Do not play the Japanese original, it's horribly incomplete.
Yes, it's as tedious as everyone says it is, but it's fun to see what they thought was meaningful enough to include back when rom space was precious.
Yes, it's as tedious as everyone says it is, but it's fun to see what they thought was meaningful enough to include back when rom space was precious.
My feelings on the plot for this game are hard to describe. On the one hand, it is incredibly lacklustre, things in this game happen, and there is a flowing narrative throughout, but; there is very little cause and effect. Events occur more or less out of nowhere and with no particular importance over each other. When you complete dungeons, you progress by unlocking more of the map, yet there is no narrative throughline you simply are able to access more areas. The melodies are earned often seemingly at random.
The main characters are similar, they have interesting moments, but that's about it. Lloyd is a nerd whos weak and gets picked on, but eventually overcomes this, Ana dreams of meeting the protagonist, and then she does, she joins your party, says nothing, and then confesses her love. Teddy shows up, is a brute, then somewhat gets humbled, and leaves. They have character arcs, yes, but depth? Not really at all.
However, the actual world itself is much more interesting. Firstly, for the time (and even now to an extent) I find the setting of a more modern world (at least by 1989s standards) to be refreshing. You can also freely explore this world and each area is recognisable enough to not get completely lost or feel aimless, which is an issue I feel is prominent with this game's contemporaries. The dialogue within this world is what redeems this game's incredibly weak plot for me, nothing mindblowing again, but it's charming, enough to make me actually want to talk to NPCs and progress through the game.
The soundtrack is also filled with charm, lots of unique battle music and overworld tracks that are all incredibly iconic.
The gameplay also has its jank. The controls are quite unresponsive, lots of input delay in movement and menus. And the encounter rate is ridiculous, but then again, you're gonna need it because this game is grind city (Another thing it shares with its contemporaries), even after grinding for forever you'll still often be overwhelmed. But once the grinding is over, the combat is pretty fun, you have a ton of special moves in your arsenal and each character serves a unique purpose.
The main characters are similar, they have interesting moments, but that's about it. Lloyd is a nerd whos weak and gets picked on, but eventually overcomes this, Ana dreams of meeting the protagonist, and then she does, she joins your party, says nothing, and then confesses her love. Teddy shows up, is a brute, then somewhat gets humbled, and leaves. They have character arcs, yes, but depth? Not really at all.
However, the actual world itself is much more interesting. Firstly, for the time (and even now to an extent) I find the setting of a more modern world (at least by 1989s standards) to be refreshing. You can also freely explore this world and each area is recognisable enough to not get completely lost or feel aimless, which is an issue I feel is prominent with this game's contemporaries. The dialogue within this world is what redeems this game's incredibly weak plot for me, nothing mindblowing again, but it's charming, enough to make me actually want to talk to NPCs and progress through the game.
The soundtrack is also filled with charm, lots of unique battle music and overworld tracks that are all incredibly iconic.
The gameplay also has its jank. The controls are quite unresponsive, lots of input delay in movement and menus. And the encounter rate is ridiculous, but then again, you're gonna need it because this game is grind city (Another thing it shares with its contemporaries), even after grinding for forever you'll still often be overwhelmed. But once the grinding is over, the combat is pretty fun, you have a ton of special moves in your arsenal and each character serves a unique purpose.
É legalzinho, mas os controles, gameplay e ritmo da história as vezes dão uma preguiça que quase te faz largar o jogo. Com certeza foi um dos jogos já feitos naquela época, porém envelheceu mal pra porra
A great NES era game.
É uma versão pior do Earthbound com todos os defeitos de um RPG do NES. Talvez ter jogado pelo RetroAchievements tenha estragado minha experiência visto que tive várias dificuldades artificialmente colocadas, mas tenho a sensação de que o jogo originalmente não seria do meu agrado.
I downloaded a translation for this game called Earthbound Zero and tried to play it. I got a fair bit into it before I gave up because I had no idea what I was doing and felt like I was just aimlessly wandering around. Maybe I'll give it another try one day, but my experience playing it sucked, so who knows.
