Since this game was so well-represented in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it is surprising that Mother 3, the sequel to the 1995 SNES classic Earthbound (or Mother 2) has not yet been localized, which is doubly puzzling because it is one of the best RPGs that I have ever experienced. On the surface, it seems simple, quaint, quirky, and weird, and although it possesses all of those qualities in spades, the game tells a masterful story (by genre standards) that is overflowing with simple depth and emotional gravity. Not only will you care about the characters, but you will also care about the game's setting and the transformation that it undergoes. This is a story about family, loss, and the evolution (or devolution) of simple village life to big city consumerism, and it is not one that any player willing to get their hands on the fan-translated version of this game is likely to forget. Not to mention that the role-playing game designed around this unique story is also pretty damn good, with excellent pacing and lots of little cool details and surprises.
This is a story that you'll want to experience for yourself (so I won't go into too much detail), but it begins with a happy family camping trip. You are Lucas and you have a twin brother named Claus, a strong father in Flint and a sweet, caring mother in Hinawa. But everything goes wrong when the village of Tazmilly, which exists on an isolated and mysterious set of islands, is attacked by men in strange pig masks. Your mother is killed in the invasion, your brother goes missing, and Tazmilly is quickly transformed, by subtly evil forces, into a consumerist town reminiscent of Earthbound's Onette. Here, a snake oil salesman named Fassad convinces everybody to acquire "happy boxes" and anybody who refuses is met with unpleasant consequences, like having their houses continually struck by lightning. I won't go any further as the story quickly becomes more layered and the major conflict doesn't kick in until you're well into the story, but what I will say is that Mother 3 tells a rewarding and deep story with not an ounce of pretentiousness and it is also constantly eventful, making great use of suspense while also tugging on the player's heartstrings with tons of deeply emotional moments. And to keep the game from becoming too much of a downer, there are tons of quirky and downright weird scenarios, instantly giving Mother 3 its own distinctive flavor. There's nothing new under the sun, and much of the game's tone and atmosphere is borrowed from earlier Mother games, but this is an RPG that stays well away from the genre's usual tropes.
Since this game was never localized, a fan translation is the only way to experience it in English. And boy, did the translator do a good job. Sure, the dialogue can get plenty clunky at times and there is plenty of awkward text (which actually works to the game's benefit as it reinforces the bizarre, quirky atmosphere), but the dialogue has so much heart and the translator did an admirable job of capturing it. He also did an admirable job of capturing the game's offbeat humor. The NPCs say some of the weirdest things you'll hear in an RPG and some of it is genuinely funny. I haven't laughed so much in an RPG since Super Paper Mario.
As excellent as the story is, the pacing holds up its end of the deal. The world of Mother 3 is decidedly rather small, but it is also dense. There are tons of inventive areas with interesting little details that bring them to life, and the game's story progression makes excellent use of them, bringing you to the right places at the right times, insuring that you feel like your journey has substance even though the game's environment is not very big by JRPG standards. The game is also constantly throwing quirky and funny scenarios at you and there's honestly never a dull moment. The game only lasts for a little bit over 20 hours, but those 20 hours are filled with so much off-the-beaten-path content, which is a pleasing contrast to RPGs that feel padded with unnecessarily long dungeons and the like. Not one scenario or "dungeon area" (I put that in quotes because Mother 3's progression is far more dynamic than town, field, dungeon, field, town, field, dungeon, etc.) goes on longer than it should. This a perfectly paced game that is short, but very very sweet.
The characters are also quite charming. The main characters are a given, but NPCs are also very memorable, ranging from the Tazmilly villagers to even the save points, which take the form of these cute little frogs. The "sage characters" in other JRPGs usually take the form of boring old men, but in Mother 3 they are drag queens. That gives you an idea of how concerned Mother 3 is with RPG traditions and tropes (not very). In short, an immense amount of attention to detail has been paid to every facet of the character design, which works wonderfully when one keeps in mind Mother 3's themes of family and community.
The battle system is a very basic turn-based deal, but it does have a twist. Different encounters have different musical themes. By paying attention to the beat, you can use the music to stack up combos, maximizing damage. Some songs are easy to pull off combos to, some songs are hard. I give the developer great credit for providing a variety of songs, so that the act of pulling off combos remained dynamic and didn't turn into a chore. As for the rest of the battle system, as I said, it is a very basic Dragon Quest/classic Final Fantasy-esque system that consists of using regular attacks, magic, items, guarding, etc. Each of your main party members are extremely useful: Lucas is useful for buffing and he has hard hitting magic attacks, Kumatora is very adept at elemental magic, Duster can use "thief tools" to inflict status effects and debuffs on enemies, and Boney the Dog can sniff enemies to determine their weaknesses. Sometimes temporary characters will join you, but will contribute from the sidelines, which is always helpful. Furthermore, your health goes down gradually when you get hit, almost like the revolving icons on a slot machine, so if you're quick, you can heal yourself even if you take mortal damage. I found this to be very useful and I thought it was fair of the developer to design the way the player takes damage in such an unorthodox fashion.
Customization is as basic as it gets, with basic leveling and armor/weapon/accessory upgrades functioning the same as they do in any basic Japanese role-playing game. One slightly interesting aspect of learning new moves is the fact that Lucas and Kumatora will get fevers before they acquire new techniques. However, though this is interesting, I can't say it was a good decision on the developer's part. Besides a small bonus in terms of immersion, I can't see the benefit of the fevers since they compromise your ability to dash and use medical/curative items. But other than that, all the combat-related systems work exactly as they should. And the attention to detail that I mentioned earlier is also present in terms of the healing items and what not. What are usually potions in other JRPGs is substituted with food items such as hamburgers, nut bread, hot dogs, beef jerky, etc. There are tons of food items with different levels of effectiveness, and although this doesn't benefit the game on any mechanical level, it does increase immersion and it does keep with the game's tradition of building its world with tons and tons of small details.
Visually, the game is quite charming, with adorable sprites, vibrant colors, and lots of imagination insofar as the environments you explore, but there's not much in the way of impressive effects. It is a very simple game in terms of its visual design, and although the visual design does its job quite well, the game could have done with a bit more visual pizazz. Comparing it to Earthbound (Mother 2), I feel Mother 3 looks a little flatter on the whole. But don't get me wrong. This is a charming game to look at. Your eyes won't be impressed, but they will be pleased. If that makes any sense at all.
In terms of sound-design, the game is superb. There are tons of charming sound effects and the soundtrack is top shelf. The music has a distinctly retro MIDI-quality to it, but the compositions are excellent, with a kind of strange jazzy edge complementing the warm, at times pretty melodies. And as a bonus, you'll hear some famous classical compositions at one point in the game, and the context in which they are heard is quite funny.
Just looking at Mother 3's quaint and quirky appearance and considering the fact that it hasn't been localized, most gamers will probably skip over this game. But those who do will be missing one of the most unique, funny, and emotionally satisfying games in the genre. If you can find it in yourself to go out of your way to experience this game, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do. This is the kind of game that will stay in your memory long after the memories of lesser games have faded.
GAMEPLAY-4.5/5
DESIGN-5/5
STORY-5/5
VISUALS-4/5
PLAYABILITY-4.5/5
VALUE-4/5