Earthbound
10 Games to Play While You Wait For Stranger Things Season 2
EarthBound is one of the more underlooked Nintendo games, releasing to little fanfare and acclaim initially, mostly due to a questionable marketing campaign. However, over the years the game, and Mother series, has developed a strong cult following, and for good reason. Unlike most Nintendo games, EarthBound takes place in the real world, with a young boy named Ness as the main character. When an meteorite lands near his house, Ness goes to investigate with his neighbor Pokey, where they find that an evil entity known as Giygas is consuming the world in hatred and turning animals, humans, and everyday objects into malicious creatures.
Ness has to travel around the world to try and stop Giygas, building a party of friends and other characters along the way. EarthBound is a traditional turn-based RPG that has an incredibly quirky sense of humor, and even tries to subvert the genre to a degree by parodying known staples. The similarities with Stranger Things stem from EarthBound’s story and characters. It’s a story about friendship, growing up, and the value of embracing human emotion. The cast of characters is mostly made up of youngsters around the age of the Stranger Things’ kids, meaning you’ll see a few similarities in tone.