Best game trailer ever made
EVE is OP
Better than EarthBound
I really love this game. Sometimes I feel like playing it, but when I actually start to play it again, I realize how poorly the gameplay has aged, and I stop play the game. But I really love this game!
I sure like walking 2 steps and getting ambushed by the same enemy over and over again! really fun game design right there.
It's rather funny, really. I've played both Earthbound and Mother 3, but only now have I gotten around to playing Mother proper. And while I think it's a good game, it's definitely got a lot of rough patches that keep it from being much higher.
This game from what I remember was a very late Famicom/NES game, coming out only a year before the Super Famicom, and for what it is, Mother is a really impressive game. And while it definitely has its shortcomings and limitations, I find it really impressive. While this game isn't a massive RPG, I beat it in about 10-11 hours total, the sense of scale that Mother has is really cool!
I really love the aesthetic of Mother, the idea of a turn based RPG set in some midwest US state is really cool. The mundanity mixed with the fantastical nature of evil monsters and magic PSI abilities. It creates a really charming aesthetic, and one that persists throughout the entire game, even when you get to the ending. I also absolutely love the music, easily my favorite being Snowman.
The actual combat of Mother is rather fun as well, though probably the simplest of the series from what I remember. The PSI abilities are fun, but I never really used many of them. I pretty much only used them to heal, and use PK Beam when I needed a good offensive option. Though I never found the game too difficult, I probably would've had an easier time with the game if I used more of the PSI abilities. But at the same time, I never felt the need to.
Compared to its later games, Mother isn't as story heavy from what I experienced. However, the story it does have is really good, and the actual emotional core of Mother is very strong. The final moments of the game are super impactful, especially.
But, even though the game is really good in the previously mentioned aspects, it's got some noticeable problems, I feel. While I do compliment the scale of Mother's world, god it so difficult to navigate. The overworld and dungeons feel like mazes, and it's really hard to find your way around. This definitely lead to times where I was just completely lost, having no way to get my bearings. I remember this especially when I was in Duncan's Factory, where the entire area blended together and I just had no idea where to go. Eventually I just pulled a guide and followed it all the way to the end, and I don't think I could've beaten the game without it. The level layout I think is the general issue here, as I had the idea of where I needed to go, just not how to get there.
The other, and definitely more glaring issue is the rate of Random Encounters. In particular, random encounters occur so often in Mother, sometimes just taking a single step brings about one. Now, while that's passable early on, as enemies could be beaten easily, and it's good for level grinding, the further you get, the worse it becomes. Enemies often have noticeable spikes in difficulty, and can often appear in groups of 2-4, and because of how long these battles can take, it proves easier to try and run from them instead of fighting them. However, that leads into one of my personal pet peeves that appear in many RPGs, which is failing to flee from a battle. Failing to run away is often a punishment to the player, however, there's already an innate punishment in running away already, as you wont gain experience at all, thus, you'll ultimately be weaker. But regardless of that, the chance of failing the run away feels way too high, and while there is a PSI ability to ensure a success flee, it costs 16 PP to use, so you get at best about 10 uses of it at the end of the game. And with how often random encounters occur, you're likely to run out of PP before getting to the end of a dungeon. Though I think this issue wouldn't be as big of an issue here if the encounter rate was significantly lower.
But I still really appreciate Mother for what it is. It's definitely got its shortcomings, and it's probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but there's a lot of heart here. I think it was definitely worth playing, but I don't think I'd replay it any time soon.
This game from what I remember was a very late Famicom/NES game, coming out only a year before the Super Famicom, and for what it is, Mother is a really impressive game. And while it definitely has its shortcomings and limitations, I find it really impressive. While this game isn't a massive RPG, I beat it in about 10-11 hours total, the sense of scale that Mother has is really cool!
I really love the aesthetic of Mother, the idea of a turn based RPG set in some midwest US state is really cool. The mundanity mixed with the fantastical nature of evil monsters and magic PSI abilities. It creates a really charming aesthetic, and one that persists throughout the entire game, even when you get to the ending. I also absolutely love the music, easily my favorite being Snowman.
