I found Mother 3 through someone I followed on tumblr. She drew and posted a lot of fanart for it, and eventually I was like "hey, what is this from? It looks kind of neat." By that point I'd been spoiled for a pretty large twist in the game, but knowing that particular fact only made me want to play it all the more. A story about brothers seemed right up my alley, and I'd always been curious about the young boy named Lucas with psychic abilities that I saw and mained in SSB: Brawl.
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| the enemy descriptions in this game are fantastic |
Instead, I watched a walkthrough of Mother 3 on youtube. I was immediately taken by the game's charm and wonderful story. It was well crafted, had a ton of characters and tropes I cared about, and while I won't talk about the ending, we'll just say I was absolutely floored. Even despite having one of the game's biggest twists spoiled for me!
Within literal days (it was like, two) I decided that my hesitations about emulation didn't matter. I was going to play the game myself.
So I did. I downloaded an emulator, a Mother 3 rom, and the English Translation patch, and I experienced the game fresh. I was now able to go through the game at my own place and explore what few places the walkthrough didn't. You'd think that it being the second time I'd experienced the game, I wouldn't feel so strongly for it as I had before, but I did. In fact, the plot seemed to wash over me twice as hard as it had the first time! Perhaps because I'd put myself more firmly in Lucas' shoes, but, who knows.
The thing about Mother 3 is that it's just so undeniably good.
Sure, it starts off as a bit of a drag, considering you spend three chapters playing characters who aren't Lucas, and that becomes sort of a chore at points. And the gameplay, while an improvement over Earthbound's (run button, prettier menu), doesn't exactly add anything new to the formula. But those things aren't what make Mother 3 so great.
Mother 3's story is what makes it so wonderful, and what makes it stand out so much. Mother 3's story is what make fans go on and on about how much they loved it. As a writer, avid reader, and general consumer of works that tell great stories myself, I say with great confidence that Mother 3 is one of the best and most well-written stories I've ever experienced.
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| I was serious about those enemy descriptions |
Mother 3 also has some of the best foreshadowing I think I've ever encountered. Undertale is the only other game, off the top of my head, that I can think of with foreshadowing as subtle and as great Mother 3's. Perhaps its telling that Toby Fox, creator of Undertale, was inspired by Mother 3 when he made Undertale.
Mother 3 is fundamentally a story about change, but it's also a story about family. It's, actually, the only game I've ever played that has the theme of family so intricately woven into its climax---and it's definitely the only game I've played that does so without use of any old or annoying tropes. I can't personally name any games that do this specifically, but I know how common the theme of "one brother turned evil and did terrible things and now the brothers are sworn enemies and have to fight" is. Mother 3 isn't like that. Mother 3 is....
Well, I shouldn't spoil it. But it's good, and I'm so grateful for it.
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| Mother 3's family |
One of the most striking, and my most favorite things, is that the villains (the Pigmasks) are all extremely human. It's hard to give concrete examples, but in short they really feel like that old cartoon trope of "all the goons are really just guys with a job and have lives outside of this". Some Pigmasks are genuinely nice to you, one takes a paid vacation in the middle of battle, most are all fans of the local rock band... They get flustered, they get worried, and the game lets you see that side of them (multiple times!) and it honestly feels so good.
The soundtrack is super killer too, with somewhere around 250 tracks. There's so many good songs, but a few of my personal faves are: Tragic Reconstruction, Natural Killer Cyborg (of course!), Gentle Rain, and Phantasmagoric.
There's so much good stuff in this game, and you should really pick it up.
And, if you're lucky, you won't have to be restricted to a walkthrough or an emulator in order to experience it!! Hopes for an English release of this game are higher than they've ever been.
Even if you don't pay attention to the rumors going around, there are so many other signs pointing to an English release of Mother 3 in the future. Mother 1 (localized as Eearthbound Beginnings) was released for the Wii U Virtual Console at last year's E3---the first time it's been released outside Japan!
Mother 3 itself was released on the Virtual Console in Japan just a few months ago. That's really only a step away from an English release on the Virtual Console. That, on top of the fact this year is Mother 3's 10th anniversary! And, we know Nintendo likes doing things to celebrate important anniversaries. Earthbound Beginnings was released as part of a 25 year celebration of the Mother series, and so it seems likely if they'll ever release Mother 3, it'll be in the year of its 10th anniversary!
Sure, it wasn't released for the actual anniversary of Mother 3, but, I've got high hopes for a release at E3 this year, like Mother 1! And if not at E3, then maybe later this year. (After all, the localization process does take time, and could be taking longer than they anticipated, especially considering some of the content Mother 3 presents.)My hopes are high. This really seems like something that's gonna happen.
We'll just have to wait and see.
Anyway, if you don't want to wait around for an English localization to experience Mother 3, then check out one of these things!
- Here's the walkthrough I watched when I first got into it! It's nice and simple, with no commentary, meaning the game speaks for itself. A swell way to experience Mother 3 if you don't want to emulate it / don't have the time or energy to play it yourself.
- Here's the English Translation patch, if you want to play and emulate it yourself! The page links emulators to use (personally I used VBA), and, uh, you're on your own for a rom.
- If you've experienced Mother 3 already, then you can check out this playthrough of the game by the guy who did the English Translation patch, featuring his wife! They provide interesting notes about the game and the translation choices they made, and that's pretty neat. ~*MEGA SPOILERS*~ though, so don't watch if you haven't already experienced the game. ((They also joke around a lot, even during a few of the more serious scenes, so I definitely recommend not watching this until you've experienced the game otherwise first.))
Trust me. You won't regret playing Mother 3. It's a wonderful, beautifully told game that's been life changing for me and a lot of people.
~ I believe a dream can still come true
Why shouldn’t I believe the same in you! ~
