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Citizens of Earth devs discuss Earthbound similarities
A portion of a 4cr interview with Ryan from Eden Industries...
4cr: Citizens of Earth was launched on Kickstarter a few weeks ago, and the first thing I heard for it was that it had a nice mix of combat and humor that reminded people of Earthbound (which is ALWAYS a great thing). How else is Citizens of Earth similar to Earthbound and what sets it apart from this cult classic?
Ryan: Well certainly the modern setting of Earthbound was something that really inspired us, as was the humorous tone and interesting characters. In addition, a few mechanics were lifted directly from that game. Namely, that the enemies will come to join in combat if an encounter is initiated close by, and that you will automatically win battles against enemies weaker than you. This was sort of our tribute to these great mechanics from Earthbound that, despite how great they are, seem to be very rarely, if ever, utilized in other games. But in addition to that the combat system is heavily inspired by Dragon Quest and the various derivations thereof (including Earthbound), although we’ve done a lot in that area to make it unique as well.
Citizens Combat
But actually there is a ton that sets us apart from Earthbound as well. Although Earthbound was a primary inspiration for Citizens of Earth, we’re not trying to make an homage, or “spiritual successor” or anything like that, so we had no problem diverging from what Earthbound is all about. Certainly a core difference would be that in Citizens of Earth there’s a large focus on recruiting all of the Citizens and leveraging their unique skills both in and out of combat. This is similar to games like Pokemon or Suikoden, except that we’re actually going much further than those games and ensuring that every Citizen provides a unique benefit out of combat, which we’re calling their World Ability, that strengthens as you use them. Each Citizen’s World Ability is very different, with some providing access to new items, new content, new features, hints and secrets, etc. Because of this, there is a strong intrinsic reason to use every Citizen, as each one will help you out tremendously throughout the game.
Another big focus of the game is that of a Broad Experience. In line with this idea, a lot of the content in the game is optional. Moreover, every system in the game (equipment, character selection, battle mechanics, etc.) is designed with the idea of “Depth, if you want it”, and by that we mean that experienced or enthusiast RPG gamers will find a ton of depth and customization at their disposal to craft their perfect team of Citizens, but gamers that want a more streamlined experience will find that as well. So in this way you can get out of the game what you want to put into it, which we think will make it an appealing experience no matter what kind of RPG you want to play.
Full interview here
4cr: Citizens of Earth was launched on Kickstarter a few weeks ago, and the first thing I heard for it was that it had a nice mix of combat and humor that reminded people of Earthbound (which is ALWAYS a great thing). How else is Citizens of Earth similar to Earthbound and what sets it apart from this cult classic?
Ryan: Well certainly the modern setting of Earthbound was something that really inspired us, as was the humorous tone and interesting characters. In addition, a few mechanics were lifted directly from that game. Namely, that the enemies will come to join in combat if an encounter is initiated close by, and that you will automatically win battles against enemies weaker than you. This was sort of our tribute to these great mechanics from Earthbound that, despite how great they are, seem to be very rarely, if ever, utilized in other games. But in addition to that the combat system is heavily inspired by Dragon Quest and the various derivations thereof (including Earthbound), although we’ve done a lot in that area to make it unique as well.
Citizens Combat
But actually there is a ton that sets us apart from Earthbound as well. Although Earthbound was a primary inspiration for Citizens of Earth, we’re not trying to make an homage, or “spiritual successor” or anything like that, so we had no problem diverging from what Earthbound is all about. Certainly a core difference would be that in Citizens of Earth there’s a large focus on recruiting all of the Citizens and leveraging their unique skills both in and out of combat. This is similar to games like Pokemon or Suikoden, except that we’re actually going much further than those games and ensuring that every Citizen provides a unique benefit out of combat, which we’re calling their World Ability, that strengthens as you use them. Each Citizen’s World Ability is very different, with some providing access to new items, new content, new features, hints and secrets, etc. Because of this, there is a strong intrinsic reason to use every Citizen, as each one will help you out tremendously throughout the game.
Another big focus of the game is that of a Broad Experience. In line with this idea, a lot of the content in the game is optional. Moreover, every system in the game (equipment, character selection, battle mechanics, etc.) is designed with the idea of “Depth, if you want it”, and by that we mean that experienced or enthusiast RPG gamers will find a ton of depth and customization at their disposal to craft their perfect team of Citizens, but gamers that want a more streamlined experience will find that as well. So in this way you can get out of the game what you want to put into it, which we think will make it an appealing experience no matter what kind of RPG you want to play.