I beat Earthbound. Some of the tasks in the game are incredibly obtuse and without strategy guides I would never have been able to get through it. I know the play time is supposedly somewhere around 25-30 hours but it took me around 50 hours or more.
The ending was less grand than I expected, but like a metaphor for life itself, it’s really about the journey than the ending. My 7-year-old started playing it also because he wants to play what I’m playing.
Next up: Links Awakening.