Earthbound is a classic JRPG with an aesthetic and experience all its own. Set in a modern American country with an irreverent sense of humor, Earthbound has been hailed as one of the greatest video games of all time.
Recently, Earthbound has been released for members of the Nintendo Switch Online service, marking the first time since its initial release that it has been playable on modern consoles. With new players experiencing this classic game for the first time, they may not know exactly what they should be doing. Here are some tips to help players quickly get acclimated to the game.
10 Press L To Talk And Check
As a very old classic JRPG, Earthbound has some fairly antiquated systems. This includes having to open the menu in order to interact with people or objects. The player is even required to choose between two options, Talk for people and Check for objects. Having to constantly open up the menu can be tiresome.
Alternatively, the player can press L to do so instead of constantly maneuvering between menu options. The shortcut will even distinguish between Talk and Check, making Earthbound that much more straightforward.
9 Check Status Quickly With B
While traveling through the world of Earthbound, it's important to keep an eye on the party's HP and PP. Fights can happen at any time, and being complacent can result in a premature game over.
The player can quickly assess the party's status by pressing B. This will give the player a quick look at the party's HP and PP, as well as their current amount of money. While the player can also do this simply by opening the menu, pressing B is a faster and simpler way to do this.
8 Use the "Help!" Function
Earthbound lacks a lot of quality-of-life functions that would make the game easier to play. One example is that item descriptions are missing, which can make it difficult to know exactly what each item does.
Thankfully, Earthbound has a few functions to make up for these flaws. Using the Help! function while checking the inventory will provide a short description of what the item does. While it's not perfect, it does make it a lot easier to understand what each item is used for.
7 Make Sure To Call Dad
Every now and then, there will be phones that Ness can use to call various people he meets throughout the game. One important person the player should be calling frequently is Dad. Dad's main function is to allow the player to save the game, so calling Dad is pretty important.
Calling Dad is also important because it is the only way for Ness and his friends to earn money, as the earnings that Ness would normally obtain during battle can only be obtained after calling Dad. Because of this, it is important to call Dad frequently.
6 Battle State Depends On Encounter Color
Instead of random battles, combat starts when Ness makes contact with an enemy on the map. The player can influence the state of battle by making contact with an enemy from behind, or keeping an enemy from contacting Ness from behind.
Aside from this, there's a way to tell what battle state a fight will start in. Usually, the screen will turn gray for a normal battle, but it will turn green if Ness's party gets the initiative and red if the enemy gets the initiative. This is an easy way to tell whether the player will begin the battle at an advantage or not.
5 Get The Map At The Library
The number of explorable locations in Earthbound slowly increases as the game goes on. While it is possible to navigate the various towns without a map, it can be very hard to do so. That's why it's recommended to borrow a town map from the Onett Library.
This provides a useful map of each of the many towns Ness can visit in Earthbound. It also points out various important facilities, such as hotels and hospitals. Since only Onett Library offers the map, it is vital to pick up the map before getting too far away from Onett.
4 Leave Things Behind With Tracy
Inventory in Earthbound is very limited, something seen often in older JRPGs. Ness and his various allies can only hold fourteen items each, and that includes equipped items. This can make it hard to hold on to helpful items, especially when preparing for a rough dungeon.
Thankfully, Ness can talk to his sister Tracy and have her store things for him. Ness can also call Tracy via Escargot Express to deliver items to and pick them up from his storage if he is too far from home. This makes it a lot easier to deal with surplus items.
3 Auto-Win Easy Fights
As Ness and his allies gain levels and new abilities, they will eventually become strong enough to knock out enemies in a single blow. Nonetheless, having to get into fights with weak enemies can be annoying if they become a constant annoyance.
Thankfully, Earthbound has an auto-win function that allows the player to skip any fight that is too easy. This makes backtracking through previous areas a lot easier, and it can be a quick way to farm experience off of weak enemies.
2 Look Out For Flashing Items In Stores
Ness and his allies can equip various different kinds of equipment to assist them during their adventure. However, players will find that the game does not explain exactly how much a particular piece of equipment increases a stat by.
This can be remedied by paying attention to the status boxes that appear when buying equipment. When hovering over an item that is better than what a certain character is using, that character's status box will flash. Make sure to buy those items in order to keep the party's equipment updated.
1 Go Butterfly Catching
While traveling through dark and dangerous areas and enemy-filled dungeons, Ness and his party may find their HP and PP start to dwindle. This can be pretty inconvenient, especially if a boss is just around the corner.
As the player goes through the game, they may notice butterflies flying about in random areas. Catching these butterflies heals the party by a set amount, making them vital for keeping up resources while exploring dungeons. Keeping a vigilant eye out for butterflies is important while traversing a dangerous area.