Galleria is a wildly ambitious game, with a story and setting far greater in scale than I could have ever imagined. It recalls titles like YU-NO and Xenogears; it is not afraid to be big, and it is not afraid to be surprising. If you're tired of games with predictable plots, games that advertise every last character and setpiece ahead of time, then look no further -- Galleria has the confidence not to show its cards, and more than enough twists and turns to keep you guessing where things will end up.

But it's easy to squander a plot, because a plot is nothing without its characters. Frankly, I was not on board with the previous games in the Majo series (Hyakkihei and Refrain), largely because the protagonists were, in a word, unlikable. I wasn't invested in the characters, and so I was not invested in the world they inhabited. Thankfully, this shortcoming has been more than just addressed in Galleria; its two protagonists are wonderfully endearing characters, and the strength of their characterization is the narrative's greatest asset. No matter how elaborate the setting gets, no matter how many characters are introduced, it all revolves around Eureka and Natyl in the end. Their relationship provides an emotional core that the previous games in the series lacked. Without them, it wouldn't be half the game it is.

It's fortunate that Galleria has this driving force in the form of Eureka and Natyl, because it is (perhaps unsurprisingly) an absolutely massive game, requiring a great deal of patience and perseverance from the player if they wish to see it through to the end. I can't really imagine anyone finishing it in less than 90 hours. Mechanically, and in terms of dungeon design, I found it to be a huge step up from Refrain. At the same time. there are many parts of the game I can see people finding tedious, if not outright repellent, namely the randomly generated dungeons in the latter half and the item farming and level grinding required for the final boss. And of course, no discussion of Galleria is complete without mentioning its final challenge: a 3651 (not a typo) floor dungeon, entirely randomly generated and designed to test just how far the player is willing to go to see the true ending of the game. I found it to be a fascinating challenge -- it basically creates a roguelike by bending the game's existing mechanics -- and deeply rewarding to complete, not the least of which because of just how brilliant the ending sequence is, but the fact remains that it's a very tall ask.

I don't think Galleria is perfect, either as a narrative or as a game. There are topics I wish the writing had explored more deeply, characters I wish had gotten more screentime (or more comeuppance). I found myself genuinely frustrated by the stupidly difficult final boss, especially after what I had to do to even be able to fight it properly. The postgame dungeon really made me feel like giving up at times, especially when I managed to lose several hundred (!) floors' worth of progress. But in the end, it was all worth it. I can't remember the last time I felt so satisfied completing a game. My complaints all melted away as I watched the hour-long ending sequence go by. In the end, I just loved Eureka and Natyl that much, I guess. I couldn't help but love their game too.

Galleria is one of the greatest JRPGs of all time, and Nippon Ichi's greatest achievement as a company. And that's coming from someone who didn't even like the previous games in the series very much.

Dauntless and insurmountable feat would it be to fill in Earthbound's ridiculously sized shoes, but nonetheless not only does Mother 3 achieve such task, it charts its own course through one of the most unique and thoughful experiences the medium has ever seen.

In contrast to Earthbound's freeform and loose storytelling, Mother 3 opts instead for a much more laser focused narrative that has its characters witnessing the corruption of their idyllic reality, which destabilizes their community and family bonds in the process. This change of narrative structure translates to a reduction in off the beaten path detours and non sequiturs that decorate much of the diverse and out there adventure found in Earthbound, but Mother 3 more than makes up for it by utilizing the pre-established and beloved tone of the series to subvert it and twist it just enough to frame a much more personal and intimate experience, while still maintaining the foundation that defines the franchise.

Without sacrificing any of the strengths and characteristics that make videogames unique in the storytelling artform, Mother 3 manages to create a surprisingly emotional and meaningful story that contemplates the disruptive nature of time and progress on stagnated unrealistic ideals, the folly of a lack of introspection and hindsight in day to day life relationships, or the need for growth and maturity during the moments life beats you down , without ever having to condescend to the player or step outside its fun, joyful and charismatic universe. It uses the power of nostalgia and childhood, inside and outside the game, to construct a strong connection between the player and the screen, while also acknowledging the danger of said sentiment and even weaponizing it against you, cementing its antagonist as one of the greatest villains in fiction in the process.

As you watch your home town transform during the course of the game just by the act of walking by it and speaking to its neighbours, Mother 3's seemingly surface level anti-capitalism theme opens up to reveal a much more empathetic and understanding examination of the mundane and human misgivings and mistakes we all end up falling into once in a while, never fully condemning the characters that inhabit its world, unlike much more blatant and obvious recent titles aspiring to some artistic merit.

While there's a certain sadness in the inevitability of Itoi never again making a videogame, it is fitting that he would leave us on such a high note. Coming back to this series would in some way detract from the overall message these games have always strived to impart on the player, and trying to one up Mother 3 would be a massive mistake. As it stands, Mother 3 has the qualities of a great novel. You can pick apart its more obvious themes and messages and always find something else beneath it more interesting. I could go on about how engaging the rhythm combat is in contrast to other JRPGs. I could ramble on about the numerous NPCs that betray their 2D aesthetic with incredible one liners that destroy any pretentious triple A story driven shlock. I could fawn over the incredible execution of the final boss and how the game manages to poignantly break the 4th wall once again like its predecessor did.

But why bother? Discussing these aspects would be reducing the art, Mother 3 is meant to be played. Oh, wait. You can't play it. Add it to the ever increasing bucket of baffling and nonsensical Nintendo decisions.