Earthbound series challenges

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Hello!  I'm finally able to play Earthbound now that I have a Super Nintendo Classic. 

No Equipment is a no-go.  That would qualify as one of Sullla's "Insanity Challenges", at least in the beginning.  Believe me, I tried.  Attacking the Spiteful Crows and Runaway Dogs without a weapon deals 1 damage, and you don't have any offensive PSI to make things any better.  Running away from enemies often fails too.  The Death Count would require the infinity symbol.  Ness's IQ is 2 at the beginning of the game, and so is mine for attempting anything this silly.

Since I want a fun challenge, not a "Solo Thief FF1" sort of playthrough, I'm going to try a Ness solo.  Yes, I already know about the final boss requiring Paula.  GameFAQs suggests she can survive that fight with the Sea Pendant and Franklin Badge equipped.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  Christmas Don't Be Late

A solo Ness playthrough was a much better idea than attempting to go through the game with no equipment.  That's partially because the early game is a Ness solo anyway, so the enemies are balanced around that.

The Cracked Bat increased Ness's damage from 1 to 7 on a non-SMASH attack.  Are criticals more common in this game than in other RPGs, or is it just my imagination?  Anyway, Ness got plenty of SMASHES against the Spiteful Crows, Runaway Dogs, and Coil Snakes.  Doing so also leveled Ness up to the point where he could use healing PSI on himself if needed.  It was refreshing to not have to run away from all the wild animals!    

Pokey was so useless he might as well have not been a guest character.  He always used Ness as a shield, or put on a fake smile, or apologized instead of attacking.  At least his brother Picky sometimes hit for 1 damage.  At the meteorite, Buzz Buzz joined.  He was obviously the temporary guest character who was much better than a permanent party member.  I only got to use him for one fight against Starman Junior.

Starman Junior attempted to use PSI Fire and PSI Freeze, but Buzz Buzz's powers deflected his spells.  The bee's attacks were so much stronger than mine that Ness was irrelevant.  Buzz Buzz died after Pokey's mom swatted him.  She had a creepy insincere smile the whole time.  I guess that's where Pokey picked up that habit from.  Pokey's dad suggested that Ness's parents owed him $100,000.  Given that this is a world where a hamburger costs $14, $100,000 must be worth much less than what the dollar sign suggests.

Onett is huge for a Japanese RPG town. I leveled up to about 4 just exploring the city and fighting animals that ran up to me.  The Yes Man Jr. enemies on the south side of town were the most dangerous.  Their hula hoop attacks could deal about 14 damage to me!  I had to cast Hypnosis to stand a chance against them.  Sleep seems to work like in Pokemon rather than Final Fantasy.  Those fights was before I bought the Cheap Bracelet, so they might be easier now.

One line I liked was about how someone in the hospital was SMASHED by a mouse.  Earthbound is self-aware about all the silly stuff in RPGs.


Earthbound feels like an early Dragon Quest game.  The character inventory system is similar, you can come back to life at the cost of most of your money, and you have to go into a menu in order to talk to someone or examine treasure.


Stats and Equipment

Level 4

HP:  46
PP:  16


Offense:  17
Defense:  14
Speed:  3
Guts:  4
Vitality:  3
IQ:  3
Luck:  4

Weapon:  Tee Ball Bat
Body:  Nothing
Arms:  Cheap Bracelet
Other:  Baseball Cap


I have no idea what most of these stats do.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  First Death Count

I leveled to 7 by fighting numerous Skate Punks and Pogo Punks because I had no idea where I was supposed to go.  Then I looked at GameFAQs briefly and it suggested saying "No" to the Yes Man Jr. at the arcade.  I beat him up and then took on Frank. 

Frank was a guy in 90s shades wielding 2 knives.  He was pretty simple to deal with, but I had to heal sometimes on the Frankystein Mark 2 phase of the fight because he could deal up to 34 damage.  One thing I had to learn was how to conserve PP, because at this point I could only recover it by sleeping.  The Hamburgers dropped by the various punks helped.  Oddly enough, I beat Frank on the first try.  I've heard he was a hard boss.  Perhaps I was just overleveled?

