I LOVE THESE GAMES!!
Earthbound is right there next to the Kirby series in terms of my all-time favorite video game series ever. Earthbound only wins by a hair because of how the world, the universe and the people in it are depicted; a whimsical, loose-laying, humorous and only-occasionally serious patch of undertones every now and then; not too dark and gritty that younger audiences will be driven away, but not quirky and bizarre enough that players will be too confused to keep going. It does everything just right and gives people a break from the overly-done setting of "medieval fantasy world where you have to collect the four elements and unite them together so the dark lord can appear and you can defeat him and save the world" and instead gives us "urban present-day setting everyone can get familiar with instantly with the added bonus of doing everything a classical JRPG should do and does it right".
What caught my eye was Ness, the main character. He's an everyday-looking, baseball cap-sporting, school rucksack-toting 13-year-old kid who never really speaks throughout his journey (is he nonverbal?), loves junk food (maybe it's easier for him to eat?), seems to possess psionic powers (it is often said, however rarely, that most people with autism tend to exhibit extraordinary abilities, though I have yet to see this study become as mainstream as other things said about autism, however I have seen this one hit pretty close to home as I have had plenty of metaphysical moments myself and still do to this day), and appears to suffer separation anxiety from his mother (one of the status effects is that Ness can become Homeless, which will double his miss rate for attacks and PSI powers.)
If you pay close attention you may notice these things... But who's to say?
Earthbound is right there next to the Kirby series in terms of my all-time favorite video game series ever. Earthbound only wins by a hair because of how the world, the universe and the people in it are depicted; a whimsical, loose-laying, humorous and only-occasionally serious patch of undertones every now and then; not too dark and gritty that younger audiences will be driven away, but not quirky and bizarre enough that players will be too confused to keep going. It does everything just right and gives people a break from the overly-done setting of "medieval fantasy world where you have to collect the four elements and unite them together so the dark lord can appear and you can defeat him and save the world" and instead gives us "urban present-day setting everyone can get familiar with instantly with the added bonus of doing everything a classical JRPG should do and does it right".
What caught my eye was Ness, the main character. He's an everyday-looking, baseball cap-sporting, school rucksack-toting 13-year-old kid who never really speaks throughout his journey (is he nonverbal?), loves junk food (maybe it's easier for him to eat?), seems to possess psionic powers (it is often said, however rarely, that most people with autism tend to exhibit extraordinary abilities, though I have yet to see this study become as mainstream as other things said about autism, however I have seen this one hit pretty close to home as I have had plenty of metaphysical moments myself and still do to this day), and appears to suffer separation anxiety from his mother (one of the status effects is that Ness can become Homeless, which will double his miss rate for attacks and PSI powers.)
If you pay close attention you may notice these things... But who's to say?