This review contains spoilers
Since I played Undertale Yellow, I wanted to try out the well known fan game from my favourite franchise, which in turn inspired Undertale.
I have to say, the game can get a bit tedious (especially coming from UY which had a run button and diagonal movement... Or even Mother 1 US version which had a run button) which made me put it in 3x during grinding sessions in the EasyRPG Player in Android, and the early game doesn't have an interesting story since you are not going through a journey of maturity like the rest of the Mother games but instead it feels like a more standard RPG, just that with quirkier characters than usual and a space setting where you go through the solar system and land in the different planets.
The moments where backstory information is revealed throught the game can become a bit redundant as well and remove the mystery that was explored in Mother 1, which would be fine if the developers want it to be played by people who hadn't played a Mother game, but then it presents some plot elements that aren't explained (like everything involving Greyface), that would require you to have played Mother 2 and 3 to understand.
And because it's the story that Mother 2 told through backstory explanation, it would have had to involve time travelling in some fashion as well. I'm not a fan of time travel stories at all, and when Mother 2 only utilized time travel just to kickstart the story and at the very end (which feels more like they are locating someone who can't be found and required the adventure itself to happen just to go there), the last third of CogDis involves lots of time travelling to the point it can become very confusing to follow, though it does present a limitation to the use of the machine that allows for it so it isn't utilized whenever the writers want to.
The characters apart from the main villain (whose backstory is taken from Mother 1 and 2 anyway) aren't too special either, but they are likable. Their dephts, though not explored too much, are briefly shown in their respective Magicants (their own inner psyche). The leader through the game is a dude who was cast aside through his whole life for biological issues, but has retained a kind attitude through his life especially when he is taking his role to fullfill the central prophecy with a lot of resignation. A Starman robot discovers the past of his people, victim of war, and is worried about his feeling of being defective. And then there's a bug piloting a UFO, who is revealed at the end to be the emissary of warning to the kids that save the world in Earthbound. Oh, there's a Mr. Saturn joining your team but he's just there to look goofy. And also there's the villain's dissociated good side, who is trying to get him to stop destroying his mind.
They are likeable characters and you feel sad at the end because even if you get the better endings that their efforts only amount to slowing down the villain and at best helping him get rid of the chaos in his mind (while that chaos still persists in the past and is what Ness and friends are going to face in Mother 2), and that the insect will die at the beginning of Mother 2 without having returned home. But that's the catch, you need the references to that game to understand the melancholy at play here.
But well, beyond all those complications, at its core the game does present the Mother brand of witty writing with tons of personality (though this time it can get a bit spicy for my taste with unfiltered references to drug use) and funny enemies that range from psychopaths who pretend to be psychics to sentient newspapers who have an attack called "Fear of the Government" that inflicts a "dumb" status effect; and the emphasis put in exploring the history of some events in the past (like the Mars section) and the emphasis put in each characters' Magicants at the end of the adventure can make for that surreal atmposhere that gives chills as usual like with the professional games. I did enjoy the title due to the spirit and ambition it has, but I wonder if instead of so much time spent travelling through the solar system they could have gone like Toby Fox's Halloween Hack and gone full psychological and surreal with the hardships these characters are asked to endure.
[Version 2.0d]
I have to say, the game can get a bit tedious (especially coming from UY which had a run button and diagonal movement... Or even Mother 1 US version which had a run button) which made me put it in 3x during grinding sessions in the EasyRPG Player in Android, and the early game doesn't have an interesting story since you are not going through a journey of maturity like the rest of the Mother games but instead it feels like a more standard RPG, just that with quirkier characters than usual and a space setting where you go through the solar system and land in the different planets.
The moments where backstory information is revealed throught the game can become a bit redundant as well and remove the mystery that was explored in Mother 1, which would be fine if the developers want it to be played by people who hadn't played a Mother game, but then it presents some plot elements that aren't explained (like everything involving Greyface), that would require you to have played Mother 2 and 3 to understand.
And because it's the story that Mother 2 told through backstory explanation, it would have had to involve time travelling in some fashion as well. I'm not a fan of time travel stories at all, and when Mother 2 only utilized time travel just to kickstart the story and at the very end (which feels more like they are locating someone who can't be found and required the adventure itself to happen just to go there), the last third of CogDis involves lots of time travelling to the point it can become very confusing to follow, though it does present a limitation to the use of the machine that allows for it so it isn't utilized whenever the writers want to.
The characters apart from the main villain (whose backstory is taken from Mother 1 and 2 anyway) aren't too special either, but they are likable. Their dephts, though not explored too much, are briefly shown in their respective Magicants (their own inner psyche). The leader through the game is a dude who was cast aside through his whole life for biological issues, but has retained a kind attitude through his life especially when he is taking his role to fullfill the central prophecy with a lot of resignation. A Starman robot discovers the past of his people, victim of war, and is worried about his feeling of being defective. And then there's a bug piloting a UFO, who is revealed at the end to be the emissary of warning to the kids that save the world in Earthbound. Oh, there's a Mr. Saturn joining your team but he's just there to look goofy. And also there's the villain's dissociated good side, who is trying to get him to stop destroying his mind.
They are likeable characters and you feel sad at the end because even if you get the better endings that their efforts only amount to slowing down the villain and at best helping him get rid of the chaos in his mind (while that chaos still persists in the past and is what Ness and friends are going to face in Mother 2), and that the insect will die at the beginning of Mother 2 without having returned home. But that's the catch, you need the references to that game to understand the melancholy at play here.
But well, beyond all those complications, at its core the game does present the Mother brand of witty writing with tons of personality (though this time it can get a bit spicy for my taste with unfiltered references to drug use) and funny enemies that range from psychopaths who pretend to be psychics to sentient newspapers who have an attack called "Fear of the Government" that inflicts a "dumb" status effect; and the emphasis put in exploring the history of some events in the past (like the Mars section) and the emphasis put in each characters' Magicants at the end of the adventure can make for that surreal atmposhere that gives chills as usual like with the professional games. I did enjoy the title due to the spirit and ambition it has, but I wonder if instead of so much time spent travelling through the solar system they could have gone like Toby Fox's Halloween Hack and gone full psychological and surreal with the hardships these characters are asked to endure.
[Version 2.0d]