Earthbound (SNES) - Angry Video Game Nerd: Episode 156 - General

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ5nX0FTH6Q

One of the best episodes for sure

I really appreciate when he's thorough with reviewing a game, which helps when it's a game he likes.

Jesus I forgot all about handsome tom, the episode he referenced is so old james rolfe was still uploading to GameTrailers at the time.

He does a really good job of conveying just how weird this game is It's been one of my favorites for a really long time now, and because of that it's strangely easy to forget just how bizarre the scenarios in it are until I see someone else play it and react to it for the first time, despite how much of an impact it had on my own sense of humor

At first the camera dude was annoying but when I saw him in the credits I thought he was the best character in the game

After the final battle is my favorite part of the game. You've just overcome the surreal horror of Giygas, and are welcomed back as heroes. I love taking the long way back to Onett and revisiting all my favorite NPCs, and just taking in the world one more time. At the end of it, mom welcomes you home probably with a plate of your favorite meal (or "Shit" if you're a real goof). To me, that's where the name "Mother" comes from. At the end of the day, someone is just glad to see you home safe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF_MwNdXN1o

I remember that I got stuck on this game because I traded the badges in for skip sandwiches. That was my moment when I realized that I was bad at videogames.

I still don't fucking understand Nintendo's thought process for advertising this game

The 90s was nothing but strange advertising https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d15qmRzn2Pc

This game is probably the only time i fully went through a JRPG. Even if it's a parody of the genre it's part of the genre itself with all its grinding and pacing issues, but as the Nerd said, it's the charm of the game that keeps you hooked to the TV screen, especially with all the nifty dialogue lines. I'd love to see him review Mother 3, there'd be a lot to talk about, and that game takes the whole concept of Earthbound and brings it to eleven with one of the most emotional stories ever.

So when I was watching this, when it got to the Nerd dream-sequence section, I actually felt like he was about to change the whole AVGN character. "I've spent my life surrounding myself with shit, all I know is shit", sounded like he wanted to shift the Angry Video Game Nerd character into just a Video Game Nerd character. Plus, he seems to have run out of shitty games that suck ass, if he's playing Earthbound, so that would open up more material for videos. It would have been a cool way to change the character. It didn't happen, but that's seriously what I thought as I watched it. I kind of hope he starts shifting the character that way anyways. He's a good critic - he can tell what makes the game great but also isn't afraid to criticize where it's flawed. I'd love to see more videos of this nature: thoughtful, reasoned critiques of well-known but often under-played games, interspersed with some decent skits that actually relate to the subject.

I wouldn't be surprised if he does do that, personally

This AVGN episode is now my favorite one. I hope he does one with MOTHER 3.

Here's some insight into the making of the video, it's also on prime video which is cool. This video has been in the works since last October (2017), when I first started the playing Earthbound on the mini SNES Classic. It wasn’t originally meant to be an AVGN episode. It was for myself. I never played much of Earthbound before, but it’s a game that always appealed to me. Yes, even when I saw the ads in Nintendo Power. The only reason I never played it much was because I was too busy with Final Fantasy 3 (6) and Chrono Trigger. SNES has so many amazing masterpieces, it’s almost impossible to play them all. But after more than 20 years, I owed it to myself to complete Earthbound. The gameplay took me 45 and a half hours. After recording it all, I decided to put all those hours to good use, and make a video. At first, I didn’t think it would be an AVGN episode, but more of a casual “James review”. But I realized there were plenty of wacky moments in the game that the Nerd could react to. If you’re wondering about the characters’ names such as “Milly” and “Lilly”, my 4 year old daughter named them. To write the script, I had to search through 45+ hours of game footage, to confirm and describe accurately all the moments that I wanted to comment on. Then came a bunch of researching facts, and developing my own personal theories. It turned out, I had a ton to say. It became the longest single-part AVGN episode, by total accident (running nearly 40 minutes). On top of that, I couldn’t resist adding a dream scene with laborious green screen effects. In total, counting gameplay, writing, shooting, editing, the entire video took 137.5 hours to finish, making it the 2nd most time-consuming AVGN episode to date. (Episode 139: Mega Man still barely holds the record at 138.5 hours). Ironically Earthbound was meant to be a break for myself, but it turned into a major task, as all my other projects screeched to a halt. I had fun with this video and am happy with it, but now that it’s finally done, I hope to get back to my personal long-term projects such as a film and a book I am trying to write. But I will always be jumping back and forth with AVGN episodes. I’m always trying to keep those coming. -James

I wonder if he'll get around to playing Mother 3 and playing it. Now that game is a whole other experience when compared to Earthbound.