Mother 3 is the only game to ever make me cry. This game is the standard for character driven jrpgs that I've played. The story is very character driven and everybody in the village feels like their own person, including your party members. The game looks great and has a soundtrack that fits in perfectly. Rhythm battles are a way to keep basic attacks engaging, and the addition of status effect moves makes this game the best in the series for combat. Inventory management can be a bit irritating sometimes, and healing at hot springs is a bit slow, albeit useful. The final chapter can also leave players feeling like they might have needed to play Earthbound to play this game, which can be alienating if this is their first Mother game. This chapter also sports a questionably long plot dump that I don't think was necessary for motivating the player to beat the main villain. Mother 3 is a journey that I think everyone should experience at least once.

Earthbound is a cult classic that I think holds up decently today. A vast improvement over Earthbound Beginnings, Earthbound looks, plays, and sounds better than its predecessor. Despite this, the plots and main objectives of both games are almost the exact same. Eagleland and its inhabitants are varied and charming. The rolling HP mechanic is innovative and adds another layer of tension to otherwise pretty simplistic combat. The soundtrack is very good, with only a few tracks that I typically skip. Pokey is a total douche who's rise in power is never really explained. The main cast doesn't really communicate once they're together, which I think could have helped deliver the narrative if they commented on their actions or new locations. Earthbound doesn't take itself too seriously (until it does at the end), which might be a turnoff for some. I'd say play it on Switch if you have NSO, but don't go in with the same expectations you'd have of any other rpg.

Earthbound Beginnings is an NES rpg, which should speak for itself in terms of quality. The soundtrack is pretty good, a lot of the songs are catchy. The dance scene is cute. The idea of an rpg in "modern" towns is cool. That's about all I can say positively about this game. Plot progression is all over the place, I managed to find melody 6 before melodies 1, 3, 4, and 5. The story is nonsensical, and not in the funny Earthbound sense. The gameplay is very bare and outlandishly unbalanced, ESPECIALLY near the end of the game. The game doesn't look great, the color scheme just looks pale and the sprites are low quality. It was certainly an experience playing this game for the first time, one that I'm pretty sure I won't want to go back to again.