My favourite memory of playing Earthbound for the first time was when Ness got Homesick somehow, and I thought "how will I cure this status effect?" I remembered that when you use the phone you can choose who you'll talk to, and I thought... maybe he just needs to talk to his mother. When she responded telling him everything's going to be okay, I felt myself tear up a little bit. It wasn't a major moment in the game but I had never connected to a game character like that before, I empathised with Ness in a way I hadn't been able to until that point.
I really like how you approached this video. You go beyond the usual review / retrospective format and provide context and commentary about the larger themes. Keep up the great work.
I may have been late to the party, but I'm glad I found out about this game in high school, AND that I was able to play it on a working SNES. lol I love the level of critical and contextual analysis you go through in your videos, keep up the good work~
You just made me realize this is like a re-contextualization of Pink Floyds The Wall. I knew the Giygas face looked a lot like the Gerald Scarfe's The Scream.
@@AesirAestheticsI know, you’re icelandic, but your voice says „mediterranean“. Maybe spanish, but not BORAT. Maybe you can sneak a „My Wiiiife“ into your AC 5 video. Let us be the judge😎
It ain't a mess. You used the games thematic throughline of "Relief from the help of others" as the throughline for the video itself, keeping everything relevant and tying it all back into your main point. Its a good read of the game, and definitely has me wanting to play it even more.
you did great, man, a game like this can't possibly be properly handled by someone trying to do a clean cut and unbiased review. whatever messiness is here is very appropriate, and if anything this review came across as very detailed, holistic and perceptive. great job, half hour well spent watching! look forward to watching your other reviews! God bless
Just found your channel and loved the video! You have a very solid way of analysing and interpreting, and a great command of language. Keep up the good work!
Is there a book version of this? I like games but now that I'm on my sweet 30s I barely have time to complete any memorable rpg. It's like when kid ness tells to his future self if he's up for some playtime where Ness tells him "he's bussy" ... Lol
That's how I feel too. 35, married, 2 kids, if I'm playing an old jrpg like earthbound, it better be on an emulator with fast forward capability because that's just selfish of me to play games at this point. I could spend more quality time with my kids, work some overtime, or advance my education. It's hard to justify playing games still when you have responsibilities
i wouldn't say ness is named after the nes, mostly because it's called the famicom in japan, so nobody would get it he's probably named that way after the SNES because NESS is just SNES with the first S at the end ...but nobody would get that either
I really liked this video, but i would say that it looks more like a love letter about why earthbound is so damn good than an analysis I mean... you could elaborate more in the flaws of the game too Like how the HP mechanic is useless in the early game because how quickly your Hp Vanish or How the monsters inflict lots of Negative stats and that fucks you in the early game and you have to grind safely to be even capable of advancing Or how little character development the game have aside from Ness (which just have magicant too) Or even how little customization you have for each character. (You cant learn psy without leveling nor the weapons have elemental damage that make an early weapon worth on the late game. Its basically "go and upgrade everything to do more damage") Maybe the strictive nature of the game. (In EB you could get some songs out of order and that helps a little in replayability, in earthbound you have to go in the way the game want you to and do dungeons in the exact same order everytime.) I think its more honest with the people who thinks the game is "overrated" to tell its flaws, so you can just tell why even with those flaws the overall experience is amazing and Why so many people love it.
You ever see The Exorcist? You could see the Mani Mani statue like the Pazuzu statue in that film since it spreads evil influence. It also straight up looks like a Moloch statue, which was a Canaanite god related to child sacrifice. And THAT is pretty significant considering how Paula was kidnapped by the Happy Happyists, and how the party eventually accepts they may need to sacrifice their lives for the greater good (if you really want to take the interpretation far).
Does anyone think it's worth it to play the earthbound sequel? I originally played earthbound more than 20 years ago and it had a profound emotional and spiritual effect at the time. I still listen to the music to remind me of those memories. Would playing the sequel at all diminish the magic of Earthbound?
it's a very different scenario and has enough differences in game play and aesthetics to not wreck the nostalgia of the original, and I think it is a similar jump up from earthbound as EB-zer0 had compared to earthbound that it's well worth the time to play (as is EB0 for that matter!) The emotional and spiritual aspects are ratcheted up further. I was literally weeping by the end. my brother still won't play the game, which once you've played, you'll understand why. that was 12 years ago now. I've only replayed it once since, but still I would NEVER tell someone NOT to play, the whole experience is too good to miss. it's a really linear story, and reads more like a book, which actually works very well here considering it was inspired by one. It's technically superior and has A LOT of ACTUAL character development. and the music (there's gotta be twice the songs, though a lot are remixes, they're all great to the point they made a couple live orchestral remix CDs), the game play itself is pretty much the same as earthbound with quite a few added gimmicks that are actually interesting and helpful. and yet, here I am watching earthbound vids, and I'm getting myself in the mood to play through it again. Playing Mother 3 has not dimished my love for Earthbound in the slightest.
