A Long Appreciation Post to Mother 3 (11/6/2019)
Mother 3 is one of my favorite games. The story, the style, the game play, the emotions, they all combine to create one of the best games ever made. Mother 3 may not be well known, as it was only released in Japan, but nevertheless it has still gained a cult following in the West, and for a good reason. Chronologically (as the name implies), Mother 3 is the third game in the Mother video game series. You may have heard of the second game, known in the West as Earthbound, or the first game, known as Earthbound beginnings. If you don't know any of these games still, the Mother series are where Ness and Lucas from Smash Bros. are from.
Earthbound has a cult following in the the West, and its fan base is so passionate that they have a website, http://starmen.net/. Not only this, the fan base has written its own book, the EarthBound Anthrology, which you can read for free at http://anthology.starmen.net/. After numerous attempts to get Nintendo to localize Mother 3, the fan base eventually just made their own fan translation, which can also be found on the http://starmen.net/.
Personally, I did not enjoy Earthbound as much as Mother 3. I played Mother 3 first before Earthbound, and to me Earthbound just didn't compare. The gameplay was lacking at times, and Earthbound was missing many of the quality-of-life gameplay features that Mother 3 had. An example of this was the lack of a run button in Earthbound. Mother 3 added so much more to the series that its hard to get used to Earthbound after playing the masterpiece that is Mother 3.
Mother 3 was just so much better than Earthbound that to me, the two games just couldn't compare. This isn't to say that Earthbound is a bad game, however. It deserves its devoted cult following for a reason. It is because of this reason that if you ever play the Mother series, I would very strongly recommend that you play Earthbound before Mother 3.
And now on to Mother 3 itself.
One of the best parts of Mother 3 was the story. The story of Mother 3 is split into eight chapters (one of these chapters is very short and is basically just there to hit you in the feels, so it's really more like seven chapters). The story is so good that journalist Tom Rogers has described it as "the closest games have yet come to literature." Mother 3 manages to keep the wit, humor, and charm from Earthbound, while adding a beautiful story and even better characters. The game is surprisingly dark at times, even while keeping the absurdity and weird feel from Earthbound. The game ranges from the emotionally charged sunflower fields scene, to the weird and hypnotic mushroom hallucinogenic trip. The conflicting themes of nature and humankind's pollution are prevalent throughout the game, from the title screen in the very beginning to the changes in the Tazmilly town as time progresses. (more on this later). There are also themes of family, change, and loss all throughout the game.
Spoilers ahead:
Don't read this unless you want the game to be spoiled. You definitely shouldn't spoil this game for yourself. I had the story spoiled halfway through the game, and I can say that it was not a good experience. You don't want this game spoiled for you.
The story is just so fucking good. Right off the bat, in the first chapter, the loss of Hinawa in the very first chapter tells you that this game isn't fucking around. The game immediately shows that it is going deeper than its predecessors, especially after you watch Flint's reaction to Hinawa's death. There's nothing noble about his reaction; he hits another innocent villager and has to be put into jail. Yet something is also so human about his reaction. Life isn't perfect and even someone as respected as Flint can be pushed too far. Flint's grief and the loss of Hinawa also indirectly causes Claus to become the masked man. The contrast between Lucas' and Claus' reactions to grief also reveal a deeper theme. Claus tries to find the Dragos out of mindless anger, and he is caught by the Pigmask army and turned by Porky into the Masked Man, who is seen as one of the main antagonists, mindlessly hurting others and having a heart of evil. Lucas' reaction is the befriend the Dragos. Lucas realizes that it wasn't the Drago's fault that it killed Hinawa, and he manages to forgive the Drago. Later, Lucas saves Kumatora and Salsa with the same Drago.
There are also themes of nature and human development. Halfway through the game, after Fassad comes in, the village of Tazmilly Town becomes a city where everyone owns a "happy box" (basically a tv screen), and everyone goes to work at the factory. Eventually, Lucas has to work at the factory, and he even makes some good money out of it. However, the work is long and boring and monotonous, reflecting real life. The urbanization of Tazmilly town has caused the workers to live less meaningful lives, in exchange for the new idea of money. The workers have lost real, geniune happiness and in replacement they have only gained materialistic pleasure.
However, you could also argue that the game doesn't necessarily showcase the harmfulness of technology, but instead showcases the natural corruption of human beings. Porky wasn't corrupted by the technology, he was corrupted by Giygas, the embodiment of evil. Porky does use technology for bad, and technology does cause many problems for the citizens of Tazmily village, but technology is also eventually what is used to trap Porky at the end of the game. The Mr. Saturns, a very smart and technology based race are also always portrayed as good and innocent. Technology is used for both good and evil in the game.
