Eastward: A Flawed Game That I Love

[@silentapple5923]

The general atmosphere and look of the game was fantastic. Also the music. But man I just wish I could’ve gotten more into the story and characters. I liked Sam and a couple others but character motivations and the writing just wasn’t really there for a lot of them. As for the story I felt like it had really cool ideas but they pretty much executed everything without the proper set up and context. I think even the ending actually could’ve been fantastic but not all the pieces of the story were properly presented to set it up. This game easily could’ve been in my top 20 if they could’ve nailed the story.

[@haartrich]

I relate to this quite a lot. So much potential and even signs of something truly special showed up early on in this game. I really wish it could have stuck the landing and made the later half of the game better and more coherent. It sucks even more that it feels like it was really close to being great, but just missed the mark with some strange narrative choices.

[@LightsAnon]

The reddit is now full of only DLC content so i have to come to youtube for the "does everyone else feel the same way i do about the ending?" so here i am. And yeah seems like we're all on the same page, apart from the people just complaining about the amount of dialogue there is. I play games pretty much exclusively for good story and characters, and while this one fell flat i'm still really glad I played it. And it hooked me enough for me to actually finish it, which is very rare for me. Anyway. Time to join everyone else in the farming DLC. Thanks for the vid!

[@dualmo7185]

I finished the game earlier this week and was a little confused too and wish they teased some aspects of it (SPOILER: like why a certain character sacrificing themself destroys some other one and why they would reincarnate afterward). But the ending doesn't ruin the game for me because I love the story of Isabelle and Alva more than I dislike some parts of the ending of John and Sam.

[@nathanblackburn1193]

I don't think the game really has any singular big issue holding it back but rather a collection of smaller issues that add up, like the story is honestly pretty simple which alone isn't necessarily a problem but the game makes the story seem more complex than it really is and also leaves some questions totally unanswered, a weak plot however can be made up for with strong characters but unfortunately Eastward's characters are also pretty basic, charming but basic, Sam is a rather typical precocious child with mysterious powers and John literally never says anything and while he still has some characterization through his actions he's still a silent protagonist, the supporting cast is pretty straight forward too William, Daniel, Alva and Isabel are all fairly simple to the point where you can even guess their character arcs. I guess ultimately there's nothing really all that surprising in Eastward, it's nice but there isn't much that'll really stick out once you're done. The DLC Octopia looks pretty good though, as by shifting to a farming sim game style it'll presumably be much more low-key and character focused, turning up the charm and turning down the vague plot stuff

[@fabiosarrica379]

This was such a good video that hits so much of the thoughts I have about Eastward. For me, when playing through it for the first time, it was honestly kind of magical. I don't know what it was or why, but I hadn't been that engrossed in a game for a good while and despite all the shortcomings I blasted through it and finished the 30-hour long storyline in about 4 days. I even enjoyed all of the filler dialogue because I just felt like it really added to world building and I just really enjoyed the character interaction even when they were not that meaningful. Hell, I even found the ending a little moving. Reflecting back on it a few months on, and being midway through a second playthrough (taking it much more slowly now) I now see the game's flaws but it still has a magical something that really clicks with me. Might just be a combination of characters, art and music. Anyway, nice video, liked and subscribed.

[@haartrich]

I appreciate you taking the time to comment and for subbing! It means a lot. Honestly the hardest part about making this video was just trying convey that feeling of... Bliss (that's the closest descriptor I can think of) when playing this game. It just clicked for me. I think we had the same feelings towards it to be honest. When I got to the ending, I was so sad, not just because I think it was confusing, but mainly because I was sad that I was done with the characters, the world, the music, and everything else this game gave me. It was that feeling of melancholy you get when you finish a show you really enjoyed. I guess my aim on this one was to be as honest as I could, and let people know that this is a game that I absolutely love, but it's definitely not perfect. I had a hard time knowing if I was too harsh, if I didn't give enough credit to the game or if my message would just be lost because I was leaning one way or the other. I'm glad my thoughts were understandable and made for an enjoyable video! I felt like I had so much more to say about this game, but had a hard time putting it to words. It's cool to see that it impacted other people in the same way!

[@ojhat]

This matches alot of how i felt playing through this just recently for the first time. It has its issues, but to me it was still a beautiful, magical, sometimes terrifying (i had several nightmares about that Miasma the nights after the attacks happened) but i was engrossed fully in the characters with the art and music and personalities. I didn't care about how important the characters dialogue was to the plot; they mattered to me! I wanted to talk to everyone every time something changed, and the devs went to town on giving almost everyone unique dialogue Every. Time. Events. Changed. I loved that sense of being in the lives of these characters, for as small as those moments are. How many RPGs have over 200+ unique characters each with wildly different designs and personalities and dialogue? I came out of this have many favorite NPCs.

