day world, but still managed to have things like monsters, psychic powers, robots and aliens, without resorting to a cyber-punk setting. Plus, it was pretty funny, which was a refreshing change of pace from the depressing storylines of most RPGs of the time. I liked all the Earthbound characters pretty equally, but I guess Poo would be the coolest, followed by Ness.

However, I think I'd have to say I liked Earthbound Zero (Mother 1)'s storyline a little better. I recommend it to anyone who has the means of obtaining it, its for the original NES. Non-Japanese players will probably have to go the ROM and Emulator route, to obtain it though, for although the game was fully translated and ready to be shipped to the US, it was canned at the last minute. My favorite character in EB Zero was probably Anna. Although Ness had some good powers, he mainly was stuck with one or two attack abilities and a range of support abilities. Meanwhile Paula was both a healer and an attack magic user. So, along with a modern day setting, it broke the expectations of the time by having the girl as a black mage as well a white mage.

--------------------

And behold, I saw a Pale Gaming System, and the name of he who rode it was Squaresoft, and Enix followed him.

I honestly can't say I've ever found any reason to like Earthbound. Granted, I don't dislike it; heck, I've recently played through it again just for the sake of having something to do a few months ago. But nothing really stood out to make it any exceptional, and I feel it's somewhat overrated, quite frankly.

For one thing, the battle engine is a little chunky. There's very little fluidity in things and, in the day and age the game was made, a real-time battle system or something that didn't rely on a series of overlayed transparent blotches or palette rotations as a background was hardly out of the developpers' reach. Granted, this wasn't the intention, but it just didn't feel like most RPGs. It didn't "flow" and looked NES-like.

The actual battles were pretty much lacking in complexity. I can't say I've ever found myself doing much more than using the same spell over and over or hitting "A" repeatedly until the fights ended. While this can be said of many RPGs, it's still no excuse. Condiments, frankly, are something I never even knew existed (much less used). The spells weren't very varied and I often found myself either using my strongest attack spell or my strongest healing spell; variety was throughoutly lacking there.

On the plus side, the game's difficulty was slightly higher than most RPGs, which is definitely welcomed. While I can't say I've had to plan my strategy for most bosses, I did find myself in a few tight spots here and there. The varied actions enemies use are also a welcomed change of pace from the standard "attack/defend/cast spell" most RPGs use.

The music was, for the most part, throughoutly uninteresting, highly repetitive, and with rather bland samples. It gave off a theme which DID suit the game and that satisfied the oldschool gamer within, but it wasn't very impressive either, and even quite annoying in some places. I have to admit, though, the hardcore metal theme that plays during the last fight was awesome. Unfortunately, for me, this is the only theme that stood out.

The most annoying thing with the game was definitely the flow. I'm not talking about the storyline; while it was terribly cliché no matter how you look at it, I've never felt cliché storylines couldn't be good just because they were cliché. I'm talking about the interface. There's an unecessary amount of menu-wading that DEFINITELY didn't stick with me at all. Switching items between characters, equiping something, even talking to people involved digging through menus that could've easily been removed from the game in the first place, had the interface been designed otherwise.

And finally, most of the humor just didn't catch on to me. A lot of it felt childish, forced, or just out of place (hey, there IS such a thing as too much of a good thing )

All in all, out of personal opinion, I felt it suffered from a terrible interface, a lack of variety, and a deliberate lack of multimedia goodness. Or, shorter yet, "It's just not my thing."

Edit: For some reason, my é were turned into commas.

This post has been edited by Silverlance on 25th November 2004 23:39

--------------------

"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

I was so close to the end but my savestate was lost because I hit Save instead of Load. All that hard work gone too.

My one gripe with the game was the outrageous amount of food items and condiments. No I don't want to add cream cheese to a bagel, or ketchup, mustard, relish, sour cream, and whatnot to a hotdog just to get one item that healed my character sufficiently when I can simply get ONE item to do the job for me. Most of the time I couldn't tell which food healed how much HP.

Earthbound was a great game don't get me wrong but not better then ff.

--------------------

when did it start? when did the cogs of fate start to turn?