Ya see, this is the reason we (the west) don't get allot of cool titles. The 'retro' crowd is limited to niche' group. The profit doesn't make it a viable sell. The Japanese have a more open mind towards these things - numbers or not. If you want the title over there, chances are, you're going to find it! The Japanese take chances that American and European publishers wouldn't dream of trying. Of course, it's a double edged sword. Some of their titles are just weird and don't fit our cultures.. because we have different mindsets on some subjects. Some things there are still taboo here. This is evident in anime with the girls. Age has allot to do with it too. A younger generation is difficult to draw in to an older title because it's hard for them to adapt to the limitations of the graphics and interaction. It's considered 'outdated' and that's sad. I've been here since the days of Pong. I've watched this thing develop from the very beginning. Some younger players don't realize that, in those days, because of the restraints of the hardware, developers focused more on the 'fun factor' instead. They did the best with what they had. I recently went back to my back catalog to play Final Fantasy 7, Resident Evil 1 and Silent Hill 1. Wow! These take me back..but, that's because I already have fond memories. Hopefully, some younger gamers are reading this. Try some of these games out. You'll quickly see how fast you get drawn in, and not in a graphical emersion way with VR headsets. I mean.. addiction - not being able to put that controller down because you playing a book!
The best games? Definitely not. The best JRPGs? Definitely. I mean, none of these games would even be in the top ten of a list of all-time greatest games across all platforms and genres. Which isn't to detract from their value, but you gotta be realistic.
You taught me one I didn't know about too. You say Mani Mani in a way that sounds like Money Money... and it honestly makes more sense the way you say it... He has a Monopoly because he has Money Money lol
So I got about ten minutes into this video and had to stop. I'm going to assume the rest of the videos on your channel are of the same quality so I'm going to just give you some advice based off my preference for analysis videos and you can totally ignore this and that's cool. You should make whatever videos you want to make. You seem to have the idea that having a *long* video equates to a *better* video and you accomplish this with HEAVY padding in useless objective facts. Objective facts are okay when analyzing something but if they don't lead to a point then there isn't the need to tell us about how "the characters follow Ness while he is moving, when you press up there is a delayed input of them pressing up". Anyone who has seen any footage of the game could piece that together. I think you should review your scripts and ask yourself WHY you are saying something. Objective facts are boring and useless if they don't lead to a point or anything at all. Another problem is when you do say something that is analytical you do not back it up or explain anything. For instance you said that the rolling counter in combat "builds empathy for the characters" but you in no way explain HOW the rolling counter system builds this empathy. I have played Earthbound a lot and I have deep connection with this game and I can safely say that the rolling counter did not endear me more or help me empathize with the characters. What it did do was create a countdown factor to the combat which then created panic. This panic led to mashing through the menus and rushing my decisions which immersed me more into the combat, because if someone took mortal damage you wouldn't have time to think rationally leading to a rushed/panicked decision. Our experiences could have been different but you need to explain your experience and what led to that conclusion. That's the analysis part of an analysis video. When you don't explain your analysis you just come off as spouting psuedo-intellectual buzzwords in between your padding of objective facts. The video, or at least the ten minutes that I watched, came off as vapid. A lot of words but nothing to actually say.
I actually like the long format. Also the whole characters walking bit and the rolling counter does make sense when you think about the theme of "Relief of having others". The party members follow you, retracing your steps; in an age where most rpgs had one guy on the overworld. Just by seeing them (and not being able to use the bike because that be rude to only have one rider) it reinforces that friendship theme. The rolling counter makes you panic in a meta sense because losing a party member is one step closer to a lose condition, but also you usually have to go to the hospital to get them back. Again in most rpgs you'd have the ability usually to just use an item to revive them, in or out of battle. Early on in Earthbound you'd not only have to stop your dungeon crawl to go back to the Hospital across town, but now you've got the spirit of your dead buddy behind you all the way. It makes you worry for both the inconvenience of stopping the games progression but also worry about that characters well being.
