Citizens of Space Review: The Famous Franchise Is Back

Back in 2015, Eden Industries released the game Citizens of Earth, and it was something that was different from the vast majority of JRPG titles at the time. To categorize it, I could say that it is a slice of life title that has been done in RPG turn-based setting, and it has been a success. The game was fun with sensible humor - and it has successfully applied that humor to both the battles and narrative. Not many games could pull that off.

And now, Earth's former VP is back with Citizens of Space to solve the mystery about the disappearance of the planet. After all, how can he do his job as Earth's Ambassador if there is no Earth? We always see that poor guy smiling, but without his home planet, he might not able to smile anymore. Luckily, like in the previous game, the VP still could hire people to help him.

While the 1st game had a more Earthbound-like approach, it features a combat system with a behind-the-back perspective and a text readout style. Citizens of Space, like its predecessor, have you control the Ambassador in the over-world. However, while in the battles, you will control other characters to do the fighting as he is too important to the plot.

Both games have a similar tone, but they have different ways of telling their stories. The changes from the Earthbound-style combat system to one that took influence from Paper Mario has resulted in significant changes in the game's pace. Moreover, you also need more time to do recruiting in the new game, mainly because you have to solve quests to get someone into the party.

The cast

The game features an expansive roster so you would never lack for new characters to shake up your team. You will get a mix of powerhouses which could absorb and deal out punishment, and there are also the healers that will help you maintain your party's health, even though they cannot take the "front row."

The cast that you could have is also very diverse - chefs, scholars, police officers, robots and the Ambassador on the side. In fact, the Ambassador could help in battle too; he can throw in healing items for the team or damaging stuff at your foes. Using him to the fullest as he does not take up a turn of your team to use.

This new game also needs more attention from you than the previous one as well. No more the style of the ’90s JRPG combat system. Now, Citizens of Space features a much more precise timing-based combat system. On top of that, the combat also requires more input from players, such as pressing single and multiple button press or hold in a direction then press a button. You always need to pay attention to keep the flow of action.

If you are on the defense, then you need to press the button at the right time with your opponent's attack landing to avoid or minimize the damage from it. On the other hand, if you could land a perfectly-timed attack, it would deal much more damage to your enemy than normal and more often than not end the fight in just a couple of turns to end a battle. As you can see, timing is everything here.

Citizens of Space has plenty of random battles and no autoplay

With the in-game assistant, you can mitigate those numerous random battles to a certain degree. However, there is still not a lot you can do to those battles, at least until later in your journey where you get an ability to turn them down significantly. There is also no auto-battle for you to speed up the pace either.

Fortunately, the combats themselves are quite fun, and the characters cast is zany. You will have the insane cowboy robots, sleazy hosts of game shows, overbearing assistant, and manipulative townspeople to amuse you. The storyline has some twists that keep the game fun through its spot-on comedy. But this game does not have much drama - a change from RPGs norm, I guess.

The visual

Visually speaking, this game is on the line with its prequel and does not have many changes apart from a little bit more robust animation. There is also the more expressive character movement, like the silly walking style of the Ambassador that shows off more of his quirky side the way dialogues can't.

However, there are also some visual oddities - glitches that cause the model of your enemy to disappear. Luckily, they do not affect the combat system too much as the sprites are separate from the timing mechanic, but it might hamper the overall gaming experience a little bit.

Voices

Similar to the first game, Citizens of Space will have voiceovers to go alongside its plot. The voice cast is quite diverse, and they have done a splendid job. All of them were able to express the game's humor and the characters. Meanwhile, on the music side, this sequel has repeated what its prequel did. Its soundtrack is okay but unmemorable. However, it fits the line between the story and the setting of the game. All in all, the music is not bad, but it's nothing to write home about either.

To summarise it, Citizens of Space is a well-made follow-up to its original game that managed to keep the humor intact while strengthening its gameplay. The entire experience is enjoyable despite some rough edges here and there.