If you go up the stairs in the mayor's house you can swap his pre-written speech when he's exiling you with a...different article. I found two: an Earthborn Manga, and an adult magazine you buy at the store. When he gives his dramatic speech about Charon before banishing you, depending on what you switched it with (if you did) he'll say something different. I switched his speech with the porno mag and it was a riot.
Such a great little surprise and a reward for exploration. Do either of those quest items matter for anything other than the joke? I don't believe so 😅 That is dedication to a bit
I knew within the first hour that this was going to be my personal GOTY. 30 hours later and my opinion didn't change. After I beat it I immediately started a second playthrough. Loved every second of my time with Eastward.
Best game I've played since Stardew Valley. It's crazy being in the 21st century and for me the best games are still in 2D. Need many more like this. Really hoping for a sequel.
I just want another game in this world. Most the side characters could have there own games with how deep there stories get. Incredible experience and excited to see what they do next
This game has me in my good feels. Absolutely LOVE the music as well. Joel Corelitz did a great job on the game's sound track. The gameplay was fluid and challenging but awesome. This game is a gem. Also, the girl in the farm that had the hots for John was sweet!
I watched your first vid on this a few months ago. When it released last week (or two?) I decided to give it a shot based on one of your more recent vids covering it. It's now probably my game of the year. I'm over 30 years old now and it reminds me why I fell in love with video games. It hit me hard in the nostalgia department whilst also simultaneously satiating my more mature craving for story telling. Game was an absolute emotional rollercoaster. And the earthbound/LoZ art-style, with super expressive characters and environments made that ride all the more intense. I never thought I could watch a middle age man with a frying pan fight an artificial human being with a sword and have a complex range of thoughts like "this is ridiculous/ awesome" to "I'm f&%$#$g crying right now." Game truly was a masterpiece of indie development that I haven't enjoyed since Bastion! Thanks for turning me on. \m/
the multi-stun is by far the best anyway. Honestly just the regular projectile stun is plenty strong, u dun even need abilities. They just slow me down 😆
This game is a bit of a tricky recommendation. On the one hand, the gameplay is satisfying and the story beats hit pretty well when they set it all up the way they do. On the other hand, this is significantly more of a visual novel than I think people expect. There’s so much dialogue and the absence of any VO whatsoever will be a hard thing to accept for many people. I enjoyed the game a lot and it’s certainly my indie game of the year. I’m just not sure how I can recommend the game as a “Zelda-like” without bracing people for how much time is spent not actually playing the game and just reading the story.
I absolutely loved the story. That being said, the lore is hard to follow. I am on my second play-through and I think I have an idea now...maybe. There are a lot of parallels between the events of the main story and Earth Born. Only beaten Earth Born once and I’m working on New Game+ to see what other secrets it might hold.
Loved the story up to the end of chapter 4, until you leave new dam city. Afterwards, story takes a left turn and started adding unnecessary plot lines that made no sense. Even at the end of the game, most of these plot lines never got answered. Kind of sad, because I was so invested in the story before then.
Have to disagree, there. Did you spend much time talking to other NPCs (not just the critical ones)? Especially in Ester City. Or did you do much with the Pixlballs? The story is there, it just takes a little time to dig into and relies on intuition to piece together the missing info. Treat it like Dark Souls but with a billion times more exposition.
@@MetalMonkey1453 (sorry to reply to you 2 weeks later) I did read through almost every piece of new dialogue I could find and I honestly agree with Matt on the bit where the story felt duct taped and unexplained in some parts. we STILL don't know why the whole Mother/Charon project started in the first place too or why solomon is in it. Another thing that I really dont like is the promised story VS what we got. From the opening cinematic I was expecting we picked up cool passengers along the way like Isabel... but turns out she's an asshole and all we got is a clown and a con artist.
Yeah, I was quite invested up until the leave from New Dam City. After that it feels like they kind of sidelined the cast I was really invested in up to that point, and abruptly moved towards more episodic conflicts for every new chapter that didn't really tie into the main conflict or characters I was hoping to see more of. I still don't understand who Solomon was, Alva and Isabel's story get shafted, Sam's origins and the villains' motivations have more questions than answers, etc. etc. Everything about the game's presentation was beautiful, but I wish that the plot as a whole was ironed out and put through a few more drafts.
At 9:58 in the video, in that room the sand is actually covering 3 switches, so you need to use the snakes in the cages to jump onto the buttons, and then a secret door opens up in that corridoor.
Man I love this game, the fanboy in me would give it a 10, but the fair and objective critic in me would give it an 8. Its art direction and 2D Zelda like gameplay is on the mark. I especially enjoy the boss fights. The huge problem with this game though is the unnecessary long unskippable dialogue cut-scenes. Talking to any NPC is a waste of time filled with puns and contributes nothing to the lore and story. Especially when you need to save, that unnecessary dialogue for the refrigerator is so annoying and wastes 10 seconds of your time. But the game picks up in the second half and the gameplay is good enough. I really enjoyed the final boss. But its pixel art direction is a masterpiece and it's what carried the game and convinced me to give it an 8 in metacritic. A must buy if you are willing to endure the long dialogue cutscenes of the first half of the game.
