If you call this game "EarthBound Beginnings" instead of Mother Im fucking stealing something out your house!!!
Playing this game again when I was a game design student and learning how to program made me realize how artful every small aspect of this game is; its journey, its dialogue, the battles, the world design, and graphics, everything just clicks in favor of a singular vision and message.
While I couldn't appreciate it until years after I loved its sequel, the prequel still managed to be a formative experience for me.
I love that magicant becomes a place you visit multiple times as a home world in the pink clouds of fantasy creatures, cloud swimming cats, and just strange people, living beneath a sad queen. The armor shops in this place have multiple tiers and variations of equipment that can be useful all game, and the tons of stuff in the treasury in the queens castle combined with the limited inventory makes it so you have incentive to come back and return to this place, to relax from the real world of physical objects and people that might want to harm you while you search for the eight things that will sing you a portion of a melody to save the world.
I won't forget the dance sequence, the singing cactus, driving a tank, taking the train across the world and through the most dangerous tunnel, running from giant creatures and machines in the endgame, teaming up with a gangster that became bedridden from injury he took by helping me, having to deal with asthma, catching a cold from an npc, the list goes on.
This game might live in the shadow of its superior sequel, but it's a totally different and fantastic experience on its own, despite sharing a lot of similar flavors and ideas.
Also, after playing other rpg's from this era, the crit SMAAASH system in this game adds so much needed unpredictability to battles that it keeps them from getting stale. You can always crit an enemy for a ton of damage, or they can crit you and you have to make do with the turn-around. Having to deal with unexpected situations are what rpg's are all about.
While I couldn't appreciate it until years after I loved its sequel, the prequel still managed to be a formative experience for me.
I love that magicant becomes a place you visit multiple times as a home world in the pink clouds of fantasy creatures, cloud swimming cats, and just strange people, living beneath a sad queen. The armor shops in this place have multiple tiers and variations of equipment that can be useful all game, and the tons of stuff in the treasury in the queens castle combined with the limited inventory makes it so you have incentive to come back and return to this place, to relax from the real world of physical objects and people that might want to harm you while you search for the eight things that will sing you a portion of a melody to save the world.
I won't forget the dance sequence, the singing cactus, driving a tank, taking the train across the world and through the most dangerous tunnel, running from giant creatures and machines in the endgame, teaming up with a gangster that became bedridden from injury he took by helping me, having to deal with asthma, catching a cold from an npc, the list goes on.
This game might live in the shadow of its superior sequel, but it's a totally different and fantastic experience on its own, despite sharing a lot of similar flavors and ideas.
Also, after playing other rpg's from this era, the crit SMAAASH system in this game adds so much needed unpredictability to battles that it keeps them from getting stale. You can always crit an enemy for a ton of damage, or they can crit you and you have to make do with the turn-around. Having to deal with unexpected situations are what rpg's are all about.
I shouldn’t like this game. It’s a grindfest, there’s no rolling HP meter, and the dungeons are unnecessarily gigantic. It’s so archaic nobody in their right mind will play the official release all the way through. Hell, I put it down for a while before completion.
You know what though? Sometimes rough edges are part of the appeal. Even with the grinding, I found Mother to be a snappy and enjoyable experience. What takes one hour in this game takes two in the sequels and four in most other JRPGs. The rich music transcends the hardware limitations, delivering feelings ranging from whimsical adventure to creeping horror. This is a case where the 8-bit presentation enhances the experience. Exploring towns full of tiny, yet wacky character sprites, battling psychotic normalities against a black void, and getting lost in mazes of gray would have hit much less hard if there wasn’t so much open to interpretation.
Mother is a masterful use of crude graphics, empty space, and tonal shifts to turn the player into a kid wandering the unknown. I strongly disagree with the notion it’s not worth playing. EarthBound and Mother 3 are undoubtedly better balanced games and worth experiencing in their own right, but just like remodeling a 30-year old house, there was as much lost as there was gained during the transition.
