Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass

It's like Mother 3's weird cousin, I love it, the soundtrack is addictive, the story is intriguing, and it has those silly jokes that make me think about Mother 3 and Earthbound

Just finished this so wanted to do a larger review- Negatives: - Controls are a bit weird, I needed to use joy2key to get my controller to a place where it was comfortable to play. - It's not made clear anywhere that only the starred imagination abilities apply when Jimmy is in a specific form (unless I missed it). - Some of the music was a little cloying, especially in the early stages. Anyway, negatives a out of the way, here is my review. -Some spoilerish stuff below- First of all this is a very solid JRPG: - You will consistently receive interesting items and abilities - Levelling is thoughtful and strategic as you want it to be - Systems are traditional and solid, mostly very well explained in game - Lots of secrets and a world that opens up nicely - An arcade with fun minigames (and some surprises) - Huge amount of unique enemies and bosses - Stable, encountered only a single CTD issue which the developer responded to within hours - Difficulty is well tuned, I did a good amount of optional stuff but bosses always offered a decent challenge without feeling cheap For the story: - Lots of it - Great characters - Lots of emotional connection and pathos - Clearly a work of passion with so many little touches all the way through - You really feel the "reality through the eyes of a young boy" theme in every aspect The tone: - This game will crack goofy jokes one second and break your frickin heart the next - This isn't a hero's tale, you will not overcome the darkness. No attempt is made to filter or soften this fact. - This is probably all in the all the darkest game I've ever completed - The cutesy exterior accentuates the grim reality which permeates the dream world So, I think it's fair to call this, objectively, a very complete and interesting JRPG to play through. If you pick it up however, like I did, thinking it would be a fun cartoony romp you may be, like I was, blindsided by some of the darker themes. As a fan of JRPGs with darker themes such as Demon Roots I was still left feeling a bit emotionally mangled by this which in my case I welcome but it's the only caveat I'd provide to a prospective player. Steel yourself before entering Jimmy's dream and this one is definitely not for kids or the faint of heart.

one of the most impactful games i've played. It's been years since I've finished it, and I still think about the mouse storyline often. whilst the gameplay can get repetitive, and the cartoon aesthetic and crude humour is slightly annoying at times, the good stuff far outweighs the bad. In the best way possible, I think someone could complete 100% of the game and still not understand everything about it. so so happy about the new update and that it's getting more attention recently. would recommend to rpg fans.

Literally one of my favorite games of all time. A really charming experience through and through, even if it is a little harder than a most other RPGs i play. I love this game so much.

Pending review

this game is an absolute treat the whole way through. the music is memorable, the characters are charming, and the story is great to say the least.

If you miss Earthbound and want to have that wonder and horror this is a game for you.