When you start diving into the catalogue of Super Famicom games that stayed in Japan, there is a real set of absolute masterpieces over there, but in over 20 years since the last release on that system, it would seem that the cream of the top has risen to the top. After finishing the absolute cream of the crop, you start to pry a little deeper, and unfortunately, most games are just okay. Not great. Not terrible. Just okay. You start getting stuff like Laplace's Demon, Arabian Nights, Wozz, Emerald Dragon, and at the very bottom of the barrel you have the JoJo game *shudder*. So, you end up with this attitude where you think you've played them all, that nothing will ever touch the greats like Chrono Trigger, Terranigma, or EarthBound.
This game came as a shock to me. The team that worked on it was a group of eclectic people couple with a few eccentric personalities and industry veterans. I figured it would just be another one of those games. And then I started playing it.
Let me front-end this review with this: it's not as good as the greats. The combat is slow and feels unbalanced at times. The soundtrack is overall good, but has some stinkers and is unfortunately kind of limited.
That being said, G.O.D. plays like those aforementioned greats. It tells a dramatic and compelling story that stretches out across an entire world and lasts for over 30 hours. The story consistently keeps you on your toes and lets you know where to go next. There's no wandering around wondering where to go next to get the next story trigger. The humor in the game is sharp and consistently great. Honestly, this game rivals EarthBound as the funniest SNES game. It's got nonsense and absurdist humor, fourth-wall-breaks, real-world references, parody, it is really, really funny. The combat, while fairly unbalanced, is complex and challenging, with special powers and memorable bosses. The pixel art is consistently good. The characters are memorable.
Honestly, if you like EarthBound, you've already player Mother 3 and you're craving more, this is your next game.
