![]() ![]() The game has a levity that still feels fairly unique. That tone would get me to let my guard down, though. ![]() When you’re playing through something that focuses on so much silliness, it’s hard not to feel like that tone will continue throughout the entire work. So I wasn’t mentally prepared for Giygas, the final boss, despite things getting a little dark at the end of the game. I don’t know if there are many things out there that could have prepared me for something so cosmically terrifying, though. And you know I enjoy horror when I don’t see it coming. The final area, and the walk to Giygas, marks a strong shift from the bright, colorful places of Earthbound. Gone are the bright towns and vibrant lands, and instead, you walk through a sterile space. Steel gray and white surround you in a kind of unsettling purity and emptiness. The music here rises and falls, almost-shrill heights and rumbling lows mixing together to create a menace that hasn’t much been present in the game’s playful soundtrack, either. When you find the beast’s lair, you walk along what seem to be intestines to reach it. A sound like a giant’s breath fills your ears. Your overarching foe, Giygas, as it turns out, is malevolence given form. “Giygas is no longer the wielder of Evil. He has become the embodiment of Evil itself…which he cannot control on his own,” says the game of its core villain. A far cry from roughing up nasty road signs and feeding jars of honey to living puke monsters. There’s something eerily serious in his description in a game filled with oddball dialogue from its characters. Even when speaking about the monster, the game shifts its tone in a disturbing way. When you begin to fight Giygas, there’s another violent shift in tone, accomplished here through the music. Earthbound is full of upbeat tracks, playful tunes, and catchy music. The music is a major contributor to the game’s quirky feel, and once again, Giygas upsets everything with its presence. Instead of the usual tone of music, Giygas’ fight music is a hard, driving metal track, something I’d never heard in an RPG at the time. I’d never heard anything like this in any game at the time it released. This track slams the player with its power. Doubly hard because it’s so unlike anything you’d heard to this point.Īt this point, Giygas was still only hinting at horror. Only touching upon its disturbing presence. ![]()
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