Then it turned out I wasn't as overpowered as I thought.  The cave near the entertainers' shack had some easy enemies like the Rowdy Mice and Attack Slugs.  I was worried that the Attack Slugs' Hypnosis would cause problems, but it always missed.  Then an encounter with two ants killed me with their melee because I was already low on health. 

Death Count:  1

Insects continued to cause problems when I got to the Titanic Ant boss at about level 9.  It had two of the random encounter ants as allies.  The ants could also cast Lifeup to make things more difficult.  The Titanic Ant could hit hard with melee and cast Shield to increase its defenses.  Worst of all was its ability to drain PP in a game where it was already at a premium.  I was inadequately prepared.

Death Count:  2

After that, I had to get even.  Buying as many burgers as possible was a good start.  Ness's inventory was limited already, and my equipment took up space.  I imagine item management will be a major part of the difficulty later on.  On take 2 at level 10, I started with PSI Rockin Alpha.  This killed the minions and did around 93 damage to the Titanic Ant.  I then tried putting it to sleep with Hypnosis, but that didn't stick for long.  I was better off using PP for Lifeup.  The Hamburgers were necessary for surviving the Titanic Ant's melee attacks.  

After this fight, Ness found a giant footprint, one of the 8 locations Buzz Buzz said I had to visit.  The obstructionist Onett police came by and demanded that I go to the police station because I disobeyed the "Do Not Enter" sign.  They already blocked the path to Twoson.  Where else could I go?  (Chances are the guards in Kanto were imported from Onett.)  

The police decided to let me go to Twoson, if I could beat up 5 of them in a row.  They used their martial arts to hit me hard in melee.  So hard that I learned the value of the rolling HP meter.  In Earthbound, you have a chance of survival if you heal on the turn when an enemy decreases your HP to zero.  This loophole came in handy against several of the cops.  Most PP was reserved for Lifeup, or failed attempts at Hypnosis.  Captain Strong was like the others except, well, stronger.

Defeating all the cops raised Ness to level 12.  Level ups seem to be divided into "strong" and "weak", and 12 was a strong level.  I wonder how hard the game will be once the other party members are unlocked and the enemies get proportionately more powerful.  Leveling is quick, and it's hard to stay away from enemies when they can outrun you.
 


Stats and Equipment

Level 12

HP:  120
PP:  37

Offense:  32
Defense:  18
Speed:  6
Guts:  10
Vitality:  8
IQ:  7
Luck:  9

Weapon:  Tee Ball Bat
Body:  Travel Charm
Arms:  Cheap Bracelet
Other:  Baseball Cap

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  Hippies

The next step was to go to Twoson in order to meet Paula, who appeared to Ness in a dream.  While I was there, I bought new equipment and questionable inventions from the Orange Kid and the Apple Kid.  The Apple Kid's companion always told Ness "I am a mouse" at the beginning of every conversation, as if he realized my solo character had a single-digit IQ.  I got lost while trying to find the next area, and then beat up a bunch of New Age Retro Hippies, Annoying Old Party Men, and Unassuming Local Guys with my Slingshot.

Teddy bears turned out to be an item that acts as a decoy in battle.  That could be useful in a solo run.

Everdred wasn't a notable miniboss.


Turns out I was supposed to go east instead.  The only problem was that the cave led to a dead end with a pencil statue.  Trying out various items resulted in failure.  I then tried to walk back to Twoson.  Of course, the Lil UFO gave Ness a "cold".  Rhinoviruses must be stronger in Eagleland than on our Earth, and Ness gradually took poison damage.  Why did I have to throw out that Cold Remedy?  The Mobile Sprouts drained PP so I couldn't heal.  A Mobile Sprout combined with a Ramblin Evil Mushroom finished off Ness with melee.

