And inspiration from the classic Nintendo title EarthBound is especially apparent, with everything from wacky character and enemy designs, to the environment variety and exploration, to the witty writing and overarching plot. The game features such a diverse range of character sprites, and there are so many blink-and-you’ll-miss-em animations, you can truly tell that Eastward is a love-letter written by fans of the SNES-era. Through a meticulous marriage of pixels and 3D lighting, Shanghai-based indie studio Pixpil have fashioned a game so gorgeous you’ll have a hard time believing this is their debut release.
The visual style is the star of the show in Eastward. As is the standard with these kinda games there’s also some mysteriously shady business going on behind the scenes, but we’ll leave it to you to uncover the goings-on. Through a combo of John’s quiet, easygoing attitude and Sam’s eagerness to please, you’ll find yourself seeing the sights while helping anyone that so much as hints at a problem. John is the strong and silent type, and Sam’s the bubbly voice of reason.
With brilliantly-detailed pixel art, charming writing, and tight gameplay, with upwards of 30 hours of content, Eastward is an absolute cracker of a game worthy of a place in any indie fan’s collection.Įastward puts you in the shoes of dynamic duo big John and young Sam. Take Joel and Ellie from the Last of Us, drop them into EarthBound, add a dash of Zelda, and you’ve got Eastward.