The actual combat of Mother is rather fun as well, though probably the simplest of the series from what I remember. The PSI abilities are fun, but I never really used many of them. I pretty much only used them to heal, and use PK Beam when I needed a good offensive option. Though I never found the game too difficult, I probably would've had an easier time with the game if I used more of the PSI abilities. But at the same time, I never felt the need to.
Compared to its later games, Mother isn't as story heavy from what I experienced. However, the story it does have is really good, and the actual emotional core of Mother is very strong. The final moments of the game are super impactful, especially.
But, even though the game is really good in the previously mentioned aspects, it's got some noticeable problems, I feel. While I do compliment the scale of Mother's world, god it so difficult to navigate. The overworld and dungeons feel like mazes, and it's really hard to find your way around. This definitely lead to times where I was just completely lost, having no way to get my bearings. I remember this especially when I was in Duncan's Factory, where the entire area blended together and I just had no idea where to go. Eventually I just pulled a guide and followed it all the way to the end, and I don't think I could've beaten the game without it. The level layout I think is the general issue here, as I had the idea of where I needed to go, just not how to get there.
The other, and definitely more glaring issue is the rate of Random Encounters. In particular, random encounters occur so often in Mother, sometimes just taking a single step brings about one. Now, while that's passable early on, as enemies could be beaten easily, and it's good for level grinding, the further you get, the worse it becomes. Enemies often have noticeable spikes in difficulty, and can often appear in groups of 2-4, and because of how long these battles can take, it proves easier to try and run from them instead of fighting them. However, that leads into one of my personal pet peeves that appear in many RPGs, which is failing to flee from a battle. Failing to run away is often a punishment to the player, however, there's already an innate punishment in running away already, as you wont gain experience at all, thus, you'll ultimately be weaker. But regardless of that, the chance of failing the run away feels way too high, and while there is a PSI ability to ensure a success flee, it costs 16 PP to use, so you get at best about 10 uses of it at the end of the game. And with how often random encounters occur, you're likely to run out of PP before getting to the end of a dungeon. Though I think this issue wouldn't be as big of an issue here if the encounter rate was significantly lower.
But I still really appreciate Mother for what it is. It's definitely got its shortcomings, and it's probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but there's a lot of heart here. I think it was definitely worth playing, but I don't think I'd replay it any time soon.
The original Famicom is so massively overshadowed by it's successor that it's very easy to forget just how ambitious and cool so many of the games on this thing were. I suspect, although I have no evidence to back this up, that a lot of people would draw the line between "playable" and "unplayable" retro games right between the third and fourth console generations. I get it to some extent, it doesn't help that all the best titles (Mother included) didn't make it to the west, and it definitely doesn't help that the big staple Nintendo franchises, your marios, zeldas, and metroids, were all WAY better on the snes. Still, I've got a soft spot for this system despite how little of it's library I've actually experienced, and Mother embodies just about everything I love so much about it. This game is absolutely bursting at the seams with passion and ambition. It came out at the absolute end of the Famicom's lifespan and it's pretty apparent, you can tell Itoi was aiming for stuff far beyond the physical capabilities of the console. The sense of scale the world has and the pacing are incredibly impressive for the era, almost every aspect of the game is punching above it's weight. The story is refreshingly unique even today, it's been mimicked and copied thousands of times especially in recent years but that basic concept of an epic adventure RPG about kids with psychic powers in Rural America, circa 1988, is still so much fun. Everything in Mother feels like an attempt to push the envelope for Nintendo RPGs and just take the basic idea into all the craziest places possible, people joke about jrpg plots going from saving cats to fighting God but only in Mother do you go from fighting hippies (who don't die, they just go "back to normal") to singing a lullaby at the top of a mountain to defeat a psychic alien from the year 1900. The story is consistently fun, and for it's era Mother has maybe the coolest and most original conclusion of any rpg. The music is catchy, the visuals are charming, and the humour is great. it's more sporadic than in Mother 2, but most of the jokes were really good. I particularly liked the "Unsinging Monkey", who asks you if you have any questions for him after introducing himself, and if you say Yes he responds with "I bet it's a stupid one, too" and the conversation immediately ends before you can ask anything.
