Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is an RPG about family, childhood, escapism, and video games.
Very Positive
572 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | — | — | Y |
Lots of questionable game design choices but still an amazing hidden gem overall if you have the patience
Just finished this so wanted to do a larger review-
Negatives:
- Controls are a bit weird, I needed to use joy2key to get my controller to a place where it was comfortable to play.
- It's not made clear anywhere that only the starred imagination abilities apply when Jimmy is in a specific form (unless I missed it).
- Some of the music was a little cloying, especially in the early stages.
Anyway, negatives a out of the way, here is my review.
-Some spoilerish stuff below-
First of all this is a very solid JRPG:
- You will consistently receive interesting items and abilities
- Levelling is thoughtful and strategic as you want it to be
- Systems are traditional and solid, mostly very well explained in game
- Lots of secrets and a world that opens up nicely
- An arcade with fun minigames (and some surprises)
- Huge amount of unique enemies and bosses
- Stable, encountered only a single CTD issue which the developer responded to within hours
- Difficulty is well tuned, I did a good amount of optional stuff but bosses always offered a decent challenge without feeling cheap
For the story:
- Lots of it
- Great characters
- Lots of emotional connection and pathos
- Clearly a work of passion with so many little touches all the way through
- You really feel the "reality through the eyes of a young boy" theme in every aspect
The tone:
- This game will crack goofy jokes one second and break your frickin heart the next
- This isn't a hero's tale, you will not overcome the darkness. No attempt is made to filter or soften this fact.
- This is probably all in the all the darkest game I've ever completed
- The cutesy exterior accentuates the grim reality which permeates the dream world
So, I think it's fair to call this, objectively, a very complete and interesting JRPG to play through. If you pick it up however, like I did, thinking it would be a fun cartoony romp you may be, like I was, blindsided by some of the darker themes.
As a fan of JRPGs with darker themes such as Demon Roots I was still left feeling a bit emotionally mangled by this which in my case I welcome but it's the only caveat I'd provide to a prospective player.
Steel yourself before entering Jimmy's dream and this one is definitely not for kids or the faint of heart.
Amazing game I played a few years back, will probably play it again someday.
We love jimbo
Se voce gosta de earthbound, mas com mais horror, vai adorar
holy underrated
literally the best game i have played in years
fire
feels like a love letter to earthbound in many ways, therefore i love it
Probably the closest thing to Earthbound I've played from the rpgmaker games. Quirky and fun. Highly recommend.
I still think about this game five years later.
This game looked fascinating. I really wanted to play this game and enjoy it. But oh my god, the controls are so bad. This is the worst control configuration I have ever seen. It does not map in any coherent way to my controller. It doesn't seem to recognize the D pad at all. Trying to configure this is more trouble than it's worth. I might try it again in the future, but PLEASE provide some reasonable information on the controller config.
Behind the curtain of the homemade cartoonish visuals isn't just an endless assortment of nightmares, but a very well made RPG made by a talented developer. For a solo project, it's very impressive to me. The combat is fairly standard but Jimmy's transformations make for a neat job system. Each one can gain levels for extra stats and skills that you can mix and match as you like.
Taking place in a dream world means that the sky is the limit as far as what you can put in it; and boy did Kasey have fun with it. Interpreting it as you go through the story beats is an interesting part of the experience.
There's something a little sad to me about Jimmy and the Pulsating Masses' relative obscurity. Even if great games slip through the cracks at times. The main adventure is lengthy enough with an above average difficulty with plenty of optional bosses and other secrets for those willing to dig deeper.
I rate this game a Fresh. out of 10.
An absolute wild ride.
All the charm and style you could want in an Earthbound/classic 90s JRPG game. A fun, unique take on the job system (for Jimmy), multiple party members (some rotating based on story beats), and a wild trek across diverse biomes (and nightmarish weirdness).
Can be grindy, at times, and more challenging than you might expect. Be sure to power up the various jobs as they will no doubt come in handy at different times. There’s also a bit of exploration/puzzle solving involved with the different capabilities of each outfit
Did I mention the fun and quirky writing? I definitely should have! It’s fun! I’m glad the game is getting a console release and more exposure, because more folks need to know this exists.
It's like Mother 3's weird cousin, I love it, the soundtrack is addictive, the story is intriguing, and it has those silly jokes that make me think about Mother 3 and Earthbound
10/10 made me cry
Enfin un j-rpg avec de la difficulté !!!
J'ai lu que pour certain ce fut un vrai calvaire, mais ayant l'habitude du genre tour par tour, le challenge fut au rendez-vous et cela, sans non plus être artificiellement poussé par le grind.
Le challenge des énigmes d'explorations m'ont également surpris en bien, et parfois renouvelle complètement le gameplay.
En ce qui concerne l'histoire, bien que non-révolutionnaire, j'ai très apprécié le foreshadowing présent qui prend place de manière de plus en plus prépondérante. En effet, ce trait est poussé jusqu'au design des lieux, des ennemis, des boss, et même des capacités de Jimmy. Le monde est centré autour de l'intrigue mystérieuse et non juste "je vais faire un monde de la forêt, de l'eau, et du feu". Cela FONCTIONNE narrativement et bien que pas excellent graphiquement, pour avoir été fait par une seule et même personne l'univers sait se varier et garder son esthétique (souvent glauque, mais diversifié) qui lui est propre.
Très bon jeu, possède certains défauts (1. le spam d'ennemis, UTILISEZ CLEAN GETAWAY, 2. Lars, tank médiocre obligatoire qui ne fait rien d'autre, 3. la phase avant boss final trop répétitive) mais ils sont largement compensés par le reste.