You know what though? Sometimes rough edges are part of the appeal. Even with the grinding, I found Mother to be a snappy and enjoyable experience. What takes one hour in this game takes two in the sequels and four in most other JRPGs. The rich music transcends the hardware limitations, delivering feelings ranging from whimsical adventure to creeping horror. This is a case where the 8-bit presentation enhances the experience. Exploring towns full of tiny, yet wacky character sprites, battling psychotic normalities against a black void, and getting lost in mazes of gray would have hit much less hard if there wasn’t so much open to interpretation.
Mother is a masterful use of crude graphics, empty space, and tonal shifts to turn the player into a kid wandering the unknown. I strongly disagree with the notion it’s not worth playing. EarthBound and Mother 3 are undoubtedly better balanced games and worth experiencing in their own right, but just like remodeling a 30-year old house, there was as much lost as there was gained during the transition.
i think the moral of the story is wearefriends yes wearefriends
I have this distinct memory of running down the train tracks with Lloyd and Ninten in my party and thinking it felt exactly like something straight out of Stand By Me or a dozen other eighties coming-of-age films – and that's exactly what makes MOTHER so special to me. It perfectly captures the time period in which it was made and, more than its successors, truly feels like a childhood adventure much in the same way one might journey to the end of the road or go camping with their family.
My favorite MOTHER game. And yes – it's MOTHER. I refuse to call it EarthBound Beginnings.
My favorite MOTHER game. And yes – it's MOTHER. I refuse to call it EarthBound Beginnings.
A very, very misunderstood game. The gameplay is fine and nowhere near the pile of garbage everybody makes it out to be, aside from a few confusing dungeons (which are forgivable as this is literally an NES game). Endearing story and characters, and great music. On some days I even like this game more than EarthBound.
And I thought Metroid would have been impossible without a guide!
Earthbound Beginnings is immensely charming, but I wouldn't quite call it "fun". What's most interesting about it is how similar the content and story are to Earthbound. More than anything, this feels like a practice attempt at making the game Itoi had always intended, but wasn't able to until the Super Famicom/Nintendo became available.
The songs, locations, playable characters, macguffins, even the end boss are all effectively the same as Earthbound, but with minor name changes. It's an impressively large adventure for the NES, and seems like Itoi got everything he could out of a cartridge with a capacity measured in kilobytes. This is worth playing if you enjoyed Earthbound and are curious about its background, but I wouldn't recommend it by itself to anyone besides die-hard fans of 80s JRPGs.
Earthbound Beginnings is immensely charming, but I wouldn't quite call it "fun". What's most interesting about it is how similar the content and story are to Earthbound. More than anything, this feels like a practice attempt at making the game Itoi had always intended, but wasn't able to until the Super Famicom/Nintendo became available.
The songs, locations, playable characters, macguffins, even the end boss are all effectively the same as Earthbound, but with minor name changes. It's an impressively large adventure for the NES, and seems like Itoi got everything he could out of a cartridge with a capacity measured in kilobytes. This is worth playing if you enjoyed Earthbound and are curious about its background, but I wouldn't recommend it by itself to anyone besides die-hard fans of 80s JRPGs.
Really beautiful game about something that starts so simple and becomes so complicated and deep. Messages of motherhood, abandonment, and sacrifice are so perfectly told even with the lacking technology to make such a story-heavy game. The weird humor in the game (uh officer, the woman offered me a drink, so I drank it duh???) adds to it all of course too haha. Personally, this game is just as beautiful, possibly more, than Mother 3 to me.
