Title: Mother 3 thread
MindWash - November 25, 2008 08:46 AM (GMT)
For those of you that don't know, the fan translation of Mother 3 (aka Earthbound 2) has been complete for a while now. I've been awaiting this since they started the project a while back, soon after Nintendo announced that there were no plans to bring Mother 3 to North America.
One of the main characters, Lucas, is probably known best by North American gamers from his appearance in SSBB for the Wii. The story follows the events faced by Lucas and his family, as well as other residents of Tazmily village, when a strange group invades the area. The gameplay should be familiar to any Mother fan, although the combat has been implemented with a new combo system. You must adopt to the "beat" of your enemy (or the battle BGM) and tap the A button to attack with the right rhythm and land additional damage.
The game is for GBA and the folks at fobby.net have made a patch to translate the Japanese ROM.
What you'll need...
. The translator patch - > http://mother3.fobby.net/
. A GBA emulator
. A Mother 3 ROM
It goes without saying that you should only download a ROM if you have the original cart. If you haven't imported a copy yet, you can find it here.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-67-49-en-70-13ba.html
-------------------------------------------
BTW I'm KhAoS from the old rpg2knet, :)
Good to be back on the ol' VG forums
spik - November 28, 2008 06:26 AM (GMT)
Nice. :o
Might have to pick this up... legally of course... >_>
Might have to pick this up... legally of course... >_>
Swords_McSwords - November 29, 2008 06:06 AM (GMT)
Looks like I'm gonna bash some heads until they release it everywhere.
Gintech - December 1, 2008 06:46 PM (GMT)
oooooooo must play!
MindWash - December 1, 2008 09:28 PM (GMT)
You will not be disappointed, this is one of the best RPGs of this generation, and it's a GBA game. xd
Very challenging too! I'm near the end now, 21 hours deep.
Very challenging too! I'm near the end now, 21 hours deep.
MrD - January 9, 2009 02:02 AM (GMT)
I won Mother 3 and I wrote some stuff about it on another forum.
To summarise what's below:
You may be disappointed, this is not one of the best RPGs of this generation. It's not challenging. It's just MOTHER 3. It requires EarthBound knowledge to fully appreciate, in a sort of 'huh, that's appropriate' way, else you may just be confused. Play EarthBound first, then MOTHER 3. Or just Earthbound. Or neither. Play Baten Kaitos instead.
Please enjoy these words. Then play the game anyway, so we can talk about it!
To summarise what's below:
You may be disappointed, this is not one of the best RPGs of this generation. It's not challenging. It's just MOTHER 3. It requires EarthBound knowledge to fully appreciate, in a sort of 'huh, that's appropriate' way, else you may just be confused. Play EarthBound first, then MOTHER 3. Or just Earthbound. Or neither. Play Baten Kaitos instead.
Please enjoy these words. Then play the game anyway, so we can talk about it!
| QUOTE |
| I'm up to Chapter 3. All of the characters I've played as so far haven't really been able to do much plot work because Lucas hasn't really been involved. They've just been running about doing their own, ignoring the main problem: Spoiler: An army of pig mask wearing villains with big laser guns coming down with tanks and airships, destroying large chunks of forest, turning animals into unspeakable chimerae, getting main characters killed, sieging a castle. It's like Earthbound except there's very few items, and you have really focus on silly tricks to get the items you need to beat the bosses. I'm guessing it will become more like Earthbound when I actually unlock the ability to collect and use money to buy items, and my characters actually carry over from one chapter to another instead of wandering off. |
| QUOTE | ||||
| The game gets a lot more coherent when you get to Chapter 4 and you finally get control of the lead character, Lucas. Doesn't really make the game much more enjoyable though. Having a selection of powers and characters at your disposal (y'know, letting the player actually have control and make choices in battle) is a large difference from the walk-melee-walk-melee combat of the first half of the story, but you're still going to get blasted by bosses because Your Numbers Are Too Small.
Not really. No. Earthbound and Mother 3 aren't that funny.