8/10.
Second time's the charm! I had played some of this game when it came out, but I became frustrated and gave up. I couldn't let go of the idea, though, so I had it sit on my backlog until the time felt right. And it did, and it was! There is so much to do in this game, even if you're interested in only the JRPG stuff. It's got only a few puzzles scattered around, but you can make the combat as simple or as complex as you like, and there is a lot of optional stuff. So much that you're liable to find some of it accidentally!
Oh, and it's beautiful! The art is gorgeous, cleanly shifting between pacific and horrifying, or even downgrading the graphics to 8-bit for a story beat. The music that accompanies all of it is fitting. I don't think I had any songs or sound effects that stuck with me, but I felt compelled to keep my headphones on because it adds so much to the ambiance.
For better or worse, all of the above sits on a more complex story. Jimmy is an 8-year-old boy and this is explicitly a dream that he's having. However, the dream becomes corrupted over time. Maybe someone could dismiss the early signs as either being off-tone or superficial random weirdness showing up in a kid's dreams. But sooner or later, it becomes clear that Jimmy is struggling with something that nobody should have to go through, and a lot of the game is about him trying to make sense of it all. I'd love to say more, but I'll stop there out of concern that I'm teetering on the edge of what I can share without outright spoiling it.
The game's final moments didn't do as much for me as I'd hoped. I expected some difficult emotional beats. We do get one of those if you do a certain action that becomes available in the end-game, and I've heard it's likewise if you fully explore one special dungeon, but all of this is after the credit roll and has to be initiated after the emotional beat of the climax has waned. I would've been happier if we got just a little more. To hear the final thoughts Jimmy has on the whole situation.
In any case, fantastic game and worth picking it up. I spent almost 27 hours on it and that's with leaving the post-game content untouched. You'll get your money's worth.
This is the best indie game you haven't played
♥
A must-play for anyone getting into "real" RPGMaker games. Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass hits a nice middle ground between quality of life and complexity, with simple stats and clearly-defined mechanics but enough room for strategy in a fight. Jimmy is easy to beat even on the normal difficulty, but bonus content can ask for a lot more investment and character building.
EarthBound is my favorite game of all time, and Jimmy is one of the few games inspired by it that truly *gets* what it was all about. Quirky characters and plot points are great, but it's the emotional moments and darker turns that really set Jimmy apart.
Oh, and Kasey Ozymy is one of the best modern-day game music composers. Every track in the game is an 11/10 that heightens the impact of its scene perfectly, whether it's excitement, unease, terror, or emotions that you didn't know it was possible for game music to pull out of you.
If you're a fan of SNES-era RPGs and/or nonstop bangers, then play this game. It will transport you somewhere you haven't been in a long time.
My goodness what a wild ride Jimmy and his family and friends got me through hard times when my mom was sick with cancer [spoiler] once you find out what the real boss is how hard this hits [/spoiler]
fun game. starts a bit slow but once it gets going it's great
It plays like how I want Earthbound to play every time I try to go back to it. It has all that charm (albeit with some tonal shifts) but with so many of today's modern conveniences. The job system is fun to play around with and finding a build that fits your play style is very satisfying. The writing is good, with several jokes making me chuckle. Finally exploration is rewarded well and very few of the puzzles were obtuse.
I cannot reccommend this game enough.
If you miss Earthbound and want to have that wonder and horror this is a game for you.
I've spent my whole life playing rpg's and this is the best one.
.
Questo gioco è un capolavoro, uno dei migliori rpg mai giocati.
Decisamente sottovalutato.
Great game! It has some friendly visual, the dialog is funny a but sometimes there's going to be gore spat to your face while playing. It is also oddly hard like it is meant for hardcore RPG fan so if it's too hard for you, you should just change the difficulty in the setting. Also, the game horrifyingly packed with lots of content, like wayyyy too much that I cannot expect anymore so if you want to go on a long RPG run this is a top pick for you.
criminally underrated game. it's an rpg maker game with actually amazing gameplay. not even sure how that's possible lol
story is decent, execution was mixed but mostly good (edit: emphasis on mostly good. my complaints are mostly nitpicks or just how certain scenes are presented)
im honestly considering making a lengthy MarshSMT-esque video essay about this game just to get into how engaging of an experience this game is
This game made me cry for multiple different reasons, multiple different times. I went in expecting another joke-y RPGMaker game, and got one of the best stories I've ever played through.
It's a decent enough game with much more content than you would expect for an RPG Maker product. I just didn't find it at all compelling and had to constantly force myself to keep playing. There's nothing strictly wrong with the game on any particular level, it just all feels very underwhelming.
Several parts feel half-baked, like the transformation powers and a pretty sad attempt at some elemental weaknesses. While you do go through many varied environments fairly quickly, what you actually do in them barely changes. Unique area gimmicks are few and far between and most of the levels are just corridors with a few branching paths. Side quests are very poorly telegraphed, mostly reliant on going back to places you have no reason to go back to and talking to characters you have no reason to talk to. The early game suffers from a lack of multi target moves, with battles of 2-4 enemies at a time being fairly common, and the bosses tend to be HP sponges even on Easy. The enemy design and variety is good though, some real creativity there.
I didn't finish the game so I can't comment too much on the story, but what I've played so far did not grab me. None of the party members are interesting characters, though I do get the sense that most of their character development has been backloaded to the end of the game. Thus far the narrative has come across as discombobulated, less interested in a driving plot and more in placing you in a succession of cheerful, twee environments and then slapping you over the head with horror seemingly out of nowhere. This was quite effective the first time, by the tenth it was tiresome and eye-rolling.