I think earthbound is not loved becuase the graphics are just .... aweful but i think graphics help but dont make the game. The story line was a break through becuase it medieval Fantasey but rather modern fantasey

--------------------

procastinate now, dont put it off

I just thought of more to say and being the constant chatter box I am, you know I am going to spill it all.You know I forgot about the music in this game. Let's just say that, I can live a perfectly happy life without ever hearing the Brick Road theme again. To be honest though, I like the NES type graphics. They had a certain charm to them, a charm that perfectly compemented the odd things that were going on.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Who doens't like to see 8 bit zombies that find leadership in a pile of barf?

The Mr. Saturn were unforgetable and so were the Runaway Five.(Yes, I am aware I already said they were cool in my last post. I just like them so much I am mentioning them again.)

Quote

Silverlance Posted on 25th November 2004 15:08
There's an unecessary amount of menu-wading that DEFINITELY didn't stick with me at all. Switching items between characters, equiping something, even talking to people involved digging through menus that could've easily been removed from the game in the first place, had the interface been designed otherwise.

Here is a tip for you Silverlance, as well as everybody else who wants to rip their hair out because of too many menus. Instead of opening the menu to talk to people or pick up items wherever they are, just use the L button instead. It doesn't help with the disgusting amount of item management but it does allow you to forgo the main menu most of the time. This may seem awkward at first because it is. I didn't discover this trick untill I was about to face the Final Boss unfortunatly. However, it did make the second time through the game much more enjoyable. NOTE: Despite the usual intercangability of the R and L buttons in most games, The R button doesnt' work for this. Don't ask me why, I don't even think the R button does anything. But I guess that's just another wierd thing about this game to the pile.

--------------------

Role reversal at its finest.

Quote (Blythe @ 29th November 2004 03:13)

I think earthbound is not loved becuase the graphics are just .... aweful but i think graphics help but dont make the game. The story line was a break through becuase it medieval Fantasey but rather modern fantasey

Hmm, gonna have to disagree with you there. There were a lot of modern fantasy games out long before Earthbound (lke the legendary Megami Tensei series Completely awesome series. There were a lot of modern fantasy games on the NES, too.) I think it's main appeal came from the randomness of the humor and plot; unfortunately, this is exactly what made it unappealing in my view, but hey.

Now, if you want an awesome storyline, play Shin Megami Tensei. Now THAT is the most amazing twist on good vs. bad ever, and without a doubt a must for any oldschooler.

--------------------

"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

well the best mordern game would have to be fall out

--------------------

procastinate now, dont put it off

Earthbound was the funniest RPG ever. That's it's hidden charm. Contrary to what others have said, I loved the music. Summers Theme? Music played while riding Nessie?? Runaway 5 Performances?!?

Cliche storylines? What other games made you get out and walk because of a traffic jam? When do you travel to faraway lands after eating "magic" cakes? Do you traditionally have to give up use of your eyes, ears and limbs in order to advance the plot?

Ahem.

So favorite Character? Ness's Sister..she had 'tude. Or maybe Lucky...he had 'tude. Oh who am I kidding I love them all.


"Attention Customer Ness: Please report to the top floor of the Department Store. Customer Ness from Onett. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

--------------------

"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

Quote (The Ancient @ 30th November 2004 17:11)

Cliche storylines? What other games made you get out and walk because of a traffic jam? When do you travel to faraway lands after eating "magic" cakes? Do you traditionally have to give up use of your eyes, ears and limbs in order to advance the plot?

Minor plot points unimportant to the flow of the underlaying story are not storyline points.

What game, other than LoZ:LttP, has you sneaking into a castle during a stormy night to find your dying uncle and to save a princess? What game, other than Chrono Trigger, has you chugging soda to impress the princess of a kingdom? What came, other than Final Fantasy IIIe, has you taking part in an opera? What game, praytell, other than Dr. Mario, has you throwing pills at colored viruses?! o.O

Of course, it's not as though "evil villain/being wants to take over the world/destroy the world and only young inconspicuous boy and his friends can stop him/her" is very frequently used either...

--------------------

"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

Quote (SaintWeapon @ 28th November 2004 23:04)

My one gripe with the game was the outrageous amount of food items and condiments. No I don't want to add cream cheese to a bagel, or ketchup, mustard, relish, sour cream, and whatnot to a hotdog just to get one item that healed my character sufficiently when I can simply get ONE item to do the job for me. Most of the time I couldn't tell which food healed how much HP.