No. Spoiler: The plots are linked, and a couple of characters are shared. It will have slightly more impact on your if you're familiar with the main characters of Earthbound. |
| QUOTE |
| The game is over. It's a daft game that doesn't make a whole deal of sense. It's relatively straightforward at the beginning of the game when each of the introductory characters do their own little adventures, but when it's Lucas' turn it's very, very easy to get lost or stuck. There's only one way forward at all times and most of the time it's not easy to get help on your current goal. A few hard-to-find characters mention places you've never been, and you have to roughly head in that direction until stupid things happen. Occasionally, you might stumble into an emotional event on your travels, but it's really hard to understand any character. Most of the characters you find seem oblivious to all that goes on until the very final chapter, where they all basically admit to being completely clueless. The super climactic explanation that clarifies the game is so outrageous that I'd imagine most people would just ignore that part of the plot. It doesn't lead from anywhere and it's not hinted at at all. People familiar with Earthbound will enjoy the closing chapter, people unfamiliar with Earthbound won't have a damned clue what's going on, and will probably just wish it were over. It's very possible to get stuck in a position where you're unlikely to progress further due to the placement and nature of the save points: two of your permanent later characters are basically useless due to their low stats and lack of PSI powers. Spoiler: One of them is Duster the thief, who possess a number of special items that allow the party to gain an advantage in battle. Four of these items inflict status effects on the enemy... or not (#76). Check yourself in the walkthrough under 'Bosses'. If they're vulnerable to Wall Staples, then it's either the Wall Staple tutorial, or you don't have Duster at that point. Even if the other status effects that he can inflict stick to the enemy, they're all kinda fuzzy 'chance to skip turn', 'chance to miss' effects that just don't work on the enemy. The other two reduce the enemy's Strength and Defence stats, which is pretty useful (ie. essential, unless you like the crap being kicked out of you), except they have a slightly less chance of working compared to Kumatora's PSI versions, which almost always hit. Duster's standard physical attack is useful until 60% of the game when he suddenly becomes pathetic. The other is Boney the dog. He sniffs. To make them useful by granting them a powerful attack or healing ability, you have to give them a large number of single use explosive or healing items, and these expensive items have to be bought from the merchants. When you die, you get the option, like in Earthbound, to be instantly regenerated at the last save point you were at (or the nearest boss defeat if that's closer, if you're fighting a string of bosses) at the cost of half the money you hold (there's no reason to be holding money as the save points allow you to safely deposit it). When you regenerate, you keep any EXP but you also keep your current inventory layout for each character. This means that when you get stuck at a boss you have to backtrack to the merchant, waste all your money making your non-PSI characters capable, run like hell through the gauntlet between the save point and the boss, picking easy EXP fights without expending your items, and then give fighting the boss a go. If you get killed by the boss, you have to repeat all the above and add in some extra fighting to make up the money you lost on the disposables you wasted.* Oh yeah, not once in the entire game did I manage to find a single shop that sold PSI recovery items. So... if you waste your PSI before you reach the boss... you lose. Unless you cheat like me and use save states, the only way to make Mother games bearable. I think the technical nature of this translation is a lot more interesting than the game they did it to. *It's the un-Baten Kaitos! Baten Kaitos' battle system is card based, where each card represents an attack, technique or healing item. You can burn your character's decks as often as you like, as they're simply shuffled and reused when the deck's used up. Also, when you die on a BK boss, you're given the option to retry the boss and reorganise your deck. (Though there are a very, very small number of single use out-of-battle recovery items. You can use those if you only just made it out of a battle alive, but you usually heal with your battle deck.) ANYWAY. Is anybody else playing this thing or was it just me? |
| QUOTE |
| Play it anyway! If you were excited about reading that there's an English version of MOTHER 3, you'll like this because another MOTHER is exactly what you've got. |
Dajhail - January 15, 2009 08:07 PM (GMT)
Damn, it seems rare to find a person who doesn't like this game.
Though that might just be because the only people who've played the game are usually hardcore Earthbound fans.
Though that might just be because the only people who've played the game are usually hardcore Earthbound fans.
MindWash - January 16, 2009 07:42 AM (GMT)
You say the game isn't challenging yet you're using save states? That's quite funny to me, and I admit a bit sad. If you are new to RPGs I understand, which would make sense if you are recommending a simple RPG like BK over a more hardcore one like Mother3 (Not to mention bringing it up when it has nothing to do with mother in the first place). The game is difficult as you need to experiment to find weaknesses. There are also tons of bosses, many hidden and optional. Grinding is pretty much necessary unless you are relying on items.
It's an old formula that only EB fans will truly appreciate, but the battles are intense and a great throwback to old school turn based RPGs. I don't know how you had so much trouble with issues like party members (The dog being the only real useless member who's an item mule anyway), PSI items (sold at many shops), or retying bosses (just reload your save to avoid wasting items/stats) It's standard RPG fare. Did you play an unofficial build of the ROM?
The writing in the game is top notch and the story is quite mature. The OST is amazing. I agree that not everyone will like the game, but many of your criticisms are completely unfounded.
It's an old formula that only EB fans will truly appreciate, but the battles are intense and a great throwback to old school turn based RPGs. I don't know how you had so much trouble with issues like party members (The dog being the only real useless member who's an item mule anyway), PSI items (sold at many shops), or retying bosses (just reload your save to avoid wasting items/stats) It's standard RPG fare. Did you play an unofficial build of the ROM?