Ultimately my issue with this game is that I just did not find the core gameplay interesting or fun. It checks the boxes for a basic JRPG and doesn't seem to have any ambition beyond that. Series like Dragon Quest can get away with this by having high production values and side content that isn't just another samey dungeon filled with fights. Some more gameplay variance and this could have been a true gem. As it is it serves as a decent enough first game to provide the template for better ideas moving forward.
It's a very good game.
More moments in this game live rent-free in my head than pretty much every other RPG Maker game I've played, and they have since I played this game like, what... six years ago?
Went back for another playthrough recently, and it's definitely hitting different now that I can pick up on so much more of the subtext. There's so many details to appreciate, too, even outside of the writing. Art's great, music's an unrelenting series of jams (and/or very good at setting the vibe), and the gameplay itself is your classic turn-based RPG fare, with a few fun twists thrown in there to keep things spicy.
The post-game is also pretty robust, and insanely hard, imo. Good amount of challenge for the kind of folks who like to go nuts with build-optimizing (which the game gives you a pretty wide selection of options for).
If I were to try to criticize anything, I'd say it's a little on the grindy side at times, but that has its appeal for the more hardcore types. Easy mode does exist, though, if you're not all about the grind; all it'll do is increase money and exp rates, if I'm not mistaken.
All in all, guh-reat game, top shelf. It warms the heart, socks the gut, and chills the blood, and it does it all without becoming a tonal mess — which is rare these days, if that ain't my bias talking. If you want a good, meaty RPG with a well-written story that'll make you feel a couple things, I couldn't recommend this game more.
Extremely triggering yet can't stop thinking about how it affected me (/negative) and am still surprised this game isn't more popular.
yay
everytime i wake up and start screaming for about an hour because of how many fans this game doesn't have.
The combat is a great mix of archetypal and unique, the story is heartbreaking in a perfect way, its funny, its fun, the musics so good, the games so good, play this game NOW.
would you like me to repeat that?
15 dollars for the experience of a lifetime.
Masterpiece game, excellent writing and art direction, tons of content. Criminally underrated (and its rated really good).
I bought Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass several years ago and played through the main story and really enjoyed it. Returning to the game several years later, I found that there were so many optional side quests that I missed my first time around. This really is an Earthbound-type game so if you're into those kinds of JRPGs you'll probably like this one. I find the art and music charming and fitting for each area of the game (special shout-out to Hotel at the End of the World), and the tonal shifts going from bright & cheery to dark & frightening were always spooky, even when I knew what was going to happen the second time around. Overall a fantastic experience and a horror JRPG I'm sure to return to again in a few years to cry over again.
Dev won't add cheevs cause they think it doesn't need them. But he's adding them to the Xbox and Playstation version. Lazy dev.
fresh.
지미는 최선을 다했습니다..
안타깝게도.
좋은 게임 스토리란 무엇일까?
게임만이 가질 수 있는 고유한 스토리 텔링 중 하나가 경험해서 느끼기 라고 생각하는데
직접적으로 게임의 요소들을 설명하지 않고도 자연스럽게 게임을 경험하면서 무엇에 관한 이야기인지 알 수 있게 한다는 점에서 이 게임은 잘 만들어졌다고 생각한다.
게임의 다양한 골때리는 요소들도 대단하 잘 만들었다.
예를 들면 훔치기 스킬이 있는데 삼각형 몹에 훔치기 스킬을 사용해서 꼭짓점을 훔쳐 선으로 만들어서 없앨 수 있다.
이런 다양한 상호작용들이 나를 이 게임이 수작 이상의 게임이라고 느끼게 해 준 것들 중 하나다.
학교 파트처럼 개인적으로 아쉬운 부분도 있었지만
결말까지 포함해서 아주 잘 만든 게임이라고 생각한다.
비슷한 감성을 담은 쯔꾸르 게임들, 독보적이고 유명하고 평 좋은 작품들 중에도
이것보다 좋다고 할만한 게임은 말하기 힘들다. 그 정도로 좋은 느낌을 받았다.
마더3의 감성을 다시 한 번 느끼고 싶으면 매우 추천하는 바이다.
awesome
good! strange difficulty spikes at times, but overall a good time.
Man, this game was good. I don't see it mentioned enough on game recommendation posts. I played for 51 hours; there's so much to do in this game. It's beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking all at the same time. Definitely some trigger warnings for content, but not because it's over-the-top.
Things to note: It takes the typical RPG combat system and makes it more interesting; the same goes for item set buffs and weapon/armor/item abilities. The music is awesome. The story hits hard if you know what to look for.
This game has a surprising amount of content... very meaty
Also I do not know what is going on but I am disturbed.
Not even done with it and it's already cemented itself as one of the best written rpgs i've ever played
Sometimes hilarious.
Sometimes horrifying.
Always Ingenious.
Really works the RPG maker to it's mechanical limit to boot, some masterful JRPG mechanics design in there.
I was spoiled on this game's ending far before I ever played it. I expected to drag myself through the story knowing I'd be disappointed, but as the credits rolled, knowing everything that will come to pass, even if I wasn't spoiled it isn't exactly subtle and... I get it.
I can't go into more detail without spoiling the entire game. All I'll say is I've heard rumblings of a potential switch port, and I hope if it comes to pass, we see a bit more expansion on Jimmy's family. I want closure for them, too.
This game is a masterpiece, and it deserves far more attention than it got. Just know, if you're the type that loves happy endings... you're not going to find them here.
Also, a little tip if you're planning on playing on Normal: Save often, bank your money often, and when you go to open a toybox, save and reload until there's rubies, if it's a box that can have a surprise. Money is *incredibly* important to progression for most of the game.
