Mother 3 is the third installment in the Mother franchise by Shigesato Itoi, following Earthbound on the Super Nintendo. Mother 3 was released for the Gameboy Advance in 2006 in Japan. It was never localized in America, because of controversial content, troubled development, and the poor sales of the series’ previous entry. Also worth noting the DS was close to releasing at that time. Nevertheless, a fan translation was put online in 2008. It is a favorite of many Nintendo fans, and you have likely seen trending hashtags begging for the game’s localization. Especially considering Mother 3’s influence in Smash Bros. is quite prevalent. After playing through the game I do have some thoughts about it.
The game is broken up into chapters, with most of them having you play as characters that are not its protagonist, Lucas. It is admittedly hard to talk about the plot without discussing spoilers, as major character deaths happen often, so perhaps it is more important to discuss the themes. One clear one is the discussion of loss as characters throughout the game lose loved ones, homes, etc. and struggle to cope with that reality. Critiques of capitalism are also very apparent. The game’s villain, Porky Minch, brings a currency system and televised media into the hometown of Lucas, Tazmilly Village. The village was without a currency system, any use for a jail, and a kind community. Once a ruling group has been established, with a city to flock to, factory jobs, and entertainment, then the town begins to change negatively. For example, previously friendly NPCs will become increasingly annoyed that you took the time to talk to them. One of the few non-white members of the town gets his home destroyed by the armed police presence, and many of the old folks of the town get put into a falling-apart retirement home. These are a few of many examples of capitalism destroying the town. The themes are played out brilliantly and are subtle in all the right ways. The characters are great too. All the party members serve a role that helps with the main character's arc along with having their own satisfying arc. Even some of the comic reliefs get mini-arcs that are funny, but more importantly, endearing.
The problem with the plot is that capitalism critiques might have been considered to be ill-received in the west. This is a big obstacle in localization, but most certainly not as much as the Magypsies. The Magypsies are non-binary characters who wear a lot of pink and feminine dresses but still maintain masculine features like five o’clock shadows. There have been debates on whether or not they are offensive representations of transgender people or non-binary people. On the one hand, they are powerful and confident characters that are heroes, with very peaceful views on death. On the other hand, a few characters have lines emphasizing the weirdness and seclusion of those characters. It can be argued either way, but the argument itself probably makes it problematic. Couple that with the low sales of Mother 2, or Earthbound, in America and it's clear why they haven’t and likely won’t release Mother 3 in America. Additionally, the Mother 3 fan translation has been up for years. Nintendo is a company famous for striking down fan games and projects, so them ignoring the fan translation for Mother 3 seems to be a bit of a sign of approval. Mother 3's translation is extremely popular and it seems that by allowing it to be up, Nintendo acknowledges it may never come to the U.S. This may be the only place to play it.
On the gameplay side of things, Mother 3 does a lot of things right to alleviate some of the things that exhaust other JRPGs. There are no random encounters for one thing, and if you enter a battle you are going to win in one turn, the game will just give you the xp immediately. There are saves and shops very frequently. And the save points are cute frogs that end every interaction with you with “give my regards to the next frog you meet.” I wish I had plushies of them. The main innovation with combat is that you can press the A button after attacking in tune with the beat of the battle music to chain a combo together. This will oftentimes double the damage done to a single enemy. You don't need to pull off the combos to win, you can get by without doing them, but it is a fun challenge to try and learn the beat. There is also the damage slider. Instead of a normal RPG where there is a meter or flat number, if you take damage the slider will tick down. If you take mortal damage and you can end the fight before the slider reaches zero you can win with however much HP is left. The gameplay mechanics are so good and makes Mother 3 one of the few JRPGs where the gameplay is as good as the story.
Final Thoughts: Mother 3 is a great game. The game has interesting and well-developed themes that are brought depth by well-written characters and heartfelt writing. The game is quite funny too. Many characters are cute and charming. The music and style are also really good, primarily because they serve the game’s themes quite well. The gameplay is also some of the best a turn-based JRPG can get. Mother 3 above all else made me feel something. It made me laugh, cry, feel that classic righteousness at a boss fight, it’s incredible. I’m not exaggerating when I say it is Nintendo’s masterpiece. I highly recommend downloading the emulator, rom, and patch, and play it.
5/5
Oh this shit rules
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