Citizens of Space Critic Reviews

It's always nice to be surprised by a title. Citizens of Space is one of those games where you can see the passion and more importantly the fun the developers had making it. Citizens of Space oozes charisma and for those looking for a fun silly experience, this is the game for you.

Citizens of Space never really tries to shake up RPG genre conventions, but the game is clearly not out to do that. This is a game that, by all intents and purposes, is meant to provide a fun and laidback experience, and it does that very well.

Citizens of Space is a well-crafted follow-up to the original that manages to keep its sense of humor intact while completely revamping its gameplay. The Earthbound approach has been swapped out for a Paper Mario style of combat — which is either a blessing or a curse depending on your preferences. If you want a more active timing-based affair, you will love what’s offered up here. If you like being able to automate combat to some degree, especially with modern games making that more of a standard, then you may not. Either way, the core game is a lot of fun even with a few rough edges.

The mini-games are a fun new addition to the combat system but don’t totally eliminate the repetitive nature of the fights. The memorable cast of characters and kooky storyline helps to keep things fresh but ultimately this isn’t too different from the first Citizens game.

It’s been a time since I’ve been able to play an RPG like I used to with the grind and the turn-based combat and the healing between battles in order to stay in the action. They just don’t make them like they used to! It even comes with a $14.99 price tag to boot. However, I really wished that all the things that Citizens of Space does well weren’t attached to a game that is so… in your face. It borders on obnoxious but keeps the annoying line repeats and the length of time to get anywhere just under the bar of annoying. It did, however, prevent me from being able to play for a big chunk of time and it sucked a lot of the fun out of the well-done aspects of the game. I think it says a lot that you can get a lot of enjoyment out of this game but it’s best enjoyed on mute.

If this game gets patched up enough to render it seamlessly playable, then I would give it another go. But as it currently stands, the game is a challenge for all the wrong reasons, stemming largely from it's crippling system failures.

Similar to how Citizens of Earth is a fun, yet imperfect, ode to Earthbound, so too is its sequel an interesting but flawed take on the RPG genre.

Citizens of Space is an ambitious game in many ways that delivers an incredible variety of systems both in and out of combat to occupy players. To be sure, the game oozes with creativity at nearly every turn. But it takes a risk in going with a story focused primarily on humor, which unfortunately doesn’t pay off, and is instead overburdened with mostly predictable punchlines and tired, overused phrases. The end result leaves the game without much of a narrative, characters with flat personalities, fights that can drag on for a little too long, and lackluster presentation throughout.

Citizens of Space is an amusing comedic RPG that is very rough due to technical issues. Perhaps after the bugs get ironed out it can be recommended, but in its current state it just has too many flaws that will distract. The side-quests are amusing as varied enough to break up the completely linear main plot and one could easy find these optional diversions to be the most entertaining piece to this package. Anyone who enjoyed Citizens of Earth is certain to get a lot of enjoyment from Citizens of Space.