Citizens of Space is the sequel to the hit game Citizens of Earth. Citizens of Earth which came out in 2011, is a game about a man who leads an army of citizens in helping the world. This game takes that same concept and blows it up on a grander scale.
While the first game starred the Vice President of the World, this game stars the plucky Ambassador of Earth. He arrives at the ambassadorial headquarters to speak on behalf of Earth, in hopes of joining the space union. The Ambassador of Earth is in for a rough first day when the Earth vanishes.
The Ambassador is similar to the VP, being quite the airhead. He doesn’t necessarily know what is going on. He only knows that he has a new fancy job and that people should respect that. But being from a small, nearly inconsequential planet isn’t going to help him.
Similar to its predecessor, Citizens of Space is all about amassing all of the different citizens. These characters all have unique looks, which have changed from the first game. They differ from job to job with different skills and powers, though honestly, they’ve given the whole battle system an overhaul.
All of the citizens are integral to beating the game because they all have their uses. Characters like the captain are fighters in battle but don’t count the Assistant out. The Assitant is a clear and present ally to the ambassador. He might not be entirely kind but it works for him.
It is very interesting to make a party because often times the units the player would like to use are only support characters. In the first game, all the characters were playable so it’s kind of a letdown. Though the game does turn this tide by implementing a new way to actually battle.
Players should definitely work to choose the best supporter too. These supporters offer ways to say decrease random encounters. It can be tedious running through an area with little health and finding yourself in battle after battle. These supporters just add quality of life things that make the gameplay better.
In this game, players must use action commands to attack. These action commands are the typical ones where players need to press the button at the optimal space. But there are other ones that require a little more forethought. The first game might have been kind of like Earthbound but this one is definitely closer to Paper Mario.
The quest to gather all of the citizens is also made more robust by the quests themselves. There can often be a lot of backtracking when hunting for party members. Players will need to complete quests and deliver items to these characters before they can join them. But at least once the player has them, they get to name them!
Citizens of Space also has a pretty vast space system. Players must guide their ship through the stars going between planets. It’s interesting seeing a game blow up like this as the planets really are different. There are always a lot of interesting things to see and people to meet on these adventures.
Plus the game is once again expertly voice acted. Voice acting to me is always just a treat because it’s not necessarily needed. It’s fun seeing weird characters and imagining what they will sound like, but I will always be up for some voice acting.
The game itself is also quite nice to look at. It’s a slightly different style from its predecessor but that is okay. They took the old character designs and updated them for the space theme, and it works wonders.
Citizens of Space is a fantastic sequel to an awesome game. It adds so much to the feel of the game. Plus there is so much to explore and fight. Space is a chaotic place, and this ambassador of Earth is going to need help finding Earth. Is the player up to the challenge?