Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is a Turn-Based JRPG released in 2018 on PC and then ported in 2026 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. In this game, players take the role of the titular Jimmy, a young boy and silent protagonist with magical transforming powers, who is joined by his bully older brother as they set out on a quest to gather honey from a local beehive, which you gradually discover is more complicated than it seems, in part because someone seems to have some sort of vendetta against Jimmy.

This game was clearly inspired by offbeat JRPGs like Earthbound, as you can see in the game’s quirky art style and bizarre and nonsensical world. This game uses 2D pixel art visuals with some really weird character designs, with the visuals backed by a nice, gentle synthesized soundtrack that highlights the more delicate topic matter hiding underneath this game’s absurd surface imagery.

Yeah, it’s pretty clear early on that there’s more going on in this game’s story than first appears, since Jimmy’s signature power of transforming into select enemies after defeating them is called “empathy”, and is kicked off by an internal monologue where Jimmy pictures himself living the life of said enemy, trying to stave off isolation and loneliness.

I think there’s a lot of potential in this game’s story, but unfortunately the gameplay is where it loses me. To start with, the level design in this game is mazelike and repetitive, making it easy to get lost or not know where you need to go. Making things worse, this game pushes players to grind early, but doesn’t give them a convenient way to heal to full as far as I can tell. There’s also some nasty difficulty spikes here, and while you can change the game’s difficulty level at any time, even on the easiest difficulty level you could find your party trounced pretty quickly if you’re not careful.

The result is a game that seems like it has a lot of care put into it and even has something to say, but that doesn’t work quite so well as a game. If you’re a fan of games like Earthbound, Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass may be something that will really speak to you, but I think many players will just find themselves frustrated with the gameplay here.

tl;dr – Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is a Turn-Based JRPG that takes inspiration from Earthbound, with a bizarre and silly world that clearly has hidden depths. Unfortunately, the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired with a lot of frustrating design choices that make things far more tedious and irritating than they need to be. Some players will love this, but this is absolutely not a game for everyone.

Grade: C+

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