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EarthBound: I loathe this game

I’ve been slowly slogging throw this game and I am, quite frankly, close to throwing in the towel. I just got through the Saturn Valley area Daniel mentioned last week, but in order to do that I had to get through Master Blech‘s Factory which required a password for entry, namely not touching the controller for three minutes. It was a short map, like every area map, extended simply by mobs like these little devils.

They are hardy little bastards that call more of themselves and cast a debuff that seems to decrease your offensive power making them harder to hit. So you can either attempt to power through them by spamming the physical attacks or choose to cast a powerful spell, like fire beta, for an large amount of what the game calls PP (power points?).

Your entire success in the game hinges on choosing between these physical attacks and powerful area effective spells, unwise decisions essentially mean you don’t have heals when you need them. And, sadly, the game isn’t balanced and with certain randomized groups of mobs, your decisions may be wise in the immediate context, only to hurt you irrevocably in the future. There is just no telling, however, until thirty minutes of unsaved progress.

I can happily put up with a grind like this if it gives me something interesting to feed on, but (to harp on what is certainly an old tune) the quirkiness of the world and generic “if you believe, you WILL succeed” plot just isn’t enough.

Where You At?: Milk Well
Sanctuary Songs Recorded: 2
Party: Ness, Paula, Jeff

Read Gavin Craig’s week 7 post
Read Daniel J Hogan’s week 7 post

Andrew Simone is writer, veloist, and video game enthusiast who spends too much time at a social network that isn’t one.