Citizens of Earth does have its positives in that it's general charm and unique gameplay work, but only for a while. After this point, it falls into the trappings of old-school SNES RPGs and makes the player wander about and grind too much.
Citizens of Earth
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Citizens of Earth Review Summary
Critic Reviews for Citizens of Earth
Citizens of Earth is a quirky game with its heart in the right place and its head in the clouds.
Nevertheless, Citizens of Earth succeeds in rediscovering something of the ingenuity of 1990s JRPGs in its playful twists on genre cliches. And as a kooky and inventive contemporary re-imagining of the Super Nintendo-era role-player, this, like its protagonist's campaign, is but a near miss.
It looks like EarthBound, and to a degree it plays like EarthBound, but this has none of the charm or character of the SNES classic – and considerably worse combat.
Humorous and fun, but a bit mundane at times. Retro RPG fans will find a lot to like
Citizens of Earth wins hearts and minds, but still loses in a few key states.
Citizen of Earth is inspired by Earthbound and Suikoden, but the entire thing doesn't come together as a solid whole. The citizens you can recruit are interesting, but the rest of the game's story is only skin-deep. Combat is solid, but it can get tedious and boring at times. With everything taken together, the game comes across as average. If collecting characters and turn-based action is your thing though, you'll find a lot to love about Citizens of Earth.
However, there's still a somewhat decent game beneath the frustrating amalgam of boring, grinding gameplay and bizarre design decisions. There's a lot of potential behind the scenes that could be reworked into a much more satisfying experience. As-is, Citizens of Earth is at best a semi-mediocre journey with lots of quests to complete. Alas, it seems that while it tried its best to do so, it just couldn't quite grasp EarthBound's true form.