Clearly you have never experienced the almighty cheapness of the Sugar Packet Rock Candy trick. Though Earthbound is a comparatively difficult RPG when played the normal way around, the sheer number of obscenely abusable building tricks (Criminal Caterpillar, anyone?) made the game potentially quite easy, if your conscience could handle it.

That being said, I still loved it through and through, with or without the cheating.

--------------------

"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."
~Dorothy L. Sayers

"The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."
~T.S. Eliot

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!"
~ Bruce Lee

Quote (Silverlance @ 30th November 2004 19:25)

Of course, it's not as though "evil villain/being wants to take over the world/destroy the world and only young inconspicuous boy and his friends can stop him/her" is very frequently used either...

I guess I should've addressed this. The "main plot" was cliche on purpose. That was the point. The game's opening is a depiction of cheesy UFO attack on a city. But what follows in terms of gameplay is in no way cliche. The closest thing to a cliche quest in the game is saving Paula. From a rather unconventional cult. That was my point...The dungeons the things you go through to get from point A to point B in the game never take a "cliche" course, you are always doing oddball, off-the-wall stuff. This is the for the entirety of the game. It's not some 5 second activity you partake in to between at a festival before saving a princess and battling wizards on your way to defeat the ultimate evil. If I'm in a time traveling game I expect to get shoved through different eras and do certain things in each of them, when I'm saving the universe from an alien evil from the future I don't expect to have to commune with monkeys in order to find some trout-flavored yogurt.

And I loooooooooooooooove Chrono Trigger, don't think I'm saying it's bad.

Earthbound isn't for everyone, but to call it cliche is rediculous. I have never played a less conventional RPG in my life, and I have played alot.

This post has been edited by The Ancient on 1st December 2004 18:25

--------------------

"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

Ah yes...the trout yougurt. That was amusing.

When I first played the game at age 7, most of the humour blew over my head. (I found nothing wrong with eating "magic" cake that takes you to a new world, for instance.) And how handy is it to order a pizza on your quest to save the world.

I loved the music, but Brick Road music could have been better. The graphics could have used some work, but are better than the Earthbound Z graphics. The game was tough, but I used the guide the 1st time through, so I knew to pray at the end of the game. I actually liked the psycadalic battle screens (when I was 7, I didn't think anything of it). But one thing that bugged me was the lack of item space, as well as the end being a point of no return. I was devestated when my SNES broke, but I managed to obtain a ROM a few months back. I plan to play it through after I beat Earthbound Zero, which is a bit harder, especially since Lloyd/Jeff is so wimpy.

--------------------

Dead Winter. A nice comic.

i've played mother 2, and i loved alot of the things about it, (music, story and what-not.)

i still haven't completed it though. maybe someday in the future...

--------------------

OSonic Rave
/ \Last Arcanum
[ ]Strike Raid
XRagnarok

Other than a few Final Fantasy's, Earthbound is one of my favorite RGP's of all time. It's such a goofy, fun game, that is quite addicting.

--------------------

My name is Atma...... I am pure energy... and as
ancient as the cosmos. Feeble creatures, GO!

I've played it, I've beat it. Hmm...

My friend, (who shall remain nameless for likely pointless reasons) loves this game to death. It's humor is right up his alley. The best way I can describe this game is merely mentioning my friend's name. Although the word 'Bizzare' comes to mind.

Although gameplay was not terribly great, the writing and jokes were great. The Runaway Five were cool. (Although as a Blues Brothers fan, I can point out floibles in the potrayal.) I'll never forget when Ness fights the Cops in a gauntlet of strength. One of the cops says (I may misquote) "Your average cop is stronger then any superhero!" Of course he get's his butt kicked, but that's a great line nevertheless.

I mean...really. When you get attacked by Abstract Art...what can you say besides 'bizzare? Maybe Earthbound.

--------------------

Really Random Quote of the Day: "Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war." - Richard M. Nixon

So if you're done reading this, you know I have nothing to say and you've wasted your time. Thank you come again.

Earthbound is one of the best games ever made. It's actually one of the few I've beaten over the top and then some. Other than FFVI and CT, Earthbound is the best game of all time. It was just... different. Something refreshing, and the jokes were probably what made it the funniest game ever.

My favorite character would have to be Jeff. Nothing like blowing stuff away with Multi-Bottle Rockets. When I got around to CT, I couldn't help but make comparisons with Lucca. -CSM

--------------------

The NEW Final Fantasy Wiki!

Join us!