[@fabiosarrica379]

@@ojhat I am glad my feelings about this game are reciprocated by some people. And I'm glad this comment is still being read after so long!

[@rachelculling9096]

Just finished my first playthrough and immediately googled "eastward game ending explained" 😂😂 It seemed SO cryptic to me, and honestly the plot around Sam's identity was lost on me halfway through the game. I would like to hear a more detailed analysis of yours (with spoilers), or from anyone who can help shed light on the plot at all?? Or give more insight. This all being said--I really did enjoy this game. It's BEAUTIFUL, and the music is so great. The characters, too, are interesting and endearing, and certain scenes were just magical. (Certain characters also felt rather useless to me, added to the party for no apparent reason...) Anyway, I feel very similar to it as you. I think there was so much potential for a better set-up/execution of the ending.

[@Kayas]

So I just finished Eastward yesterday and was looking for videos talking about it and I was engrossed in watching this video. What caught me off guard was that you only had 134 subs (now 135 lol) considering the quality of the mic and the tight script didn't give that impression. It's tough for small channels to grow but here's hoping yours does cause you're a real hidden gem. Keep up the great work and I'll be following closely! I think a standout moment from this game had to be the Isabel boss fight. It grabbed my attention and was an enjoyable time that made me use some of my cognitive functions instead of idly playing it since it's sort of on the easy side in regards to bosses.

[@haartrich]

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment. It really means a lot to me to know that my content is genuinely being enjoyed. Honestly, this video in particular was really difficult for me. I went through multiple different scripts because I really wanted to convey that this game was something I really genuinely enjoyed, but I'm aware that it's far from prefect. In all honesty, when I re-watch the video, I still feel like I missed the mark there, but I'm glad to hear that it still makes sense as a whole. This game really enthralled me, and it's difficult to explain why. Again, I really want to convey that your kind words mean so much to me. Thank you so much for supporting my channel. I hope I can continue to create content that you're happy with.

[@Kayas]

@@haartrich No prob! I think for what it's worth, your approach on you liking a game in spite of its flaws that you laid out gave more weight to this video over people touting as a masterpiece. It's okay to enjoy flawed games and I like how this video reinforced that. It's a fairly unique approach to videos on contemporary games, especially indie ones. And it didn't take you 40 minutes of rambling to achieve that, I'm seriously impressed by how concise and densely packed this video was.

[@zombiesalmon4997]

The game is very flawed. I mean its the devs first game so fair point. But despite that, something about this game man… it just gets to me. Definitely one of my favourite games ever. Please play this

[@pixelkidvt]

the one thing that would make the combat feel instantly better is a dodge. I dream of an Eastward Reborn where they add just a dodge and change the ending, then it would become the best game I've ever played. I'm so thankful for Octopia tho

[@redtaperecorder1]

I enjoyed the ending, although I must say there were no big surprises. It gave me the same feeling that I got at the end of Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. Yes, on some level there was some head-scratching, but the fact that a game was able to give me a feeling that I just had to sit with and try to process was exactly what puts it up there among my favorites.

[@PKDeviluke25]

I just beat the game recently. It would be one of the best indie games ever made if they cut out 10 to 12 hours of content and stopped to explain what was going on in the story once in a while instead of having a lot of pointless conversations that revolve around filler fetch quests. For example the entire bet with Lee could have been cut into just one meal/fetch quest instead of three separate meals/fetch quests. Characters were great but the motivation of the antagonists is just poorly explained and the ending it also just poorly explained as to what exactly happened. I still do not understand who or what Solomon is even though he is the main antagonist through most of the game. Towards the end I wanted to quit so many times but I was so close to the end that I powered through, hopefully if a sequel is made the developers improve on the flawed aspects of what could have been an indie darling of a game.

[@Momonocle]

So happy to see someone talking about this gem of a game. Thanks for shedding some light on it, as flawed as it is, I have an immense soft spot for it too. Have to mention the combat is pretty great on pc! It sounds like the console version is a bit more rough haha. That being said I used a dualshock and it felt comfy to me. There aren't many games I would spend 100 hrs on AND do a project on for YT. Earthborn is worth talking about too since it's so enjoyable. I think the world is just so damn charming and every npc is unique and has their own little back story it seems. Kudos on a great video. Earned a sub my friend!

[@charlesatanasio]

It lost me on monkhollywood. Completely broke the mood and was such a baffleing tonal interruption. And it wasnt even important to the plot. Made no sense.

