![]() There's no mistake here; I really did do this second. BACKGROUND:
I've already explained my history with the Mother series in the blog entry for Earthbound, so no need to repeat myself. The only thing I can say about this game specifically is that I was surprised to learn at the time that Earthbound was the second game in a series, and that there was a first one. Mother 1 itself has an interesting history, as while it was meant to be released outside Japan during the NES days (I learned that it was even localized), the game never actually saw the light of day. That changed during 2015, when Nintendo finally released the game as Earthbound Beginnings via the Wii U Virtual Console, joining Star Fox 2 as one of a few unique games that saw digital releases decades after the end of their respective console's life cycle. As to why I played Earthbound first instead of the first chronological release, I did so at the behest of people who have played both games. SUMMARY: Much like Earthbound, Earthbound Beginnings is a turn-based RPG set in an interpretation of the US with all sorts of weird alien shit going on. The protagonist of the story is also a young boy (default name Ninten) who must journey across the land to collect eight melodies in order to save the world. This sounds familiar. Jokes aside, there are some interesting elements that differentiate this game from Earthbound. Early on, a link is established between Ninten's great grandfather George and the paranormal nonsense that's been occurring, as it is explained that George spent the latter years of his life studying psychic powers. Magicant (an otherworldly dimension also present in the second game) has a larger story significance in this game as well, which I found neat. This is a much shorter game than Earthbound in terms of the pacing of its story (and smaller in terms of the size of its world), so there wasn't really much time to take in each of the smaller quests and appreciate them as their own little adventures. You're pretty much just thrown into the thick of things to explore on your own, and next thing you know, you've already collected half of the melodies needed to beat the game. While I did like the exploration aspect of finding the melodies (some of them are in real interesting places), there unfortunately isn't much story impact to finding them compared to Earthbound. Battles function mostly the same as Earthbound. You got a party of three (though you'll be able to use four characters), with Ninten being the all-rounder, Lloyd being like Jeff and relying more on items, Ana being the mage, and Teddy focusing more on physical damage. The PSI/PK spells are more or less standard stuff, with various offensive spells, support spells, and even spells like Telepathy (which see use in the overworld). Each party member also has equipment like weapons and armor, but the selection is so tiny that it's irrelevant until you can snag the best items in the game (which happens a lot sooner than you think). Enemies can be a pain in the ass (often attacking in groups, and with some using spells that can one-shot you), though they don't have as many tricks up their sleeve as the enemies in Earthbound. Most of the time, they'll just try to attack you and not really bother with non-offensive spells. There are a bunch of quirky enemies in this game, too, but I will say that Earthbound's cast of enemies is more memorable to me overall since that game had a greater variety of silly battle dialogue. Unlike Earthbound, the enemies don't move around in the overworld. Instead, you have your classic random encounter system a la Dragon Quest, and boy, it is real annoying to explore the world because of it. And despite the frequency of enemy encounters, you'll still be forced to grind quite a bit in this game, as Lloyd and Ana are literally at Lv 1 when you recruit them, meaning you actually have to take the time to catch them up with Ninten just so you can use them effectively. Managing inventory space is much worse here, because not only do you have less slots, there's literally only two ways you can offload unnecessary items in the entire game. Thankfully, one is easily accessible, and for some weird reason, equipped items don't take up an item slot (whereas in Earthbound, the second game, they do, which weirded me the fuck out). Also somewhat mercifully, there are only a few instances where you really need the space for key items anyway, so I actually got to make room for consumables in my playthrough. Money works much the same as Earthbound, as you'll have to call your dad to have him deposit cash into your account, and you have to go to an ATM to withdraw your balance. Not much to say here that I haven't already in the previous blog entry on Earthbound, apart from the fact that I used money even less in this game. The game has its fair share of fun moments and oddities, like the ability to get a cold (which is a status ailment in this series) just by talking to the wrong NPCs, a dude who fills your inventory with Mouthwash, a part where you ride a fucking tank, and an enemy that says "hello", leaves, and gives you XP anyway. I could tell that the charm of the series has been present from the very beginning and they upped the ante in the second game. This definitely looks and sounds like a late-era NES game with its simple yet adorable sprites, and catchy chiptune music, which has a bit of the genre diversity I was surprised by in Earthbound. VERDICT: I did not enjoy Earthbound Beginnings as much as I did the sequel, as it was much more limited in a lot of respects (be it item variety or exploration) and had some frustratingly dated elements (random encounters, poor inventory management). That said, I still found stuff to enjoy about this game, and I came off the experience really appreciating Earthbound even more since I got to see where all the neat ideas and memorable elements in that game got their start. On its own, I probably wouldn't have liked it much at all, but playing Earthbound first and then coming back to this to compare and contrast allowed me to appreciate what it brought to the table. I don't think I'd recommend playing Earthbound Beginnings until you finish Earthbound, since the second game implements the concepts this one introduces in a much more polished manner. Battles in the second game were more enjoyable, there was a lot more world to explore, and there was more silliness to encounter. Once you've done that, I think going back to play this one would make for a more rewarding experience, if only to see how the cult classic series got its start. It may behoove you to keep a walkthrough handy just in case, however. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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