PartridgeSenpai wrote:chuckster wrote:Not big on JRPGs overall, but I do believe Earthbound deserves a spot. It laid the template for what is one of the best-selling game franchises of all time. I only played it about a year ago, but it was remarkable how much I'd heard about EB without people being more vocal about how much they basically lifted straight out of it for Pokemon Red and Blue. It gets all sorts of credit for being in a modern, more light-hearted setting, which was well-done and unique, but it didn't really influence a lot in the grand scheme. The stamp it leaves on Pokemon is the most important part of it's commercial legacy--Undertale or no--which is so large as to be undeniable.
Can you be more specific? That's a claim I've never heard before, and it's a fairly intriguing one. Other than the fact that they're both in fairly modern settings, I don't see too much in common between the two. In which case, was Earthbound really the first JRPG to take place in a modern setting? 1994 (or I guess 1989 if you wanna go by the first game) just seems like a really late goal post for that landmark.
For me, it's the aesthetic and a lot of the menu and battle UI that seems very similar. Though again, I'm not big on JRPGs overall, so I may just be thinking of standard things across many games, but EB and Red seemed to share so much of the overall feel.
I thought EB was a good game, not great. It was actually the similarities that kept me going (maybe I'm the only one?). As someone hesitant to get into the deep, grinding classics, it's simpler, more casual feel and similarity to Pokemon really recalled the old days with my Gameboy and kept me hooked. I really think, even if it's subconscious, those similarities are a big reason for EB and Mother in general are growing in popularity even past the initial nostalgia bump. Because there's another wave of secondary nostalgia from the late 90's.
I'm not sure if EB was the first modern JRPG setting, but it was unique for what it was. I'm not really advocating it belongs due to being modern or quirky, though that is what it has become known for. I just see it as a big influence as a casual JRPG with mass appeal, that was tweaked into the juggernaut of Pokemon games.
