love this game - but some of the characters and writing feel hollow. a departure from the 'young kids adventure' story of EarthBound, where the charm comes from the world and its writing and not your party which are more or less just blank slates, Mother 3 actually has characters and a story with a written main cast. But they're only marginally more written than they were before, I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities for characters like Kumatora, Lucas, and Duster to really grow as characters. They hardly develop or even really interact over the course of the narrative and it felt a little dissonant contrasted with the plot, which is actually very present and very well written this time around. like you get introduced to these characters with setups and personalities but then they never even talk after that point, it's lame. i wanted to know more about them!!!! I can't help but think of DELTARUNE and how its cast seamlessly develop through their interactions, I think that's something this game would've benefitted from. also, uh, the magypsies. dunno how i feel about those guys. i see why people like em cuz they're ultimately heroic figures but i really don't like that awful fucking sexual assault 'joke' they have, i don't think they were written with any offensive intent but they're defo a lil iffy for a game like this. none of this stops the emotional beats from hitting like a fucking freight train. that ending hurts.