Is Earthbound really worth it?

[Zing]

It's funny how this game could barely be given away back when it was first released. Wasn't this the one that came with a free shirt?

[mobiusclimber]

Illusion of Gaia came w/ a free t-shirt, I don't think this one did. Could be wrong tho.

I say NO! I think Earthbound is actually pretty lousy. I've tried playing it three times. One of those times I got pretty far in it, but it got super boring and just felt like a lot of fetch quest running around nonsense. And while the game is weird, I didn't find it to be too funny. It feels more like Whitest Kids U Know than Monty Python (or like WKUK ripping off Monty Python and failing miserably at it). The game has surreal moments, and parts of it I loved (like the cult), but a lot of it is just like... they took things that every RPG (just about) does, and instead of doing something different, they just made fun of it. So you can cross a road b/c the cops are blocking it. And the cops crack jokes about it. *sigh* Now that I think about it, a lot of the game feels like those "--- Movie" movies, like Date Movie or Epic Movie, where they don't actually do a parody with any actual jokes, they just rip off a scene from another movie and think that's enough of a joke on its own.

In short, I hate Earthbound. Oddly enough, I really like Mother. I'm not sure if I'd still like it if I played it on actual hardware as opposed to an emulator (b/c the save state feature has saved my ass many times), but I thought it was less "wacky" for the sake of being wacky, and thus a bit better. Also I could forgive it for being so rudimentary, gameplay-wise, since it was a NES game, and not a late-period SNES title.

[ScourDX]

I would get the GBA Japanese because it has Mother 1 & 2 in one cartridge. Mother 1 was never released here.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

been playing earthbound for about a week now on an emulator, i cant in good conscience say its worth the money unless you're a collector but i will say this...



in the begining of the game when you get to name your friends and favorite meal....the 1st time i saw ness's mother say i looked hungry/tired and i should have some "crack" to make me feel better, lol i almost died in my own shit which i just shat....from laughing so hard.....



lol anyway game feels reallyyyyy japanese, so if you're a fan of wierd offbeat japanese humor, i say its worth playing, but thats about the only redeeming quality i see so far

[ScourDX]

Oh yea. Earthbound had censorship.

http://earthboundcentral.com/m2eb/

[Haoie]

Surprised this game got localised at all?

[exit]

I've had my copy since it's original giant box release and I still go back to play it every once in a while. The game has a great sense of humor and is very charming, it really makes me feel like a kid again whenever I play it.

If you can get the game for a decent price, I would say it's worth picking up.

[Jorpho]

I would get the GBA Japanese because it has Mother 1 & 2 in one cartridge. Mother 1 was never released here.

Too bad it's, you know, in Japanese.

Do any non-Japanese speakers really try to play Japanese RPGs without any kind of translation on hand? It seems thoroughly pointless to me.

I hope that fan translation finally gets finished soon.
http://earthboundcentral.com/mother12/

[GrandAmChandler]

In one word... Yes.

In many words... If you like RPGs, you owe it to yourself to play this, Earthbound Zero Repro for NES, and Mother 3 translation for GBA.

They will never be released on Virtual Console. NEVER, EVER NEVER. You will never see this game reprinted, re-released or anything of the sorts. This is it people. There are too many licensing issues to re-release it, and Nintendo has made that quite clear. It's not in their best interest to spend extra money to snag extra licensing when they can keep releasing hundreds of other titles that will make money and don't have the same complications. Why do you think the loose cartridge price keeps skyrocketing? Because that's it. That's all the cartridges there are (which isn't many.) If you like RPGs, get it. If you are unsure, try it in an emulator first. It's in my top 5 RPGs for SNES, maybe my top 3.

-GAC-

[Jisho23]

I'm kind of surprised to have read that some non-rpg fans liked Earthbound. I had always thought of it as "the game that gets better depending on how many rpgs you've played."

I'd emulate it first, if you like it then buy it. 80$ is very steep, but if you really really like the game you will pay it.

[Ricochet]

No one can tell you whether you're going to like it or not. But what's the worst that can happen if you don't? There's not gonna be a shortage of fanatics willing to buy it for the same price or more if you just sell it again immediately.

[TxFxL]

No one can tell you whether you're going to like it or not. But what's the worst that can happen if you don't? There's not gonna be a shortage of fanatics willing to buy it for the same price or more if you just sell it again immediately.

this just sealed the deal

[AB Positive]

Read the above post by GAC first. Then read mine. It's ok, I'll wait.


...


...


OK, extremely valid points made all around. Here's the thing though. I'm a hardcore RPG player - went through the Phantasy Stars, Final Fantasys, Chrono Trigger...

NIS releases on the PS2, Atlus games from the Saturn/Playstation era to now...

I love both japanese and british humor. I enjoy 'wacky and strange' things.

I hate Earthbound. HATE it. It's a shallow, near plot-less RPG that does a couple interesting things then hangs on to them like a bad gimmick hoping to float through the gaming seas. It's awful. I've tried multiple times to play it, nearly beat it once before realizing I just didn't care whether or not I saw the ending.



Play it on an emulator a little bit. Work out if you'd actually enjoy it first. If so - sure! Go grab it for $70 loose.

But like me you may find yourself hating it. Then, at least, you saved some cash.

[Jorpho]

There are too many licensing issues to re-release it, and Nintendo has made that quite clear.

WHen has Nintendo ever made anything "quite clear" ?

I've read the speculation about licensing issues, and to me it all sounds like desperate handwaving.

[GrandAmChandler]

WHen has Nintendo ever made anything "quite clear" ?

I've read the speculation about licensing issues, and to me it all sounds like desperate handwaving.

It's never coming, unless they redo the licensing issues, which I doubt Nintendo Corp. is willing to put in the time, and money required to do this.

http://starmen.net/ebvc/

-GAC-

[skaar]

I have no complaints about paying what used to be retail price for a game years later - especially when I now have a job and can afford it.

Paying $80 for a game used to be normal back in the day, especially an RPG. Yes it's years later, but the price is not totally unreasonable. I'd argue it's a better use of the $80 than some FPS game that'll devalue and be in the bargain bin 6 months later.

I paid a little over $200 for my CIB Earthbound off Kitsune awhile back. That was more than retail price, and it's probably the only time I've done something like that. I'm still happy with the purchase.

[FantasiaWHT]

This is how I approach classic and expensive games. If I want to play it, I buy it, regardless of what it costs me up front. When I'm done, I sell it, probably at roughly the same price I bought it, and I've spent virtually nothing to play this game.

[ubersaurus]

Awesome game, and one of my fav RPGs solely because of the atmosphere of weirdness. Though I have to admit, once you get to Deep Darkness it starts to fizzle for me just because it stops being AS bizarre as the first chunk of the game is.

Considering I've had it since it came out, and it was what, 80 bucks then? It's worth it.

[alexander4488]

I'm not a big fan of RPG games. Find them too slow. But even I acknowledge Earthbound to be a high quality RPG game and should not be missed... Even for $70...

[Jorpho]

It's never coming, unless they redo the licensing issues, which I doubt Nintendo Corp. is willing to put in the time, and money required to do this.

http://starmen.net/ebvc/

Like I said, I've read that, and I still think it's desperate handwaving.

Replacing the sound samples in the ROM really is completely trivial anyway.