[@NIGH11]

Good review! I think a lot of actual retro classics have a lot of weird stuff in there sort of hand waved away just to set things up, things that would probably be more scrutinized if the game were released today. While I do think they could and probably should have tied up the story a little better, I also think not knowing everything puts us in the same frame of mind as the characters themselves, and there's something to that as well.

[@-r-3656]

I got my friend to play the first chapter of Eastward yesterday, and to me that is an absolute win.

[@kevindimas253]

I loved the game until post new dam city, afterwards, the story took such a strange turn that was a little hard to follow with some unanswered questions, but I liked the game overall

[@haartrich]

Yeah. Unfortunately, but I definitely agree. Even New Dam City dragged on for way to long in my opinion. There were like 3 too many fetch quests 😅. So much potential in this game and like you, I still really enjoy my time when I play it. It's just unfortunate that it could have been so much more with some tweaks to the story.

[@tree_eats]

It's rather frustrating when indie devs manage to create a beautiful game with clear love and passion but cannot get beyond their own ego and hubris, which inevitably comes at the cost of actual gameplay. It feels a bit as though like the whole "video games as art" crowd forget that it is an interactive medium first and foremost.

[@PunkThrashMetal]

I definitely agree with it being hard to recommend. I almost tapped out during the monkey part, it just felt like a waste of time. But I definitely enjoyed more than I disliked but that's hardly a glowing recommendation lmao. I definitely am part of the people that really liked everything up until you left new dam city, but at least the last city was cool to walk around in. It definitely feels like they just kinda punted the story after new dam city and instead of the ending coming off as mysterious and interesting, it comes off like they just decided to not really answer any questions.

[@LightsAnon]

The monkey part is the worrrrst. Especially because (to me) it comes after the most interesting part of the game, right when stakes are the highest. and then you slam the breaks right into monkey town and completely lose all momentum. The last city is cool but also falls short because... well we just *had* a time loop deal with the monkeys too.

[@dinoburger1997]

I finished the game yesterday so I've also been poking around to see other opinions - I felt the same way, the ending made me feel like I'd missed something important bc I just didn't get it. I've never had a problem with story-heavy games but if you're going to have cutscenes that span as long as gameplay segments, you need a tighter story and clearer themes. I was fine in the moment watching them but that was because I was hoping the pay-off would be worth it and tie everything back together. Also the PC version does in fact let you aim with the mouse instead of running into enemies, maybe that was why I wasn't as fazed by the combat - but it's still likely clunky in it's own way, I don't have a PC controller or anything to compare it to.

[@The_rumpus_]

Man I love this game so much but the ending left so much to be desired. It didn't really feel like anyone got a happy ending besides William and I guess that'd be fine if they actually showed where everyone else ended up. Plus not explaining what Sam was doing before she met John was kinda weird, didn't need to explain much but having people say they knew her but not how was a little annoying

[@travishanes8485]

I was completely in love with the art. That for me is this games greatest strength and I feel like should be recognized more for it alone. Alot of the music was good but a great deal of it was too chipper and didn't fit all the tones of the story and environments for me. My biggest disappointment was this beautiful detailed world having so many people saying so little. The core of this game, and the majority of its game play is focused around characters that flesh out the world. But the world of characters generally are so underwritten and lack depth. It's like glancing through a great book rather than reading each chapter. The visual of this world is so incredibly fleshed out and tells so much when you wonder through it but the characters you can encounter throughout the places you visit, can be just tedious to listen to with generic or corny dialouge. The main storyline though.. is exciting! Takes a very long time for it to stop leaning so heavily and what feels like 15+ hrs of side missions with actually gripping plot developments peppered in only so often. But the core plot line is great. I just wish this game was a little more dynamic and expressive in its deep engament with its heavy story telling.

[@stephen5070]

If I remember correctly Sam the little goddess is born through the Reincarnation Machine multiple times and she observes humanity whether it’s perfect or not, Sam sends out Charon the bringer of death train to repeat the life cycle over and over again until she is satisfied with the end results. The number on Sam’s life supply tank in the human factory represents the number of reincarnations she went through in total. Does this sound right to you?

[@pixelkidvt]

and that would explain why John survives at the end then? Because he's the person Sam is so attached to 🤔

[@IamJacksColon4]

Too much dialogue was my biggest issue, very wordy.

[@thisisfrankie]

Same. Most of it felt filler and irrelevant too

[@aqilhail9063]

I like reading dialogue but I wish it wasn't just filler meaningless dialogue

[@aqilhail9063]

​@@thisisfrankie yup

[@HerEvilTwin]

To each their own. I couldn’t get enough of it

[@spewberg]

The general felling was the same: a flawed game that I liked (love is a strong word =D). I hope to see more indie games with eastward atmosphere but with a more polish gameplay and plot.

