← View the game page

The EarthBound debate

What the community thinks of EarthBound, ordered by reader support. Agreeing, translating and reporting a message need no account.

39 comments

Posting requires an account: log in or sign up.

  1. SilentHunter2

    It wins way more duels than its rank suggests it should, which tells me the ranking system undervalues older turn-based games against newer open-world stuff

    Élodie_44

    Je comprends l'argument sur le rythme, mais réduire tout l'intérêt du jeu à sa vitesse me semble un peu court quand même

    bdickinson

    my brother rage quit twice against Skyrim fans, wins argument itself

  2. TurboSamurai2007

    I've only put in maybe eight or nine hours total, spread out over a long time, and I get why people love the tone but is the combat system actually good or are we all just forgiving it because the writing is charming? genuinely asking

    NeonDragon

    genuinely asking is fair, but genuine answer, the combat is basic and that's fine by me

    GarlandWolf

    Similar hours here, though I'd call it closer to ten. Does the tone hold up more for you now than it did back then?

    Elmer_2002

    Replying to NeonDragon

    And that's exactly why it works, basic combat with great writing beats flashy combat with nothing to say

  3. VinylByte

    Borrowed a friend's copy for a summer and never touched Skyrim until years later, and the jump in scale still didn't erase how much I remembered every little town from this one (still remember the pizza guy, no idea why)

  4. barton_alaina

    What gets me is how it never takes itself seriously and then hits you with something genuinely unsettling out of nowhere, it's a weird balance and I still think about it years later

    frida_sawayn

    (kids didn't even laugh at the jokes everyone praises, honestly)

    Save_Waters

    It does that shift out of nowhere, deffinitely, though not every joke lands as hard now

  5. CoopRider

    The battle system is really just basic turn-based menus dressed up with personality, and once the novelty of the dialogue wears off there's not much mechanical depth keeping you engaged for the whole runtime

  6. Kihn76

    My cousin had this and we'd trade off save files, or actually it was more like he'd play and I'd just watch half the time

    PaulLegend

    Mon meilleur ami avait la cartouche, on jouait à tour de rôle tous les mercredis après l'école

    IronDragon41

    Same setup here basically, watching more than playing, and honestly that half was still worth it

  7. NovaSniper3

    Compared to something like Skyrim it feels almost quaint, but I think that's kind of the point, or at least I hope it is

    VinylMaster

    Next to something like Skyrim this feels tiny in scope, but I remember finishing it during a slow winter and never once wishing it were bigger

    CritPlayer7

    The dialogue is genuinely clever line by line, but clever writing propped up by a shallow combat loop doesn't earn a top ranking, that's a book with menus

    Thiel1995

    Quaint is generous, I'd call it deliberately small, though I say that with total affection since I still own a copy

  8. NovaRider

    It's got this tone nobody else really nails the same way, though I'll admit the pacing in the middle stretch drags a bit if you're not in the right mood for it

    NovaWolf1994

    Ngl the tone thing is real but next to Skyrim's freedom this feels more like a guided tour, still charming tho

  9. LootNinja25

    I picked this up after hearing endless hype for years, played maybe six hours over a weekend at a friend's place while he made fun of the battle menus, and honestly I just felt nothing, the humor didn't land for me at all and I kept waiting for the thing everyone raves about

    Leo_91

    Yo también lo dejé a medias, pero al lado de Skyrim se nota que apuesta todo al tono y poco a la libertad de juego

    TurboPilot55

    Replying to Leo_91

    TBH what convinces me is how often it wins against way bigger games, doesnt that say something about the writing holding its own?

    AnastasieByte

    Vous trouvez pas ça bizarre de juger un rpg de 1994 sur son humour plutôt que sur son système de combat, franchement ?

  10. lebsack_brown

    Played this on a rental over a long weekend once (the store doesn't even exist anymore) and it stuck with me way more than the price of the rental suggested it would

  11. Sienna_67

    But the pacing drags so much once the novelty wears off, and that novelty is really all it has going for it

    gdicki

    Novelty being all it has going for it, seriously? I still think about a certain phone call years later, that's not novelty wearing thin

    IronPilot

    Novelty running out assumes the game only had that going for it (weird take honestly), against Elden Ring the pacing argument makes more sense to me elsewhere though

  12. roob_joe

    Never got why this ranks where it does, the humor is charming for maybe an hour and then it just wears thin, the combat doesn't hold up either and I say that as someone who wanted to like it

  13. FrameKid

    para mi es de esos juegos que te marcan sin que sepas explicar bien por que

  14. hamon_dominique

    surestimé le charme ne suffit pas à porter un rpg entier, surtout comparé à ce qui se fait depuis

    BossNinja1986

    I think it holds up fine, honestly, maybe people just expect a different kind of pacing now

  15. Lucy_20

    Face à Elden Ring, le tour par tour paraît tellement plus lent qu'on sent vraiment les décennies d'écart

    GlitchPilot

    Le côté old school peut plaire mais face à des mondes ouverts modernes, l'écart de rythme se sent tout de suite

    CritRunner70

    Claro, comparándolo con Elden Ring seguro que sale perdiendo, como comparar una bici con una moto

    RetroSniper19

    Lento sí, pero eso no lo hace peor, solo distinto, y contra Elden Ring no tiene sentido pedirle la misma velocidad

Vote on a duel