All this being said, as a game, it's amazing. One of the best JRPGs I've played in years now, with side content rivaling Chrono Trigger, and I'm completely serious about that. There's soooooooooo much to do, there's like a bajillion side dungeons *and* a postgame dungeon! Also, if you're looking at my playtime, I don't know why it didn't count most of it, I've done basically everything except the post-game dungeon and dark dungeon, but steam wasn't counting my hours for most of it. It's not something you can knock out in one sitting, be prepared to take time and savor this. It's about the journey more than the destination.
I thought this was a spiritual successor to earthbound, but it's more than that. It's a heartbreaking gemstone. Jimmy deserved better, but sometimes you can't stop something that's inevitable. :(
this game has been out for 7 years and it has more content and more depth than most rpg maker games ive ever played.
literally omori tier quality, aside from a few small nitpicks which are far outweighed by its quality.
criminally underrated.
An incredibly underrated game. The quirky atmosphere with encroaching horror, the gameplay, the ample bonus content, the heartwrenching story--if you're a fan of RPGs, try this out. This is a game that will stick with me for a long time.
This game is an absolute must-play for fans of Earthbound! It's both touching and hilarious, with plenty of secrets to discover and fun ways to interact with the world.
a hidden masterpiece that not enough gamers played, if you want a RPG with really in deep gameplay that makes fun and has a rich cast of differnet charachters thats your game, some visuals are a bit unusal or bad but if you dont care for that its a great game from a single indie developer. Another point i really like about Jimmy is the massive Side content that is highly appreciatet especially all the hidden dungeon. The only negative point is the post game which has some good fights but not much, still its the best rpg maker game i`ve ever played even in comparison to Omori or earthbound.
Update for the review:
After rethinking everything, talking with a friend who decided to play through it also,
and watching playthrough diving deeper in the rest of the side content and all of that.
I have come to a conclusion that stunned me, I didn't/don't dislike or hate this game because of its problems, like:
- Bad difficulty balance, necessary grind and ways to solve it are locked behind grind that you get at the END of the game, so they are pointless.
Even on easy you don't get nearly enough to count this as a better experience, because items advance their cost for the same effects they do through the game,
So you are always poor.
- Extremely bland combat, and miniscule amount of items, whole 16 or so items, that are scarce or don't do enough and like mentioned earlier they get more expensive for the same effect,
abilities that feel lackluster, and really mean designed enemies/bosses that can stun you for, and I am not overexaggerating here, 16 turns.
- Questionably written characters that either should be shown in a better light, like Jimmy's family, or should have more depth than just "Oh I become a new side character that has no impact on the story or anything ever".
For me exempt from this is Tanaka, I disliked his guts but ended up liking the guy.
Who would have expect that after finding a job and taking pride in it, he would be even cooler.
- Lars, I despise Lars, he has good emotional moments shining through, i.e. scene where he played with Jimmy and Flashback to Jimmy's grandma.
But everywhere else, he is a completely irritating Slob, not having any backbone or will to do anything and it only gets worse through the game.
Even closer to the end where he finds someone who loves him and has opportunity to grow, nope, it's worse.
- Jimmy is somehow a complete nobody with almost no factual characterisation, nor opinions, nor anything. Throughout the game we don't get anything from Jimmy himself, no initiative to anything, no snippets to what small things he might enjoy.
We only have but a few moments when he gets anything, and its not enough.
I think the attempt here is to be a blank slate for the player, but this doesn't really work because everyone knows him, or praises him constantly.
He has story behind him, but we don't get any of it. And only moments that he shows anything are in negative lights.
- Story builds to nothing,
previously mentioned characters also build to not much,
and the end of the story doesn't feel satisfying in any way.
And many plot points are not really elaborated on or bare no consequences.
- Its hard to figure out where to go at times, I done 3 optional dungeons because of that.
- The. Anime. School. Section.
It overstays its welcome, requires you to rewalk the whole way, adds NOTHING to story, and is boring like a gray oatmeal bowl.
Arena plot was at least shorter.
- Not so great Visual style, but I don't care much for graphics so its just "meh"
And Quite the amount of other things that just annoy me. But like I said, I don't dislike/hate it because of well, the game being bad in my eyes. I do feel bitter about it
because wherever I seen this, people sung praise
I actually wanted to get this to my friend that really adores RPGmaker games, and I am still sweating bullets at the thought I almost given this to him when so much of the experience
is basically tedium. I do feel so annoyed because so much here feels like points from classical jrpgs got misunderstood, and made difficult but not in the "fight tooth and nail" to win.
But the "Player has it to easy, lets throw him a log in the legs"
I hate/dislike it because it has true potential shining through.
It has those strong notes and sheer amount of great ideas as well as content that genuinely looks amazing shining through its side content.
Allow me to mention a few:
- Some of the boss fights have such cool and intriguing mechanical implementation, or just really fun gimmicks (even if overly punishing because some attacks are instakill),
Black Prophet and the Doomsday Clock,
Grimclaw, Golden King, Phoenix, Mr. Cat,
Lingering eyes, Mr. Grouse, Gamme.
- Nightmare sections are executed really, really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ well
Especially Mr. Cats, That one knocks everything completely out of the park
Its subtle, its creepy, it was built up at the start if you talked to the npcs.
But most importantly it ended in such a sick and uncomfortable way [i]THAT HAD CONSEQUENCE ON THE WORLD AND OTHERS[/i],
it didn't really matter, but it just [i]hit that nerve[/i] and left me, during my most tired and done with the game state,
Genuinely shocked and speechless.