At the end of the day, everything here is expanded on and arguably improved in the sequel, but the fact that all the stuff people love about Mother 2 was present here on the Famicom, albeit slightly more unformed, is truly impressive. I used to think this was largely unremarkable in comparison to 2 the first time I played it, a few years ago, but going through it again I think there are areas where the ambition shines through the technological limitations to a level that even surpasses the more sheer quality of the sequel. It's translated and easily available in various forms now, so if you skip right to Earthbound you've got no excuse! Mother is absolutely worth playing, don't let anyone convince you otherwise. One of the true gems of Nintendo's first-party offerings on the Famicom, and probably the system's library in general.
At the end of the day, everything here is expanded on and arguably improved in the sequel, but the fact that all the stuff people love about Mother 2 was present here on the Famicom, albeit slightly more unformed, is truly impressive. I used to think this was largely unremarkable in comparison to 2 the first time I played it, a few years ago, but going through it again I think there are areas where the ambition shines through the technological limitations to a level that even surpasses the more sheer quality of the sequel. It's translated and easily available in various forms now, so if you skip right to Earthbound you've got no excuse! Mother is absolutely worth playing, don't let anyone convince you otherwise. One of the true gems of Nintendo's first-party offerings on the Famicom, and probably the system's library in general.
Una obra bastante atípica de los juegos de rol y que en sus particularidades reside la grandeza que nos hizo amar esta mítica saga.
Really would appreciate if the discussion of this game would shift from centering around how “dated” (it plays like an NES/GB rpg. Theyre practically their own genre. It plays exactly how a modern player should expect it to) it is in favor of how ambitious it is. NES games rarely tried to be funny, affecting, thematically coherent, or even player friendly (yes I would say this, you have maps, constant hinting NPS, multiple options for free heals AND multiple fast travel options to get to them all throughout the game. Play 25th Anniv if random encounter rate is the endall for you) as this one does. That said, I mean yeah Earthbound is better except for the Eight Melodies which are are better here.
The game can be brutal sure and it has a fair share of jank but honestly, my favorite MOTHER game.
There's something about it that just...feels right y'know?
There's something about it that just...feels right y'know?
This review contains spoilers
Moooootheeeeeerrrrr oooooooooooo!
(I hate queen)
As a franchise, mother has a weird history. In the west it’s commonly known as ‘earthbound’, the first game wasn’t localised for years, and we’re still waiting for mother 3 (earthbound 2) to come over. This whole franchise all started on the famicom with mother. It was a game based on an idea by shigesato itoi about having an rpg set in a more modern setting. Now…the question plaguing everyone’s mind…does it hold up?
The story is pretty simple: you play as a young boy named ninten who is forced to go on a journey to save the planet from the evil giygus (I know it has a different name in the game but I can’t be bothered to try and type it). On the way he is joined by a boy named Lloyd, a girl named ana, and a jock named teddy. The story is pretty simple taking them to many different places and fighting very tough enemies…which leads me into combat!
The gameplay of the game hasn’t aged entirely the best…but if you have a little patience you might find some enjoyment. The encounter rate is definitely pretty high but not ridiculously high as some people make it out to be (it’s definitely more tolerable then they make out). It’s also, compared to mother 2 (earthbound), slightly different in combat. It almost feels more refined in mother 2 than it does in this game…but maybe that’s just me.
Overall, I still really like this game and encourage others to try it even with its slight problems. Even if it’s not for the story, the music is still really great and beautiful for a famicom game.
Great story, slow gameplay, loveable characters, terrific soundtrack, ninten and ana’s dance :>
(I hate queen)
As a franchise, mother has a weird history. In the west it’s commonly known as ‘earthbound’, the first game wasn’t localised for years, and we’re still waiting for mother 3 (earthbound 2) to come over. This whole franchise all started on the famicom with mother. It was a game based on an idea by shigesato itoi about having an rpg set in a more modern setting. Now…the question plaguing everyone’s mind…does it hold up?
The story is pretty simple: you play as a young boy named ninten who is forced to go on a journey to save the planet from the evil giygus (I know it has a different name in the game but I can’t be bothered to try and type it). On the way he is joined by a boy named Lloyd, a girl named ana, and a jock named teddy. The story is pretty simple taking them to many different places and fighting very tough enemies…which leads me into combat!
