Today, in this period of winter festivitiez & end of the year 2024, I wanted to share with you s0me of my favorite EarthBound OST songZ! (despite the fact that I pretty much like all of em é_è)

   I diskovered EarthBound (1994) a while ago, and from what I gathered it was this extremely beloved, mythical video game with a complicated story around its releases. But it's just pretty recently that I managed to finish the game. Previously, I tried to play it on an emulat0r but it bugged at s0me point & I lost all my progress. However, it was aktually a blessing in disguise since playing it on my Kust0m New Nintend0 2DS XL (a console gem truly) felt amazing & s0 preci0us! I generally played the game on my bed and enj0yed every minute of it with a passi0n, thr0ugh countless nightz, wrapped in my blanket like I was a child again...

   EarthBound immediately became one of my most beloved player eXperience, and more than that, it iz in my opinion a true masterpiece. I aktually couldn't believe sometimes that this game could exist, as I was playing it as someone who already had a fairly good knowledge of videogames (despite having so many more gamez to play of c0urse, the more I learn the more I realize that I know so little (& itz fine!)) it felt like if the game was reading my mind to give me thingz I've always wanted from a game, and als0 so much more than what I could have imagined.

   The atmosphere iz delightful, the story iz great & catchy, the characterz feelz alive, the dialogue humour made me genuinely laugh, and some moments the game made me teary as well... I absolutely loved the dollhousey-cavalier-projection pixel Art style, & the mysticism... I probably already forgot a lot ab0ut this game because it felt so complete, so layered in a playful manner. It became part of my life, like happy, blurry memories...

   Each citiez/w0rldz are charming in their 0wn way & each theme song iz so memorable and excellent place/character identifier. EarthBound constantly made me feel as if I had the privilege to play it in a easter eggy way, like everything felt like a present to me because it iz so delicately krafted.

The different actions you had to do didn't feel repetitive, or if it was it felt appropriate in the game's logik or the adventure grind despite some thingz being really tedi0us I have to admit, like the way you stock items in your limited inventory in the case you could need them despite not knowing what most of these items even were! Aha and the delivery guy that takes it's time to pick up a limited selection of your stuff, or the ATM principle... it just feels mundane & boring but in a k00l reflective way, I bet you could feel an adultish sense of responsibility as a kid playing it, aha! I'm sorry but I could not not find these details part of the charm of the game :p

   I loved the battle mechanikz, it could be very intense & clever, the fact that you just see your opponent makes it more like a POV of your character battling, and it gives the quite static opponent character a bigger, stylish presence, which iz reinforced by each theme s0ngz. The rolling HP pointz mechanik iz aktually very k00l, it gives a sense of a life slot machine.

Kould have mixed feelingz about this one depending on your progress in the game... But itz just so b0uncY!!

   It felt like a contemporary Zelda in a way, that could be more diverse in its influences. Maybe this is partially why it c0uld hit deeper, do you kn0w what I mean? It iz no more an heroïc-fantasy imagery that helps you project yourself in an archetypally fantasy cathartic eXperience, it felt more personal to me because of all those cultural references and contemporary folklore (probably because i was born in 1992?). Like this curi0us Pokémon Red & Blue (1996) "Mew under the Truck" urban legend, for me as a child it felt deep because of the inaccessibility of the truck & the mystery it gives you when other children tell you about this supposed riddle, but also from the curiously mundane modernity of this truck that you could visualize in your everyday life, yet were unable to interract with in the game. I think this feelingz helped EarthBound become a surreal eXperience from a place that iz close to the heart of each gamerZ.

One of the most fam0us fictional truck in recent hist0ry

   The game even seems propethik from the kuri0us orbz/droneZ apparently actually flying in the US sky, at least seen from afar as a pure piece of Americana folkl0re.

Hmmm...

   What a beautiful love letter to chilh00d adventures & friendships, about what makes life & imaginati0n exc1ting. It felt g00d kn0wing pe0ple could gift this to otherz in the w0rld... This game got a spirit in itself, that iz so rare! It iz definitely Art, Thank You EarthBoundzZz... 4 be1ng y0urself!

ThankZ 4 reading all that, here iz a Gift for you:

♳ EarthBound's Player's Guide
 An Art piece in itself, enj0y ^^ you can even d0wnl0ad it in pdf format 4 y0ur priv4te kollecti0n...

I have to play Mother 1 & 3 n0w... but in which order?!

And d0n't forget to answer the new p0ll ↗
What kind of DreamZ do you have the m0st?

See ya!