if i had to really nag on one thing about earthbound, and for the purposes of reviews, i always do, it would be that the fact that it was a JRPG felt secondary to it. i don't remember many specific fights, and with everyone but jeff having access to PSI, it never felt like there were any real challenges.

so, i was very pleasantly surprised to see mother 3 approach the topic of being a JRPG and do it well. i actually feel like a lot of consideration and balance modifying went into the gameplay systems here. making it so that only lucas and kumatora can use PSI really balances the playing field in regards strategy. instead of everyone basically being able to nuke or support, now lucas and kumatora have much more specialized roles as white mage and black mage respectively.

the boss fights are much more memorable in both design and execution as well. i felt multiple times that i had to strategize and do more than just pelt bosses with attacks, which is what i did in earthbound. i actually felt motivated to buff and debuff and keep my item inventory structured specifically amongst characters. this game demands more from you than earthbound, and that's a splendid thing. earthbound was afraid to ask too much of the player, but mother 3 is perfectly willing to give you an obstacle and expect you to overcome it. i can clearly remember many of the boss fights in this game because of how satisfying it felt to overcome them, and, to me, that's one of the best feelings a game can give you.

i haven't really touched the subject of the game's plot and characters because i feel no real need to. they're fantastic, one of the best parts of the game, and there's a very strong chance that you already knew this before reading this review. the word of mouth this game has gotten honestly made me very wary and worried that it would never live up to the hype, and 2020 is nothing if not a year of surprises, because it surpassed those expectations. even if you know the plot and the twists, there's still a lot to analyze and unpack here. this is a narrative with complexity and depth worth appreciating, along with interesting characters.

the biggest flaws i have with the game are honestly in those interesting characters, though. fassad is the only middle eastern coded character in the game, and he's unambiguously evil and sadistic. then you have the mag*psies (censored because it's a slur against romani people), who are homophobic and transmisogynist caricatures. lastly, we have the game's tendency to make pedophilia jokes, which REALLY rubs me the wrong way. none of these are dealbreakers for me, obviously, but it's very jarring to see all of this, because it comes off as like, infowars level hateful stereotyping.

i will end this review by saying that it's very funny to me that nintendo continually refuses to localize this game when it's one of the best works to ever be attached to their name. i've heard rumors and assertions that there's too much dark content in the game to justify a localization (the final boss being often cited), but i disagree. i think the dark material in this game is structured in a way that would be consumable and acceptable for a younger audience and would likely touch them in a way that many games would fail to do. i wish i had played this game when i was younger, both unspoiled and unaware of what to expect. i have a feeling that this game would be in my top 5 if i had.

Dauntless and insurmountable feat would it be to fill in Earthbound's ridiculously sized shoes, but nonetheless not only does Mother 3 achieve such task, it charts its own course through one of the most unique and thoughful experiences the medium has ever seen.

In contrast to Earthbound's freeform and loose storytelling, Mother 3 opts instead for a much more laser focused narrative that has its characters witnessing the corruption of their idyllic reality, which destabilizes their community and family bonds in the process. This change of narrative structure translates to a reduction in off the beaten path detours and non sequiturs that decorate much of the diverse and out there adventure found in Earthbound, but Mother 3 more than makes up for it by utilizing the pre-established and beloved tone of the series to subvert it and twist it just enough to frame a much more personal and intimate experience, while still maintaining the foundation that defines the franchise.

Without sacrificing any of the strengths and characteristics that make videogames unique in the storytelling artform, Mother 3 manages to create a surprisingly emotional and meaningful story that contemplates the disruptive nature of time and progress on stagnated unrealistic ideals, the folly of a lack of introspection and hindsight in day to day life relationships, or the need for growth and maturity during the moments life beats you down , without ever having to condescend to the player or step outside its fun, joyful and charismatic universe. It uses the power of nostalgia and childhood, inside and outside the game, to construct a strong connection between the player and the screen, while also acknowledging the danger of said sentiment and even weaponizing it against you, cementing its antagonist as one of the greatest villains in fiction in the process.

As you watch your home town transform during the course of the game just by the act of walking by it and speaking to its neighbours, Mother 3's seemingly surface level anti-capitalism theme opens up to reveal a much more empathetic and understanding examination of the mundane and human misgivings and mistakes we all end up falling into once in a while, never fully condemning the characters that inhabit its world, unlike much more blatant and obvious recent titles aspiring to some artistic merit.

