''Citizens of Earth'' is a

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

developed by Eden Industries and published by

Atlus is a Japanese video game developer, video game publisher, publisher, Arcade game, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo. A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for the ''Megami Tensei'', ''Persona (series), Persona'' ...

for

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, and the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

. Players take control of the newly elected

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of Planet Earth, who must save the Earth by recruiting citizens to fight for him. A sequel, ''Citizens of Space'', was released in June 2019.

Gameplay

''Citizens of Earth'' has been described as "a giant spoof on ''

EarthBound ''EarthBound'', originally released in Japan as is a 1994 role-playing video game, role-playing video game developed by Ape, Inc., Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the second e ...

''" in which "you must collect your constituents like

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

". In it, you take the role of the newly elected Vice President of Earth, who begins his first day in office facing protestors, a missing president, and a suspicious coffee shop. As the game progresses, characters are added to the party, each with a unique title and personality, like Hippie Guy and Programmer. Enemies are strewn about the overworld map, and should the vice president get too close, a separate battle screen will open up. He doesn't do any fighting himself, but instead gives commands to his party of up to three characters.

Development

''Citizens of Earth'' was developed by Eden Industries and directed by Ryan Vandendyck. Various ideas coalesced, leading to the game being created. One of the first ideas Vandendyck had was having the heroes be regular townspeople, and he also chose to set the game in modern times because he felt that this made the regular townspeople feel more regular. The protagonist was chosen because he wanted there to be a leader type who is above the other characters in his role. The setting was also inspired by ''

''. There were also certain game mechanics that were borrowed from ''EarthBound'', including having enemies join another enemy in a fight if they're near enough and automatically defeating weak enemies. He also made the battle system with influence from ''Dragon Quest'' and ''EarthBound'' (which play similarly). When designing the visuals, Vandendyck wanted to avoid using a too-common style among indie games, going with a cartoony style that he felt fit the modern Western setting.

Reception

''Citizens of Earth'' holds a rating of 66/100 on review aggregate site

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Meghan Sullivan of ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' gave the game a 6.5/10, saying "It charmed me with its blend of old-school RPG and contemporary satire, but nearly lost my vote with its sluggish pacing, irritatingly high enemy encounter rate, and crashes".

References

External links

* 2015 video games Atlus games Crowdfunding projects Nintendo 3DS games Nintendo 3DS eShop games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Vita games Role-playing video games Single-player video games Video games developed in Canada Wii U games Wii U eShop games Windows games {{rpg-videogame-stub