Eastward old town4/2/2023 You play as Sam and John, an unlikely duo who begin their journey in an underground mining community who have been taught to fear the outside world. As you busy yourself with the minutiae of their everyday lives, Eastward makes every person (and robot) count in this deadly post-apocalypse, and the result is an affecting, detail-rich tale that owes as much to the action of top-down Zelda games as it does to the role-playing intimacy of Earthbound. This is still a game that's ultimately about saving the world from a mysterious and all-consuming miasma, but it's also one that makes damn sure you know what you're doing it all for - and that's its striking cast of NPCs. In this impressive debut from Shanghai developers Pixpil, these humdrum slices of life are placed front and centre, forming much of the narrative backbone that drives the game forward. These are the stories most adventure RPGs would stuff into their ever-growing sidequest menus - distractions meant to provide extra flavour to the world you're meant to be saving, or which hold bountiful supplies of EXP to level up your skills and weapons. Wrangling flying pigs, saving a nerdy kid from the school bullies, cooking up exquisite dishes to appease a local casino boss whose slot machines you accidentally rinsed with your trusted lucky coin. Eastward was never going to reach the same heights as its inspirations, but it makes a commendable effort.It's slow to start, but once Eastward gets going, this handsome post-apocalypse roars to life like nothing else, marrying top-down action with an exquisite cast of characters whose stories really make you care about the world you're trying to save. I've enjoyed basking in sun-dappled forests and cowering in abandoned subway stations, but I was also willing certain bits to just get on with it. It also struggles to keep up the momentum and characters sometimes feel overwritten. However, while the central mystery is captivating, it doesn’t quite nail bringing all of the different threads together, leaving a few plot holes open at the end. However, there isn't nearly enough space in your backpack to store your cooked items or enough stoves to cook at, making it hard to heal up in dungeons.Īs a tribute to RPGs of the '90s, Eastward is wonderful, with an atmosphere to be savoured. Cooking and finding new recipes to create healing items is another fun distraction and features a lovely bouncy animation that's as joyous as the one in Breath of the Wild. It's surprisingly deep, and hearing various characters enthuse about it on your journey makes the world Sam and John are exploring feel even more real. John's stoic steadfastness stands out because he's the only one who never speaks.Īlongside the main story are terminals that let you play an old-school 8-bit RPG called 'Earthborn' that features classic turn-based combat like in early Dragon Quest games. It’s a shame as individually the cast are all brilliant, but they have to compete with each other for your attention. They're unnecessary and overbearing-without this whole bit out the story would flow a little better. Relatively early on John attracts an admirer called Uva, and the romance element is sudden and simplistic, with a group of grannies who meddle in it, each one needing to have their own 'bit' as part of the comedy. Plus, getting to really know certain characters only for them to never be mentioned again means it becomes hard to feel attached to anyone. It feels like being hit with a constant wall of chatter where it's hard to tell what's important, because everything is given equal weight. The downside is that when everyone in the room is weird and kooky, no one really stands out. Eastward is brimming with unique characters, and even NPCs who are just going about their days get to shine.
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