{"id":125227,"date":"2022-05-28T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-132084"},"modified":"2022-05-28T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-28T13:00:00","slug":"feature-backlog-club-earthbound-part-two-bees-backtracking-and-biscuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/05\/28\/feature-backlog-club-earthbound-part-two-bees-backtracking-and-biscuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Backlog Club: EarthBound Part Two – Bees, Backtracking, And Biscuits"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Backlog<\/figure>\n

This article is part of our new experimental series, Backlog Club<\/a>, where we (Nintendo Life!) pick a game that’s likely to be on our list of “games we should get around to playing”, and then we (NL + you!) spend the next month playing that game.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the final part of May’s game, EarthBound<\/a> (or Mother 2, if you prefer), a JRPG that inspired an entire generation of creators.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read Part Zero<\/a> and Part One<\/a> if you need a refresher!<\/em><\/p>\n

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The meeting of Backlog Club<\/h3>\n
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Rest in peace, sweet Buzz Buzz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[INT. KATE’S HOUSE<\/strong>: Kate, Ollie, and Alana are sitting in a cosy living room, eating biscuits and talking about EarthBound.]<\/em><\/p>\n

KATE: I still haven\u2019t finished EarthBound<\/a>. Does that make me a bad book club host?<\/p>\n

ALANA: Nope!<\/p>\n

OLLIE: Wherever you are in the game, I can guarantee you\u2019re probably further than I am, so no!<\/p>\n

KATE: Let me check\u2026 I\u2019m in the desert. I forget why. Honestly, the reason I gave up here is because you just keep having to go back to the desert, and I don\u2019t really like backtracking.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not the most user-friendly RPG of its time, that’s for sure<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

ALANA: There\u2019s so much backtracking at the beginning of the game too! Like, even early on you have to go back and forth to Onett just to restock on items or revive yourself. It\u2019s not the most user-friendly RPG of its time, that’s for sure.<\/p>\n

KATE: Quick update, I was checking my game save, not my NSO save-state, so I\u2019m actually a bit further into the game. At the end of Fourside. MY POINT ABOUT BACKTRACKING REMAINS, THOUGH.<\/p>\n

OLLIE: Oh boy\u2026 So here\u2019s the thing. I\u2019m at Onett. Like, for the first time. A fly died, and I\u2019m supposed to go to several different places now, but man, I can\u2019t do it! The combat has really put me off this game.<\/p>\n

KATE: It\u2019s a bee, Ollie.<\/p>\n

ALANA: Buzz Buzz!<\/p>\n

OLLIE: Bees, flies, wasps, okay. A BEE DIED.<\/p>\n

Ollie didn’t do his homework<\/h3>\n
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This is about as far as Kate got<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

KATE: Ollie, I brought you here, to this Backlog Club meeting, to be the voice of dissent, but you\u2019ve barely touched the game! Whyyyyy?<\/p>\n

OLLIE: The combat! I can\u2019t do it. I have a rough history with RPG games as it is, but this one really takes the cake. It\u2019s a shame, because the general tone of the narrative is pretty appealing, but\u2026 Just no.<\/p>\n

ALANA: It totally doesn\u2019t help that out of all the RPGs to feel worse with one party member, EarthBound MIGHT be the worst offender? You don\u2019t get a full party until halfway through, and there\u2019s lots of sections where characters are on their own. And the health ticker is a bit of a learning curve. That intro to the first Sanctuary is not friendly.<\/p>\n

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I thought the not-fly bee thing was a cracking addition to the party<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

OLLIE: Well, I thought the not-fly bee thing was a cracking addition to the party! I thought \u201cokay cool, this might not actually be as taxing as I thought,\u201d but no, it goes and drops dead on some lady\u2019s carpet. Not cool.<\/p>\n

KATE: So far, and I\u2019m a fair bit into the game, my overall feeling has been that I wish I played this when it came out. A lot of the best parts of EarthBound, and there are lots, feel like they would have hit harder if I was A) a kid, B) in the \u201890s, and C) playing a SNES game that rewrote a lot of the SNES game rules. As it is, 30 years later, it just doesn\u2019t quite have the same effect. The bee moment was cool, though! It\u2019s like a Game of Thrones<\/strong> twist!<\/p>\n

EarthBound is a lot like… South Park?<\/h3>\n