5 Things I Learned From EarthBound

To say Nintendo and HAL Laboratory's EarthBound is an odd game would probably be an understatement. Seldom do you find games that choose to so boldly march to their own rhythm. EarthBound doesn't so much throw RPG trends out the window as much as it lampoons them. I'm twenty years late to the party, but here are lessons I learned from this cult hit. If you've been following me on Twitter, you've likely got an idea of what's below.

[Caution: Spoilers for the game are included below.]


1. Why Give A Tutorial When You Can Give a Player's Guide?
I'm not sure if this is a great idea, but it certainly feels like a novel one, particularly with the digital re-release of EarthBound on the Wii U Virtual Console. Common to games nowadays are two things: (1) overly simplified tutorials ("Mega Man! Mega Man! Watch out for those moving platforms!") and (2) internet walkthroughs. One's annoying and the other's always going to be there for the people who want it.

Historically, when EarthBound was released on the SNES back in 1994 it was bundle with the Nintendo's official Player's Guide. Pretty cool, huh? Better yet, the guide was designed to fit the style of the game (cooky writing included) and laid out like a travel guide, as though you were going on vacation to the various locales.

When released digitally, Nintendo posted this entire guide online. Brilliant!

I would much rather publishers provide their audience with reference material for understanding the mechanics of their games than bloating the first hour with tutorials and UI explanations which destroy the sense of immersion. If the guide is put together internally, it can even add to the immersion, like the EarthBound travel guide does. (I remember the first Pokémon instruction manual was titled a "Trainer's Guide" and look like an adventurer's notebook.) With the advent of "second screens (i.e., Smart Glass for Xbox One), this could work great. It doesn't belong everywhere but is better than boring your players who are going to go look up information online anyway.

2. Embracing the Fact Video Games Are a Collection of Arbitrary Tasks
EarthBound has a strange plot that doesn't try to make a lot of sense. You take control of Ness and set off on a quest to "fulfill your destiny" -- which involves recruiting three party members and defeating the evil Giygas. This is accomplished through odd and roundabout quests, sending you to many different locations and even back in time. Most frequently, what directs you from one location to the next is rather incoherent. At one point, a series of NPCs approach your character, one after another to report the following (paraphrased):

1. Person 1: "I just invented a new machine that'll create any flavor of yogurt. Unfortunately it's broken and only creates trout-flavored yogurt right now. I mailed it to you with a cheap mailing service that will probably lose it."
2. Person 2: "The boss of this town you've been looking for just sent me out to find a machine that creates trout-flavored yogurt for an upcoming party. Can you find one for me?"
3. Person 3: "I was supposed to deliver a yogurt machine to you, but I lost it in the desert. Sorry!"
4. Person 4: "Our master in the desert would like to see you. He has something you may need."

All of this happens without you being able to walk anywhere or ignore the conversations. Why? Because the game designers wanted to send you into a dungeon in the desert.

Loads of games (most games) do this frequently. Every MMO sends you on dozens of quests to "collect the things" just so you can be introduced to a new area, encounter a new plot point, or progress your character further. Everyone's least favorite part of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is being sent across the ocean searching for Triforce shards. In the case of Wind Waker, and with many other RPGs, these tasks are decorated with some sort of "plot" details -- the Triforce was broken into shards and scattered across Hyrule with the passing of the Hero of Time and now you must claim them from the bottom of the sea in order to defeat Ganondorf -- but really they're just time syncs and excuses the designers use to send you places. (I'd argue at least 70% of every Assassin's Creed game is this.)

Some games, such as The Last of Us or Heavy Rain, do a much better job of directing the player with story. Other games, like Journey or even the original Resident Evil, don't so much as direct you as let you explore. Both of these types feel less like To Do lists. I'm not saying the To Do lists are bad, but I am tipping my hat to EarthBound for ditching the façade and calling it like it is -- then letting you, the player move on with having fun.

