Idlermag.com

EarthBound: Make or break

Posted by Gavin Craig on October 25, 2011 · 2 Comments 

All right. For the past few weeks, EarthBound has given me a great platform for writing about my unsettled personal life. My more astute readers, however, will observe that I haven’t spent much time actually playing the game.

Based on this week’s posts, Daniel is finding food for thought and making good progress, and Andrew is, um, not exactly enjoying the game. I find myself somewhere in the middle. In all honesty, I’m not loving the game, but I’m not sure I’ve played enough to really make a decision. So for this week, I’m asking myself what will it take to keep me playing.

I bumped into something similar playing Final Fantasy VII, where playing a Playstation 1 game on my Playstation 3 became a bit stifling. It’s really clear at times that I’m playing a game from a few generations back. This is particularly apparent when I play a current generation game, but I’ve also been playing Chrono Trigger on my DS, and I’m not sure that EarthBound measures up. There’s a sense of momentum in Chrono Trigger that EarthBound seems to lack. I’m not totally sure whether it’s the meandering story, or the iterative combat and advancement system (fight, die, repeat), but I’m still looking for that hook to pull me in and keep me playing. It could be a sense of investment in the characters, a really great fight, or even just something unexpected.

Given the sense I have of what lies ahead from my fellow players, I’m not sure that I’m going to get it, but I’m still open. For now.

Where You At?: Peaceful Rest Valley
Sanctuary Songs Recorded: 1 of 8
Party: Ness and a teddy bear or two

—

Read Daniel J Hogan’s week 7 post
Read Andrew Simone’s week 7 post

—

Gavin Craig is co-editor of The Idler. You can follow him on Twitter at @craiggav.