What i don't really like is the almost end of story, the Time concept is not make sense, like how can Thomas be disappear when he literally not living inside the time bubble and how when time bubble get destroyed all inside of it become disappear and rotten is time bubble supose to protect it, and please dev give John wife, i thought it will Alva after Ulva gone, or maybe adult Sam especially when she being foreshadowed by name Mother and game Eartborn itself, but the ending just like that
Loved Eastward, but I gotta say. For the story being as batshit random and convoluted as it is, it took itself too seriously for my taste. Pixel Art, pixel animation, music was all phenominal tho so I can't get mad at all 😆 Gameplay was good too but had they tuned down the story and upped the gameplay I think it would have been better.
Whoever was responsible for the narrative and dialogue for this game really did the audio/visual team a disservice. The narrative is abysmal. Mediocre and lackluster gameplay can be overlooked if the story is compelling enough. The chaotic and incoherent narrative coupled with the oppressive and off-putting dialogue really tanked the experience.
1:44 maybe that is why I didn't enjoy Hades much. The die-repeat where you have to re-talk non stop to NPC bored me when I have a huge backlog of games to play.
If you go up the stairs in the mayor's house you can swap his pre-written speech when he's exiling you with a...different article. I found two: an Earthborn Manga, and an adult magazine you buy at the store. When he gives his dramatic speech about Charon before banishing you, depending on what you switched it with (if you did) he'll say something different. I switched his speech with the porno mag and it was a riot.
OMG that's amazing, haha!
Thank you. I don't knew that. Uuuh, I am happy to know that before my second run.
Such a great little surprise and a reward for exploration.
Do either of those quest items matter for anything other than the joke? I don't believe so 😅
That is dedication to a bit
Couldn’t agree more! The game’s fantastic but there’s a lot of dialogue to sit through, not for everyone.
I knew within the first hour that this was going to be my personal GOTY. 30 hours later and my opinion didn't change. After I beat it I immediately started a second playthrough. Loved every second of my time with Eastward.
Exactly, I do enjoyed every second playing this masterpiece.
did u beat Earthborne? What happens? 😆
Best game I've played since Stardew Valley. It's crazy being in the 21st century and for me the best games are still in 2D. Need many more like this. Really hoping for a sequel.
I just want another game in this world. Most the side characters could have there own games with how deep there stories get. Incredible experience and excited to see what they do next
This game has me in my good feels. Absolutely LOVE the music as well. Joel Corelitz did a great job on the game's sound track. The gameplay was fluid and challenging but awesome. This game is a gem. Also, the girl in the farm that had the hots for John was sweet!
I watched your first vid on this a few months ago. When it released last week (or two?) I decided to give it a shot based on one of your more recent vids covering it. It's now probably my game of the year. I'm over 30 years old now and it reminds me why I fell in love with video games. It hit me hard in the nostalgia department whilst also simultaneously satiating my more mature craving for story telling. Game was an absolute emotional rollercoaster. And the earthbound/LoZ art-style, with super expressive characters and environments made that ride all the more intense.
I never thought I could watch a middle age man with a frying pan fight an artificial human being with a sword and have a complex range of thoughts like "this is ridiculous/ awesome" to "I'm f&%$#$g crying right now."
Game truly was a masterpiece of indie development that I haven't enjoyed since Bastion!
Thanks for turning me on. \m/
So glad you enjoyed it! And I know exactly what you mean - so many great memories and nostalgia moments, it's fantastic!
I think the area where you were supposed to gain Sam's second hidden ability was bugged, because you're definitely supposed to gain it at that point.
the multi-stun is by far the best anyway. Honestly just the regular projectile stun is plenty strong, u dun even need abilities. They just slow me down 😆
This game is a bit of a tricky recommendation. On the one hand, the gameplay is satisfying and the story beats hit pretty well when they set it all up the way they do. On the other hand, this is significantly more of a visual novel than I think people expect. There’s so much dialogue and the absence of any VO whatsoever will be a hard thing to accept for many people. I enjoyed the game a lot and it’s certainly my indie game of the year. I’m just not sure how I can recommend the game as a “Zelda-like” without bracing people for how much time is spent not actually playing the game and just reading the story.
Well said!
This. I play in the morning with a cup of coffee and read. I enjoy that side of the game.
I absolutely loved the story. That being said, the lore is hard to follow. I am on my second play-through and I think I have an idea now...maybe. There are a lot of parallels between the events of the main story and Earth Born. Only beaten Earth Born once and I’m working on New Game+ to see what other secrets it might hold.
that secret temple part be giving me hyper light drifter vibes
Loved the story up to the end of chapter 4, until you leave new dam city. Afterwards, story takes a left turn and started adding unnecessary plot lines that made no sense. Even at the end of the game, most of these plot lines never got answered. Kind of sad, because I was so invested in the story before then.