3. Status Conditions Can Make or Break Your Combat
"Mushroomized" is the second-most obnoxious status condition I've encountered in a game, just behind being turned into an eggplant. Status conditions are tough. They can quickly destroy combat balance and devour a player's fun. They can also add a lot of urgency and keep combatants on their toes. What makes Mushroomized so devastating -- much like the eggplants -- is that there's nothing you can do once you have it except leave the dungeon your in and go back to the nearest hospital. Effectively, the condition says you need to stop progressing -- stop having fun for a moment -- and go back to Point A.

A handful of times while playing EarthBound I would find my team completely wiped by an unfortunate collection of status conditions. Ness is diamondized; Paula is confused and keeps healing the enemy; Jeff can't stop crying; Poo is confused and appears bent on killing Paula now. Normally, I could defeat these enemies with a set of standard attacks, but under these conditions I must sit and watch my party crumble to pieces. Again, the pain here comes from having any sense of control taken away -- I can't do anything but watch. Older Final Fantasy titles are egregiously guilty of this with their notorious "back attacks."

Status conditions are great for giving the player a new, sudden challenge to overcome. They are bad when they prevent the player from, well, playing.

4. Justifying the "Chosen One" Trope
EarthBound, like so many other RPGs, centers its story around the primary party member, Ness, the "Chosen One." Generally, this means your primary party member is obviously stronger than the rest of your party, or has some special property that marks him apart from the crowd, and that's about as far as the "Chosen One" label interacts with game mechanics -- the rest is fluffy story stuff. Here again, I found EarthBound acted differently: Ness kind of sucks.

Well, maybe he doesn't suck, but he's not that great. Paula has much better PSI powers and speed; Jeff has handy-dandy gizmos; and Poo learns the more powerful spells. Ness's defining traits are high HP, good healing, and a baseball bat. (In fact, PK Flash is the only move Ness uses in Super Smash Bros. that he actually learns in EarthBound.) For the majority of the game, I found myself pretty underwhelmed by our hero.

Near the climax, the designers redeemed him and made the "Chosen One" title feel more special. Through some plot, Ness faces some inner turmoil and "awakens" as the Chosen One, getting a significant burst in all of his stats, as well as learning a few more powerful PSI powers. This reveal gave weight to the name and made it feel more special. After this event, I found myself brimming with new confidence, ready to take on the final challenges ahead. If Ness had been powerful and felt like the hero through the whole game, I wouldn't have gotten that sudden feeling of arriving at my destiny.

"Becoming" is much more captivating than just "being."

5. The Benefit of Including the Player
The last little cherry on top of playing EarthBound was being personally thanked in the credits and called out in the final battle. It was a small touch, but it felt great to have Paula ask specifically for my faith to get them through the conflict with Giygas for the fate of the world. I would like to see this style of 4th-wall breaking reused.

EarthBound was not a perfect game and will not live on as my new favorite RPG. However, I will remember it fondly for the tropes it lampooned and the rhythm it marched to.

Kyerannosaur Crunches ZombiU

Tastes like TENSION!

You watch carefully as the radar pulse reveals two red dots not far from your position. That's two life forms between you and your goal. You check your ammo: only two bullets left. That doesn't leave much room for error. You decide it's best to save the bullets for later and withdraw your cricket bat. You take in a deep breath, ready your weapon, and jump around the corner. Squeek! Squeek! Rats! It was only rats. You lower your bat and check your radar again. No dots this time. Good. You scan the area for any useful loot. Nothing. You decide to move onward, passing through the room, and exiting the building.  Rain is pouring down. Your flashlight does little for visibility in these conditions. You step outside cautiously. Then you see her. It's just one woman, standing placidly. She hasn't seen you. You tap your radar but proceed forward, not wanting to miss this chance to sneak up on her. You raise your bat and strike once, twice, three times. You strike once more to finish the job. Then you hear them. More grunts. You jump just fast enough to see the other two zombies approaching. One grabs you and you're down in an instant. It's over. You know you should have been more careful.

Then you wake up, another person, another survivor, ready to give it another try....