Arguably one of the biggest themes in Mother 3 is theme of family and forgiveness. The entire game is really just about the separation of a family. The game starts out with the death of Hinawa and the disappearance of Claus. The causes Flint to fall into depression, neglecting Lucas. Later on, the game eventually goes full circle, with the family being reunited at the end of the game to watch the end of the world. The theme of family is also shown in the father-son dynamic shown in Duster and Wess.
Spoilers end here.
Now onto the gameplay.
Compared to Earthbound, Mother 3 has a much more polished and well-thought out game design. The game itself isn't too hard or long, not necessarily requiring any grinding (if you grind to lvl. 60 with Kumatora you basically enter god mode). I grinded for 10-30 minutes to get Kumatora to lvl 60, and I beat the (2nd to last) final boss with very little effort. Alternatively, I could've not grinded and still have a close and exciting boss fight. The gameplay is also has some skill required. When battling, you can choose to set up barriers or attack with Lucas, and also use Duster's thieving skills to affect the enemy. When using the regular attacks, you can also press the button to the beat to gain extra combo hits (this is a lot harder than it seems). If you find it hard to do, you can also put the enemy to sleep to hear the heartbeat. The game also has a scrolling health meter that is very unique to the Mother series. Even if you get hit with critical damage, if you react fast enough you can still save yourself if you heal yourself in time.
The game also adds a lot of quality of life features. After you upgrade your equipment, you can instantly sell your old equipment at stores. When you get to a higher level, you can also run through lower-level enemies to avoid a pointless fight. The addition of a run button also very smart as it makes moving around more convenient while also opening up various secrets and puzzles that involve running.
And now on to the music.
The Mother series were always known for their music. The Eight Melodies from Earthbound were so popular they were included in children's music books. The music in Mother 3 doesn't disappoint. There are callbacks and allusions to the earlier Mother games, as shown in 16 Melodies. The game's music also adds some of its own flavor, as shown in the main theme of the Pigmask Army. The Pigmask Army theme is very recognizable and catchy.
Like great music in movies (such as the compositions of Hans Zimmer), the music in Mother 3 greatly adds to the mood, and songs like the Love Theme and Sunflowers and Illusions are very emotional songs that greatly enhance emotional scenes such as the ending and the Sunflower Field scene. Shogo Sakai has definitely done a great job in composing the music in this game.
Pigmask Army theme(from when they are training):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HARHUYmHHS4
16 Melodies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfCA4qAitNU
Love theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pSe2XhlsMw
Sunflowers and Illusions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNTggZ0em7s
https://ekostories.com/2015/01/04/mother3-literary-videogame/
read this, as it explains the stuff I want to say a lot better than I can explain.
tl;dr
Mother 3 is so fucking good (but make sure you play Mother 3 after you play Earthbound)
Earthbound has a cult following in the the West, and its fan base is so passionate that they have a website, http://starmen.net/. Not only this, the fan base has written its own book, the EarthBound Anthrology, which you can read for free at http://anthology.starmen.net/. After numerous attempts to get Nintendo to localize Mother 3, the fan base eventually just made their own fan translation, which can also be found on the http://starmen.net/.
Personally, I did not enjoy Earthbound as much as Mother 3. I played Mother 3 first before Earthbound, and to me Earthbound just didn't compare. The gameplay was lacking at times, and Earthbound was missing many of the quality-of-life gameplay features that Mother 3 had. An example of this was the lack of a run button in Earthbound. Mother 3 added so much more to the series that its hard to get used to Earthbound after playing the masterpiece that is Mother 3.
Mother 3 was just so much better than Earthbound that to me, the two games just couldn't compare. This isn't to say that Earthbound is a bad game, however. It deserves its devoted cult following for a reason. It is because of this reason that if you ever play the Mother series, I would very strongly recommend that you play Earthbound before Mother 3.
And now on to Mother 3 itself.
One of the best parts of Mother 3 was the story. The story of Mother 3 is split into eight chapters (one of these chapters is very short and is basically just there to hit you in the feels, so it's really more like seven chapters). The story is so good that journalist Tom Rogers has described it as "the closest games have yet come to literature." Mother 3 manages to keep the wit, humor, and charm from Earthbound, while adding a beautiful story and even better characters. The game is surprisingly dark at times, even while keeping the absurdity and weird feel from Earthbound. The game ranges from the emotionally charged sunflower fields scene, to the weird and hypnotic mushroom hallucinogenic trip. The conflicting themes of nature and humankind's pollution are prevalent throughout the game, from the title screen in the very beginning to the changes in the Tazmilly town as time progresses. (more on this later). There are also themes of family, change, and loss all throughout the game.
Spoilers ahead:
Don't read this unless you want the game to be spoiled. You definitely shouldn't spoil this game for yourself. I had the story spoiled halfway through the game, and I can say that it was not a good experience. You don't want this game spoiled for you.