The gameplay of the game hasn’t aged entirely the best…but if you have a little patience you might find some enjoyment. The encounter rate is definitely pretty high but not ridiculously high as some people make it out to be (it’s definitely more tolerable then they make out). It’s also, compared to mother 2 (earthbound), slightly different in combat. It almost feels more refined in mother 2 than it does in this game…but maybe that’s just me.
Overall, I still really like this game and encourage others to try it even with its slight problems. Even if it’s not for the story, the music is still really great and beautiful for a famicom game.
Great story, slow gameplay, loveable characters, terrific soundtrack, ninten and ana’s dance :>
An incredible game for 1989, but can struggle in parts today. The charm is still massively there, and probably the best part of the game.
The combat seems nedlessly overcomplicated in terms of how many options you have, especially the PSI powers.
I never really felt like there was a real challenging opponent. If I died once, I knew exactly what to do the next time, and even that only happened a couple times.
The music is incredible, hard to not sing along with. The artstyle was very engaging.
I can see why this game is so widely loved, and I very much look forward to playing it's sequel.
The combat seems nedlessly overcomplicated in terms of how many options you have, especially the PSI powers.
I never really felt like there was a real challenging opponent. If I died once, I knew exactly what to do the next time, and even that only happened a couple times.
The music is incredible, hard to not sing along with. The artstyle was very engaging.
I can see why this game is so widely loved, and I very much look forward to playing it's sequel.
Mitología estadounidense a través de infinitas referencias a la cultura pop aplicada a un juego de género, que explota la libertad de su base para presentar una aventura de inocencia e ingenuidad. La música como el elemento mágico, capaz de salvar a la humanidad de su propia oscuridad. ¿Qué haces cuando el fin del mundo llama a la puerta? Bailas. ¿Cómo vences al malo y salvas el mundo? Cantando.
Versión larga: https://yosoyira.medium.com/mother-a1ebd1625ba3
Versión larga: https://yosoyira.medium.com/mother-a1ebd1625ba3
(Used a hack to double my EXP and Gold gains)
I've seen people out there think that EarthBound is a remake of the first MOTHER, so there's no point in playing the first game. I think that's wrong. Yes, they share familiar elements, but that's like saying you shouldn't play any Mario except Odyssey, because Bowser is in that one too.
I think in part, MOTHER 1 stands out due to the era it was released in. Back when every RPG had a fantasy medieval setting, MOTHER positioned itself in a modern town, with credit cards, ATM machines, convenience stores, phones and cars and trains... EarthBound plays this much more straight because it's done it before, but in the context of MOTHER 1, it's much more blatant about using these elements to create a parody RPG that constantly fucks with you, and tricks you into doing things you don't want. But when it does that, I can't even get mad, all I can do is laugh.
There's charming moments too! There's a particular scene towards the end of the game that involves the characters interacting in a way that is unlike anything you see in EarthBound. It caught me off-guard, to think something like that was included in a 1989 NES game. And albeit I can see why it wasn't done again, it's things like that that make MOTHER 1 unique.
The combat is simple, very Dragon Quest-esque, and with a decent amount of strategy introduced as you obtain further party members. There's unfortunately nothing that sets it apart like how EarthBound with the rolling HP mechanic, but this is perfectly servicable anyway.
I think the charm of the game outweighs the negatives, but I'll list them anyway. Areas are too spacious, to a point where I didn't know I missed an important area until 70% through the game. I used online maps to figure out what led to where. Having to constantly backtrack to Magicant to equip my new party members proved to get tiresome after a while, and I wish there were more convenient ways to enter and exit that place.
Oh, and I would probably add Mt. Itoi as one of the problems with the game due to its difficulty spike, but once you realize you can just run away from everything and head right to the final boss, it's really not that bad.
Worth playing once, especially if you liked the other MOTHER games. It's not the most modern-feeling RPG out there, but it's not as bad as age and it being on the NES makes it out to be.
I've seen people out there think that EarthBound is a remake of the first MOTHER, so there's no point in playing the first game. I think that's wrong. Yes, they share familiar elements, but that's like saying you shouldn't play any Mario except Odyssey, because Bowser is in that one too.