[@spewberg]

Gameplay wise what really bothered me was the linearity and the fact that are missable items.

[@haartrich]

I get what you mean, it's sad to see a game with all the ingredients to make something I would really enjoy, but then have it fail in execution.

[@ShadowCD624]

The ending is more or less fine depending on who you're asking. The explanation of what happens takes a few leaps in logic and thinly connects a few things revealed on Charon. I think the actual problem is the game's plot isn't set up very well. In fact, I think it's set up terribly. There's never an end goal established to work towards in the begining. You're just kinda doing random shit from beginning to New Dam. Now, I still loved this game despite that, because I thought everything else was absolutely fantastic. But yeah the way all the events were connected together outside of maybe New Dam onwards just was not good.

[@GavilanTrakand]

this had Undertale vibes in the NPC dialogue and the attempted jokes per word ratio

[@قزنفر-ب9ط]

i love this game so much🌹

[@Oogie1155]

Probably one of the best games I've ever played with bar non the best soundtrack ever made. People who are frustrated with the lack of detail at the beginning of this game must not be to terrible smart. Its suppose to mysterious. Even at the end there is still tremendous mystery, and that's what its supposes to be like; which is more intelligent story design. Its refreshing, instead of the usual 'everybody lives happily ever after' drivel. This game is about sacrifices needing to be made to support the greater good. Its about the personal responsibility one deals with when making hard decisions that involve understanding that not everything can be saved, and somethings are more important. The story is the best, and is indeed its strongest point. Did we play the same game? The text with people in the towns inconsequential, and is to add life to the background. There are a lot of interesting characters that go on to further develop; but the townies are there to simply add life. It makes it all the more important when there are consequences to actions later in the game. Again, there is suppose to be mystery in this game. The towns people most certainly aren't there to divulge large plot points to story. So, I would say it is not a valid criticism. The soundtrack really is like nothing else I've ever heard, and it is my favorite part. The ending really isn't lackluster. It just doesn't cater to simpletons. Sam is explained pretty well, and it really isn't that complicated if you're paying attention to what is being said. Also, X to doubt about this supposed general consensus about the ending not being good. The ending is fantastic. I think people who didn't like the ending generally don't have a lot of appreciation for the general theme of the game; which isn't subtle once you get to a certain point in the story. The ending is done for the same reason they killed 'Jackey' in Cyberpunk, and why he shouldn't ever be 'recovered'. I would have been extremally disappointed if it ended any other way. Besides, Sam isn't a normal being. What might be finality to some beings isn't always the case in fictions that have a premises like in Eastward. The combat is combat. I played it on PC, and it was fine. It wasn't difficult in any particular way. Also, I liked the cooking minigame; which breaks up the heavy story. I really think they could build on the story, or they could let it rest. What do you think about the farming DLC that is coming out for Eastward? Are you going to play it?

[@barax9462]

I really liked the game,,, but too much dialog😅 and the little girl sometimes is a burden, even though it adds to the story as john the protector

[@Ougerosity598]

Yeah, this is going to be a pass for me, but I just want to take this moment to make a short list of TRASH games that I love 😂 The Last Remnant. Has an interesting, but INCREDIBLY FLAWED combat system that I can't recommend to people, especially in the original PC version. But it deserves a place in gaming history for this reason alone: it's a turn-based RPG that shows your party members and enemies attacking one another between turns! They don't deal damage, but they parry one another, they swing (and miss) weapons at one another. I have NOT seen an RPG do that since! Fable 2. I like the whole trilogy, but they are ALL garbage RPGs that don't ever deliver on what was promised. To me, there's just something so charming about this series to me, though. 😅 Thief Simulator: My god, this game is the epitome of min/maxing. -1000 on polish, +1000 on fun factor. Robbing low res NPCs, and vandalizing their stuff is WAY more fun than it should be to me. I love video ideas like this. Even though this game isn't for me, it's nice hearing the good about a videogame I would have not heard about, otherwise.

[@haartrich]

I almost named this video, "my kind of trash" but I thought that was too harsh of a sentiment. 😅 I haven't played either the last revenant or thief simulator, but I also love the Fable games despite their glaring issues. I know it's not an uncommon opinion to like Fable 2 the most of the series, but it's my favorite too! I enjoyed putting this video together and I plan on making some more with the same "Flawed Favorite" title. Glad you liked it even though the subject matter isn't so much your thing!