The story is just so fucking good. Right off the bat, in the first chapter, the loss of Hinawa in the very first chapter tells you that this game isn't fucking around. The game immediately shows that it is going deeper than its predecessors, especially after you watch Flint's reaction to Hinawa's death. There's nothing noble about his reaction; he hits another innocent villager and has to be put into jail. Yet something is also so human about his reaction. Life isn't perfect and even someone as respected as Flint can be pushed too far. Flint's grief and the loss of Hinawa also indirectly causes Claus to become the masked man. The contrast between Lucas' and Claus' reactions to grief also reveal a deeper theme. Claus tries to find the Dragos out of mindless anger, and he is caught by the Pigmask army and turned by Porky into the Masked Man, who is seen as one of the main antagonists, mindlessly hurting others and having a heart of evil. Lucas' reaction is the befriend the Dragos. Lucas realizes that it wasn't the Drago's fault that it killed Hinawa, and he manages to forgive the Drago. Later, Lucas saves Kumatora and Salsa with the same Drago.
There are also themes of nature and human development. Halfway through the game, after Fassad comes in, the village of Tazmilly Town becomes a city where everyone owns a "happy box" (basically a tv screen), and everyone goes to work at the factory. Eventually, Lucas has to work at the factory, and he even makes some good money out of it. However, the work is long and boring and monotonous, reflecting real life. The urbanization of Tazmilly town has caused the workers to live less meaningful lives, in exchange for the new idea of money. The workers have lost real, geniune happiness and in replacement they have only gained materialistic pleasure.
However, you could also argue that the game doesn't necessarily showcase the harmfulness of technology, but instead showcases the natural corruption of human beings. Porky wasn't corrupted by the technology, he was corrupted by Giygas, the embodiment of evil. Porky does use technology for bad, and technology does cause many problems for the citizens of Tazmily village, but technology is also eventually what is used to trap Porky at the end of the game. The Mr. Saturns, a very smart and technology based race are also always portrayed as good and innocent. Technology is used for both good and evil in the game.
Arguably one of the biggest themes in Mother 3 is theme of family and forgiveness. The entire game is really just about the separation of a family. The game starts out with the death of Hinawa and the disappearance of Claus. The causes Flint to fall into depression, neglecting Lucas. Later on, the game eventually goes full circle, with the family being reunited at the end of the game to watch the end of the world. The theme of family is also shown in the father-son dynamic shown in Duster and Wess.
Spoilers end here.
Now onto the gameplay.
Compared to Earthbound, Mother 3 has a much more polished and well-thought out game design. The game itself isn't too hard or long, not necessarily requiring any grinding (if you grind to lvl. 60 with Kumatora you basically enter god mode). I grinded for 10-30 minutes to get Kumatora to lvl 60, and I beat the (2nd to last) final boss with very little effort. Alternatively, I could've not grinded and still have a close and exciting boss fight. The gameplay is also has some skill required. When battling, you can choose to set up barriers or attack with Lucas, and also use Duster's thieving skills to affect the enemy. When using the regular attacks, you can also press the button to the beat to gain extra combo hits (this is a lot harder than it seems). If you find it hard to do, you can also put the enemy to sleep to hear the heartbeat. The game also has a scrolling health meter that is very unique to the Mother series. Even if you get hit with critical damage, if you react fast enough you can still save yourself if you heal yourself in time.
The game also adds a lot of quality of life features. After you upgrade your equipment, you can instantly sell your old equipment at stores. When you get to a higher level, you can also run through lower-level enemies to avoid a pointless fight. The addition of a run button also very smart as it makes moving around more convenient while also opening up various secrets and puzzles that involve running.
And now on to the music.
The Mother series were always known for their music. The Eight Melodies from Earthbound were so popular they were included in children's music books. The music in Mother 3 doesn't disappoint. There are callbacks and allusions to the earlier Mother games, as shown in 16 Melodies. The game's music also adds some of its own flavor, as shown in the main theme of the Pigmask Army. The Pigmask Army theme is very recognizable and catchy.
Like great music in movies (such as the compositions of Hans Zimmer), the music in Mother 3 greatly adds to the mood, and songs like the Love Theme and Sunflowers and Illusions are very emotional songs that greatly enhance emotional scenes such as the ending and the Sunflower Field scene. Shogo Sakai has definitely done a great job in composing the music in this game.
Pigmask Army theme(from when they are training):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HARHUYmHHS4
16 Melodies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfCA4qAitNU
Love theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pSe2XhlsMw
Sunflowers and Illusions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNTggZ0em7s
https://ekostories.com/2015/01/04/mother3-literary-videogame/
read this, as it explains the stuff I want to say a lot better than I can explain.
tl;dr
Mother 3 is so fucking good (but make sure you play Mother 3 after you play Earthbound)
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