I think in part, MOTHER 1 stands out due to the era it was released in. Back when every RPG had a fantasy medieval setting, MOTHER positioned itself in a modern town, with credit cards, ATM machines, convenience stores, phones and cars and trains... EarthBound plays this much more straight because it's done it before, but in the context of MOTHER 1, it's much more blatant about using these elements to create a parody RPG that constantly fucks with you, and tricks you into doing things you don't want. But when it does that, I can't even get mad, all I can do is laugh.
There's charming moments too! There's a particular scene towards the end of the game that involves the characters interacting in a way that is unlike anything you see in EarthBound. It caught me off-guard, to think something like that was included in a 1989 NES game. And albeit I can see why it wasn't done again, it's things like that that make MOTHER 1 unique.
The combat is simple, very Dragon Quest-esque, and with a decent amount of strategy introduced as you obtain further party members. There's unfortunately nothing that sets it apart like how EarthBound with the rolling HP mechanic, but this is perfectly servicable anyway.
I think the charm of the game outweighs the negatives, but I'll list them anyway. Areas are too spacious, to a point where I didn't know I missed an important area until 70% through the game. I used online maps to figure out what led to where. Having to constantly backtrack to Magicant to equip my new party members proved to get tiresome after a while, and I wish there were more convenient ways to enter and exit that place.
Oh, and I would probably add Mt. Itoi as one of the problems with the game due to its difficulty spike, but once you realize you can just run away from everything and head right to the final boss, it's really not that bad.
Worth playing once, especially if you liked the other MOTHER games. It's not the most modern-feeling RPG out there, but it's not as bad as age and it being on the NES makes it out to be.
It's fun to see where Earthbound came from, but beyond that its age definitely shows. A few wrinkles here and there, a little jank, a little clunk, and a little hardware limitation make it a bit less than truly enjoyable.
one of my favorite final boss fights ever, extremely striking. aside from that, old game, and its age SHOWS.
Fun but frustrating at times. Mother 1 is an old school NES JRPG. If you go into it with that mindset you will probably enjoy it.
It's still super charming and the characters are fun, but the opening few hours can be a little rough and the grinding can be tedious.
Overall it's still really enjoyable despite it's dated parts. It feels really good getting through a difficult patch and the final boss is cool and has a unique resolution.
It's still super charming and the characters are fun, but the opening few hours can be a little rough and the grinding can be tedious.
Overall it's still really enjoyable despite it's dated parts. It feels really good getting through a difficult patch and the final boss is cool and has a unique resolution.
It's a really mixed bag but I overall enjoyed the experience. I think it's a shame that some people skip it but I don't entirely blame them tbh.
garbage but its my garbage
Que jogo sensacional, uma historia simples com um universo tão rico e vivo, eu me transportava para outro mundo quando eu entrava na tela de inicio desse jogo, senti algo parecido jogando Hollow Knight, mas aqui foi diferente, eu não tava em um reino de insetos, eu tava em algo que se assemelhava ao mundo real, mas ainda fantástico, com carros ou velhas de sacola atacando a gente, eu me diverti e me cativei, eu gosto de jogos de turno ainda que se torne maçante eventualmente, mas a cada nova cidade eu já queria conhecer a próxima, esse jogo é incrível
I had a good time, mentally prepared for dated RPG mechanics and I wasn't really annoyed by anything, though I used a walkthrough for parts where I was confused or the map was ridiculous lol. The ending was pretty great.
Don't cry until the end
Lowkey highkey really awful to play but I mean what did you expect from an RPG from the late 80s. The charm from the rest of the games is still present here which is nice. Don't recommend though.
Mother is def the neglected step-child of the series. It was passed over to release and it's the roughest of the three games, mechanically, since its from an age of gaming where it's RPG elements seem archaic and tedious. I played the 25th anniversary rom-hack WITH a patch that kept the original sprites intact, and it lessened the tedium. The writing is still so charming and hilarious. The game seems more like a satire on RPGs of the time and it has a lot of fun with the genres tropes. I found it unique and fascinating to play, especially for the Famicom. Not as necessary as Earthbound--I still really enjoyed playing this.