My brother got upset at me last week due to a misunderstanding and bought me Citizens of Earth as an apology. Totally and completely not necessary, but the gesture was absolutely appreciated - especially since I'd been having trouble committing to a game.
Citizens of Earth is a corny, quirky indie JRPG. There's a lot of clear Earthbound inspiration and homages, but it has more of a parody feel to it. You play as the Vice President of the Earth -- an absolute boob who got the position almost entirely because of his good hair. Strange things are happening on the Earth, and with some cajoling from your Mother and Brother, you set out to figure out what's happening.
It's a very goofy romp, which is honestly what I needed with all of the stress in my life right now. There's nothing really wowing here, but it made me smile fairly consistently. There's a huge roster of character to recruit, each feeling surprisingly unique within the games standard menu-based JRPG combat. All of the characters have at least some voice-acting, which is surprisingly well done for a budget title. The character interactions are very enjoyable as well.
The soundtrack was surprisingly good. One battle theme in particular, Otherworldly Battle, hit some chilled-out synthwave vibes and really wormed its way into my brain.
Unfortunately, Citizens of Earth really suffered from having too many encounters with basic enemies. JRPG combat is simply not interesting or even engaging when you're just selecting the same ability every round. So many otherwise good games are absolutely ruined by this. I legitimately think the average JRPG would be improved by removing all combat except for boss fights, and citizens of Earth is no exception. It only hit the point of being maddening in the final couple of zones here, so I stuck it out, but it's frustrating to have an otherwise good experience tarnished.
Anyway, I'd recommend Citizens to people who want some dumb humor and don't mind a bit of repetitive JRPG combat alongside it.
Citizens of Earth is a corny, quirky indie JRPG. There's a lot of clear Earthbound inspiration and homages, but it has more of a parody feel to it. You play as the Vice President of the Earth -- an absolute boob who got the position almost entirely because of his good hair. Strange things are happening on the Earth, and with some cajoling from your Mother and Brother, you set out to figure out what's happening.
It's a very goofy romp, which is honestly what I needed with all of the stress in my life right now. There's nothing really wowing here, but it made me smile fairly consistently. There's a huge roster of character to recruit, each feeling surprisingly unique within the games standard menu-based JRPG combat. All of the characters have at least some voice-acting, which is surprisingly well done for a budget title. The character interactions are very enjoyable as well.
The soundtrack was surprisingly good. One battle theme in particular, Otherworldly Battle, hit some chilled-out synthwave vibes and really wormed its way into my brain.
Unfortunately, Citizens of Earth really suffered from having too many encounters with basic enemies. JRPG combat is simply not interesting or even engaging when you're just selecting the same ability every round. So many otherwise good games are absolutely ruined by this. I legitimately think the average JRPG would be improved by removing all combat except for boss fights, and citizens of Earth is no exception. It only hit the point of being maddening in the final couple of zones here, so I stuck it out, but it's frustrating to have an otherwise good experience tarnished.
Anyway, I'd recommend Citizens to people who want some dumb humor and don't mind a bit of repetitive JRPG combat alongside it.