the short and sweet of earthbound is that it is a 10/10 rpg tacked along a 0/10 game. actually maybe its like a 7/10 rpg. it's really no surprise that it's managed to garner such a massive cultural influence when truly nothing like earthbound existed like it prior to it's inception, no medium except videogames could maintain the unserious nature the game entails. all of the dialogue is funny, if not interesting, the world is unique, the locations are vibrant... it's just good.
but the combat is GOD awful. this game is so infinitely dated in it's combat it makes everything worse by five-fold. everything is just so slow and tedius. jeff's bottle rockets trivialize a large portion of the bosses. when combat gets more interesting, it gets more irritating, as enemies with VERY strong and scary attacks may come pre-packaged with a reflective shield, so you have to awkwardly scout out each one and all their tricks and gimmicks, it's not fun.
earthbound would KILL for a remake, but mother 3 honestly wasn't too much better on the combat end, just being more polished and such. i would appreciate an overhaul in any further earthbound entries, come what may.
but the combat is GOD awful. this game is so infinitely dated in it's combat it makes everything worse by five-fold. everything is just so slow and tedius. jeff's bottle rockets trivialize a large portion of the bosses. when combat gets more interesting, it gets more irritating, as enemies with VERY strong and scary attacks may come pre-packaged with a reflective shield, so you have to awkwardly scout out each one and all their tricks and gimmicks, it's not fun.
earthbound would KILL for a remake, but mother 3 honestly wasn't too much better on the combat end, just being more polished and such. i would appreciate an overhaul in any further earthbound entries, come what may.