george lloyd
WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE IT MANDATORY TO TALK TO A CACTUS TO BEAT THE GAME
i like the part where you drink alcohol and then go to jail
Like most of the western world, I played this one after Earthbound, and I'd be lying if I said that this fact didn't influence my perception of them both. I'm usually down to defend games that have retroactively become known as prototypes for their sequels (see: my opinions on Portal 1 & Paper Mario 1) but it's harder to here. Their respective battle mechanics are a good microcosm of this. Earthbound's satisfying sound design, clever flavor text, and strategic rolling health bar successfully come together to make battling enjoyable both on its own merits and as a parody of run-of-the-mill JRPGs, while Mother's spam-attack-to-win battles end up feeling like... ones from a run-of-the-mill JRPG. Stuff like calling your dad on the phone and having to run a hundred yards to teleport are difficult to appreciate here just because Earthbound ended up making them iconic, but, it wouldn't be fair to say that Mother doesn't have its own identity. Specifically after the point where Ninten and Lloyd start bein' friends, the game really takes shape as a true do-it-yourself journey, as opposed to the more linear affair that would follow. There's hardly an inciting incident, railroading is only present in a literal sense, and finding the eight melodies is a scavenger hunt instead of a sequence of events. The humor, too, is incredibly lowkey, mostly at the expense of the player. Only ever being able to hear the first few notes of the most beautiful song ever produced by an NES before getting interrupted by a maniac truck or a Wally. Finally finding that last melody you're missing and being wordlessly mocked by a cactus with the smuggest 12-pixel smile you've ever seen in your life. You gotta man up and learn to laugh at this stuff.
This game is quite good. It's quite fun to play and the music is great. Saving can take a while to do but it's perfectly fine when you have fast forward. Overall, I think it's better than Final Fantasy 1 and Dragon Quest 1.
This is legitimately one of my favorite games of all time. I don't even think it's that good, objectively speaking, but I absolutely adore it. It's just one of those games where I have strong feelings that prevent me from being bothered by its flaws.
Embora o jogo tenha iniciado uma das mais lindas franquias que eu já joguei, ter uma bela trilha sonora, personagens carismáticos e história bela, seremos francos, este jogo envelheceu bem mal, tendo que passar a maior parte do tempo fazendo farmando exp e ter um ritmo bem confuso.
Oh since this one exists too, I'll just mention how much I need Mother 3 to have an equally terrible name if they ever localize it (they won't). I need to see the Mother fandom squirm in agony getting told "Um, actually it's called Earthbound: The Ending". Not in a malicious way but just that it's funny to cause petty problems like that.
No dia 21 de fevereiro desse ano houve uma Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, uma Direct não tradicional focada majoritariamente em jogos Third Party que ninguém se importa, assisti a Direct junto com meu amigo, achamos ela ok mas ele teve a ideia da gente ver a Direct japonesa, tudo estava normal até que Mother 3 foi anunciado para o Nintendo Switch Online do Japão e minha decepção foi imensa, com certeza a vez que mais fiquei decepcionado com um vídeo game na minha vida. Era a chance perfeita da Nintendo trazer pro ocidente mas não foi dessa vez (de novo) e acho que nunca veremos esse jogo oficialmente traduzido, graças a esse acontecimento eu planejei em zerar todos os 3 jogos da franquia Mother de novo só por causa da minha decepção.
Agora falando do jogo mesmo, Mother 1 ou Earthbound Beginnings é o primeiro jogo dessa maravilhosa trilogia feita pelo Shigesato Itoi, Mother 1 de fato foi o primeiro jogo dele pois o Itoi não é um desenvolvedor de jogos, mas será que mesmo sendo o primeiro jogo dele ainda é bom mesmo tendo mais de 30 anos? Bem... Eu diria que sim e não.
Começando pela História, ela é simples mas muito envolvente, a introdução do jogo explica que o casal George e Maria desapareceram misteriosamente de sua pequena cidade. Dois anos depois George volta de uma maneira muito misteriosa e começa um estudo sobre os poderes psíquicos, Maria também desapareceu mas não se sabe de seu paradeiro. Após a introdução o jogo começa de fato, 80 anos se passam e controlamos Ninten e sua casa é atacada por objetos mal assombrados, após isso Ninten começará sua jornada para descobrir o que está acontecendo com a America.
