EB64: Why It Shouldn’t Have Been Released
Hello again. Let me start off by saying, if you think I’m totally off my rocker for writing this, read my points, first. I posted this on the forums about a year and a half ago, and quite a few people agreed with me. Well, here it goes.
The first thing I didn’t like about Mother 3 is that I didn’t like the characters, and their names were sort of annoying. But hey, that doesn’t matter too much, right? As long as it has that EarthBoundy feel, it has to be great, right?
The problem is, from the footage we saw it looked like it lacked that EB feel. Think about it. I remember seeing a little video that including the two children of the game (the boy is Klause, the girl’s name escapes me, at the moment) in a cart, zipping throughout a mine. Eventually, they fly by this little underground town, which oddly enough collapses. We also see Flint, the cowboy man, walking and talking through one of those typical RPG towns. This is another problem. One of the reasons EB was so great was that it was original, and we could all relate to it, in one form or another. EB64 just seemed like every other RPG.
Another problem with EB64 was the music. Now, we all know that EarthBound and EarthBound Zero music was original, addictive, and downright awesome. Surprisingly enough, Itoi-san uploaded two actual EB64 songs on his personal website. And, if you’ve downloaded one, you probably have noticed that this music just doesn’t sound EarthBoundy. Once again, it reminded me of just about every other RPG ever made, especially the Tatsumarii Mura, which was a village’s theme. Sentou, the battle theme, was quite a bit more original, but it didn’t seem like EarthBound music.
One of the biggest qualms I have with EB64 is that the main enemies seem to be pigs. Now, I’m not trying to judge a book by it’s cover here, but this seems pretty, well, lame. While this could be a good twist to the series, from the screenshots I’ve seen, I’m pretty disappointed. They could’ve done something else that was a bit more EarthBound related. After all, there were no pig or pig-like enemies in EB, and, from what I’ve played so far, nor were there any in EB0.
Also, a minor problem is that, apparently, you no longer use PSI, but magic, in battles. How could they do this? Magic is used in next to every other RPG, and once again, EB64 decides to can its trademark originality and blend in with the crowd.
So, what does this also lead up to? Well, in short, EB64 was trying what to be what it wasn’t. In fact, there are only two EB related aspects of the game that I can think of. The first is that some form of an alien crashes near Flint’s house, which is loosely related to EB. The second is that we’ve seen two screenshots, which had Ness in it, but I believe that this was just the result of Itoi-san and his group just testing what they could do with the DD, and that Ness wasn’t intended to be in the game, at all. Basically, there are only two EB related aspects of the game, and one of them doesn’t count.
This pretty much sums up my views on why EB64 shouldn’t have been released. But hey, don’t get me wrong: I want an EarthBound sequel as much as the next rabid fan, but I don’t want this sequel to be what it was going to be. In my eyes, the ideal situation is that Itoi-san and his crew decide to get back together and make another Mother 3...Just not the one including Flint and his lot.
Hello again. Let me start off by saying, if you think I’m totally off my rocker for writing this, read my points, first. I posted this on the forums about a year and a half ago, and quite a few people agreed with me. Well, here it goes.
The first thing I didn’t like about Mother 3 is that I didn’t like the characters, and their names were sort of annoying. But hey, that doesn’t matter too much, right? As long as it has that EarthBoundy feel, it has to be great, right?
The problem is, from the footage we saw it looked like it lacked that EB feel. Think about it. I remember seeing a little video that including the two children of the game (the boy is Klause, the girl’s name escapes me, at the moment) in a cart, zipping throughout a mine. Eventually, they fly by this little underground town, which oddly enough collapses. We also see Flint, the cowboy man, walking and talking through one of those typical RPG towns. This is another problem. One of the reasons EB was so great was that it was original, and we could all relate to it, in one form or another. EB64 just seemed like every other RPG.
Another problem with EB64 was the music. Now, we all know that EarthBound and EarthBound Zero music was original, addictive, and downright awesome. Surprisingly enough, Itoi-san uploaded two actual EB64 songs on his personal website. And, if you’ve downloaded one, you probably have noticed that this music just doesn’t sound EarthBoundy. Once again, it reminded me of just about every other RPG ever made, especially the Tatsumarii Mura, which was a village’s theme. Sentou, the battle theme, was quite a bit more original, but it didn’t seem like EarthBound music.
One of the biggest qualms I have with EB64 is that the main enemies seem to be pigs. Now, I’m not trying to judge a book by it’s cover here, but this seems pretty, well, lame. While this could be a good twist to the series, from the screenshots I’ve seen, I’m pretty disappointed. They could’ve done something else that was a bit more EarthBound related. After all, there were no pig or pig-like enemies in EB, and, from what I’ve played so far, nor were there any in EB0.
Also, a minor problem is that, apparently, you no longer use PSI, but magic, in battles. How could they do this? Magic is used in next to every other RPG, and once again, EB64 decides to can its trademark originality and blend in with the crowd.
So, what does this also lead up to? Well, in short, EB64 was trying what to be what it wasn’t. In fact, there are only two EB related aspects of the game that I can think of. The first is that some form of an alien crashes near Flint’s house, which is loosely related to EB. The second is that we’ve seen two screenshots, which had Ness in it, but I believe that this was just the result of Itoi-san and his group just testing what they could do with the DD, and that Ness wasn’t intended to be in the game, at all. Basically, there are only two EB related aspects of the game, and one of them doesn’t count.
This pretty much sums up my views on why EB64 shouldn’t have been released. But hey, don’t get me wrong: I want an EarthBound sequel as much as the next rabid fan, but I don’t want this sequel to be what it was going to be. In my eyes, the ideal situation is that Itoi-san and his crew decide to get back together and make another Mother 3...Just not the one including Flint and his lot.
