I’m going to start this review by saying that Mother 3 was an emotional journey for me. It’s development cycle was an interesting one. I’m proud to say I followed through Nintendo Power. To me it was Earthbound 64 – one of the few RPGs announced for the Nintendo 64. That’s why it was significant to me. I was turned off by the fact that the main character appeared to be a cowboy, and that you couldn’t see your party during battle. I had also not played the prior title in the series, Earthbound, and therefore had no frame of reference. It all seemed weird to me, but I was glued to information related to it and Quest 64. Earthbound 64 was cancelled, and later announced for the Gameboy Advance as Mother 3. Unfortunately it was never translated officially. It has become one of the most famous fan translations and was always on my radar.
I finally dove in, and though it may sound crazy Mother 3 changed my outlook on the entire genre. Today I’m here to tell you about it. Now, let’s get started.
The story of Mother 3 is told via a series of chapters based on the same world as Earthbound but many years after that tale concluded. Set on the nowhere islands where there’s no money and everyone lives peacefully. Life suddenly gets in the way when a mother of twins, Hinawa, is killed by the normally docile reptilian dragos. Her husband Flint sets out to get revenge and discovers that these creatures have been changed via experiments combining their biological parts with mechanical. It turns out that an entire army dressed as pigs is invading the peaceful island and taking over Tazmily village by introducing some new entertainment. Everyone is being brainwashed, and it’s up to Hinawa’s child Lucas to set everything right.
If you’re not familiar with the Mother series then this one might be a little hard to swallow at first. It’s full of zany characters and situations, and has a very comical atmosphere to it. There are few other RPGs where the enemies can range from humanoid insects to everyday occupational workers. Nothing is realistic here with exaggerated cartoon features on just about everything. It takes a bit to fully immerse yourself in this world, but when you do it’s hard to play more serious role playing games for quite a long time following the conclusion of this one.
Mother 3 is a traditional role playing game, but with a unique take on the format. The story is divided into a chapter format wherein you follow the exploits of a few different viewpoints until you get to the main one and we finally see some consistency. Leading up to that the game is based on building up the world in which the story takes place. It’s a really interesting format where the setting is almost a character in itself. You actually care about what happens to the characters, and it’s not a familiar story for the genre. It’s incredible, emotional, and absolutely well written.
The game plays very similarly to how Earthbound did. You wander throughout two dimensional environments interacting with characters and can be approached by enemies that you can see on the field. When a battle starts you are whisked away to a separate screen where you get a head-on view of the enemies ala Dragon Quest as you input commands and await them being carried out. Everything is numerical in traditional RPG standard, and the battle ends when you deplete your opponent’s hit points or your party is wiped out.
The major difference here is that there’s a timing based attack system. Each enemy has a rythym based input system wherein you can strike for more damage if you hit the attack button in succession. You can completely ignore this and instead just play normally and still be completely successful. It’s a really nice bonus I liked more than I thought I would.
When you first start out Mother 3 seems like an RPG-lite. There’s no money, and no shops. On Tazmily Island everyone gives away everything for free. You need to focus on what enemies you can encounter that have drops to bulk up on items at this point. The game requires what I call ‘smart grinding.’ You have to seek out specific enemies to gain items that recover specific ailments common in each new area. This requires strategy and more focus than most RPGs require. As you progress things become a bit more traditional with actual currency and item shops. I can’t spoil why because it’s significant to the plot, but you definitely feel the world is changing around you.
Mother 3 requires quite a lot of strategy and solving problems in hairy situations is half of the fun. It’s almost like a puzzle game at times. You really need to hone in on every ability of your party members and figure out what will give you the advantage. Grinding helps, but knowing your opponent’s weakness, figuring out how to exploit it, and using a variety of different buffs and debuffs makes much more of a difference. While most RPGs are like this Mother 3 has a particular emphasis on strategy and planning that few others can match. Just a few changes can make a world of difference when you’re stuck at one of the many particularly difficult boss characters.
So let’s focus on the weaknesses of the game now. There’s not a traditional world map and instead you can explore only areas around Tazmily Island. Fans of the genre might not like such a small area but Mother 3 handles the limitation with finesse. This is where the chapter system really shines. If you’re like me you’ll become very attached to the characters living here and the scenery itself. Most of the chapters take place in different time leaps and so there’s always something new to see at the start of each one.
The graphics take some serious getting used to. By Game Boy Advance standards they’re great. Each character has lots of frames of animation, and the backgrounds are highly detailed. Nintendo opted to use realistic proportions with the characters which is off-putting at first. Characters like Flint and Dusty look very goofy. As you get to know them it makes a lot more sense. The developers didn’t conform to the norms of jRPGs with attractive characters wielding huge swords. Instead they created characters that have lived, and have their own backstories. There’s a whole lot of character here.
The soundtrack is above and beyond what I would expect from the GBA. The music takes on a character of its own. It perfectly fits the atmosphere of the world sculpted in this story. Most tracks are happy and punchy, but others can be ominous and spooky. Some music is goofy and off the wall, and these are my favorite instances. It’s certainly unique but fits the one-of-a-kind world that Mother 3 creates.
I went into this game knowing that I would like it, but surprised with just how much I fell in love with it. Mother 3 is absolutely a one of a kind RPG that doesn’t feel quite like anything else out there (the vibe here is even quite a bit different from Earthbound). I’m a little sad that it was never realized as Earthbound 64 but translating the game to two dimensions and on a handheld probably did it a lot of favors. Mother 3 absolutely needs to be localized for English speaking audiences because too many people are missing out on this incredible game.
