Earthbound:
You can see why the meme is that all indie games are either cave story or Earthbound. Earthbound represents the mindset of taking old at the time gameplay forms and using them in an actual artistic fashion. On paper this game is Dragon Quest in a contemporary setting, what it ends up doing is storytelling through every aspect of gameplay. Instead of the reams of melodrama exemplified at their height in final fantasy, with a relatively low amount of dialogue this game tells an emotional and relatable story through everything it has. From the simple act of entering text for character and object names, to the most minor unused battle commands being used to tug at your heartstrings. Even the environments in this journey conjure nostalgia, existentialism and joy in a fashion that I believe is universal. I get the feeling that Itoi genuinely understands the role of Dragon Quest style RPG characters and players and the relationship between the two, particularly exemplified in the final conflict. Giygas doesn't have to be a three dimensional character, he's an Eldritch being only understandable from it's emotions, he's a universal threat and because you've been with your party so long you want them to survive, or else you wouldn't be playing would you?
The story isn't Ulysses, but it doesn't need to be, it's about vibes and feelings and it gets them down in a manner that makes it completely unsurprising that so many RPGs are so directly informed by it.
Okay so specifics. The battle system is good for purpose with the ticking hp level being the main innovation. In terms of PSI powers, most of the defensive powers go quite unused until the very end areas of the game. In terms of difficulty there are three phases: the start where it plays so much like a dragon quest or phantasy star it's unreal, fairly grindy, can lose at random. The middle where it's very breezy easy. And the end where it's suddenly incredibly tactical.
The soundtrack is a mixed bag, some tracks are great, many are forgettable, some are just awful.
The graphics are actually quite delightful in their own manner and uniqueness. This game is unmistakably Earthbound at a glance and I personally like it.
Outside of combat and story it's a strange one, there are so many quality of life features you'd consider quite modern but then it controls in a way that is archaic even for the time. One handed controls, action button on L, no use for Y button, decent Auto-battle, low level enemies automatically defeated. Barmy mix of features.
katanari:
there are no games like the katamari series. There's nothing to compare them to apart from maybe the other very strange Japanese video games that you would have gotten in the early 2000s. The gameplay loop is fundamentally a satisfying one. Every aspect of the game is about the control and the control is fantastic. It varies between the different iterations of the game, but of in general it's always a strong point. Very few games look like the katamari series. Very few games. Feel like the katamari series. Very few games sound like the katamari series. If you can get it for not a lot of money, you owe it to yourself to just play these games and feel them because there's very few adequate ways. You can describe the feeling of rolling up the whole fucking world.