Also, MU means Nothingness.
AesirAesthetics thank you I thought it meant The sound a cow makes.
I thought mu meant wood in Chinese, so i thought the name was a metaphor for a piece of wood being completely still.
@@moren8689 kinda true, the kanji for the Chinese mu is 木, the one AesirAesthetics is referring to is 無 (mu in Japanese, but wu in Chinese)
Ah thanks!
My favourite memory of playing Earthbound for the first time was when Ness got Homesick somehow, and I thought "how will I cure this status effect?" I remembered that when you use the phone you can choose who you'll talk to, and I thought... maybe he just needs to talk to his mother. When she responded telling him everything's going to be okay, I felt myself tear up a little bit. It wasn't a major moment in the game but I had never connected to a game character like that before, I empathised with Ness in a way I hadn't been able to until that point.
It's amazing - it's such a human thing to miss one's mother and to include something like that in a game that people can relate to? Genius.
And his dad always put money in his account for doing good battles
I really like how you approached this video. You go beyond the usual review / retrospective format and provide context and commentary about the larger themes. Keep up the great work.
thanks, will do
Fuck, the melody during the closing thoughts.
It always drives me to tears.
This is my favourite game ever, and i't will be forever.
SAME!
I am loving these retro reviews! Your videos on Silent Hill and Earthbound are superb!
+metatron478 Glad to hear it :D
This is a criminally underrated channel.
Oh man, that was awesome! Great work! You've earned a new subscriber.
I may have been late to the party, but I'm glad I found out about this game in high school, AND that I was able to play it on a working SNES. lol I love the level of critical and contextual analysis you go through in your videos, keep up the good work~
Hey there, I enjoyed the analysis greatly. Gonna stick around for more :)
great having you aboard!
One of the best analysis here in UA-cam.
Stellar review, the way you approached the game's themes was amazing, thanks for making this video.
Also clean your screen.
You just made me realize this is like a re-contextualization of Pink Floyds The Wall. I knew the Giygas face looked a lot like the Gerald Scarfe's The Scream.
OMG I'm so glad i found this channel!
+Mirror :)
I absolutely love this video especially your pronunciation! Your voice sounds amazing!
Thank you, most people just say I sound like Borat
@@AesirAestheticsI know, you’re icelandic, but your voice says „mediterranean“. Maybe spanish, but not BORAT. Maybe you can sneak a „My Wiiiife“ into your AC 5 video. Let us be the judge😎
@@cybercop0083mah wife!
Uncanny!@@AesirAesthetics
Hilarious Zelda joke aside, I don't know about this one, spent so long working on it that I don't know if it's a mess or not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It ain't a mess. You used the games thematic throughline of "Relief from the help of others" as the throughline for the video itself, keeping everything relevant and tying it all back into your main point. Its a good read of the game, and definitely has me wanting to play it even more.
This is the best review of the game I've honestly ever seen.
you did great, man, a game like this can't possibly be properly handled by someone trying to do a clean cut and unbiased review. whatever messiness is here is very appropriate, and if anything this review came across as very detailed, holistic and perceptive. great job, half hour well spent watching! look forward to watching your other reviews! God bless
Amazing video, you deserve more views :)
Thanks
Just found your channel and loved the video! You have a very solid way of analysing and interpreting, and a great command of language. Keep up the good work!
Glad you're liking the channel!
Is there a book version of this? I like games but now that I'm on my sweet 30s I barely have time to complete any memorable rpg. It's like when kid ness tells to his future self if he's up for some playtime where Ness tells him "he's bussy" ... Lol
That's how I feel too. 35, married, 2 kids, if I'm playing an old jrpg like earthbound, it better be on an emulator with fast forward capability because that's just selfish of me to play games at this point. I could spend more quality time with my kids, work some overtime, or advance my education. It's hard to justify playing games still when you have responsibilities
notes? forget it !! I take a second cup of coffee instead!
"I maestro statics and this was fun" ah youtubes autosubtitles:D 33:00
Pays OFF in the end!
I'm a complete fraud!
Hey, Aesir! You should do an analysis on Giygas. But don't mention the fetus theory. Shigesato Itoi himself debunked it.