Isso é só o começo do jogo, é claro que o jogador irá descobrir o que está acontecendo de fato mas o jeito que ela é contada é bem legal, os personagens assim como a história são simples mas carismáticos, cada personagem tem diálogos únicos e esquisitos, o jogo também possui temas como relação de mãe e filho, amizade e etc, sim o jogo é bem maluco mas TUDO funciona tão bem.
As músicas são SENSACIONAIS, é a minha trilha sonora favorita do NES/Famicom, o jogo tem poucas músicas mas elas conseguem ser bem marcantes e especiais, eu não consigo explicar mas todas elas me deixam com uma sensação feliz sabe? Eu diria que é uma trilha sonora que exala sentimentos de emoção, felicidade e nostalgia.
Minhas músicas favoritas são:
-Mother Earth
-Pollyana (I Believe in You)
-Bein' Friends
-Eight Melodies
-Yucca Desert
-The End
Os gráficos são até que ok para um jogo de Famicom mas não acho que envelheceu tão bem assim, os sprites dos personagens são bem bonitinhos (pelo menos pra mim) é possível perceber que os personagens tem uma estética parecida com o desenho do Snoopy (Dog 🍁🚬) e é bem legal na verdade. A parte que é possível ver que envelheceu mal foi definitivamente os cenários, eles são bem parecidos e a cor verde é bem predominante, tão predominante que é a cor do chão das cidades, floresta e dos locais que você entra tipo casas e prédios.
O sistema de batalha é o tradicional JRPG, batalha de turno, eu não tenho nada pra reclamar do sistema em si, eu diria que o diferencial dele para os outros RPGs é o PSI, são poderes psíquicos que iremos usar na jornada inteira, existem vários tipos como por exemplo:
-PSI ofensivos como PK Fire, PK Thunder, PK Freeze e etc.
-PSI defensivos como PSI Shield, PSI-Magnet.
-PSI de suporte para recuperar vida ou tirar status negativos como LifeUp e Healing.
-PSI que apenas usamos fora das batalhas como Telepathy e Teleport.
A maioria dos PSI tem versões mais poderosas tipo PK Freeze Alpha e Beta mas eles gastam mais PP.
Infelizmente eu já falei de todas coisas boas do jogo, Earthbound Beginnings sofreu com a idade, um monte de coisa ficou bem datada.
Começando pela progressão do jogo, é muito zoada, eu só não sofri porque eu já conheço o jogo faz tempo mas para as pessoas que nunca jogaram eu recomendo fortemente um detonado, o jogo não te fala as coisas direito e o mapa mais atrapalha do que ajuda, infelizmente o jogo é bastante confuso.
Assim como todos os JRPGs da época, você batalha com os inimigos através dos encontros aleatórios, simplesmente só andando você já encontra um inimigo e nesse jogo é um saco, toda hora aparece um encontro aleatório, teve vezes que depois de eu terminar uma batalha só eu andar 2 passos e outra batalha começava e tinha vezes que eu andava pra caramba e nada acontecia e olha que eu estava nas áreas que era pra ter algum inimigo, é bem inconsistente.
Outra coisa importante é a sua Party, no caso de Earthbound Beginnings temos 4 personagens principais sendo eles Ninten, Lloyd, Ana e Teddy todos eles são legais mas são bem desequilibrados, Lloyd e Ana entram na equipe no LEVEL 1, você terá que farmar se não eles vão morrer com muita facilidade (e já morrem facilmente mesmo com Level bom) e eles não são tão fortes como o Ninten no quesito força e defesa, Teddy é bem forte e rápido mas ele é um parceiro temporário. e ele substitui Lloyd por um tempo muito curto, seria melhor se pudéssemos usar os 4 personagens de uma vez, ia facilitar o jogo bastante.
