Really wish the majority of the third act didn't exist. Doesn't quite diminish the sheer intensity and beauty of the world building and the atmosphere it evokes but the overall experience certainly deflates with its blandly visualized final areas (especially following the dynamism of Arcadia, Fort Frolic, and Hephaestus), constant enemy spawns and security bots/turrets and a lack of ammo/health to compensate for the surge in difficulty. One can tell the developers lost a bit of imagination following the iconic twist and it's a shame because this is an otherwise vividly absorbing and horrifying game thanks to the immaculate sound work and environmental design. Awkward combat encounters and bloated third act aside, this is a near masterwork. A game that struggles to find the balance between pleasing FPS fans and those who look for substance but nonetheless a watershed moment for the medium.

A tedious Greatest Hits collection of Batman villains and shallow mythology encased in an impressive tech showcase. Without inherent context there is no poignancy so as a result the plot progression is hollow, mostly existing to pander to focus-tested players and comic book fans. For all of its issues at least Asylum was efficient gameplay wise (combat here remains stiff) and had a focused narrative. For not having a lengthy campaign it still took me weeks to power through this due to the bland mission design and how inconsequential the plot felt. The open world here may be refreshingly succinct compared to what we get nowadays but it's nonetheless crammed with the endless noise of radio chatter, objective markers, and menial clutter to get distracted with. It's an overbearing mother of a game that never learns to shut up and allow the player to soak in the visually rich atmosphere without having to scream it in our face and hold our hand in every which way. As much as I despise the term "style over substance" I feel as though I can can truthfully apply it here. It's a massively ambitious AAA title for its time but most of that ambition derives from surface level attributes that feel as thin as the ice that Batman treads on. Something that ultimately skirts on sheer mediocrity.

if i had to really nag on one thing about earthbound, and for the purposes of reviews, i always do, it would be that the fact that it was a JRPG felt secondary to it. i don't remember many specific fights, and with everyone but jeff having access to PSI, it never felt like there were any real challenges.

so, i was very pleasantly surprised to see mother 3 approach the topic of being a JRPG and do it well. i actually feel like a lot of consideration and balance modifying went into the gameplay systems here. making it so that only lucas and kumatora can use PSI really balances the playing field in regards strategy. instead of everyone basically being able to nuke or support, now lucas and kumatora have much more specialized roles as white mage and black mage respectively.

the boss fights are much more memorable in both design and execution as well. i felt multiple times that i had to strategize and do more than just pelt bosses with attacks, which is what i did in earthbound. i actually felt motivated to buff and debuff and keep my item inventory structured specifically amongst characters. this game demands more from you than earthbound, and that's a splendid thing. earthbound was afraid to ask too much of the player, but mother 3 is perfectly willing to give you an obstacle and expect you to overcome it. i can clearly remember many of the boss fights in this game because of how satisfying it felt to overcome them, and, to me, that's one of the best feelings a game can give you.

i haven't really touched the subject of the game's plot and characters because i feel no real need to. they're fantastic, one of the best parts of the game, and there's a very strong chance that you already knew this before reading this review. the word of mouth this game has gotten honestly made me very wary and worried that it would never live up to the hype, and 2020 is nothing if not a year of surprises, because it surpassed those expectations. even if you know the plot and the twists, there's still a lot to analyze and unpack here. this is a narrative with complexity and depth worth appreciating, along with interesting characters.

the biggest flaws i have with the game are honestly in those interesting characters, though. fassad is the only middle eastern coded character in the game, and he's unambiguously evil and sadistic. then you have the mag*psies (censored because it's a slur against romani people), who are homophobic and transmisogynist caricatures. lastly, we have the game's tendency to make pedophilia jokes, which REALLY rubs me the wrong way. none of these are dealbreakers for me, obviously, but it's very jarring to see all of this, because it comes off as like, infowars level hateful stereotyping.

i will end this review by saying that it's very funny to me that nintendo continually refuses to localize this game when it's one of the best works to ever be attached to their name. i've heard rumors and assertions that there's too much dark content in the game to justify a localization (the final boss being often cited), but i disagree. i think the dark material in this game is structured in a way that would be consumable and acceptable for a younger audience and would likely touch them in a way that many games would fail to do. i wish i had played this game when i was younger, both unspoiled and unaware of what to expect. i have a feeling that this game would be in my top 5 if i had.