This review contains spoilers
It's difficult to summarize my feelings on this one. I played Earthbound for the first time last year, and it quickly shot itself into my top 5 favorite games of all time. I feel that Earthbound contains a few of the most memorable sequences in games—Moonside, Saturn Valley, Magicant, and the final battle against Giygas, to name a few. Playing Earthbound with the Player's Guide was as close to an otherworldly experience as I've ever had with a video game. As a result, I was always going to go into Mother 3 with unbelievable expectations.
In a lot of ways, Mother 3 meets those expectations. First off, it's extraordinarily well-written, with Itoi's trademark sense of humor (tinged with a measure of dread) shining throughout. It has a very engaging battle system which, when paired with the "rhythm battle" mechanic, makes for some of the most fun I've had playing a JRPG. Finally, the game moves with a sense of urgency—something I appreciated after the occasionally plodding pace of Earthbound. I could go on and on and on about what Mother 3 does well.
All of that said, Mother 3 isn't perfect. Most of the time, I felt that the game involved a few great moments wrapped around a series of McGuffins (more on this later, don't kill me). For example, the game continually asks you to recover the Egg of Light or pull the Needles, but you're given no indication as to why any of this matters until Leder's explanation in the climax, whether through worldbuilding or dialogue. While a lot of the lore is interesting, this "lore dump" approach to storytelling almost always feels lazy and unearned. A large portion of this game involves trudging ahead through unimaginative environments because the game tells you to, but, in my opinion, not because you care.
However, nearly all of my complaints melted away by the time I got to New Pork City. The game is batting on all cylinders there. Rather than giving you a true final boss, Mother 3 uses the final "battle" against Claus as a narrative device that I assume most players, myself included, will never forget. Like I said before, I don't think that Mother 3 is a perfect game, and I still prefer Earthbound in most regards. That said, in light of everything that it does so extraordinarily well, Mother 3 is a game that everyone should play.
In a lot of ways, Mother 3 meets those expectations. First off, it's extraordinarily well-written, with Itoi's trademark sense of humor (tinged with a measure of dread) shining throughout. It has a very engaging battle system which, when paired with the "rhythm battle" mechanic, makes for some of the most fun I've had playing a JRPG. Finally, the game moves with a sense of urgency—something I appreciated after the occasionally plodding pace of Earthbound. I could go on and on and on about what Mother 3 does well.
All of that said, Mother 3 isn't perfect. Most of the time, I felt that the game involved a few great moments wrapped around a series of McGuffins (more on this later, don't kill me). For example, the game continually asks you to recover the Egg of Light or pull the Needles, but you're given no indication as to why any of this matters until Leder's explanation in the climax, whether through worldbuilding or dialogue. While a lot of the lore is interesting, this "lore dump" approach to storytelling almost always feels lazy and unearned. A large portion of this game involves trudging ahead through unimaginative environments because the game tells you to, but, in my opinion, not because you care.
However, nearly all of my complaints melted away by the time I got to New Pork City. The game is batting on all cylinders there. Rather than giving you a true final boss, Mother 3 uses the final "battle" against Claus as a narrative device that I assume most players, myself included, will never forget. Like I said before, I don't think that Mother 3 is a perfect game, and I still prefer Earthbound in most regards. That said, in light of everything that it does so extraordinarily well, Mother 3 is a game that everyone should play.