Mother 3: by Pixel

Time for the moment you've all I've been waiting for. A Mother 3 review! I will keep this review COMPLETELY SPOILER FREE. Well, I'll have spoilers in the spoiler tags. Do not, I repeat, DO. NOT. click those tags if you haven't played Mother 3. I don't care if you want to or ever will play Mother 3, I don't care how far into it you are, if you have not beaten the game do NOT spoil yourself. I'm warning, rather, commanding you right now. Stay away from them. They're in tags for a reason.

Now to review the-greatest-game-evar.

Story: I started with story in the Earthbound review so that I could end on a high note. After all, the plot of Earthbound wasn't exactly its best aspect, so I got it out of the way. Mother 3 is practically the opposite. Mother 3 has got to be the main Nintendo franchise game with the best story. The only other Nintendo series I can think of that could compare would probably be Fire Emblem. I don't actually play FE games, but looking at them gives me the feeling that probably have decent stories in comparison to Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Pokemon, etc.

For a video game, M3's story is pretty original, especially for a Nintendo game. While I won't deny it dabbles into the usual clichés (especially for RPG plotlines,) but it has its aspects that steer it away from the usual "hero's quest" fairy tale-like RPG story. (I'm looking at you, Zelda.) I'm not going to say that M3 has better story than "real" literature (like novels,) however I will say I'd sooner compare it to that type of literature standards than have to compare it to usual video games. That's pretty much what the story is like. A novel. The plotline and gameplay do go hand-in-hand like they should, but there's plenty of storytelling that isn't just a ploy for some new gameplay element and can stand on its own as a movie/TV series/novel/etc. if it had to.

So, if it is a bit cliché, what puts M3's story on a higher plane of standards than most video game stories? It's because it has themes. For those of you who may not be avid readers, themes are what your English teacher teaches you about. Y'know, morals of the story, text-to-life connections, real philosophical and emotional things you can learn from a story. Most games don't have them, or atleast not in good quantity or quality. I wouldn't say Earthbound had it much either, except for vague things like "teamwork", "friendship," and "courage", but most Saturday morning kids' cartoons can teach those same qualities.

Mother 3 has real, adult-level literary themes. A lot of them. And they're not all happy and fun like "friendship." Mother 3 deals heavily with:
-death, and its effects on people
-coping with loss
-coping with severe depression
-the importance of family and brotherhood
-nature being harmed by mankind and technology
-how mankind does whatever it wants with nature (meaning purposely)
-the realistic stupidity and naive-ness of a human population and how easy to control they are.
-the manipulation and tricking of an ignorant/naive population
-the beginning, and growth, of an empire
-the effects of urbanization on people
-having to leave happy times behind
-helping friends/family or mankind at a cost to yourself (or at a cost to that person or mankind)
-sacrifice
-love, friendship, growing up, courage, etc. etc. etc. the list goes on and on and on.

Even Mother 3's STYLE of story-telling is unique. This applies mostly to the beginning of the game, but your role of who you play as shifts quite a few times. This helps you adjust to different characters' fighting styles, but also helps put the spotlight on other characters and helps you see what's happening to the world from other angles. So, it switches up who you're playing as every chapter for a few chapters. You also join up and split up with your party a few times in the story.

Mother 3's advertising tagline in Japan was "Strange, Funny, Heartrending," with the Heartrending part specifically pointed towards the story obviously. They even had commercials, using this tagline, that showed some Japanese actress crying just thinking about the game (the creator of the game, Itoi, said that she had really played it and those were her true feelings, but take that as you will.) Just the fact that Nintendo would advertise a game like this has to tell you something. The "Heartrending" part is 100% true about Mother 3. It has some of the saddest (while not cheesy) scenes and themes I've ever seen in a video game. Mother 3 is also the first game to make me cry (and not tears of joy,) and will likely stand as atleast the last Nintendo game to EVER do so. This game makes most players cry. It is a SAD. STORY. And that's one thing that sets it apart from most Nintendo games, even Earthbound itself. Mother 3 is not a happy story. Earthbound was a happy story. Mother 3 is NOT. Mother 3 is serious emotional business.

