To be fair, I can say that the Sharks, Police, and underground through Mr. Everdred work exactly the same as Team Rocket in that 'oh I'm the best now FRIENDSHIP'. But Pokemon feels like you'd encounter jerks like Misty and Gary who are better than you and you want to put them in their place, and ultimately makes it more relateable to the expectations a child might have on the world. Earthbound is just OHMYGODRUNAWAYFIVESOAWESOME
OHGODBLUEPEOPLESHOOTINGLIGHTNINGBUTTHISBADGEISSOFREAKINGAWESOMEREFLECTSIT
YEAHSCREWYOUPOKEYHOWDAREYOUBECOMEPRESIDENTOFSOMETHINGYELLOWSUBARINEWHOO.
Which, I mean, is cool. Earthbound's backdrop is awesome. But just the whole concept of it isn't grounded in reality; it uses the backdrop of reality to make the weird aspects in the game seem weirder. And since Earthbound is full of weird aspects from top to bottom, it works incredibly well. It's just not solidly on its feet in a human experience until you fight Giygas and stuff.
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SuperNiceDog? More like SuperChillGuy. Who is better than me at brackets by a mile.