In fact, I have completed Earthbound Zero, and I would say that it is not really that difficult a game. It is much less linear than Earthbound for SNES, however. The game does not do much to restrict where you have to go and point you in a certain direction. It is somewhat difficult to figure out what to do
next because for much of the game, there is no "next." (In my view, this is a
plus.) Because of this (and this
could be called a flaw), it is easy to stray into an area with
monsters that greatly outclass the player.
Level-building, unlike most recent
RPGs, is a must.
The non-linearity of the game puts me to mind of the elderly computer-game classic Faerie Tale Adventure.
If you are having difficulty with the game, some useful information follows.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
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The object of the game is to find the eight "songs" scattered throughout the real world and the world of Magicant. The player must explore all the major areas of the game and poke about quite a bit in order to find them. In general, if there seems to be some important quest to accomplish somewhere, you’ll probably get a song for completing it, or at least investigating it. Once they’re all found, visit Magicant for the last time and find Queen Mary in her castle to learn some things that should be very, very interesting to anyone who’s played SNES Earthbound. (A hint: The character of Giygas in Earthbound was originally going to be called “Giegue.” Evidently that changed by the time they started work on the English version of Mother 2.)
The final areas are, if memory serves, in the very north-east corner of the map. As far as beating Giegue goes, well, anyone who faced him in the SNES game should get a feeling of deja-va.