Apesar do sistema de batalha não ser ruim, os inimigos são um problema, na maioria das vezes os inimigos não são tão injustos, porém na reta final eles ficam difíceis pra porra, eu juro que o chefe final não é nada comparado aos inimigos comuns, eles são muito mais perigosos. Pior que literalmente a equipe de desenvolvimento não conseguiu testar a última área, então se você estiver em Mt. Itoi tenha cuidado.
A falta de chefes também incomoda, 97% dos inimigos são apenas batalhas normais e uns 3% são chefes e só o último chefe é de fato uma batalha porque os outros são feitos para você ganhar, o que é o caso dos robôs da série R7037, eles não são ameaça nenhuma você só ganha de graça.
Farmar é essencial, felizmente ou infelizmente você precisa farmar para progredir no jogo senão as coisas vão ficar muito mais difíceis, eu pessoalmente gosto de farmar Level mas eu sei que muita gente detesta ficar matando inimigo toda hora.
E por último as 8 Melodias, elas são pedaços de uma canção que reunidas formarão uma única música, elas são essenciais na história e na gameplay já que o final do jogo depende delas, elas estão espalhadas em toda a America e não é uma tarefa fácil, o jogo tenta dar umas dicas mas não são muito úteis, algumas melodias são fáceis de achar mas outras são bem específicas e aleatórias como em Yucca Desert que você precisa encontrar um cacto diferente de todos os outros porque ele tem a melodia mas ele tá na puta que pariu.
Apesar de ter muitos problemas que não podem ser ignorados eu ainda gosto muito do Mother 1, é um jogo bem velho mas tem seu charme e personalidade, os sucessores são mil vezes melhores mas ainda vale a pena jogar se você é fã da série ou quer se tornar um fã.
Esse é o único jogo que merece um remake na minha opinião, consertar todos esses problemas de progressão e dificuldade deixaria o jogo MUITO melhor.
Agora falando do jogo mesmo, Mother 1 ou Earthbound Beginnings é o primeiro jogo dessa maravilhosa trilogia feita pelo Shigesato Itoi, Mother 1 de fato foi o primeiro jogo dele pois o Itoi não é um desenvolvedor de jogos, mas será que mesmo sendo o primeiro jogo dele ainda é bom mesmo tendo mais de 30 anos? Bem... Eu diria que sim e não.
Começando pela História, ela é simples mas muito envolvente, a introdução do jogo explica que o casal George e Maria desapareceram misteriosamente de sua pequena cidade. Dois anos depois George volta de uma maneira muito misteriosa e começa um estudo sobre os poderes psíquicos, Maria também desapareceu mas não se sabe de seu paradeiro. Após a introdução o jogo começa de fato, 80 anos se passam e controlamos Ninten e sua casa é atacada por objetos mal assombrados, após isso Ninten começará sua jornada para descobrir o que está acontecendo com a America.
Isso é só o começo do jogo, é claro que o jogador irá descobrir o que está acontecendo de fato mas o jeito que ela é contada é bem legal, os personagens assim como a história são simples mas carismáticos, cada personagem tem diálogos únicos e esquisitos, o jogo também possui temas como relação de mãe e filho, amizade e etc, sim o jogo é bem maluco mas TUDO funciona tão bem.
As músicas são SENSACIONAIS, é a minha trilha sonora favorita do NES/Famicom, o jogo tem poucas músicas mas elas conseguem ser bem marcantes e especiais, eu não consigo explicar mas todas elas me deixam com uma sensação feliz sabe? Eu diria que é uma trilha sonora que exala sentimentos de emoção, felicidade e nostalgia.
Minhas músicas favoritas são:
-Mother Earth
-Pollyana (I Believe in You)
-Bein' Friends
-Eight Melodies
-Yucca Desert
-The End
Os gráficos são até que ok para um jogo de Famicom mas não acho que envelheceu tão bem assim, os sprites dos personagens são bem bonitinhos (pelo menos pra mim) é possível perceber que os personagens tem uma estética parecida com o desenho do Snoopy (Dog 🍁🚬) e é bem legal na verdade. A parte que é possível ver que envelheceu mal foi definitivamente os cenários, eles são bem parecidos e a cor verde é bem predominante, tão predominante que é a cor do chão das cidades, floresta e dos locais que você entra tipo casas e prédios.