Death Count:  3

Earthbound wants to kill Ness through attrition.  PP can't be restored with any item I've seen, and some enemies can steal it.  Key items take up space in the inventory, another "feature" from the bad old days.  Even Etrian Odyssey games are more generous with inventory management.  Oh well, I guess the dead party members can be pack mules for important items!  

Dying took me back to Twoson, but didn't trigger the next part of the story.  I had to go all the way back to the pencil statue in order to receive the phone call from the Apple Kid.  Then I finally got the Pencil Eraser needed to progress.  Don't you love Dragon Quest's rigid event flags?  (DQ7 on the 3DS was especially bad about that.)

Stats and Equipment

Level 15 (Before I even get the 2nd party member?!  And not really grinding so much as fighting most enemies and getting lost.)

HP:  125
PP:  45

Offense:  38
Defense:  24
Speed:  7
Guts:  11
Vitality:  8
IQ:  9
Luck:  10

Weapon:  Slingshot
Body:  Travel Charm
Arms:  Copper Bracelet
Other:  Baseball Cap


According to a helpful mole in Peaceful Rest Valley, Guts is for surviving mortal blows with 1 HP and critical hit (SMASH) chance.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  Having My Head Handed to Me

Peaceful Rest Valley was the most difficult part of the game so far.  With my inventory cluttered with key items, I didn't have much room for Cold Remedies or healing food.  The Mobile Sprouts were merciless.  They often dodged my Slingshot attacks and drained my limited PP.  The Lil Ufos and Spinning Robos infected Ness with "Night-time stuffiness", resulting in colds that drained his health by 4 per turn.  Attrition ended up killing Ness in one battle against Mobile Sprouts.

Death Count:  4

One time, I fought a Territorial Oak.  I've since learned not to do that again!     When one burst into flames, Ness took 169 damage and only survived because of a lucky Guts roll.  Afterwards, I ran from all of them.

A second attempt got me to Happy Happy Village, but I was already at low health and "had my head handed to me" by an Insane Cultist's paintbrush attacks.

Death Count:  5

Yet more fighting and leveling eventually gained me a foothold in Happy Happy Village.  Good thing it had a hotel and a drug store!  I bought some new equipment at the drug store and healed.  Exploring the eastern cave was a mistake.  The Mr. Battys were fast and could hit for a decent amount of damage in melee.  Mighty Bears were even stronger.  After a few of these fights, Ness lost to a Mr. Batty swoop.

Death Count:  6

I was actually supposed to go north to find Paula's prison.  She said I would have to get the key from Carpainter, the leader of the Happy Happy cult.  She gave me a Franklin Badge, an item for reflecting lightning attacks.  Carpainter himself was anticlimactic with the Franklin Badge in my inventory.  His lightning attacks bounced back for triple digit damage.  I thought he would have a strong melee or something, so I prepared with the lowest forms of PSI Shield and PSI Flash.  PSI Flash made him "cry uncontrollably", and I'm still not sure what that does.  (PSI Flash is a status ailment move in Earthbound, and nothing like the PK Flash attack in Super Smash Bros.  Ness also doesn't seem to have PK Thunder or PK Fire here.)

Recruiting Paula made me wonder if the developers intended for me to play a solo run.  She started at level 1!     I had to revive her in Twoson so she could talk to people at Polestar Preschool.  The next stop was Threed.  A New Age Retro Hippie killed her again shortly after the necessary conversations.  All the menus turned red after she died.  This could be annoying.  For right now, she can be a pack mule for key items.  


Stats and Equipment

Level 20

HP:  195
PP:  60

Offense:  52
Defense:  32
Speed:  15
Guts:  16
Vitality:  13
IQ:  12 (Double digits!  Maybe he can speak in complete sentences now.)
Luck:  15

Weapon:  Sand Lot Bat
Body:  Great Charm
Arms:  Copper Bracelet
Other:  Holmes Hat

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  Reviving Characters For Cutscenes Gets Old Fast

Ghosts were blocking the path to Threed, and the only way forward was to help the Runaway Five band pay off their debt.  The "Wad of Bills" happened to be the right amount, but it required getting through questionable event flags before I could use it.  Enemy encounters were disabled shortly afterwards, making it perfect time to fight Mondo Mole in the cave east of Happy Happy Village.  Without the bears wearing me down in the cave, Mondo Mole was an anticlimax.  The boss spent most of his time buffing Offense and casting Shield, and when he did attack, it was underwhelming thanks to my own Shield buff.  I didn't bother with status ailments or PSI Rockin.  Melee was good enough.