[@Ougerosity598]

@@haartrich "My Kind of Trash" would make me laugh more, but "Flawed Favorites" sounds like a side series one of the bigger KZbinrs would have. I'm kinda surprised I haven't seen that yet. TRADEMARK IT! 😂

[@DynoMikeGaming]

I loved it as well!!! But I am so excited to finish watching this video :)

[@baatarbeifong7869]

I loved the artwork and music so much, especially the track: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaalep2Zipqfi80 And, while I thought such was so charming and clearly reflective of passion (loved seeing the Earthborn characters depicted in a more detailed style in the credits), I agree with all that you said. Additionally, I wanted to break my Switch lite so many times when playing Earthborn because of how frustrating a game concept like that is to someone who brings a completionist mentality and expects something of a permanence to the rewards for my investments in even a sub-game. I still haven't gotten the achievement for beating the true demon king because of how daunting and potentially rage inducing such an endeavor will be lol. More than that, I found it disheartening that the chapter skipping made available in what's technically a new game plus doesn't allow for the retention of the alternate forms of Earthborn Pixball characters although, they seem to be forced out of the machines upon the re obtainment of the first of any character in a new playthrough. Also, the glitching of the selector which caused it to stay on the first item when I'm trying to quickly try out all combinations of foods to get the cooking achievement was another flaw I noticed a number of times. The needless degeneracy was a massive put off for me. Especially the portion in which Sam has to wait outside of some curtained area because of the pervy nature of some vending machine on the train just gave the game a trashy feel I didn't think was called for at all. As you touched upon, the story is so flawed in its content and more importantly to me, its presentation. Being on Switch lite, the dialogue boxes would pop up then disappear so quickly at times or run off the screen. While for an obviously short game, there can't be much emotional attachment built up, I didn't feel much significance when both Uva and Izzy died. Even with Izzy and Alva constantly and ominously discussing the chance of their protective Buddha's fan thing failing, none of the ideas brought up seemed that interesting nor effectively conveyed. Similarly, when Alva's debating killing Sam, I honestly didn't feel strongly one way or another because I didn't care much for any of them even though the game was really trying to push this notion of Sam being so oblivious to her devastating actions that they make her so obnoxious for a bit. And just random nitpicks, the load up time from the Switch homepage felt so long. I wish that given the wait time and the inability to use such to collect gold coins from MyNintendo, that iam8bit would at least do more than just include a sticker sheet inside the physical copy but to see that they didn't even put inner case artwork made me so disappointed in what could have been all the more greatness for a game that seemed to continually surprise people in a good way. For the combat, I wish the repeated playthroughs allowed the carrying over of all weapons, too because I think some really awesome weapons are only so briefly available.

[@haartrich]

Oh no! I had no idea that the Earthborn part of the game was so frustrating to progress in. I thought that part of that game was really charming that it existed, but I honestly couldn't get into it enough to actually get very far into Earthborn. That's really disappointing to hear that they didn't seem to think about the players that wanted to go back and finish it after completing the main game. I definitely agree with your complaints about the story. I didn't want to go into specifics in the video to avoid spoilers, but I also felt a little confused on what the writers wanted the player to feel at moments in this game. I felt like the game didn't let moments breathe for long enough when it came to really emotional sections like character deaths. I hated the monkey train section of the game. Like you mentioned, they clearly wanted you to care about what happened to Alva, but then before they gave the proper timing and emotion to the moment, you were thrown into a wacky and weird comedy section with a bunch of talking moneys, to immediately counter act any attempt of emotional weight. And this is just one example of this. At times it was hard to tell if the tone and story was even talked about before it was placed into the game. It's really weird, though. Even though I have a lot to complain about when it comes to this game, I still remember it fondly. I just think the positive elements of Eastward really hit hard for me and stuck out, even though the game is so far from perfect. Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and leave such a thorough comment! It's really cool to hear about other people's experiences with this game because I haven't met anyone in person that has actually played it. Oh! And I love the LOK reference in your name.

[@baatarbeifong7869]

@@haartrich lol are you looking forward to the live action Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender? I feel some reassurance from one of Paul Sung-Hyun Lee's interviews on KZbin that mentions how seriously and respectfully he and to his estimation everyone else is regarding the handling of such a beloved franchise~

[@haartrich]

@Baatar Beifong Honestly I'm not super excited, but I really hope to be proven wrong. It still makes me worried that the original show writers left production due to "creative differences" which seems like a polite way to say that they don't like what they have seen so far. It would be cool to have a good live action version of the show because I love it so much, but I'm just not expecting this show to be it. Again, I really hope I'm just being cynical for no reason! At least nothing can be worse than the Last Air Bender movie we got 😂... I hope

[@famosoworld1643]

This game so underated