- additional weapons that require getting through the overall slog of side stuff, which might not even feel worth it have fun ideas behind it
but the game design holds it back.
Just the sheer amount of stuff to do, which is undermined by the sad case of faulty and lacking core of the gameplay
It could have been better, It absolutely was capable of being done better,
And I will point to Mr. Cat and other nightmare zones, but somehow we ended with a wreck that feels tiresome.
At least to me.
Although I did check out the new project from the creator, "Hymn to the earless god" and from what I seen he learned from it,
and I really hope it goes well with this, because it improves on all the shortcomings I experienced with Jimmy.
That is all.
Og review I left after completing it:
"This was one of the most tedious and tiring adventure with what feels, little to no payoff and frustrating level design.
Try at your own risk,
took me 16 hours, but it felt like 60 in the worst way possible."
If there's any game I'd ever recommend to anyone, it's this game. Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is such a masterpiece and a genuine love letter to RPGs. The creativity in this game is something I rarely see even a fraction of in most other turn based RPGs. And the story itself made me cry, it's that good and something I do not even want to remotely spoil. The level design is super fun with many side dungeons and secrets to explore to gear that completely changes up your build. This is a game when you should leave no stone unturned! If you like weird RPGs like Undertale and Earthbound, or more conventional ones like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI & VII, then this is a game you owe it to yourself to play.
I also want to address some of the biggest criticisms I saw in the negative reviews since I myself am also easily scared off when I read a negative review. One of the biggest ones I saw was that they thought the game had too much grinding and that constant combat was slowing the game down. Like many random-encounter style RPGs, you will many times be interrupted from exploration and thrown into battle. However, there are two factors that make this miles more manageable then many other games that use the same system. One is that if you are high enough level, you will be given the option to skip encounter by pressing the X button on the keyboard when the exclamation point is above your head (only if the exclamation point is green though. Red means the fight is mandatory). The other is that one of the first abilities Jimmy learns lets him guarantee an escape from battle instead of taking a chance with the flee button and only costs 1 Mp. This lets the player decide when they've had enough of the combat for that area. The recommended amount of enemies killed also isn't that bad as I only ever went out of my way to fight enemies near the end of the game and there's many reasons to fight enemies multiple times (many enemies have unique furniture items that provide passive buffs to the player so fighting until you can steal them using the steal mechanic rewards you for not skipping battle, but it's far from mandatory). However, if you think combat has overstayed it's welcome, there is an easy mode option that make encounters much more manageable with lower level characters, but doesn't rob the game of it's fun RPG combat and experience.
The next is that enemies in secret levels (or even just sometimes in general) seem to be unfairly strong. However, enemies in Jimmy in the Pulsating Mass aren't just damage sponges like they are in many other turn based RPGs. Each enemy has there own quirks and weakness, and not just elemental ones like you would see an many other RPGs. Watch how they act and how you can approach them. If one keeps hitting really hard, look to see if they telegraph the attack by wasting their action the turn before. An enemy has a really devastating weapon? Check to see if you can steal it from the steal menu. Does the enemy start with a status effect? Do they only attack in response to your attacks? Are they effected by other combatants or by the surroundings? Do you have party members with moves to deal with them? You can make things much easier on yourself, or much harder, by how much you pay attention in this game.
In the end, I just can't gush about this game enough. While some optional bosses near the end might be a bit too experimental, there was nothing that left me unsatisfied by the end. This is a game I'm still talking about years after I played it and is my #1 RPG (#2 game right behind Terraria) of all time.
TL;DR: You need to give this game a try if you enjoy a good RPG. It's just that good and honestly needs way more recognition. Thanks for reading :D
It made me cry thanks
Fire rpg
Altered the course of my life and my relationship with the friends I watched and played alongside forever, no exaggeration. Tied for my favorite game of all time. Everything about JatPM just hits so perfectly in a way that's hard to eloquently described. The music is fantastic and fitting for every area and dungeon (Parabolic Smile is probably my fave); genuinely the only song on the OST I can say I dislike is from the Mad Queen's nightmare dungeon, and that track is MEANT to sound off-putting and discordant. Still succeeds at setting the mood.
Let me come back to this when I can get my thoughts together because this game deserves it. 10/10 lifechanging experience
There's some amusing moments, characters and dialog, and I like the Earthbound-esque aesthetic and enemy behavior, but the overall story didn't grip me enough and the combat is far too repetitive and uninteresting for a game that takes this long to complete.
Phenomenal game, one of the best in its niche genre and I'm honestly pretty surprised that it's as unknown as it is.
The gameplay takes huge inspiration from its predecessors, most obviously in the job class system. The battle system is fantastic, with a small moveset that is nevertheless much more useful and diverse than many games in the genre where you end up spamming maybe a handful of moves total. Bosses are well-balanced, and it's easier for me to list bosses that I didn't die to by the end. The final boss is a standout and took me a solid 20 minutes to beat. Grinding isn't really necessary at any point until the post-game, and the kind of players who are interested in grinding are probably the kinds to be ok with it to begin with.
Structurally, the game is most heavily influenced by Chrono Trigger, and the way the story beats are laid out follow it similarly. The game never feels like it's dragging, areas are long enough for you to soak up the atmosphere but never overstay their welcome, and there's ample reasons to return to old areas later on. The world is interesting and fun, even where it lifts from other similar games. The Yume Nikki-like nightmare dungeons are a great addition, and I love how the game lets you stumble on them early even if you can't take them on at that point. Gameplay in each area varies widely, and every new thing it tried I thought worked perfectly, even when it crosses genres.