This was a great video thank you
:)
Oooo i love earthbound
It's greatness is surpassed only by it's weirdness
@@AesirAesthetics Definitely! Moonside is a real trip! Threed is too for that matter.
I love EarthBouuuund ❤️
:)
Great
amazing vid !
Thank you
when you love a character so much that you call him by the wrong name lmao.
i wouldn't say ness is named after the nes, mostly because it's called the famicom in japan, so nobody would get it
he's probably named that way after the SNES because NESS is just SNES with the first S at the end
...but nobody would get that either
I really liked this video, but i would say that it looks more like a love letter about why earthbound is so damn good than an analysis
I mean... you could elaborate more in the flaws of the game too
Like how the HP mechanic is useless in the early game because how quickly your Hp Vanish or How the monsters inflict lots of Negative stats and that fucks you in the early game and you have to grind safely to be even capable of advancing
Or how little character development the game have aside from Ness (which just have magicant too)
Or even how little customization you have for each character. (You cant learn psy without leveling nor the weapons have elemental damage that make an early weapon worth on the late game. Its basically "go and upgrade everything to do more damage")
Maybe the strictive nature of the game. (In EB you could get some songs out of order and that helps a little in replayability, in earthbound you have to go in the way the game want you to and do dungeons in the exact same order everytime.)
I think its more honest with the people who thinks the game is "overrated" to tell its flaws, so you can just tell why even with those flaws the overall experience is amazing and Why so many people love it.
The first game that taught me story is important
Heeeeey.
Subscribed.
:)
I think the mani mani statue represents [greed, wealth, materialism]
+Logic Seeker that actually makes alot of sense.
You ever see The Exorcist? You could see the Mani Mani statue like the Pazuzu statue in that film since it spreads evil influence. It also straight up looks like a Moloch statue, which was a Canaanite god related to child sacrifice. And THAT is pretty significant considering how Paula was kidnapped by the Happy Happyists, and how the party eventually accepts they may need to sacrifice their lives for the greater good (if you really want to take the interpretation far).
the word _mani mani_ or in kana _マニマニ_ which sounds like Mr. Crabs saying "Money, money, money, money, money, money, money!" I can agree to that.
I don't know why but earthbound always gives me Zack mckracken vibes
Does anyone think it's worth it to play the earthbound sequel? I originally played earthbound more than 20 years ago and it had a profound emotional and spiritual effect at the time. I still listen to the music to remind me of those memories. Would playing the sequel at all diminish the magic of Earthbound?
it's a very different scenario and has enough differences in game play and aesthetics to not wreck the nostalgia of the original, and I think it is a similar jump up from earthbound as EB-zer0 had compared to earthbound that it's well worth the time to play (as is EB0 for that matter!)
The emotional and spiritual aspects are ratcheted up further. I was literally weeping by the end. my brother still won't play the game, which once you've played, you'll understand why. that was 12 years ago now. I've only replayed it once since, but still I would NEVER tell someone NOT to play, the whole experience is too good to miss. it's a really linear story, and reads more like a book, which actually works very well here considering it was inspired by one.
It's technically superior and has A LOT of ACTUAL character development. and the music (there's gotta be twice the songs, though a lot are remixes, they're all great to the point they made a couple live orchestral remix CDs), the game play itself is pretty much the same as earthbound with quite a few added gimmicks that are actually interesting and helpful.
and yet, here I am watching earthbound vids, and I'm getting myself in the mood to play through it again.
Playing Mother 3 has not dimished my love for Earthbound in the slightest.
😊
My dad is not a phone!?
wha t is w i th t he kerming of y our title c ards
I had a bad font and was still figuring out how to make videos 😄
"Pokey wants what ness has but goes about it the wrong way." I swear I heard this exact line in another review. Is it plagiarism?
probably not but if it is, they stole it from me and were free to take it.
