You’ll fight a watchful puddle of vomit and battle through the zombie-infested town of Threed. Along the way, Ness visits the cultists of Happy Happy Village (based on a real-life Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984) their mission statement is to paint the town red by literally painting it blue.
The tone of Earthbound is perhaps its most fascinating attribute, best exemplified by its most famous quote: “There are many difficult times ahead, but you must keep your sense of humor.” Earthbound skillfully surprises you with a reservoir of emotion and sentiment that happily counters the game’s trendy ironic veneer. Take the time to look around, it is your mind after all.”ĮarthBound is arguably one of the single best RPGs ever made, and boasts one of the best storylines of any game. A man tells him, “Magicant is a place where you must cleanse yourself of the evil hidden within your mind.
After Ness has taken control of his Sanctuaries, Ness visits, Magicant, a surreal location that exists only in his mind and contains his warmest memories and his worst fears- an allegory perhaps, for how the entire game allows us to see into the mind of the creator. From these, you created Magicant, the realm of your mind.”Ī pivotal moment in the game comes after collecting all eight melodies with the Sound Stone. “Ness, you’ve stood on the eight power spots of the earth. Your adventures take you through modern cities, prehistoric villages, cold winter climates, a desert wasteland, monkey caves, swamps, dinosaur museums, and even a yellow submarine. Along the way are underlining themes of corrupt politicians, post-traumatic stress, corporate greed, depression, capitalism, police violence, terrorist attacks, homosexuality, religious cults, and xenophobia. While visiting eight Sanctuaries, Ness partners with three other kids, a psychic girl (Paula), an eccentric inventor (Jeff), and the prince of the kingdom of Dalaam (Poo). A bee from the future instructs Ness to collect melodies in a Sound Stone to preemptively stop Giygas from destroying the planet. There, he learns that Giygas, has enveloped the world in hatred and consequently turned animals, humans, and inanimate objects into dangerous creatures. The game puts you in the shoes of a young boy named Ness as he investigates a nearby meteorite crash. There’s a princess you must rescue, not once, but twice, who’s really just a child prodigy, and there’s an arch-nemesis who turns out to be your next-door neighbour. Earthbound didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it sure had fun twisting the usual JRPG tropes.