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- Jan 17, 2019
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Hello people!
Yes, you did not read the title of the wrong thread ... In this thread, I'll address 2 subjects that no one would have imagined would have any connection:
Earthbound and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Earthbound is my favorite game since I was 9 years old, but only on those days, I noticed a certain link.
To understand better, let's cite the main characteristics of autistic people:
-Few variety of interests
-No block of external stimuli
-Difficulty or lack of interest in social affairs
-Difficulty in communicating
-Different World View
-More affinity with adults than with people of their age group (If child/adolescent)
I made this list to make clear the link between these features and the Earthbound plot and characters in general.
Shigesato Itoi, the creator of the franchise, never mentioned anything about this and I've never seen anyone on the Internet talking about it or even doing theories, so what I can say here has a 50% chance of being really true and 50% chance to be just a coincidence, but regardless of the cases, this is an interesting thread to talk about.
Ness, the protagonist of the game, is simple, just a normal boy of 12/13 years. What does it have to do with autism?
Another thing that connects with the subject is the course of the game and the people that you helped. I will not say much about it to not spoil, but most of the characters that Ness helps in the process are adults.
I would say that it is impossible for you to have played Earthbound for the first time and not to be surprised by the way the battles are shown. Battlebacks are psychedelic images and enemies are mostly bizarre. This leads to my theory ...
That's all!
Yes, you did not read the title of the wrong thread ... In this thread, I'll address 2 subjects that no one would have imagined would have any connection:
Earthbound and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Earthbound is my favorite game since I was 9 years old, but only on those days, I noticed a certain link.
To understand better, let's cite the main characteristics of autistic people:
-Few variety of interests
-No block of external stimuli
-Difficulty or lack of interest in social affairs
-Difficulty in communicating
-Different World View
-More affinity with adults than with people of their age group (If child/adolescent)
I made this list to make clear the link between these features and the Earthbound plot and characters in general.
Shigesato Itoi, the creator of the franchise, never mentioned anything about this and I've never seen anyone on the Internet talking about it or even doing theories, so what I can say here has a 50% chance of being really true and 50% chance to be just a coincidence, but regardless of the cases, this is an interesting thread to talk about.
Ness
Ness, the protagonist of the game, is simple, just a normal boy of 12/13 years. What does it have to do with autism?
At the beginning of the game, when you are in the part of choosing the names of the protagonists and of some things, there is this question: "What's your favorite thing". For an RPG game, it is strange to ask the player himself what his favorite interest is, even more strange is that it influences the game ... At level 8, Ness (or whatever name you have placed) learns your first PSI (magic) offensive, this PSI is your favorite interest, if for example you put Rockin in the question, PSI's name is PSI Rockin. Curiously, this is the only offensive PSI that Ness learns the entire game.
Another thing that connects with the subject is the course of the game and the people that you helped. I will not say much about it to not spoil, but most of the characters that Ness helps in the process are adults.
Another feature of the Ness character is the fact that he does not speak. Yes, it was very common for RPG characters at that time to be "mute", but according to some dialogues, implies that Ness communicated in some way.
It has already been confirmed in the Super Smash Bros franchise that Ness is not mute, because in games he says the names of PSIs and has his famous taunt "Okay".
Battles
I would say that it is impossible for you to have played Earthbound for the first time and not to be surprised by the way the battles are shown. Battlebacks are psychedelic images and enemies are mostly bizarre. This leads to my theory ...
As has been said before, people diagnosed with autism usually have difficulty or lack of interest in social issues, which leads children with this condition to spend a lot of time in the world of imagination. And what does this have to do with the Earthbound battles? A lot of things.
The vision we have in the battle is frontal, that is, we are in the vision of Ness and the rest of the group. Battleback is probably psychedelic on purpose to show us a different view of the scenario and pay more attention to enemies. Following this line of thinking, the enemies of the game are not as we actually see it, ie in the character's imagination, that enemy was completely different or in fact, was not an enemy.
SE
This is more of a personal opinion than a reflection on the subject, but do you also feel discomfort when listening to the SE of Earthbound PSIs? I've never seen anyone on the Internet talking about it, but I've always think them acute and a little too loud compared to BGM.
Conclusion
As I said before, it was not confirmed if Earthbound intentionally refers to the characteristics of the ASD, but I have shown in this thread several coincidences (or not) on this subject, since the Mother franchise is famous for making several references and having several theories on the Internet . It is here for reflection.That's all!