O sistema de batalha é o tradicional JRPG, batalha de turno, eu não tenho nada pra reclamar do sistema em si, eu diria que o diferencial dele para os outros RPGs é o PSI, são poderes psíquicos que iremos usar na jornada inteira, existem vários tipos como por exemplo:
-PSI ofensivos como PK Fire, PK Thunder, PK Freeze e etc.
-PSI defensivos como PSI Shield, PSI-Magnet.
-PSI de suporte para recuperar vida ou tirar status negativos como LifeUp e Healing.
-PSI que apenas usamos fora das batalhas como Telepathy e Teleport.
A maioria dos PSI tem versões mais poderosas tipo PK Freeze Alpha e Beta mas eles gastam mais PP.
Infelizmente eu já falei de todas coisas boas do jogo, Earthbound Beginnings sofreu com a idade, um monte de coisa ficou bem datada.
Começando pela progressão do jogo, é muito zoada, eu só não sofri porque eu já conheço o jogo faz tempo mas para as pessoas que nunca jogaram eu recomendo fortemente um detonado, o jogo não te fala as coisas direito e o mapa mais atrapalha do que ajuda, infelizmente o jogo é bastante confuso.
Assim como todos os JRPGs da época, você batalha com os inimigos através dos encontros aleatórios, simplesmente só andando você já encontra um inimigo e nesse jogo é um saco, toda hora aparece um encontro aleatório, teve vezes que depois de eu terminar uma batalha só eu andar 2 passos e outra batalha começava e tinha vezes que eu andava pra caramba e nada acontecia e olha que eu estava nas áreas que era pra ter algum inimigo, é bem inconsistente.
Outra coisa importante é a sua Party, no caso de Earthbound Beginnings temos 4 personagens principais sendo eles Ninten, Lloyd, Ana e Teddy todos eles são legais mas são bem desequilibrados, Lloyd e Ana entram na equipe no LEVEL 1, você terá que farmar se não eles vão morrer com muita facilidade (e já morrem facilmente mesmo com Level bom) e eles não são tão fortes como o Ninten no quesito força e defesa, Teddy é bem forte e rápido mas ele é um parceiro temporário. e ele substitui Lloyd por um tempo muito curto, seria melhor se pudéssemos usar os 4 personagens de uma vez, ia facilitar o jogo bastante.
Apesar do sistema de batalha não ser ruim, os inimigos são um problema, na maioria das vezes os inimigos não são tão injustos, porém na reta final eles ficam difíceis pra porra, eu juro que o chefe final não é nada comparado aos inimigos comuns, eles são muito mais perigosos. Pior que literalmente a equipe de desenvolvimento não conseguiu testar a última área, então se você estiver em Mt. Itoi tenha cuidado.
A falta de chefes também incomoda, 97% dos inimigos são apenas batalhas normais e uns 3% são chefes e só o último chefe é de fato uma batalha porque os outros são feitos para você ganhar, o que é o caso dos robôs da série R7037, eles não são ameaça nenhuma você só ganha de graça.
Farmar é essencial, felizmente ou infelizmente você precisa farmar para progredir no jogo senão as coisas vão ficar muito mais difíceis, eu pessoalmente gosto de farmar Level mas eu sei que muita gente detesta ficar matando inimigo toda hora.
E por último as 8 Melodias, elas são pedaços de uma canção que reunidas formarão uma única música, elas são essenciais na história e na gameplay já que o final do jogo depende delas, elas estão espalhadas em toda a America e não é uma tarefa fácil, o jogo tenta dar umas dicas mas não são muito úteis, algumas melodias são fáceis de achar mas outras são bem específicas e aleatórias como em Yucca Desert que você precisa encontrar um cacto diferente de todos os outros porque ele tem a melodia mas ele tá na puta que pariu.