Threed was infested by zombies!  And Earthbound used the "zombie" word instead of "walkers" or something.  The Zombie Possessors were irritating when they made me lose turns.  I mainly used PSI Rockin Beta on those, as well as the marionette enemies and Trick or Trick Kids.  I was supposed to go to the northwest according to the hints to fight the zombies' leader.  But Ness's dad told me to take a break first, so I did.


Stats and Equipment


Level 23

HP:  200
PP:  65

Offense:  67
Defense:  39
Speed:  15
Guts:  17
Vitality:  13
IQ:  13
Luck:  15

Weapon:  Minor League Bat
Body:  Great Charm
Arms:  Copper Bracelet
Other:  Hard Hat

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  Bad Parenting

Ness and Paula fell for a trap in the hotel, so it was time for a. . .solo Jeff section?  Dr. Andonuts is a terrible dad.  He hasn't seen Jeff in 10 years, and after their reunion, he said to meet him in another 10 after an indifferent conversation.  Anyway, Jeff had to sneak out of his boarding school in Canada Winters to answer Paula's call for help. 

The enemies were early game fare like Gruff Goats (new enemy), Runaway Dogs, Rowdy Mice, and Struttin Evil Mushrooms.  Jeff had no PSI, so he had to use the thankfully generous supply of healing items.  (His gimmick seems to be attacking with special items, but the inventory is so limited in Earthbound. . .)  A monkey helped out occasionally.  He was supposed to be a joke character, but he finished off the mushrooms a couple of times.  Jeff went through a BRICK ROAD dungeon, rode a Loch Ness Monster, and crashed a UFO.  


In Threed, I had to go to the graveyard, and then walk back.  A weird tent was set up at the edge of town, which of course was a boss.  The Boogey Tent itself was only a face, and the tent graphics didn't appear.  I used Shield as usual and hit with melee.  One PSI Rockin Beta was inefficient.  The Boogey Tent was evasive and used PSI Flash to make Ness cry uncontrollably.  It also buffed its defenses.  Eventually, enough melee attacks finished off the boss.  The Zombie Dog with its poison attacks came closer to killing Ness than the Boogey Tent ever could.  (Poison is an upgrade to Cold, and does much more damage over time.)

PSI Rockin Beta was my best friend in the next area that resembled Peaceful Rest Valley.  I didn't have Paula's spells, but Ness's signature attack worked well enough.

Mini Barf was the boss of the tunnel to Grapefruit Falls, but it wasn't too tough.  It hardly ever attacked, so I kept hitting it with melee until it died.  A village of Mr. Saturns was nearby, and wow was their font annoying!  Good thing they had new equipment for sale.


Stats and Equipment

Level 28


HP:  227
PP:  85

Offense:  84
Defense:  47
Speed:  18
Guts:  21
Vitality:  15
IQ:  17
Luck:  20

Weapon:  Bionic Slingshot
Body:  Great Charm
Arms:  Silver Bracelet
Other:  Hard Hat

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  The Slimy Little Pile Called For Help!

Master Belch sent the zombies to Threed and enslaved several Mr. Saturns, so of course Ness had to help.  Going through his lair was much trickier.  Sure, the Foppies were easy to take out, but the Slimy Little Piles were some of my toughest opponents yet.  They could "call for help" infinitely like Dragon Quest monsters, and their breath could make Ness "cry uncontrollably" (i.e. blind him).  PSI Rockin Beta couldn't finish them off in one hit either, even in the 30s level range.  The dungeon made me run out of PSI, so the fights often came down to clicking "Shoot" and hoping I didn't miss.  This resulted in Ness having his head handed to him twice.