The writing in the game is top notch and the story is quite mature. The OST is amazing. I agree that not everyone will like the game, but many of your criticisms are completely unfounded.
MrD - January 20, 2009 02:15 PM (GMT)
I never used save states during a battle. I didn't make that clear. Saving during a battle wouldn't help any as victory and defeat are really more of a function of how you enter the battle.
Grinding is poo, basically. I wouldn't mind if I could alter the sensitivity of the 'instant win' fight woosh: If I could demonstrate that a battle was winnable under certain conditions, perhaps I could just win it by induction. (Hey, why don't you play Progress Quest instead? Well, because everybody said M3 was great. It would be foolish to talk about it without having played it.)
Compared to Earthbound, there isn't that much optional stuff. The game's linearity and Lucas' tendency to leave a wake (and leave some places permanently) doesn't really allow for it. I fought every boss on this list. Did I miss any?
I really couldn't find anywhere that sold PP items. Where can I buy 'em? A lot of enemies had a chance to drop them, sure.
I'd say the writing in the game is appropriate. I was playing the same translation you're referring to in the top post.
I refer to BK because it's nothing like Mother, except that it's an RPG as well. I mention it in the post I quoted, which I wrote before the text above. It's a suggestion.
I referred to challenge as a reversal of your post. M3 didn't make me think, it didn't test my memory and it didn't test my reflexes. It just tested my patience. I don't mean in a snarky way. I was just waiting. I spent most of the game rotating Lucas, Kumatora and Duster between healing and blasting, because that's all you can do. Until you run out of consumables.
I wouldn't say my criticisms are unfounded, as they're clearly demonstrable. But some folks may enjoy them or at least tolerate them. I wouldn't recommend it myself though because there's better games to play.
Grinding is poo, basically. I wouldn't mind if I could alter the sensitivity of the 'instant win' fight woosh: If I could demonstrate that a battle was winnable under certain conditions, perhaps I could just win it by induction. (Hey, why don't you play Progress Quest instead? Well, because everybody said M3 was great. It would be foolish to talk about it without having played it.)
Compared to Earthbound, there isn't that much optional stuff. The game's linearity and Lucas' tendency to leave a wake (and leave some places permanently) doesn't really allow for it. I fought every boss on this list. Did I miss any?
I really couldn't find anywhere that sold PP items. Where can I buy 'em? A lot of enemies had a chance to drop them, sure.
I'd say the writing in the game is appropriate. I was playing the same translation you're referring to in the top post.
I refer to BK because it's nothing like Mother, except that it's an RPG as well. I mention it in the post I quoted, which I wrote before the text above. It's a suggestion.
I referred to challenge as a reversal of your post. M3 didn't make me think, it didn't test my memory and it didn't test my reflexes. It just tested my patience. I don't mean in a snarky way. I was just waiting. I spent most of the game rotating Lucas, Kumatora and Duster between healing and blasting, because that's all you can do. Until you run out of consumables.
I wouldn't say my criticisms are unfounded, as they're clearly demonstrable. But some folks may enjoy them or at least tolerate them. I wouldn't recommend it myself though because there's better games to play.
MindWash - January 21, 2009 01:04 AM (GMT)
" I never used save states during a battle. I didn't make that clear. Saving during a battle wouldn't help any as victory and defeat are really more of a function of how you enter the battle."
Using them at all is a bit cheap. I rarely died, but many of the big battles were all close. I would only resort to save states if I was losing frequently.
"Grinding is poo, basically."
Yet a staple of many JRPGs. I don't mind it in the least. I fought almost every encounter and still was a bit underpowered for some of the bosses. It wasn't a big deal going back for a few more levels.
"Compared to Earthbound, there isn't that much optional stuff."
Incorrect. EB was even more linear. Mother 3 has many more optional bosses. That link you posted was every boss in the game, so no, if you beat every one you didn't miss any. Looks like I missed a few though.
"I really couldn't find anywhere that sold PP items. Where can I buy 'em?"
Exact locations escape me ATM, but you can buy 'magic' gelatin, cake, etc. from vending machines IIRC.
"I referred to challenge as a reversal of your post. M3 didn't make me think, it didn't test my memory and it didn't test my reflexes"
Yet to defeat many of the bosses you can't mess up your commands. A few botched turns and you just won't win. Maybe it's easier with save states, but for me I had to move quickly to heal someone just in time, or use party buffs early on to avoid getting destroyed next turn. It doesn't allow for much leeway for the huge encounters.
I'll also go as far to say that 'challenge' for me is relative. Maybe this game isn't hard by old school standards, but it's certainly harder than most game released in '08, and it's most definitely harder than an RPG like BK, which basically holds your hand the entire game. I sense some sort of double standard here...