2/1/2020: Saturday, February 1st, 2020
Enemies and Uh, Me!
Hello! I'm Takashishiful, (or Taka for short) the lead concept artist for Earthbound Rhapsody! Lately, we've been itching to share with you some of our enemy designs for our game. So in this blog post, we'll be going over a few of the more hostile inhabitants of Catalania, (as well as announcing the winner of our Design-a-Foe competition!)
Right off the bat, (which is what you'll be hitting these guys with) we have one of the first enemies ever designed for Earthbound Rhapsody, the Bananaconda. Now I know what you're thinking. "Hey, that's not a Bananaconda, that's a Banana-PEEL-conda!" Well of course, the peel is merely the skin of the snake. You'll notice it's starting to shed, er, peel a bit around the ends. But that's okay, it's simply a part of the Bananaconda cycle. Besides, the peels make it easier to push and pull itself along the sand. If you come across the fruit, watch out! Bananacondas may be poisonous, venomous, or both, I'm not a biologist! You'll find these reptilian fruits (or maybe reptilian berries?) in the sandy tide pools of Barrier Beach, preying on insects, small fish, and unsuspecting tourists.
Speaking of the seaside, our next enemy shares its territory with the Bananaconda, the Crab Apple! (We promise not all of our enemies are fruit related!) The fruit is known for its extreme sweetness, but those claws sure don't reflect that... Perhaps he simply doesn't want to share, because that apple is incredibly useful! It offers shelter and protection from predators, and when the crab outgrows the apple, its home goes down the hatch. It's a very nutritious meal, and the crab loves the taste! There's always another apple to live in, so it's never truly far from another home. The Crab Apple has high attack and defense thanks to its powerful claw and sturdy body, but its apple weighs it down significantly so it's not too speedy. You can probably avoid it all together, and leave it to cozy up inside its home.
On the opposite end of the thermometer but just as sweet, we have the Gingerbread Man, native to Cloud Candyland. We all know of the classic Gingerbread Men, but these ones are different. They're a very important part of the ecosystem in Cloud Candyland. Obviously a frozen wonderland made of candy is a very fickle place. A hungry visitor could be a real disaster. That's where the Gingerbread Men come in. Who knows more about making sugary goods than, well, sugary goods? They make all the sweets you see in this treat-filled tundra, prevent hungry trespassers from chowing down, and despite their unassuming look, have quite a grasp on ice PSI! (To keep the ice cream cold, obviously!) Say, who's baking these guys anyway?! Regardless, if you get attacked by a batch of these fellows, fire is the way to go. Obviously, cookies aren't any good burnt...
Finally, we have the magical and mysterious Wisdom Tooth! (Teeth?) Not much is known about these marvelous molars, but they seem kinda nostalgic, don't they? They're pretty knowledgeable on status ailments, and are able to use the powerful glint of their pearly white bodies to harness the power of PK Flash! They sound like a real pain, but luckily, teeth are pretty brittle... Trust me, for once that's a good thing. You should be able to take these Wisdom Teeth out pretty easily, and you won't even need anesthetic, gauze optional!
And that's all for this blog post... is what I would say, but there's one enemy I saved for last: Yours! (Maybe)
For the past few weeks, we've been holding a design competition, where followers like you can get your personal enemy design in Earthbound Rhapsody. It was very difficult to make the final decision on which one to include, but after careful deliberation we decided on the Watchman, designed by MagFrag! Congratulations! ...We love it.
These guardian toys can be found patrolling the corridors of a certain toy factory looking for intruders. Watch out for its powerful attacks that can briefly stop the clock of battle! Wait a second, an action figure shouldn't be able to do that, right? (Unless it's one of those expensive anime ones!) 'Watch' your back with these guys around because they won't have intruders on their 'watch'.
...Yeah, that was low-hanging fruit, I'm gonna wrap up the blog post now.
We loved every submission, and I wish I could see them all for the first time again. Seeing people care about our little fangame like this is really surreal, so thanks to everyone for your enemies! Some of them are coincidentally similar to many ideas we have in the works, so in a way, a lot of them will live on in Earthbound Rhapsody anyway, and in the end we're all kind of winners!
Thanks for reading, we'll see you in April!
-Takashishiful