@@AesirAesthetics You're not ACTUALLY saying you said this first, one day ago, when the video started existing
Ya see, this is the reason we (the west) don't get allot of cool titles. The 'retro' crowd is limited to niche' group. The profit doesn't make it a viable sell. The Japanese have a more open mind towards these things - numbers or not. If you want the title over there, chances are, you're going to find it! The Japanese take chances that American and European publishers wouldn't dream of trying. Of course, it's a double edged sword. Some of their titles are just weird and don't fit our cultures.. because we have different mindsets on some subjects. Some things there are still taboo here. This is evident in anime with the girls. Age has allot to do with it too. A younger generation is difficult to draw in to an older title because it's hard for them to adapt to the limitations of the graphics and interaction. It's considered 'outdated' and that's sad. I've been here since the days of Pong. I've watched this thing develop from the very beginning. Some younger players don't realize that, in those days, because of the restraints of the hardware, developers focused more on the 'fun factor' instead. They did the best with what they had. I recently went back to my back catalog to play Final Fantasy 7, Resident Evil 1 and Silent Hill 1. Wow! These take me back..but, that's because I already have fond memories. Hopefully, some younger gamers are reading this. Try some of these games out. You'll quickly see how fast you get drawn in, and not in a graphical emersion way with VR headsets. I mean.. addiction - not being able to put that controller down because you playing a book!
I like waffles
Why do you not have more subs?
are eartthbound, ff6, and chrono trigger really the best games ever made? my opinon is yes. there are more like me
The best games? Definitely not.
The best JRPGs? Definitely.
I mean, none of these games would even be in the top ten of a list of all-time greatest games across all platforms and genres.
Which isn't to detract from their value, but you gotta be realistic.
@@Wolf_Larsen not even the best jrpgs i would say
But i agree with chrono trigger tho
Not even a vague mention of a sequel existing? Bit of a disappointment. Especially since one of the characters return for it.
You say Monotoli wrong. It's supposed to sound like Monopoly. I used to say it wrong when I was a kid too lol
huh, that actually makes alot of sense.
You taught me one I didn't know about too. You say Mani Mani in a way that sounds like Money Money... and it honestly makes more sense the way you say it... He has a Monopoly because he has Money Money lol
They stepped away from girls cause games were not doing well with women going farther back. Women just were not as interested
So I got about ten minutes into this video and had to stop.
I'm going to assume the rest of the videos on your channel are of the same quality so I'm going to just give you some advice based off my preference for analysis videos and you can totally ignore this and that's cool. You should make whatever videos you want to make.
You seem to have the idea that having a *long* video equates to a *better* video and you accomplish this with HEAVY padding in useless objective facts. Objective facts are okay when analyzing something but if they don't lead to a point then there isn't the need to tell us about how "the characters follow Ness while he is moving, when you press up there is a delayed input of them pressing up". Anyone who has seen any footage of the game could piece that together. I think you should review your scripts and ask yourself WHY you are saying something. Objective facts are boring and useless if they don't lead to a point or anything at all.
Another problem is when you do say something that is analytical you do not back it up or explain anything.
For instance you said that the rolling counter in combat "builds empathy for the characters" but you in no way explain HOW the rolling counter system builds this empathy. I have played Earthbound a lot and I have deep connection with this game and I can safely say that the rolling counter did not endear me more or help me empathize with the characters. What it did do was create a countdown factor to the combat which then created panic. This panic led to mashing through the menus and rushing my decisions which immersed me more into the combat, because if someone took mortal damage you wouldn't have time to think rationally leading to a rushed/panicked decision. Our experiences could have been different but you need to explain your experience and what led to that conclusion. That's the analysis part of an analysis video.
When you don't explain your analysis you just come off as spouting psuedo-intellectual buzzwords in between your padding of objective facts. The video, or at least the ten minutes that I watched, came off as vapid. A lot of words but nothing to actually say.
Non ironically, I'd love for you to give me this sort of feedback on my newer videos.
I actually like the long format. Also the whole characters walking bit and the rolling counter does make sense when you think about the theme of "Relief of having others". The party members follow you, retracing your steps; in an age where most rpgs had one guy on the overworld. Just by seeing them (and not being able to use the bike because that be rude to only have one rider) it reinforces that friendship theme. The rolling counter makes you panic in a meta sense because losing a party member is one step closer to a lose condition, but also you usually have to go to the hospital to get them back. Again in most rpgs you'd have the ability usually to just use an item to revive them, in or out of battle. Early on in Earthbound you'd not only have to stop your dungeon crawl to go back to the Hospital across town, but now you've got the spirit of your dead buddy behind you all the way. It makes you worry for both the inconvenience of stopping the games progression but also worry about that characters well being.
Next time try using Zelda's preferred pronouns, and maybe i will leave a thumbs up...