Apesar de ter muitos problemas que não podem ser ignorados eu ainda gosto muito do Mother 1, é um jogo bem velho mas tem seu charme e personalidade, os sucessores são mil vezes melhores mas ainda vale a pena jogar se você é fã da série ou quer se tornar um fã.
Esse é o único jogo que merece um remake na minha opinião, consertar todos esses problemas de progressão e dificuldade deixaria o jogo MUITO melhor.
I hate that I can't type in Mother for the name here.
Genuinely the worst game I have EVER played. Do not touch this if you want to have a good life
Mother is truly something special. Even to those who have not directly experienced it, its mark upon those who have can be felt in their own works, often a cited inspiration that influenced many others creative devices. So what is it that makes Mother special? The way I perceive it, it can be distilled into two main things.
The first of which is its core message. It is a simple message. Mother is a story about unconditional love. A sincere tale about this deep inexplicable connection that people can share. This message resonates with those who play it, both because of how earnestly it is conveyed and also how applicable that message is even outside of the context of the game.
The second is how the game presents this message. Mother is a series of video games that fully utilities its medium to tell its story. Its appeal is in how interlaced the game-play is with the narrative. The non-standardised design considerations across many things including how you save the game, how you earn money from battles to how you resolve the final conflict are all what makes Mother an incredible experience even in spite of how archaic much of its core game-play has become.
Earthbound Beginnings is the 1st game in the Mother series and despite the almost universal acclaim its two sequels receive, this first entry is much more contentious. This is not unwarranted. Much of it is a chore to play, the result of it being conceived during the infancy of video games. Designers over time have become more aware on how to provide helpful direction to players and reduce tedium causing the later entries to be more conventionally enjoyable experiences. This game expects you to frequently level grind and because of some poor pacing issues by the time the game-play becomes more involved than selecting auto-battle to win, the game is already 2/3rds over.
Additionally, having come from having already played Mother 2, there is noticeable overlap between the 1st and 2nd entries in the series. A lot of characters, gimmicks and story beats are reused or deliberately similar. With the nature of the 2nd game being more refined it does make it seem the 1st game is made entirely redundant.
Yet there are three Mother games for a reason. It is not the same story told three times, each game having its own particular focus. The conflict in Mother 2 is made out to be seen to be identical to its Mother 1 counterpart and yet it is found to be subverted. An intentional perversion of the original tale.
I would recommend this game only to those who enjoyed its sequels and would be willing to invest about 10 hours in having this original context. Earthbound Beginnings despite its rough edges has the same charm as its progeny. But it requires a bit of patience to suffer through its early (and mid) game. Its end game is a treat.
(Ignore the star rating. I don't believe in numerical evaluation of games. Every game gets 5 stars unless it does something to warrant motivating me take them away)
The first of which is its core message. It is a simple message. Mother is a story about unconditional love. A sincere tale about this deep inexplicable connection that people can share. This message resonates with those who play it, both because of how earnestly it is conveyed and also how applicable that message is even outside of the context of the game.
The second is how the game presents this message. Mother is a series of video games that fully utilities its medium to tell its story. Its appeal is in how interlaced the game-play is with the narrative. The non-standardised design considerations across many things including how you save the game, how you earn money from battles to how you resolve the final conflict are all what makes Mother an incredible experience even in spite of how archaic much of its core game-play has become.
Earthbound Beginnings is the 1st game in the Mother series and despite the almost universal acclaim its two sequels receive, this first entry is much more contentious. This is not unwarranted. Much of it is a chore to play, the result of it being conceived during the infancy of video games. Designers over time have become more aware on how to provide helpful direction to players and reduce tedium causing the later entries to be more conventionally enjoyable experiences. This game expects you to frequently level grind and because of some poor pacing issues by the time the game-play becomes more involved than selecting auto-battle to win, the game is already 2/3rds over.