The Mother 3-inspired art is great, and aside from a few sprites that look a little off the character and enemy designs are fantastic. The music is top notch, lots of standout pieces especially the boss music and there's new batttle themes for each new area you reach which is much appreciated. The battle backgrounds are well-done, though a bit more variety would have been good.
The characters are a bizarre set, which makes sense for a game taking place in the mind of an 8-year-old. The core family is interestingly flawed in ways you usually don't see in "earthtbound-like" games, and side characters develop complexity as you go on. Meeting the same set of traveling characters as you reach each area never got old, and dialog throughout was well-written. There's many points where the game distinctly does sound like an 8-year-old attempting to speak with the voice of the other characters he knows, which is a tough thing to do through dialogue. The plot is by and large good, and I like the ambiguities in the ending. I feel like I was left hanging a bit by the ending, but that seems to be the point and in a way I like leaving it off like that.
Overall, fantastic game and I'll be going out of my way to make people pick it up given its relative obscurity right now. 10/10
I’ve played a lot of indie JRPGs and many of them, including some RPG Maker outings, aren’t that memorable on a gameplay side of things (or narrative side of things, for that matter). A lot of their mechanics feel like excuse mechanics– wanting to evoke the feeling of a classic JRPG without providing interesting gameplay scenarios.
[i]Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass[/i] isn’t like that. Don’t get me wrong, this game is rolling with long-time JRPG conventions but it gets a lot out of its systems. Most enemies have a lot of personality in their battle behaviour and every boss was a good (intense!) combat puzzle. I wish there was more customization (like giving the heroes more equipment slots towards the end), but I had great fun for most of this playthrough and unlike a lot of other newer JRPGs, [i]Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass[/i] wants the player to be [i]invested[/i] in the gameplay systems.
I’d assume the game takes more from [i]Mother 3[/i] than [i]Earthbound[/i] because the story is mature. It’s very sad, and you are going to hear that about the game’s story a lot, but I think emphasizing how sad the story is undersells how rich the writing is. The narrative is tragic, but there’s ample theme to be found across the story’s world and characters. There’s a lot of talk about guilt, lost potential, unfairness, fears, and the nature of tragedy. The story is very metaphorical but there’s a lot of fun in trying to understand what everything means, right down to individual scenes. I don’t think I’ve made complete sense of the narrative, but that’s a sign that there’s so much to it that I can’t even wrap my head around everything.
I got credits on this one and did a chunk of the post-game before getting tired and needing a break from it. I enjoyed my time but it is a very [i]full[/i] RPG experience (clocking in 40+ hours for me) whereas a lot of indie JRPGs go for compressed narratives. I don’t think longer = better but [i]JATPM[/i]’s extended narrative gives things more breathing room and allows a lot of details in the many of the cast’s characterizations. That’s why it’s going to stick with me harder than other games and I think that’s a good note to go out on. [i]JATPM[/i] is an unforgettable RPG.
I honestly do not know how I stumbled upon Jimmy on steam but I'm glad I did.
Jimmy has reignited my love for rpgs after I got bored or not interested past ps3, it reminded me how much love I have for the retro look and feel, it became one of my top games to recommend and hopefully if ported to other platforms I can bother more friends to play it
My mass is pulsating.
Absolutely phenomenal game. Worth playing 100%
There are two major downsides to this game:
The first is the fact that there is a heavy RNG element in nearly everything you do from basic combat mechanics to other gameplay elements.
The other downside that this game is a serious grindfest. It is not possible to get through this game without at least some grinding.
If the above are dealbreakers, then it's understandable. However, this game has an incredible story and world that proved to be the best compared to similar games like Omori and Undertale.
Again, highly highly recommend.
Un gioco che ne cita film videogiochi manga libri ad ogni suo singolo minuto di gameplay, e che ho ritrovato super ispirato, ma anche pieno di iconicità dello stesso.
Un gioco che cita e omaggia alcuni dei più grandi giochi della storia come earthbound e undertale, anche solo nel suo stile artistico.
Già solo nella mappa di gioco, mi ha ricordato Chrono Trigger, davvero un titolo stupendo, e che merita un successo assolutamente maggiore.
loved every second of this game, if you love Earthbound and Undertale this is a good game to follow up with
This game is beautiful and unforgettable, it's similar to the games Lisa and Omori in terms of gameplay, and wonderful writing and storytelling
(I accidentally deleted it and so I lost my save files but I may come back to it one day so ignore my playtime)
Buck looks like Jschlatt
(Good game though! I loved it so much I played it twice. I would recommend!)
Such an amazing experience that will get anyone sappy about their life as you will reflect in some way with what this game gives you.
Pretty damn good but has some grinding to it. 9/10
⠀
very good i would highly suggest u play it... right now. JUST BUY IT go on just click it? its not that hard. i dare you... fricking chicken
I love it
Ta piola
jimmy and the pulsating mass is beautiful beyond belief. criminally underrated among its quirkyindieearthboundinspired-rpg contemporaries, it delivers fantastically in storytelling/writing and gameplay. I find myself drawn to its realistic depiction of family dynamics, of which I can say little without spoilers. humor is pointed and inexplicably fresh. jatpm squeezed laughter and tears out of me several times, sometimes within moments of each other. combat isn't over-complicated and provides ample room for strategy. puzzles within jatpm tend to rock as well.
