I am the second most powerful man on the planet, and my first job is to hire my mother! Sounds like the kind of sneaky nepotism these gleaming-smiled tosspots would get up to! But there's a serious side to hiring people in Citizens of Earth, while its your job to tell them what do to, it is down to them to do the dirty work, in this case the RPG style scrapping with your many gonzo enemies.
Yes, this game could have started off in an executive office, with many screens on the wall, but no, you need get around your little home town, fighting off the protesters and hiring all and sundry to your cause. The early going is a little simplistic, with many fetch and carry quests to get the ball rolling, and the humour (sorry, humor) might not gel for all, especially anyone who's anti-superpower in a particularly militant way.
As artificial as the VP's hair, the plot is pretty daft and romps along haphazardly between alien coffee beans, hopped up school kids and other threats to the locals. You battle these by recruiting your friends, then the local business folk and others. They can be mixed and matched in combat to best effect, and you're only a quick rematch away from trying a different strategy if something goes wrong or doesn't work at all.
In terms of mechanics, Citizens of Earth borrows shamelessly from a host of JRPGs and popular Japanese gaming ideas. It then paints a very western disguise over them and runs to the hills with the idea, throwing political one liners along the way. Its not big or clever, but it is sometimes funny and often raises a smile. Sometimes it feels too grindy for a game that should be about having fun, which may and the bright and breezy visuals can't get it over that hump.
Other issues are the weirdly lagging loading screen, instantly followed by the wheel of saving, what gives there? And the constant barrage of level-up screens does grate, along with the VP's constant chatter during battle, I'm often pleading for some battles to be over just to shut him up.
But for a daft wheeze through American underbelly of local life, coffee and donut shops, alien(?) invasions with neat tricks like enrolling characters in school to boost their skills, and other ways to advance your party, there is enough to like, and despite some nervous tics, it does move along at a decent pace.
File size 1.6GB
Not compatible with PlayStation TV
Developer: Eden Industries/Atlus
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
Price: $14.99/€11.99
Score: 7/10
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