Citizens of Earth Reviews

Citizens of Earth is ranked in the 37th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
B
Jan 19, 2015

Citizens of Earth is a wonderful RPG that plays around with convention and brings something new to the table. It's familiar and accessible enough for longtime or new RPG fans, and is an engrossing experience for all.

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Jan 19, 2015

Despite some poor design choices and a few bugs, Citizens of Earth is still an enjoyable game that will appeal to turn-based RPG fans who like quirky humor. It's just too bad that there's such a strong focus on keeping players busy rather than interested.

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55 / 100
Jan 19, 2015

Citizens of Earth is a charming drag.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jan 19, 2015

Citizens of Earth is a great role-playing experience that manages to evoke the feel of Earthbound and other JRPGs while still doing its own thing. The gameplay is fun, the environments are varied, and the crazy citizens make the whole title feel refreshing. Sure, there are a few quirks here and there, but overall, you can't lose by playing this great title.

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7 / 10
Jan 19, 2015

Citizens of Earth tries to be too funny for its own good, and often feels like one long joke about politicians. Fortunately, the gameplay, in all of its nostalgic glory, is fun and charming. There are moments where it treads a little too closely to its inspirations, but this at least results in great art, a fun soundtrack, and some compelling combat. And while it fails to hit the standard set by the classics that it's attempting to imitate, it should still get your vote if you're a fan of old-school RPGs like EarthBound.

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Jan 19, 2015

Citizen of Earth is inspired by Earthbound and Suikoden, but the entire thing doesn't come together as a solid whole. The citizens you can recruit are interesting, but the rest of the game's story is only skin-deep. Combat is solid, but it can get tedious and boring at times. With everything taken together, the game comes across as average. If collecting characters and turn-based action is your thing though, you'll find a lot to love about Citizens of Earth.

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5 / 5.0
Jan 19, 2015

Citizens of Earth is available on PC, PS4, PS Vita, WiiU, and 3DS. There's even a discount if you buy it during the first week of release on any platform.

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Digitally Downloaded
Jedediah H.
Top Critic
Jan 20, 2015

As an adventure that does just about everything right in the fun and technical sense, CoE's most valuable triumphs are its sense of humour and accessibility; whether you're politically knowledgeable or oblivious, and if you have a near-romantic relationship with turn-based RPGs, you will risk yawning through a filibuster if it means becoming the Vice President of this world. 

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Justin Celani
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Jan 20, 2015

Citizens of Earth can be looked at as a love letter and an inspiration to roleplaying games of the past. It's unique enough in its core premise and gameplay additions that I can't see many long time RPG fans not highly enjoying this. If you're looking for a title with both style and substance and a hint of nostalgia, Citizens of Earth is your next RPG purchase. I had a smile on my face every time I played this.

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Jan 20, 2015

'Citizens of Earth' is a strange, unique combination of the Western RPG and old-school JRPG. Between its recruitment mechanics, solid combat, script, and exploration, it is an extremely fun and nostalgic title. It has some irritating flaws and a mild assortment of bugs, but not enough to spoil its charm. I recommend this for any RPG fan, especially devotees of 90s JRPGs who'd like a walk down memory lane.

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4 / 5.0
Jan 20, 2015

If Earthbound is a Japanese interpretation of Americana as seen through a filter of sitcoms, b-movies and news reels, then Citizens of Earth offers a Canadian take on the country we see through The Daily Show and the front page of Reddit. But where Shigesato Itoi displays deep fondness for his source material, Eden Industries is clearly more attached to the games that inspired them than they are to their game's setting.

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7 / 10.0
Jan 20, 2015

Overall, Citizens of Earth has a good balance of humor, old-school RPG, and solid turn-based mechanics. I originally started my review with a PC copy of the game, but I had to switch to the PlayStation 4 because my copy crashed numerous times during the auto-saving. I can assure you that the checkpoints are numerous and generous, so none of my progress was lost between crashes. A few updates have been patched in since I received my PC code, so hopefully the game is no longer plagued with that one problem. It's definitely a worthwhile trip to the realm of retro RPGs, no matter if you go PC or console.

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6 / 10.0
Jan 20, 2015

However, there's still a somewhat decent game beneath the frustrating amalgam of boring, grinding gameplay and bizarre design decisions. There's a lot of potential behind the scenes that could be reworked into a much more satisfying experience. As-is, Citizens of Earth is at best a semi-mediocre journey with lots of quests to complete. Alas, it seems that while it tried its best to do so, it just couldn't quite grasp EarthBound's true form. 

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4 / 10
Jan 20, 2015

It looks like EarthBound, and to a degree it plays like EarthBound, but this has none of the charm or character of the SNES classic – and considerably worse combat.

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8 / 10.0
Jan 20, 2015

Citizens of Earth is a quirky JRPG with a sense of humour that loves to make fun of American stereotypes. Destined for cult status.

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Jan 20, 2015

Although its boring mission design leads to frustration, Citizens of Earth's delightfully odd premise and surprisingly deep combat engine make it worthy of a cursory glance.

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7 / 10
Jan 20, 2015

Citizens of Earth feels like a game that's meant to be played with a walkthrough guide nearby, which is also reminiscent of a classic RPG-adventure experience, but not one that is necessarily enjoyable all the time. That being said, Citizens of Earth does provide an fun retro experience. It just has trouble keeping things interesting during the long trip around the world.

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6.9 / 10.0
Jan 20, 2015

If you are a fan of turn-based RPGs than you should definitely check out Citizens of Earth but if you are not than it might be worth not going to voting for this candidate.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jan 20, 2015

Throughout my playthrough of Citizens of Earth, I was continually enthralled by all the ideas that went into creating the title. I fell in love with the characters, dialogue, and world. The battle system, meanwhile, captivated me, as it was so perfectly orchestrated. In theory, Citizens of Earth should have been an amazing game, and to a certain extent the game accomplished everything it set out to complete. Unfortunately, however, a few technical errors, along with a few design errors, turned what could have been an amazing experience into one that did not live up to its full  potential.

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8 / 10
Jan 20, 2015

Citizens of Earth is an enjoyable charming retro-inspired RPG with clear inspiration from the SNES classic EarthBound. There are occasional pacing issues, as certain areas seem to be padded with additional areas and enemies. The writing hits the mark throughout, making jokes about the political system and the occasional pop culture reference.

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