This Story section could keep going on, and I haven't actually summarized the main plot yet. I'm reluctant to do so, because unlike in Earthbound (and Mario, Kirby, etc.), the main goal of the game isn't laid out for you in the beginning of the game, and I don't want to spoil. When you get into it, I will atleast say it does involve the usual "visiting of 7 magical places/things" that a lot of RPGs do. Meh, could be worse, they could've had to collect 7 different-colored objects or spirits or something. But this isn't really the whole focus of the story, in fact your quest for this doesn't start until about halfway through the game. In short I'd call it a story about a select few people who refuse to go-with-the-flow of the world's new, changing lifestyle, and fight against a new empire that is rising to power and taking control.

Characters: Like Earthbound, Mother 3 takes a different approach to the usual cast of heroes. They side-step most of the clichés. Like Earthbound, although more so in M3, they also don't have the usual "chosen one" stuff, so Mother series protagonists usually aren't as "special" as most video game protagonists in these magical types of stories. Well, some SORTA are. However, atleast they have the decency to logically explain why that character is unique, not just "oh, we picked out of a hat and you won chosen hero of the whole world for this week."

Let's start off with Lucas, the only Mother 3 character people who haven't played Mother 3 know think they know. Lucas, who starts off the game as a toddler (there is a time skip down the road) is described as being a crybaby type of little boy. He's timid, coddled, doesn't get too energetic easily, isn't the first person in a group to act in response to a situation. Isn't the first person to feel the need to do something when a new situation arises. A mama's boy. A bit reserved. Quiet (well, in Mother 3, whatever character you're controlling at the moment will become a silent protagonist. If you're not controlling them and see them in a cutscene, they might talk. Thus, Lucas is silent most of the game.) Doesn't need the spotlight, doesn't need to be a hero. Has no princess to save, isn't the knight of any kingdom, has no social responsibility. Doesn't sound like the traits of a usual protagonist in a "hero saves the world" story, huh? That's the good part. Even better is that throughout the game, subtly, he grows. He grows stronger (which goes with the gameplay along with the story,) and braver. Characters in the game have worded this perfectly to Lucas:

"No one is simply born 'strong.'

People only grow stronger little by little, by encountering difficult situations and learning not to run from them, no matter how frightening or daunting they may be.

Lucas. This is exactly what you have done to become strong. However, you did not do it for yourself. You grew strong for those you would otherwise be unable to help. They are the reason you are strong."

"God will not make you bear more than you can carry."

Indeed, it was not Lucas's JOB to save the world. It was not his given responsibility. He wasn't known as the guy who saves the princess every other Thursday. He wasn't the boy that everyone knew to turn to for problems. Heck, it was pretty much the opposite of all that. Lucas was a timid, crybaby toddler. He was not thought of especially high from all the villagers, he was not a knight who was being paid to protect the people. Lucas took this type of responsibility himself. He helped others, regardless of personal gain, out of the kindness of his heart. And throughout his journey, he isn't even recognized or thanked much for this, especially by his own villagers. He's not viewed as a leader or a hero, or as a courageous person at all. All Lucas was was a rebel against an uprising government that he didn't think was right. He not only helped other people's lives, but fought for what was right. Unlike Ness, nobody came up to Lucas and said "You're the chosen one, you're destined to save the world, now hop to it, it's your job."

In addition to this character development, remember that the story is heartrending. Most of the sadness, though admittedly not all of it, pretty much revolves around Lucas. Lucas's life is, to be frank, NOTHING but TRAGEDY. You really do feel sympathy for him. A lot of bad things happen, and yet you don't see Lucas writing emo poems in black eye-liner. That's what makes him so great. After playing Mother 3 you'll realize how accurately his personality was displayed in the Subspace Emissary. Anyone who calls Lucas a pussy, specifically for running away from Wario, is an ignorant jerk and should jump off the nearest cliff.

In terms of fighting style, Lucas mainly equips sticks as weapons, with 2 possible bats near the end of the game. He's the slowest character of your party, but he's got good melee strength. His attack PSI, PK Love, is the strongest in the game, although it does cost quite a bit of PP. He's also a good healer, and unlike in EB, the Assist PSI (like Offense Up, Defense Up, Shield, Counter, etc.) are actually really useful in boss battles, although I guess that depends on your strategy.

