I’d never heard of Citizens of Earth until today, but according to Atlus the game is “like a phoenix rising from the ashes of an unfunded Kickstarter.” That’s pretty depressing, but also beautiful in a way, so I decided to take a closer look.
Citizens of Earth is an RPG, though its story is fairly non-standard for the genre. You play as the Vice President of the World (no, that’s not a typo), and you’re essentially trying to figure out why everyone on the planet has seemingly gone crazy. It’s all a bit vague, but I’m assuming the game itself will explain things more effectively. Or it won’t at all, which will probably have zero impact on my enjoyment.
Regardless, Citizens of Earth appears to feature some interesting gameplay systems, with over 40 unique citizens to meet and recruit, the goal being to shirk your duties, delegate them to others, and avoid getting your own hands even remotely dirty. Unsubtle commentary aside, management of the citizens you acquire seems an enjoyable affair, and you can even adjust the length of your “term,” which is essentially choosing between a casual or hardcore experience. Atlus describes the latter as a “white-knuckle, pray-you-survive-until-the-next-turn grind-fest,” and I’ve yet to decide if that sounds appealing.
Either way, Citizens of Earth has my attention, and anything that aims to spice up the retro RPG landscape with a non-traditional save-the-world premise is something I’d like to see succeed. It’s slated for release later in 2014 on PS4, Vita, 3DS, and Wii U, so there will be plenty of ways to test if the game is as enjoyable as it is wacky.