Death Count:  8

Fortunately, the Dragon Quest/Pokemon death mechanics ensured that I gained levels on every trip through Master Belch's factory.  Earthbound divides experience among surviving party members too, so solo Ness gained much more experience than he would have in a normal playthrough. (Like Dragon Quest 3 or 9).

By the time I got to Master Belch, I was out of PP.  I transferred all of the healing items from Paula's inventory and hoped for the best.  Earthbound's inventory is so small that even in a solo run you'll want to make the other characters haul items.  (Characters having separate inventories is another feature borrowed from DQ.) 

Master Belch managed to make Ness "nauseous" because he got the first move.  This was yet another poison effect that I only managed to cure by trying random items until I found one that worked.  The Fly Honey distracted him for the rest of the battle, so after that I had to do was click "Shoot".  The bosses in this game are much less dangerous than the gauntlet of regular enemies.

In the Mr. Saturn village, Ness agreed to try some coffee.  This resulted in a psychadelic cutscene telling him to go through the desert to Fourside.  (You may remember Fourside as one of the stages from Super Smash Bros. Melee.) 


Stats and Equipment

Level 36

HP:  315
PP:  105

Offense:  99
Defense:  51
Speed:  21
Guts:  27
Vitality:  21
IQ:  21
Luck:  24

Weapon:  Bionic Slingshot
Body:  Great Charm
Arms:  Silver Bracelet
Other:  Hard Hat

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  Look Out!  A POIsonous Snake!

I was supposed to get the third My Sanctuary melody at Milky Well in the Mr. Saturn town, but that went poorly.  As soon as I walked into the cave, Struttin Evil Mushrooms, Tough Mobile Sprouts, and Ranboobs jumped me.  They could inflict various status ailments and reflect PSI Rockin.  There was no way I could take these plants and fungi at my level.  Ness having his head handed to him twice proved that.


Death Count:  10


The only option other than grinding was to go to Fourside and buy better equipment.  Well, that was the original plan.  A traffic jam was blocking the road, so Ness had to walk through the desert.  He sometimes got "sunstroke", yet another poison type ailment.  Fortunately, that only inflicted about 2 damage per turn, and the enemies were easy.  Walking to the east side made all the cars leave.  I was hoping to see the front side of the traffic jam, but Nintendo missed an opportunity for a joke.  Fourside's department store was closed by the order of Mr. Monotoli.  It turned out Pokey was Mr. Monotoli's new assistant, and he kicked me out.  Pokey's dad Aloysius was mooching off of his son's success. 

The Runaway Five managed their money as poorly as real celebrities, and needed $1,000,000 to get out of their latest scam contract.  Conveniently, the manager hinted that the local gold mine was worth that much.  The problem was that it was infested by 5 Guardian Digger moles, each claiming to be the "third-strongest".  The dungeon itself reminded me of the worst parts of Dragon Quest 7 3DS.  The enemies may have been on the map, but it was impossible to dodge them due to the narrow corridors.  The Thirsty Coil Snakes and Gigantic Ants could poison Ness.  Losing around 20 HP per turn wore Ness down through attrition, and once resulted in him collapsing.


Death Count:  11

Like the rest of Earthbound, the bosses in the gold mine were easy compared to the horde of random enemies.  The Guardian Diggers only attacked with melee, but they could do some additional damage when I attacked when their Shield was up.  For the first 3 moles, I usually set up my own Shield Beta and hit with melee.  When I got to the fourth one, I tried PSI Flash Beta on a whim, instantly killing it!      Mole 5 didn't die to PSI Flash Beta, but it was paralyzed, preventing it from attacking for the whole fight.  Sometimes it pays to try out situational spells.