Lucas's dog, Boney, is actually one of the main characters. He's a chocolate labrador retriever, or atleast you can assume that by the way he looks. Obviously there isn't much to say in terms of character development, as he is a dog, but he's still a lovable character. Boney is a fun family dog, getting along with both the parents and little kids. He's very smart and obedient. You really shouldn't dismiss him as just a pet, but instead as part of Lucas's family. I often view him as pretty much the only character who sticks by Lucas's side as his best friend during the whole game. That's particularly important considering both Lucas's personality and the stuff he has to go through. In terms of battle, Boney's the fastest of the main characters and almost always faster than the enemy as well (that means he always gets to go first every round of turns.) He's got decent attack power, although if bosses have good defense he may not be very helpful. He has a Sniff ability that allows you to sniff out the enemy's weaknesses, which is good for bosses if you don't want to be a cheater and use GameFAQs. I mainly used Boney for holding all the items, specifically healing ones and attack ones. He's a really good healer because his turn is first, so he can use healing items faster than the rolling HP counter can get to zero. That is indeed very useful.

Lucas's family also consists of his dad Flint, his mom Hinawa, and his twin brother Claus. Flint's a strong and dependable father, husband, and in general. One of the villagers asks for his help in time of crisis, saying "we need reckless nice guys like you". Flint, who's apparently supposed to be a cowboy or something, (he does own sheep which he tends to) is very physically powerful. He's tough, doesn't talk much, and considers it his responsibility to protect and look out for his family. You play as him in the beginning of the game and frankly, if I hadn't known about Lucas in Brawl, I probably would've thought Flint was going to be the main protagonist, and the game would've still be awesome that way. He's the spotlight of one of my favorite, touching scenes of the game, and he goes through quite a bit of psychological development through the game. Hinawa's a kind and loving mother who takes care of the two boys. She likes to cook Omelets, the family's favorite meal that the boys absolutely love. She takes Lucas and Claus to visit her father (their grandpa obviously), Alec, 's house in the beginning of the game. Claus is Lucas's twin brother. Unlike Lucas who is shy and timid, Claus is energetic, open, and brave.

Next up on the list is Princess Kumatora. She's a lone, teenage tomboy princess with PSI powers. Yes, that's right. Tomboy princess. Not too many of them floating around the Nintendo world. It's a nice change of pace from the normal girly girl female leads, including the Mother series's Ana and Paula preceding her. I was actually pretty disappointed in Kumatora's lack of character development. That's not to say she doesn't have a good, unique personality, it just doesn't change over time and not much happens to her. She's still freakin' awesome, though. She's like a combination of EB's Paula and Poo. Obviously her main offense is PSI. She's an okay healer, though I wouldn't use her for that. She's got Offense Down and Defense Down to use on bosses, but her main specialtiy comes in her variety of attack PSI (PK Fire, Thunder, Freeze, etc. )

Next down the line is Duster. Since a lot of the Mother 3 characters' ages vary between each other, I'll clarify that Duster is between a young-adult to adult age (older than Kumatora, but most likely younger than Flint.) He, along with his dad Wes, are thieves of the village. Wes taught Duster the art of thievery, including an all-kicking style of fighting (Yes guys. Like Sanji.) and how to use a set of thief tools. The funny thing is that Tazmily Village is such a peaceful village, plus there's nothing really to steal, so Wes and Duster don't actually commit crimes. In terms of personality, Duster's a pretty average guy. He's a bit lazy and laid-back and enjoys having fun. He's an obedient and cooperative team member, as well as being dependable. His relationship with his father is interesting. It's funny and kinda sad at the same time, because Wes verbally abuses his son so much, so Duster takes constant scolding for all of his mistakes. Duster has a limp (which you always see when he walks or runs.) Unlike Kumatora, Duster goes through even more character development, unrelated to Wes, later on. That theme of "leaving happy times behind" that I mentioned earlier deals with a sacrifice Duster has to make. He gets a decent amount of spotlight, having the 2nd chapter all to himself. In terms of fighting style, he's a good physical attacker. He has the ability to, by chance, sometimes get a first strike in at the beginning of battles. Also, if the enemy sneaks up from behind, he sometimes quickly flips over them, giving you the advantage. He has a set of thief tools, which allow you to immobilize, distract, put to sleep, lower offense, lower defense, etc. Obviously, as the bosses get harder, some of them work less or not at all. I only tried a few times, and some didn't work after a while. The lower offense and defense ones always did work, though, so I constantly used them. The other ones might've worked for all I know, if I had actually used them. He can use his Wall Staples (the one that immobilizes in battle) outside battle to make ladders, and he's also got his trusty Rope Snake. Duster's just so cool, and he's not even a character who's trying to be cool.

