This review contains spoilers
Mother 3 is a game everyone should get the chance to play. It’s one of the few works I’ve experienced that feels larger than just a piece of fiction, and dare I say larger than life itself. it burrows its way into your mind and leaves a lasting impression especially due to its masterful writing and Itoi's grasp on what makes our lives special. I still think about it every day ever since I completed it, and it’s a game that I truly believe has changed me in some way.
There is so much to discuss surrounding this game: the multitude of themes that are explored in depth, how it deals with grief and death itself through the lens of a naive child, the dialogue and how witty it is with some perfect comedic timing, how it transitions between being a comedy and being meaningful, hitting you with jab after jab at your heart, confronting and testing Lucas’ (and your) resolve. It’s hard to get emotional at scenes that specifically feel like they are written to make you cry, but Mother 3 does the opposite, it lures you into its world and the characters, seemingly presenting a loving bonded family and a safe town before shattering everything, slowly ripping away all the people you know in front of your eyes, and there’s nothing you can do.
It’s this writing that makes Mother 3 stand apart. It juxtaposes a sinister and despair-riddled plot with a message of hope, we see the way Tazmily transforms from a peaceful, free village to an overrun and capitalist one, and how it unravels the history behind Tazmily itself - a place initially meant to be a way of “starting over”. Flint, a usually calm and kind man bursts into an outrage nearly harming one of his good friends after his wife is tragically murdered by what are usually kind creatures, you can see on his face the anger he is feeling and we can sympathise and connect with him.
Lucas in the melancholic Sunflower Fields tries to take refuge in his dead mother’s loving and warm embrace but falls short. The exceptional TaneTane Island takes the player on a psychedelic-fuelled journey where we get to peer into the minds of our characters and what they are actually thinking upon reconnecting with people of their past. Lucas wishes he switched places with Claus, he expects everyone to hate him and Flint to abuse him. Duster is reminded of his father being abusive, Kumatora’s alternative personality Violet is just a way for her to pretend that she isn’t part of a corrupt royal bloodline and be free. Mailboxes and fake gifts scream out at you in despair, you take a bath in what seems like a gorgeous pool but is actually a garbage dump, you fight horrifying imagery that just turns out to be regular enemies and at the very top, you fight the incredible Barrier Trio.
Finally, Lucas confronts the villain behind everything who has lost all of his humanity, a mentally unstable power-hungry creature who tries to destroy the world for a laugh, who enslaved Lucas’ brother to do his bidding for him, crumbling the bond between 2 brothers. As I have a little brother who I love a lot, it was probably the most emotional moment in a game ever for me, and the way Lucas was unable to fight, just completely broke me. In the final segment where Claus commits suicide knowing he won’t be able to face his brother after all he’s done, and killing himself as Claus and not the Masked Man is absolutely devastating. “I’m going to where Mom is now. I’m sorry, I’m sure we’ll meet again”. God, it can make anyone cry.
But throughout all of this, somehow Lucas stays hopeful. As he pulls the needles one by one, we see he is still leaning toward the good side and wishes for a reborn world. The final needle is pulled, the world is destroyed right before my eyes, and a black screen appears. I see my reflection right there, the reflection of my soul too.
Do I believe the characters? They say their world is alright but is it, could it really have been reborn? I saw the dragon bring the whole place down, maybe Lucas wasn’t able to keep his hope after his brother’s death, it can’t be possible. My pessimistic outlook on life won’t accept it. But I want to, I want to believe it, that everyone I’ve come to know and love over the 25 hours is alright, that the people of Tazmily are alright. The reflection of my soul via the black box reveals this, I know that their world is fine, I want to be a better person, to believe that what the game is telling me is true, that my journey to reach this endpoint wasn't all for nothing. Finally, they ask me if my world will be alright, I can’t know for sure. Tazmily feels like a microcosm of our world, but they are fine aren’t they, so why can’t it apply to our world? Well, will our beloved world be alright? I believe it will, I want to believe it will.
There is so much to discuss surrounding this game: the multitude of themes that are explored in depth, how it deals with grief and death itself through the lens of a naive child, the dialogue and how witty it is with some perfect comedic timing, how it transitions between being a comedy and being meaningful, hitting you with jab after jab at your heart, confronting and testing Lucas’ (and your) resolve. It’s hard to get emotional at scenes that specifically feel like they are written to make you cry, but Mother 3 does the opposite, it lures you into its world and the characters, seemingly presenting a loving bonded family and a safe town before shattering everything, slowly ripping away all the people you know in front of your eyes, and there’s nothing you can do.
It’s this writing that makes Mother 3 stand apart. It juxtaposes a sinister and despair-riddled plot with a message of hope, we see the way Tazmily transforms from a peaceful, free village to an overrun and capitalist one, and how it unravels the history behind Tazmily itself - a place initially meant to be a way of “starting over”. Flint, a usually calm and kind man bursts into an outrage nearly harming one of his good friends after his wife is tragically murdered by what are usually kind creatures, you can see on his face the anger he is feeling and we can sympathise and connect with him.
Lucas in the melancholic Sunflower Fields tries to take refuge in his dead mother’s loving and warm embrace but falls short. The exceptional TaneTane Island takes the player on a psychedelic-fuelled journey where we get to peer into the minds of our characters and what they are actually thinking upon reconnecting with people of their past. Lucas wishes he switched places with Claus, he expects everyone to hate him and Flint to abuse him. Duster is reminded of his father being abusive, Kumatora’s alternative personality Violet is just a way for her to pretend that she isn’t part of a corrupt royal bloodline and be free. Mailboxes and fake gifts scream out at you in despair, you take a bath in what seems like a gorgeous pool but is actually a garbage dump, you fight horrifying imagery that just turns out to be regular enemies and at the very top, you fight the incredible Barrier Trio.
Finally, Lucas confronts the villain behind everything who has lost all of his humanity, a mentally unstable power-hungry creature who tries to destroy the world for a laugh, who enslaved Lucas’ brother to do his bidding for him, crumbling the bond between 2 brothers. As I have a little brother who I love a lot, it was probably the most emotional moment in a game ever for me, and the way Lucas was unable to fight, just completely broke me. In the final segment where Claus commits suicide knowing he won’t be able to face his brother after all he’s done, and killing himself as Claus and not the Masked Man is absolutely devastating. “I’m going to where Mom is now. I’m sorry, I’m sure we’ll meet again”. God, it can make anyone cry.
But throughout all of this, somehow Lucas stays hopeful. As he pulls the needles one by one, we see he is still leaning toward the good side and wishes for a reborn world. The final needle is pulled, the world is destroyed right before my eyes, and a black screen appears. I see my reflection right there, the reflection of my soul too.
Do I believe the characters? They say their world is alright but is it, could it really have been reborn? I saw the dragon bring the whole place down, maybe Lucas wasn’t able to keep his hope after his brother’s death, it can’t be possible. My pessimistic outlook on life won’t accept it. But I want to, I want to believe it, that everyone I’ve come to know and love over the 25 hours is alright, that the people of Tazmily are alright. The reflection of my soul via the black box reveals this, I know that their world is fine, I want to be a better person, to believe that what the game is telling me is true, that my journey to reach this endpoint wasn't all for nothing. Finally, they ask me if my world will be alright, I can’t know for sure. Tazmily feels like a microcosm of our world, but they are fine aren’t they, so why can’t it apply to our world? Well, will our beloved world be alright? I believe it will, I want to believe it will.