Its not as easy to ignore the impact of the 1995 SNES RPGEarthBoundas it used to be.
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Ness is, genuinely, just a kid.
His dad is never seen.
We were brats left home alone with a keyring, a microwave, and our imaginations.
And understanding why bad things happen might even be terrifyingly beyond us.
What a lonely, scary feeling.
Its the secret heart of theMotherfranchise, of whichEarthBoundwas the second chapter.
Its not that Giygas was always some incomprehensible thing, anAkira-level eldritch compilation of raw psychic power.
At least for a little while.
All he has are inhuman yes-men and a new childhood friend of his own.
To him Giygas is literally the almighty idiot, a thing that feeds his own spoiled cruelty.
No wonder its Porky who goes on to become the main antagonist inMother 3.
Theres something special about the magic of childhood, especially when its honest about the darkness there, too.
Even though hes just a kid, like all of us used to be.
No doubt, but maybe it was also necessary for the game to lie fallow for a while.
To a kid, every day is a refreshed exploration of wonder and bemusement.
Its also about realizing just how batshit being a kid really was.
OnlyEarthBoundmakes the journey of understanding with us.
Not when todays kids cant even go to a mall without adults acting like theyre unwanted interlopers.
And, just like the first time we saw aPersonagame,wow, did this thing bomb at first.
Today we look for those same echoes in new generations of games.
In every case, its the journey that matters, and the road that determines the destination.
For thirty years, nothings told that story quite likeEarthBound.
Yet new generations keep trying, and honestly, thats the best lesson the game could give us.
How we share it makes it everyones story.
And if it takes a while for it to click?
Dont let that stop you from trying anyway.
Your true friends will always have your back.