Two other main characters are Salsa the monkey and Fassad. It's interesting that M3 has yet another animal character in Salsa. Salsa's taken away from his girlfriend monkey and put under the control of Fassad, one of the seemingly higher-ups in the new uprising government/army. Fassad has Salsa do slave-like work for him, having him wear a shock collar. Salsa gets abused quite often (being shocked even for doing what Fassad told him,) which makes you feel bad for him. Salsa and Fassad get the whole third chapter to themselves (as in, being playable,) which is interesting because it gives the story a nice other-view, from the bad guys' side of things. It shows a lot of the behind the scenes changes to the village and why they happened. In terms of battle, Salsa's got a couple of abilities. My favorite is Monkey Mimic, which makes him copy and fire back whatever attack hits him after activating it. Both Salsa and Fassad prove to be pretty important to the story.

The game's got some pretty kickass enemies, too. If you've played Brawl, then you already know who's secretly pulling all the strings. That, or if you were able to finally catch a hint after all the Pork Troopers, Bags of Pork Chips, and "Oh my pork!" Needless to say he's an awesome villain (I like him better than Ganon, Bowser, and Dedede combined.) He's completely insane, has a child-like sense of humor, built his own city like an amusement park, has an awesome mech, and has the great maniacal laughing. He's also a pretty smart, yet crazy, mastermind who easily manipulates others. Another main villain, the commander of the army, is the Masked Man. He's super epic awesome beyond all belief. He's got a cool helmet, which covers one eye with a shadow and the other with an metal eye-patch thing. He's got a sword that can shoot lightning, an arm blaster cannon, a jetpack shaped like mechanical wings, and more!

Writing: Having Story and Writing being two separate sections in a review would likely seem silly for a lot of games. Turns out the two terms can pretty much mean polar opposites in terms of Mother 3. The story's serious, thoughtful, and depressing. The writing, if you can believe it, is random, light-hearted, and hilarious. The tagline isn't "This game is really sad all the time," it's "Strange, Funny, Heartrending." I think it's fitting because those 3 words are pretty much all equal thirds of the game. As usual in the Mother series, a lot of things in the game are funny. If they're not funny exactly, then they're definitely weird. And if they're not weird or funny, chances are it's something serious. C'mon, you save the game by talking to frogs, the Nazi-like army soldiers oink, and it's got Mr. Saturns. Enemies including mutated animals like Cattlesnakes, Kangasharks, and Rhinocerockets. The game gets away with cracking a joke one second and having a serious scene the next, all without seeming bad. I have to admit that overall Mother 3 isn't as light-hearted, or as funny, as EB though. =/

Gameplay: A lot of the basic gameplay is just like Earthbound, which is good because you don't fix what's not broken. You still see all enemies on the overworld map so there's no random encounters. You can still attack them from behind to get an extra turn in the beginning, and they can do the same to you. A good addition is that you can run now, making traveling the map faster, as well as running away enemies if you so wish. You've still got the rolling HP counter, which makes a turn-based battle system less boring a more interesting. Mother 3 adds a new battle mechanic to make it even less menu-choosing and more actiony. You can now string together physical attack combos by pressing A to the rhythm of the battle music (which changes for each enemy.) Although not necessary at all to beat the game, if you're good at it it'll probably shed off a bit of training to beat enemies.

I would say there's more variety in battles now (specifically boss battles, since those are the battles that pretty much matter.) Like I said, the Assist PSI is much more useful in M3 than in EB. Your party members have a variety of fighting styles, and Lucas isn't AS cheaply overpowered as Ness got. While the game overall isn't that hard, the boss battles are pretty damn difficult. Some of which will even require grinding. Because of that, it's overall harder than EB (which is a good thing, EB wasn't much of a challenge.) Normal enemies and 'puzzle-solving' (which is practically non-existent) won't give you much trouble. Basically it's everything that was good about EB's gameplay, plus more. A few general differences include Earthbound's pay-to-sleep Inns to restore HP, PP, and to revive versus Mother 3's free hot springs to do the same thing. Also, Earthbound has more towns, and along with it, more shops than Mother 3. Also, Ness got one awesome allowance from his dad, getting thousands of dollars out of nowhere. About half way through the game, you could pretty much purchase whatever you want and not run out of money. Mother 3 has you more hard pressed for cash, though that'll depend on whether you run around enemies to avoid battles. These are just differences, and whether they're good or bad is up to your personal taste.

