My favorite game is EARTHBOUND for the snes.
Reason? Let's see, I was maybe around 11 when I 1st played it. Even so young, I appreciated/ saw the charm the game had. The humor stood out, and it was the 1st time I played an rpg that didn't take itself so seriously; but at the same time, it was a serious game, in terms of gameplay and innovation. There was nothing about it that made it feel lackluster when put next to Mario RPG or Final Fantasy. Okay, the combat visuals were a little bland and static, but it was the snes era, anyway!
I would replay the game every few years. It wasnt until I was 18 or so that I played it again and appreciated the actual story; something I was unable to do while I was a toddler. When compared with FF, this story was incredibly deep and touching, it wasn't plagued with metaphorical, melodramatic and philosophical nonsense like most every jrpg game; it had heart, one that you could connect with in some way. Random NPC's around town always had something interesting to say, unlike in jrpg's now where they say a sentence about absolutely nothing, and it doesnt immerse you in their world, it just annoys you that the devs even let you talk to them.
I've replayed it 5 times, and each play discovered something I didn't notice because I was too young to understand. The gameplay still holds up (to me) and I have yet to play a game that has as much charm and charisma as the world of Earthbound. It's a shame there's no true next-gen sequels, because the RPG genre really needed something like Earthbound to keep it's pulse alive. I fear the jrpg genre is dead, and nothing more than a parody of itself now; nostalgic just for nastalgic sakes.
Reason? Let's see, I was maybe around 11 when I 1st played it. Even so young, I appreciated/ saw the charm the game had. The humor stood out, and it was the 1st time I played an rpg that didn't take itself so seriously; but at the same time, it was a serious game, in terms of gameplay and innovation. There was nothing about it that made it feel lackluster when put next to Mario RPG or Final Fantasy. Okay, the combat visuals were a little bland and static, but it was the snes era, anyway!
I would replay the game every few years. It wasnt until I was 18 or so that I played it again and appreciated the actual story; something I was unable to do while I was a toddler. When compared with FF, this story was incredibly deep and touching, it wasn't plagued with metaphorical, melodramatic and philosophical nonsense like most every jrpg game; it had heart, one that you could connect with in some way. Random NPC's around town always had something interesting to say, unlike in jrpg's now where they say a sentence about absolutely nothing, and it doesnt immerse you in their world, it just annoys you that the devs even let you talk to them.
I've replayed it 5 times, and each play discovered something I didn't notice because I was too young to understand. The gameplay still holds up (to me) and I have yet to play a game that has as much charm and charisma as the world of Earthbound. It's a shame there's no true next-gen sequels, because the RPG genre really needed something like Earthbound to keep it's pulse alive. I fear the jrpg genre is dead, and nothing more than a parody of itself now; nostalgic just for nastalgic sakes.