Have to disagree, there. Did you spend much time talking to other NPCs (not just the critical ones)? Especially in Ester City. Or did you do much with the Pixlballs? The story is there, it just takes a little time to dig into and relies on intuition to piece together the missing info. Treat it like Dark Souls but with a billion times more exposition.
The story does make sense it's more just kinda typical for games/anime.
Done with the game and actually found something vague, can you recall few lines that never have answers?
@@MetalMonkey1453 (sorry to reply to you 2 weeks later) I did read through almost every piece of new dialogue I could find and I honestly agree with Matt on the bit where the story felt duct taped and unexplained in some parts. we STILL don't know why the whole Mother/Charon project started in the first place too or why solomon is in it.
Another thing that I really dont like is the promised story VS what we got. From the opening cinematic I was expecting we picked up cool passengers along the way like Isabel... but turns out she's an asshole and all we got is a clown and a con artist.
Yeah, I was quite invested up until the leave from New Dam City. After that it feels like they kind of sidelined the cast I was really invested in up to that point, and abruptly moved towards more episodic conflicts for every new chapter that didn't really tie into the main conflict or characters I was hoping to see more of.
I still don't understand who Solomon was, Alva and Isabel's story get shafted, Sam's origins and the villains' motivations have more questions than answers, etc. etc. Everything about the game's presentation was beautiful, but I wish that the plot as a whole was ironed out and put through a few more drafts.
I absolutely hated those ravens. I did find that second temple, but haven't figured it out yet. Hope to finish it soon!
Aah where did you find that secret dev room? I didn't see it at all!
At 9:58 in the video, in that room the sand is actually covering 3 switches, so you need to use the snakes in the cages to jump onto the buttons, and then a secret door opens up in that corridoor.
Really curious about this game. The visuals look awesome
I've only used the pan. I'm past the large fish fight. So for all this time I've used the pan unless something else was needed.
Had a lot of fun with the game and enjoyed it so much. I'm with you though towards the end felt a little lost on what was going on storywise
Reminds me of that earthbound vibe
I know very little about this game but just from that image on the left of the thumbnail this game looks a lot like Earthbound.
I also skipped the stairs and went for the secret passage. What's up there?! haha
I got the same feeling about gurren lagann, completely agree with alot of your feelings
I spent hours playing earthborn, I still think about it lmfaoooo
POG all the way in the playthrough, though the ending man… It's not bad but I'm not satisfied
Same. Wasn’t all it was hyped up to be
Reminds me a lot of Illusion of Gaia.
Will there be a physical version of this :) ?
@Mary Mitchell it came out a few days ago!!
Man I love this game, the fanboy in me would give it a 10, but the fair and objective critic in me would give it an 8. Its art direction and 2D Zelda like gameplay is on the mark. I especially enjoy the boss fights. The huge problem with this game though is the unnecessary long unskippable dialogue cut-scenes. Talking to any NPC is a waste of time filled with puns and contributes nothing to the lore and story. Especially when you need to save, that unnecessary dialogue for the refrigerator is so annoying and wastes 10 seconds of your time. But the game picks up in the second half and the gameplay is good enough. I really enjoyed the final boss. But its pixel art direction is a masterpiece and it's what carried the game and convinced me to give it an 8 in metacritic. A must buy if you are willing to endure the long dialogue cutscenes of the first half of the game.
100% my thoughts.
Last week I smoked a bong and watched a random play this for a solid 2 hours. Very trippy 🤟
What i don't really like is the almost end of story, the Time concept is not make sense, like how can Thomas be disappear when he literally not living inside the time bubble and how when time bubble get destroyed all inside of it become disappear and rotten is time bubble supose to protect it, and please dev give John wife, i thought it will Alva after Ulva gone, or maybe adult Sam especially when she being foreshadowed by name Mother and game Eartborn itself, but the ending just like that
I'm playing this game just for refrence building minecraft
Loved Eastward, but I gotta say. For the story being as batshit random and convoluted as it is, it took itself too seriously for my taste.
Pixel Art, pixel animation, music was all phenominal tho so I can't get mad at all 😆
Gameplay was good too but had they tuned down the story and upped the gameplay I think it would have been better.
Whoever was responsible for the narrative and dialogue for this game really did the audio/visual team a disservice. The narrative is abysmal. Mediocre and lackluster gameplay can be overlooked if the story is compelling enough. The chaotic and incoherent narrative coupled with the oppressive and off-putting dialogue really tanked the experience.
you sound like MKBHD~
The game is about 13 hours too long. But, hey, if you LOVE fetch quests, go ahead and buy it.
13?! Wtf did you play, almost all sources said it was around 20-24 hours, i ginished in 22!!
1:44 maybe that is why I didn't enjoy Hades much. The die-repeat where you have to re-talk non stop to NPC bored me when I have a huge backlog of games to play.
Helloooooo :)