Graphics and Music: People often ask me; "Pixel, you handsomely intelligent exemplar, what's better? Mother 3's story or its gameplay?" I tend to answer with a slight hesitation, balancing out the two fields in my mind, pondering over such a tricky question. But then, my quick wit finally comes to me and I reply with wisdom, "Woah there Chuck, what about the music?!" Yes, friends, the Mother series's awesome music is back and better than ever. It's got great battle tunes, it's got great overworld tunes, and it's got great cutscene tunes. Every Mother 3 song is awesome in some way to the very last catchy beep. The songs cover an even wider variety of emotion than EB's did, due to the variety of emotion in Mother 3. You've got happy songs, you've got intense battle songs, and you have REALLY sad songs. There's several soundtracks and a lot of the songs have plenty of remixes (both in-game and fan-made.) The two main songs of the game in particular, the army-rallying, fist-pumping His Highness's Theme of the enemies, and the tear-inducing Love Theme (aka We Miss You,) are used in many different catchy, appropriate arrangements. The gameplay and story are even matches for epicness, but only the music is the lasting entertainment for me to this very day. Be it on the school bus or as I'm typing this, I am frequently listening to Mother 3 songs.

The graphics are similar in style to EB, just 5x better. This is a given due to the jump from SNES to late GBA eras. The maps and battle backgrounds are both colorful and pleasing to the eyes. The PSI effects are decent. The graphics are more detailed. The adult sprites are, this time, finally taller than the kid ones. And as a spriter should know, the benefit of a bigger sprite is more possible detail in the sprite. I have no complaints with the graphics. Mother 3 was originally going to be on the N64, and I pick its current sprite style over mediocre 3D. Heck, I think I'd take the current style over Gamecube 3D any day too. (Wii, if it was really good, would be debatable, but I'd probably still go with sprites.) Who knew pixels could pack so much emotion...

Overall: I can't say Mother 3 is the best game in the world with an honest face on. I will say that I personally think it's up there, or atleast it should be. I will say that it's one of, if not THE, favorite game of mine. Most of the only things that feel weird or missing from it are just things that it did differently than EB (like the light-hearted sense of humor and lack of towns/stores.) I really want to criticize this game, guys. Honestly I do. I'm more used to criticizing and nit-picking on things rather than throwing compliments at them. If you like easier games (which you may be used to if you like Kirby or kind've even Mario,) then the grinding for bosses may get on your nerves. You might also get annoyed by the fact that you play whole chapters as characters, leveling them up, and then never getting to play as them again. You might also feel bad playing this game if you're a reaaal macho guy who's invulnerable to emotion, and feels like an idiot crying at the end. But that one's your fault for being an idiot.

Mother 3 isn't perfect. No game is. But most gamers have those 1 or 2 games (their favorites) that pretty much seem perfect to them because no dirt is really noticable to them in a sea of pure gold. M3 has its flaws, but of the general aspects I used to review it (Story, Characters, Writing, Gameplay, Graphics, Music,) none of those fields stand out as being its weak point, or being bad.

The moral of the story, like with EB, is get out there and play Mother 3. I have no idea what you're waiting for. Most if not all people who play Earthbound or Mother 3 like it (even Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation said he liked Earthbound. And we all know he hates Japanese RPGs with a passion and isn't quite the Nintendo fanboy, Brawl being on a list of games he didn't enjoy.) and while I'm sure it's not going to top the average Nintendo fanboy's "Ocarina of Time is the most epic winrar", it should atleast make your top 10. I'd feel ashamed now if I said I liked Nintendo games and I hadn't played the Mother series. Do not let Nintendo of America fool you. The Mother series is one of Nintendo's main series, it just wasn't popular/released here. In Japan, I'm sure Mother is just as popular if not more so than F-Zero, Star Fox, Metroid, and all that good stuff. (obviously it has a disadvantage due to only being a trilogy instead of a cash cow like Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon.)