Citizens of Earth review: executive order

In this case, that means a very conservative, old-school role-playing game masked by bright colors and clever writing. Citizens of Earth has its share of grinding. Its slow turn-based combat system requires careful, strategic choices. It has a bevy of design decisions that would normally turn away all but the most hardcore and nostalgic of RPG fans.

Yet Citizens of Earth's cheery disposition is impossible to ignore. It approaches the dustiest of mechanics with a wide-eyed imagination, rethinking them in a way that fits its colorful, goofy world. I went into it feeling a bit of RPG burnout, but Citizens of Earth's enthusiasm won me over in the end.

In the first of many twists on the genre, you take on the role of the newly elected vice president of the world, who wakes up on his first day in office to discover a world gone mad. Protesters have taken to the streets in anger over your victory, a local coffee shop seems to be lacing its lattes with something addictive, and the president himself is missing in action.

Lucky for you, the game is overflowing with citizens to win over to your cause — 40 in total, beginning with the VP's own mom and brother. Each subsequent recruit comes with their own special recruitment quest. These enthusiastic supporters form the backbone of your campaign.

See, the vice president doesn't do his own fighting. Instead, he stands back and barks orders at a team of three during turn-based battles. With a quickly ballooning roster of party members, Citizens of Earth has a ton of potential combinations. A big part of the game's strategy is figuring out which characters work best with each other.

The game employs a slow-and-steady turn-based system that would be at home in an NES-era Final Fantasy game (or the slightly lesser known EarthBound, its most obvious inspiration).

Characters use certain attacks to build up energy, and then spend the energy to perform other more powerful abilities. It's a basic system, one that would feel too sluggish if not for the interesting powers and huge selection of playable characters.

Citizens of Earth finds other ways to respect the genre's legacy while dodging some of its weaknesses. Instead of frequent random battles, you can see enemies on the game's map. If you're running low on health or just don't feel like fighting, you can avoid them. You can also send your party members charging into them to get the upper hand at the start of the battle or (if you're much higher-level) instantly knock out the bad guys.

In addition to combat powers, each character comes equipped with a special non-combat option that can be a life saver. Some of them are actually necessary for progress, like the architect's ability to build bridges. But others remove some of the tedium that can make old-school RPGs difficult to stomach.

Deep into enemy-filled territory and don't want to let defeated foes respawn as you make the long trek back to town to buy healing items? The VP's brother works for FedUPs and can call in a delivery of items at any point. Need a quick journey across the world? The computer programmer can hack into a computer, creating a fast path to your destination via cyberspace. Each option is a thoughtful addition to Citizens of Earth's otherwise traditional structure.