That's how a round of ZombiU plays out, with an ever-present feeling of tension around you. Zombies are everywhere, one bite does a lot of damage, and there is little around for you to defend yourself with. You have to be resourceful and careful and plan your actions wisely. One false move and you will very likely regret it. This is the survival-horror genre many of us remember from 10 years ago.

The team at Ubisoft has done an excellent job bringing the survival-horror genre back with this title, and used the Wii U GamePad very creatively to do so. Resource and inventory management is a very big deal since tools are so sparse and zombies are so common. If you want to use a gun to mow down the enemy it's going to cost you a lot of bullets and bullets are very hard to come by; and, as stated above, if a zombie grabs you that's all she wrote--you're down and out, your inventory is lost to the zombie horde, and your next survivor will have to reclaim it. There's plenty going on here to create that sense of tension and anxiety that I believe is worthy of the zombie apocalypse.

Few resources. The first is obvious: there's not a lot to work with here. Ammunition and guns are quite hard to come by. Beyond that, the mechanics are built to be a first-person shooter--you don't have cover control or tight aiming. You have a gun which you can point and pull the trigger. Health is even less frequent. Even tools for barricading doors are few and far between, forcing you to use those at only crucial moments. Add to this the fact that if you die these items are lost (until you track down your old now-zombied self and reclaim your backpack) and you have good reason to be worried when you find a horde coming after you.

Swapping takes time.  You only have six slots for keeping tools within quick access and most of these are occupied pretty quickly by your flashlight, cricket bat, and handgun. Don't have something on hand? You'll have to retrieve it from your backpack, which literally means you will have to remove your pack, place it in front of you, and rummage inside for whatever you need. Meanwhile the world keeps spinning and the zombies continue shuffling. Obviously, this is ill-advise except in safe rooms, and it can very quickly increase the risk and punishment of being in an ill-prepared situation.

Use your radar but trust your eyes. The radar on the GamePad is incredibly useful, if not flat-out necessary for survival. Of course, watching the map on your controller means you're not watching the road in front of you. And pinging for life in the area is not instantaneous. You have to be careful and know when it's good to check your surroundings and when you just need to keep watching the path ahead. The same goes when scanning for items--this takes time and the local predators will not wait for you.

The atmosphere is thick. The world of ZombiU is dark, quiet, somber, and more than a little foreboding. Footsteps echo in close corridors. The beam from your flashlight only covers so much of the land before your eyes. Rain, dust, and fog make visibility even worse. Like in a good horror flick, you're always expecting something to pop out from behind the next corner you come to. Add this to the fact you can't pause and must look away in order to do your inventory business and you've got a recipe for nervousness.

I am very pleased with how the physical world is built into the mechanics and atmosphere for this title: that actual requirement that you must look at one screen or the other, limiting your reaction abilities. And again, the tension is thick. ZombiU is cleverly crafted to deliver a very specific kind of experience, and, refreshingly, it's a bit different than those experiences offered elsewhere on consoles recently. Moreover, as they've shown previously, Ubisoft is very good at building atmosphere and play mechanics that blend perfectly.

ZombiU was developed and published by Ubisoft. For this post, I played the game for about 3 hours on the Wii U. I played a borrowed copy.

Kyerannosaur Pot Luck: Sonic, Mickey, Nintendo Land, & Scribblenauts

I've bit into a few games recently that had less distinct tastes from others I've found. Not too surprising, really, since not every game is going to get flavor right or even be trying to present a flavor at all. In light of this, I offer up a Pot Luck. Here's a blast of quick impressions from games I've crunched that didn't have enough to really crunch about.

Keep in mind this doesn't mean the games all tasted bad; this doesn't mean the games didn't have a taste -- these games just don't qualify as a full meal (kinda like a composgnathus). On with the multi-crunchinating!

Sonic Generations
Tastes like FANSERVICE!