Between the 4th and 5th moles, I picked up the Platinum Band that improved Ness's Defense considerably.  Now the Thirsty Coil Snakes were only doing 1 damage with their attacks.  Defense must scale differently in Earthbound than in other RPGs.  Between the mole fights, I used the Exit Mice found in the dungeon to rest in the nearby house.  One time, a Gigantic Ant paralyzed me, preventing me from using items or using my melee attack.  It couldn't be cured with Healing Beta either.     I had to run away from a lot of enemies to get out of the cave that time.  To get to the fifth mole, I let an enemy poison me in advance, in hopes that it would override any attempts at paralysis.  Playing too much Pokemon leads to tactics like this.     The Gigantic Ants never tried to cast Paralysis after that, so I couldn't confirm whether my plan would have worked.

Eventually, all the moles were dead and the miners could return.  I'll plan to go back to Milky Well with my improved levels and equipment.
 
 
Stats and Equipment

Level 46

HP:  379
PP:  132

Offense:  120
Defense:  105
Speed:  24
Guts:  34
Vitality:  25
IQ:  26
Luck:  44

Weapon:  Mr. Baseball Bat
Body:  Great Charm
Arms:  Platinum Band
Other:  Coin of Defense

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Earthbound Solo Ness:  Yes Means No and No Means Yes

Going back to the Milky Well cave after the gold mine dungeon was the right idea.  Most of the enemies did little damage, but Ness was still walking around with a mushroom on his head the whole time.  This status ailment can sometimes make you hit a different target, including yourself.   Only the rolling HP meter could save me after Ness used a SMASH attack on himself.    

The Trillionage Sprout was easy to kill with melee after I opened with PSI Rockin Beta to clear out the Tough Mobile Sprout minions.  It's not bosses that kill you in this game.  It's status ailments and long dungeons with narrow hallways.

A miner gave me a Diamond, which I handed to the theater manager.  This freed the Runaway Five, and I could go to the department store.  After buying new equipment, I looked at the walkthrough and realized I had to revive Paula specifically so an alien could kidnap her.  Not Jeff, though.  I cannot emphasize enough how rigid the event flags are in Earthbound.    


Ness's Franklin Badge came in handy during some of the random encounters, because the Musica guitars often cast lightning magic.  The Mystical Records could hit hard when they charged forward.  Otherwise, the layout of the store didn't change, and the boss was in the office on the top floor. 

The Department Store Spook was almost an exception to the "random enemies are tougher than bosses" rule.  He could cast PSI Freeze and Fire, and I had very little defense against them.  PSI Freeze was especially dangerous because it could make me lose a turn.  The usual melee attack tactic outpaced the Department Store Spook's Lifeup Alpha, and I won. 

Paula didn't come back, and it turned out Monotoli was behind it.  Everdred from Twoson stole the cursed statue from Happy Happy Village, and then the Fourside gangster stole it from him.  He told me to go to the cafe, and then the city turned into Moonside.  Moonside's gimmick was that "No" and "Yes" were reversed.  I remember reading about a place like this in an old Nintendo Power, and it turned out it was referring to Earthbound.  The enemies were different, including Abstract Art and Dali's Clocks.  NPCs would sometimes teleport me around when I talked to them.  Obviously it was time for a break.


Stats and Equipment

Level 50 (and I still haven't learned all my spells)

HP:  405
PP:  149

Offense:  135
Defense:  107
Speed:  26
Guts:  37
Vitality:  27
IQ:  29
Luck:  46

Weapon:  Trick Yo-yo
Body:  Great Charm
Arms:  Platinum Band
Other:  Coin of Defense


Ness is similar to the Hero of Dragon Quest IV.  Both are competent melee fighters with a variety of spells.  In Dragon Quest IV, lightning spells are exclusive to the Hero, and in Earthbound, Ness has the exclusive PSI Rockin line.  Both have healing and status ailment spells too.  Earthbound really is the long-lost relative of Dragon Quest!

EDIT:  I don't seem to auto-win battles anymore.  Is it based on the power of your whole party rather than your highest level character?  That would explain why it happened in Onett, but not later areas.