'Eastward' is a love letter to classic RPGs without a clear, coherent story

With "Eastward," the Shanghai-based developer Pixpil set out to make a Zelda-like game inspired by the Japanese role-playing game series EarthBound, and after more than five years of development, the quirky world set in a beautiful, retro 16-bit art style delivers on every stylistic inspiration. But the plot driving "Eastward" is confusing and drags in a few of the game's eight chapters. Some characters are complex and interesting; others are uncomfortable cliches -- like Jasper, the flamboyant one-man entertainer who's terrified of world around him. The result is a beautiful game with a lot of heart but no clear, coherent storyline and a few disappointing characters.