This game tastes like it falls somewhere between nostalgic fanservice baked up with old (read: not fresh) ingredients. It's full of remixed levels from previous Sonic games, each presented in 2D and 3D varieties for classic Sonic and modern Sonic. The idea is cool and the nostalgia is great -- seeing Chemical Plant Zone remade in 3D is very cool. The remixed tunes are also fantastic! Yet the gameplay and controls didn't hold up for me. Steering modern Sonic along his high-speed routes felt like steering a barge or a Y-Wing, instead of being a nimble, agile, quick bipedal mammal. The requirement to complete challenge modes in levels is also a big momentum killer, which ultimately prevented me from exploring more of the game's content. The first boss felt like an older Sonic boss fight and was decently designed. The game had good level design, hearkening back to the beloved Sonics of yore, but lacked the polish or controls to properly enjoy what was available.

This title was developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega; prior to this post I played for about 2 hours on the PlayStation 3.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
Tastes RAW!

Being drafted from the design ideas and presentation of the classic Castle of Illusion, I was excited for Power of Illusion. Unfortunately, I enjoyed nothing that I bit into. Within my short experience, I encountered a number of design dilemmas that left a bad taste in my mouth:

• Tutorials are presented after the taught action is necessary. The game contains a number of pop-up tutorial panels, seemingly one for each of the game's mechanics. However, these are presented after the actions are necessary. For instance, a pop-up panel explains how to jump on an enemy to defeat it (which, by the way, is not implemented intuitively, as I'll explain) after the first enemy is met and must be jumped over. The same goes for super-bouncing and many other mechanics throughout the first level.
• Why do I need to press 'Jump' twice for a jump attack? Mickey can jump on enemies to defeat them, à la Super Mario Bros. However, the jump action itself is not enough. Instead, players must press the 'Jump' button a second time, while in mid-air, to turn the "jump" into a "pounce" else take damage from the collision. This is unintuitive, an unnecessary obfuscation, and causes many problems with enemy encounters and level design.
• Writing is poor. These are established, recognizable, generally well-known and beloved Disney characters. They each have their own mannerisms and language. This game fails to account for that and the text comes off as overly simplified and poorly explanatory.
• Enemies on every ledge. I played at least two levels in a row which had ever ledge marked with an enemy. Anytime that I needed to jump near the peek of my jump (which requires holding the 'Jump' button) to reach a higher platform, an enemy would be waiting on the platform -- and I could only attack by double-pressing the 'Jump' button (as explained above). This is flat-out annoying.

Beyond these issues, everything played and looked like a rudimentary platformer.

This title was developed by DreamRift and published by Disney Interactive Studios; prior to this post I played for about 2 hours on the Nintendo 3DS.

Nintendo Land

Tastes like NEAPOLITAN!

Nintendo Land is explicitly the "let's try Wii U" game. It's a showcase of the Wii U GamePad's potential; it's also a showcase of how much fun asymmetric gameplay can really be. Here's a quick rundown:

• Luigi's Ghost Mansion: One player snickers to himself while tracking down his friends who are all shouting every time their Wii Remote vibrates.
• Mario Chase: One player runs like a madman while the her friends scream code names to track her down and catch her within the 2-minute time limit.
• Animal Crossing Sweet Day: Players scurry about to scoop up as much candy as possible while their friend mercilessly hunts them down with two watch dogs.
• Team Attractions: Players battle together through a series of challenges in games modeled well after The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Pikmin.
• Solo Attractions: This is everything else the GamePad can do. Practice now while developers plan on including some form of these mini-games in future releases.

All in all, the variety keeps this surprisingly fun. It's not a full-course meal, but more like a package of ice cream to pull out at the next social gathering.

This title was developed and published by Nintendo; prior to this post I played for about 5 hours on the Wii U.

Scribblenauts Unlimited

Tastes like CREATIVITY!

The Scribblenauts IP is built on creativity and sandbox experiences. The puzzles are there not so much for directing the experience but for encouraging more creative thought. It's very much like a coloring book, in that you take your drawing utensils and create something vibrant, expressive, and fun. These works aren't judged but simply enjoyed. 

This title was developed by 5th Cell and published by WB Games; prior to this post I played for about 1 hour on the Wii U.