While there's a certain sadness in the inevitability of Itoi never again making a videogame, it is fitting that he would leave us on such a high note. Coming back to this series would in some way detract from the overall message these games have always strived to impart on the player, and trying to one up Mother 3 would be a massive mistake. As it stands, Mother 3 has the qualities of a great novel. You can pick apart its more obvious themes and messages and always find something else beneath it more interesting. I could go on about how engaging the rhythm combat is in contrast to other JRPGs. I could ramble on about the numerous NPCs that betray their 2D aesthetic with incredible one liners that destroy any pretentious triple A story driven shlock. I could fawn over the incredible execution of the final boss and how the game manages to poignantly break the 4th wall once again like its predecessor did.

But why bother? Discussing these aspects would be reducing the art, Mother 3 is meant to be played. Oh, wait. You can't play it. Add it to the ever increasing bucket of baffling and nonsensical Nintendo decisions.

Well, I can now safely say that another game that has moved me to tears has been played by me.

God damn, this game. Never have I played a Nintendo game with such mature and well-handled themes. Super Paper Mario comes to mind as a game being close, but the story in this game has moments that are even better than that game, and SPM is the game that I consider to be the closes to 10/10 out of all my non-10/10 games. I'm not gonna spoil the hard-hitting moments, as I didn't actually know about the last one, and it hit me like a sledgehammer right in the heart. So, having mentioned that, let's talk about some other aspects instead. This game has one of the best soundtracks I've heard! So many incredible tunes, but the standouts for me must be "Battle Against the Masked Man" and "Strong One". I love the battle system in this game, especially since I am a musician myself, and the battle system require a good sense of rhythm to use it to its full potential. The game also has some really solid boss battles, and I loved figuring out strategies for every boss. But the main thing that kept me constantly interested was the story. I must admit that it took some time to really get going (the prologue is three chapters long after all, which roughly translates to five-six hours of gameplay if I remember correctly), but once I got control of Lucas, I was basically hooked! Like I mentioned, it contains some really heartbreaking moments, so proceed with caution if you are interested, because if you stay, you will get a game like no other!

I though this was a great experience to read, but a less than desirable experience to play. The game tries to focus on narrative more than the actual gameplay, and because of that you constantly keep switching and losing party members until you're halfway through the game. it keeps the inconveniences of the last Earthbound/Mother game and for that it weighs it down. You still lose items when you die and reload a save, making this a must for emulation play to pop save states. The actual gameplay though is just the same as Mother 2, but you have the addition of some skill in the factor to maximize damage with your regular attacks by rhythmically tapping the attack button with the background music. I think this addition is pretty cool, letting you sink in the amazing soundtrack that is Mother 3. At least when it comes to boss fights, their design is very fun but the beginning of the game is rough in progression of difficulty and you'll get your ass kicked in the Jealous Bass boss fight if you're not prepared.
The theme and story at first is something I felt is very outdated and cliche at first with the whole 'technology is bad and shouldn't be attached to it' moral, but later on parts of it turn for the better making you have more than just the goal of stopping a villainous organization. The dialogue, as Mother tradition is, is pretty charming. It made me want to every npc in town to see what they have to sya for every situation, and it even made me laugh a couple of times. The character writing for party members made me emotional and you get used to them pretty quickly. Lucas, Duster, and Kumatora have their struggles and backstory that sets in nicely when you in the chapters that make them have the spotlight, or when the plot calls for it.
In conclusion Mother 3 is very strong with the plot, characters, and dialogue, but if it wasn't tied down by its linearity and inconvenient gameplay features that stick around it would be the best Mother game to conclude the franchise.

i played this game when i was 11, before i played games for their stories. i wasn't able to understand or empathize with its themes at the time, and i quit during chapter 7 out of boredom.

i haven't played mother 3 since then, but my experience with its story and themes through social media and other fan works has left me heavily impacted.

i'm frustrated i'll never be able to truly experience this game fresh, and feel all of its painful tears with the same weight that others got out of it. but in spite of that, i wholly love and respect it.

man.

I don't know what to say that hasn't been said. This game already has a reputation as one of Nintendo's intelligent and brilliant games ever. All I can say is that it's true. The gameplay's the best the series has ever been, the story's fantastic, the characters are genuinely very well-written, the Mother charm still runs through this game, and my gosh that last chapter. Perfect game. Please just emulate it though if I have to hear one more person say they're "waiting for the official release" I'm gonna scream.

Also play 1 and 2 first I beg of you! It makes it so much more enjoyable.

Edit: Congrats on being the best rated game on Backloggd Mother 3! I don't know how long this will last, but it makes me happy to see.