Review #2: Space Funeral/Space Funeral 2/Space Funeral: The Legend of Earth Birth/Space Funeral 5: Space Eulogy: Journey of the Moon and Bubsy

 Space Funeral is a 2010 RPGMaker indie game created by Thecatamites, and a personal favorite of mine. It centers around a depressed boy named Phillip and a horse made out of severed legs named Leg Horse going on a quest to defeat the evil Moon, who corrupted the land after realizing perfection is impossible. The game has an extremely unsettling visual style, even if the game itself is often less so.

Phillip looks very odd, and the houses are screaming faces. Every NPC is represented with a terrifying-looking monster, and the game in general is visually disturbing. Not to mention the copious amounts of visual and described blood.

The battles are fairly standard, with one exception. Phillip has a “Mystery” skill which he can use once per battle, and it does all manner of things (typically very funny). Examples include: Phillip singing poorly and everyone dying, the enemies giving up, Phillip reciting a Bible verse, etc. They’re very funny, but I didn’t find myself using it too often. 

The game itself is ridiculously easy. I killed the final boss in like 5 hits. I’m not complaining, considering the battles are definitely not the main focus, but it’s definitely a drawback, especially if you have the Zorg Cannon. It’s the most powerful item in the game and makes Phillip or Leg Horse deal copious amounts of damage every turn. 

The game’s sense of humor is absolutely amazing. The game is definitely unsettling, but I definitely don’t think it’s a horror game. I’d say surreal comedy fits it much better. Various conversations include discussing weed with Dracula and being told about the town of Malice’s many goods and criminals. 

The last thing I want to touch in the original game is the music. None of it is original, but it’s all fantastic. Most of it’s from either the BBC Radiophonic Workshop or Ruth White, and this game makes full use of them. Some of my favorites tracks include “One-Eighty-One,” “White Waking,” and “Spleen.” 

But what if you wanted more Space Funeral? Well, the fans delivered!

First up is Space Funeral 2, which is a very short game made to get an interview. The plot is that after Moon died, an artist inspired by Moon named Cancer tried to purify the world again. It’s fine. Not much to say, booking it to the end takes about 5 minutes. 

Next up, though, is Space Funeral: The Legend of Earth Birth, which I have very mixed feelings on. It tries way too hard to be funny, and while it succeeds on many fronts, it doesn’t feel like Space Funeral. The original did surreal comedy very well, while the new one just feels like “MeMeS!!!!!1!!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!!1!1!” However, it works pretty well if you put the first one out of your mind.

The plot is that Phillip and Leg Horse were teleported to the land of Earth Birth, which is under siege by the evil forces of Science! You must defeat him and restore blind faith to the world! And Dracula joins the party! Yay? 

The music of the game is... interesting, to say the least. It features everything from BBC Radiophonic Workshop to Mario Party 6 to Cage the Elephant. It’s incredibly confusing. You know what else is confusing? Space Funeral 4!

Space Funeral 4: The Parmingulator is one of the weirdest games I’ve ever seen. The combat is laughable, the humor is definitely not, and the game has nothing to do with the original. It stars Fred and Fart Butt as they do something. I don’t know. I got stuck and couldn’t proceed. Don’t play this one. 

But what about Space Funeral 5: Space Eulogy: Journey of the Moon and Bubsy? It was fine, I guess. Pretty uninspired feeling, though. These are just getting worse.

Space Funeral 6: A Tale of Time? No. Just no. I didn’t even play it. I also didn’t play Space Funeral 9. Where’s 7 and 8? Who knows? 

Except... 

I made an awful fangame on Switch called Space Funeral 7. It’s awful. Don’t play it. Or do? I don’t freaking know. 

What’s the verdict? Play the first three. The developer declared those canon, so play them. Skip the rest of them unless you like pain.