EarthBound's Early Game

It's been longer than usual since my last post, but here's another entry, this time an analysis about a part of a game. EarthBound is one of the best RPGs on the Super NES, particularly considering how unconventional it is compared to others in the genre, but it suffers from a difficult early game.

Part of the reason is that while Ness is a versatile party member, with strong physical attacks, high HP, and offensive and healing PSI powers, he can't do everything by himself. His max PP is low enough that he can only use multi-target PSI powers a few times before he needs to recover, and at this point in the game, Magic Butteflies(randomly appearing butteflies that, when caught, restore PP to all party members) are the only way to restore one's PP apart from resting at the inn. Ness can carry healing items, but since he must also carry his equipment and key items (Sound Stone, ATM Card and Pencil Eraser, among others), and should leave at least one space for new items, this significantly limits how much space he has left for healing items.

Another part is that many of the enemies are rather annoying in their own right. Examples include...

  • The Rowdy Mouse and Mole Playing Rough, which can inflict critical hits more often than usual.
  • The Black Antoid and Mobile Sprout, which can heal themselves and call reinforcements.
  • The Ramblin' Evil Mushroom, which can put a mushroom on Ness's head, which occasionally causes him to attack himself and can only be removed by a healer.
  • The Territorial Oak, which explodes and does a lot of damage to Ness once it's defeated. Luckily, the end of the battle stops the damage.

Many enemies encountered later in the game have similar abilities, but when you face them, you should be better equipped to handle them. For example, being able to use multiple-target attacks on enemies that can summon reinforcements allows you to kill them more quickly, making it less likely that any one will call for help. Additionally, there are relatively few enemies, even in the late-game, that can survive for more than around if all your party members use their strongest attacks.

Unfortunately, it will take players a while to get to that point. Even after Paula joins, she's still only Level 1, whereas Ness is likely around Level 15, so you'll have to grind to get her up to speed. Naturally, this is a daunting endeavor since Paula will most likely die in one hit before she gains some levels, and remains fragile even after starting to catch up to Ness. The Teddy Bear that Paula brings with her helps mitigate the risk by serving as a decoy that enemies might target instead of your party members, but it can only take so much damage before being destroyed.

Soon after you reach Threed, you will switch to controlling Jeff, who has a solo adventure of his own. The trek from Winters to Dr. Andonuts' lab has a relatively gentle difficulty curve, although it gets challenging toward the end, and Jeff should be around Paula's level by the time he joins the group. After this point, with three strong party members, most of the rest of the game is relatively easy, or at least manageable.

As enjoyable as EarthBound is, the early game can be frustrating, primarily due to only having one party member. RPGs are perhaps the video game genre most associated with delayed gratification, but there are better ways to ease players into their adventure.

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