I would have to agree that the game is lacking in visual artistic direction, which is more of a byproduct of games in its genre tending to be outstanding in that department and less of a lack of effort (evident from the charm oozing from plenty of the artwork). kasey ozymy does a fine job with battle sprites (even if some of them are a little vile), and overworld character sprites vary from solid to great. music is surprisingly high-quality, if amateur. a solid amount of the ost is just excellent music, with high-highs and medium-lows. one would be surprised by how enjoyable the sound design is. overall, the game is unpolished artistically, but still manages to have an incredibly appealing presentation.
strong contender for "most underrated game of all time", jimmy and the pulsating mass deserves the world
You've just finished Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass. You feel at peace yet somewhat empty. Some of the game's themes resonated deeply with you. You think about the brutal unfairness of an indifferent world in which even children are not safe from harm and yet, you cannot help but be moved by how much love we dare to share regardless. Surely, things are far from perfect and wont end well but at some point, maybe you were someone's hope too. Suddenly, you realize you have to go to work tomorrow so you cannot grind until 3 am. You do not want to go to work: the sinister lights of the open space, the toilets that are always clogged-up, the long hours of boredom your brain cannot help but fill with thoughts of anguish and despair. What about your long gone dreams? What about your limited time on this earth? What if you did not partake in this dumb, pointless, umpteenth agile ceremony? What if you stripped and climbed onto your desk then began to throw your poop at your colleagues instead? How unhinged and hilarious would it be... You chuckle to yourself and your laugh soon turns into high-pitched, ear-piercing shrieks. Everyone is shouting in terror and bumping into each other like panicked cats while you aim for the perfect throw at your boss' shiny bald skull.
You can now turn into an unmanageable ape.
8 Hours in and I dont regret buying this
çok güzel
Very good JRPG that tells an adult story through a kid's dream. I saw a lot of complaints about grinding in the reviews that I never ran into, but I was also able to one/two-shot the majority of enemy configurations by level 60. Final secret dungeon wasn't too bad, but the last boss took a few tries. Lots of optional stuff to do in this game, but the rewards aren't super meaningful, it's more for personal completion since there aren't steam achievements either. Game doesn't get too complicated with the form switches which was something I was worried about.
Я очень хотел (да и хочу) прочувствовать и поиграть в эту игру, учитывая, что я прочитал в обзорах, но просто не могу. Ничего меня не смогло затянуть. Мне интересен сюжет, но геймплей и исследование локаций просто будто не сделаны для этого. Враги нападают каждые 5 секунд, и ладно бы, игра позволяет пропустить большинство стычек, но вот и обязательных тоже не мало. И вот мне вообще неинтересно изучать навыки и как-то заумно побеждать врагов. Игра просто не может нормально меня к этому подвести. К инфочелу я из принципа не подходил за подсказками, потому что он постоянно несет какую-то душную околесицу. В первый раз меня это вообще убило. Он ни с того, ни с сего начал свою предысторию рассказывать, будто мне до этого хоть какое-то дело есть. Насчет исследования, игра пытается выстроить локации (как минимум первые) как какой-то лабиринт с кучей разных проходов, но на самом деле все эти "лабиринты" маленькие, а пути короткие, да и не то чтобы было действительно интересно исследовать их. Юмор ни так, ни сяк. Забавно было читать про первое превращение Джимми, да и... всё. За 2 часа я больше ни единого забавного момента не встретил. Перейдем к саундтреку. Он скучный, ну вот действительно. Это не то, что я захочу переслушивать, да и при желании не стал бы слушать. Про локации я даже не знаю, что сказать. Это наверное один из самых ленивых дизайнов в играх, по крайней мере, из того, что я заметил за два часа. Я понимаю, что автор хотел скопировать стиль старых Earthbound, но вот честно: я ни в одну не играл, но вот какие-нибудь Undertale и Omori выглядят вполне приятно и качественно, чего я не могу сказать о Джимми и его пульсирующей массе.
Jimmy did his best!
What a special and woefully overlooked game.
This is THE indie RPG inspired by the Mother series. Despite that, it absolutely stands on its own. It's its entirely own thing, and does its own things. It's an evolution, not an imitation. The charm of it, the heart and soul put in to it, and the emotions it can elicit, it's all so perfectly done. Beyond that, it's also just a damn good RPG. Lots of great QoL features as well as some really creative boss encounters. It's easily the best RPG I've played in a while. There's a ton of side content, secrets, and a post-game. I feel like there's still so much I haven't done, but I feel so content with the main story alone, even if I may go back and complete more of the optional content.
Please play this game. It deserves so much more recognition and to be enjoyed by so many more people.
Not bad for a first indie game. Just few janky bits that eventually erode my motivation to keep playing.
Positives: better than average writing, colorful artstyle, wacky tone that take cues from Earthbound
Negatives: slow transitions exiting areas, lack of character progression besides Jimmy (they don't learn new skills on leveling), regular mobs / bosses too tanky, need better sustainability in dungeons in regard to MP, low enemy encounter variety you basically fight same formations or 2 over and over in dungeons
Wonderful, combat becomes a slog after a while but the first time you fight something is really entertaining. Wish the text in combat went slower tho so I could always read it.
charming earthbound like
a RAD game
There is so much heart in this game, it is hard for one game to have so many tender moments and such fun humor (both of the incredibly smart and incredibly dumb varieties), while also including such sorrowful and genuinely unnerving bits. The RPG mechanics felt a bit janky at times, but once I understood them better I really had a lot of fun with combat and exploring the world. The core concept of Jimmy's imagination being used to change forms to alter your combat style and how you interact with the world is really clever, and gives a lot of depth to your main character (both mechanically and in the story). Would highly recommend to any fans of the genre.
This works well on Steam Deck despite being listed as unsupported. You have to create your own controller setup (or find one), and occasionally, the framerate will drop. Luckily, closing and reopening the game fixes it.
*тут був довжелезний огляд на 4 абзаци, який Стім вирішив не зберегти, тому дуже коротко, бо я втомився витрачати свій час*
Я рекомендую цю гру за ідею і концепт, але це негативний відгук, бо грати в неї невимовно нудно і крихти сюжету абсолютно не компенсують десятки витрачених на блукання й однотипні бої годин.
Також це ніц не Mother\Earthbound з Yume Nikki, а Disgaea (гріндінг заради гріндінгу, навіть додаткових босів не дають і Item World на 100 рівнів тут теж є) з .flow (це фанатська гра по Yume Nikki, але тут важливіший саме сеттінг, тож якщо ви не в темі - два слова: лікарні і бодіхорор). Ті півтори сторінки тексту, що тут є, написані чудово, але їх абсолютно недостатньо, щоб компенсувати чи хоч якось виправдати нав'язливі бої з нескінченною анімацією, оминати які майже так само жахливо дратує, як власне битися.
Дуже-дуже давно мені не траплялося щось, що на перший, другий і навіть третій погляд мало бути дуже "моїм", а виявилося тестом на впертість і витривалість, бо я сподівався, що стане цікаво. Не стало.
really cool game. a bit janky and grindy at times, i had to turn it to easy to be bothered to play for a decent amount of the game, but overall an experience i would recommend.
[h2]TLDR: This game rules. But, if you're here for the story alone, I HIGHLY recommend playing through this game on Easy Mode due to the insane grind that comes in very, VERY late into the game.[/h2]
I just finished this game (around 20 hours, new pc). I think this game is really, really, REALLY good, in all aspects except [b]one.[/b] But let me talk about what I liked first:
The art and music are either hit or miss depending on your personal tastes. Personally, I really liked it! The boss themes in particular enhances the atmosphere tenfold: super intense, super good. The calmer tracks are also good.
The combat is actually pretty in-depth, with an insane variety of builds and things you can do. While in random encounters (especially later) usually ends up equaling to mashing your AoE skills until everything dies or going into Goon Form and mashing Clean Getaway (due to the massive density in random encounters), the boss encounters (at their best) are EXTREMELY fun to solve and extremely rewarding when you finally beat them.
The characters are probably my favorite thing about this game. Every character in this game, big or small, is super easy to get invested into and like. Even the smaller side characters are just, EXTREMELY well written. The writing in this game is absolutely amazing, making you laugh, making you cry, it's awesome.
The story is probably the main reason you want to play this game. You can get everything you need from the description but basically: A boy is travelling through a land while this thing called the "Pulsating Mass" wants to end him. There is nothing I can really say about this without spoiling MASSIVELY, all I can say is that it's certifiably KINO.
(Spoilers for the end) [spoiler]The ending in particular had my jaw OPENED for a good few minutes. The "I'm Sorry", Jimmy's lineart turning into a flat line signaling his death from the cancer, it hit me EXTREMELY hard, especially when I thought the ending flopped on me, with a "whatever" ending of Jimmy saving the day by Locking The ♥♥♥♥ In and reading The Secret Knowledge. The hardest hitting parts are easily the Nexus Orbs: you get hit in the feels SUPER hard, and it's probably my favorite part of the game.[/spoiler]
All of these parts are, well, AMAZING. But one part truly holds me back from sending a "MUST PLAY" down mid:
[h3]The grind is AWFUL awful on Normal Mode.[/h3]
At the beginning, it's not really that much, but by the end depending on how you'll play you will probably be underleveled. And some of the battles are genuinely INFURIATING underleveled, my main example being [spoiler]Buck 1 and Buck 2, fought in Shinryu and the Pulsating Mass respectively[/spoiler]. Without an extra hour or two spend mindlessly mashing skills to get your imagination forms and party members up to the appropriate levels, these bosses stop being fun tests of puzzle-solving and skill and end up being extremely infuriating and annoying to fight. You WILL get hoed by RNG at least once, and the boss WILL decide to heal 3 times in a row undoing any sort of progress you have made in the fight and forcing a restart. It got so bad that I swapped to Easy Mode for the final 2 bosses, as I realized it was not worth my time to spend yet another hour or so mindlessly grinding just for the last 2 bosses in the game.
Listen: If you buy this game for the story and story alone, and you don't really care that much about the combat, PLAY ON EASY MODE. Your life will be so, so, SO much better it's actually insane. Normal is definitely the way to go if you want to get the most out of the combat, but the last bits of the game soured it a very meaningful amount for me personally.
Looking past this though, I love this game. It's just an extremely solid, you-will-get-your-money's-worth type of game. I lost my life for 2 days just absolutely grinding this game out because I got so invested into it. I didn't drink WATER because of how much I loved the game. It's an awesome game, just slightly weak combat-wise near the end of the maingame.
Jimmy and the pulsating mass captivates with its heartfelt narrative, infused with humor and warmth. With an amazing cast of wonderful characters, each contributing to the theme of family explored throughout the game. If you're even considering playing it, don't hesitate-just dive in and experience its magic for yourself.
Only 3 hours in and I absolutely adore this game. It is hard to describe but think more adult Earthbound, the music is great. Worth every penny.
God I love this game so much it absolutely destroyed me emotionally
A wonderful rpg with a complex battle system that rewards experimentation and a massive focus on exploration
You know combat in an rpg is REALLY good when you actually use defend command often
Good storyline
i done a lot and i got a lot left to do.
charming, touching, unsettling, cozy, funny, dark, sad, joyful. all in time.
https://youtu.be/pvSihYI0ipE
Immediately awkward for controls and onboarding will hold off plenty of players who will miss out on an otherwise very compelling game.