Additionally, having come from having already played Mother 2, there is noticeable overlap between the 1st and 2nd entries in the series. A lot of characters, gimmicks and story beats are reused or deliberately similar. With the nature of the 2nd game being more refined it does make it seem the 1st game is made entirely redundant.
Yet there are three Mother games for a reason. It is not the same story told three times, each game having its own particular focus. The conflict in Mother 2 is made out to be seen to be identical to its Mother 1 counterpart and yet it is found to be subverted. An intentional perversion of the original tale.
I would recommend this game only to those who enjoyed its sequels and would be willing to invest about 10 hours in having this original context. Earthbound Beginnings despite its rough edges has the same charm as its progeny. But it requires a bit of patience to suffer through its early (and mid) game. Its end game is a treat.
(Ignore the star rating. I don't believe in numerical evaluation of games. Every game gets 5 stars unless it does something to warrant motivating me take them away)
all the fucked up parts of this game are actually good if you assume the setting is a wasteland post apocalyptic america
wonderful, charming and very cute. this game does have huge tedium but nothing that can't be made more serviceable with modern emulation tools, guides and rom-hacks.
don't let the platform of origin deceive you, this game is incredibly ambitious for the hardware that carries it and the time. it wonderfully pushes the NES and created a beautiful narrative sparkled with classic mother series humour, at a time where plenty of games a lot less ambitious than this one were coming out.
heartfelt, charming and incredibly human in a way that seems hard to do on an NES, the way text scrolls on the NES in fact adding to this charm and making punchlines land stronger.
I would caution against assuming this to be a "worse attempt at earthbound" or "just dragon quest", this game does provide a lot of its own merit to stand on if you do desire to tread past it's tedium.
a game that in my mind is defined by it's ambitions, it's technological limitations, it's game design errors and by its legacy.
wonderful, charming and very cute. this game does have huge tedium but nothing that can't be made more serviceable with modern emulation tools, guides and rom-hacks.
don't let the platform of origin deceive you, this game is incredibly ambitious for the hardware that carries it and the time. it wonderfully pushes the NES and created a beautiful narrative sparkled with classic mother series humour, at a time where plenty of games a lot less ambitious than this one were coming out.
heartfelt, charming and incredibly human in a way that seems hard to do on an NES, the way text scrolls on the NES in fact adding to this charm and making punchlines land stronger.
I would caution against assuming this to be a "worse attempt at earthbound" or "just dragon quest", this game does provide a lot of its own merit to stand on if you do desire to tread past it's tedium.
a game that in my mind is defined by it's ambitions, it's technological limitations, it's game design errors and by its legacy.
What [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER] was an [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
otherwise captivating and groundbreaking [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
game with a beautifully composed sountrack, [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
cartoon inspired enemies, [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
and an ambitious narrative [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
was completely tarnished by the most abysmal [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
random encounter rate that I have ever witnessed.
Play this ONLY if you want the full Earthbound experience and have [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER] A LOT of patience.
otherwise captivating and groundbreaking [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
game with a beautifully composed sountrack, [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
cartoon inspired enemies, [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
and an ambitious narrative [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
was completely tarnished by the most abysmal [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER]
random encounter rate that I have ever witnessed.
Play this ONLY if you want the full Earthbound experience and have [THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A RANDOM ENCOUNTER] A LOT of patience.
Inevitably, I had to do it. I had to play Mother 1 A.K.A. Earthbound Zero A.K.A. Earthbound Beginnings for the Nintendo Entertainment System, originally released on Wii U. Because I love this series, and it had a WHOLE GAME that I hadn't beaten due to it being a nightmare NES RPG from hell. One that requires grinding for hours and lots of instant-death garbage.
In my final summation, it's not that bad, but it's really uneven and you're best off running from most encounters in the final area. There are a lot of enemies with attacks that instantly kill, though, and only a few ways to mitigate it. Also your only party member with a revive spell is the squishiest. And all the armor upgrades are in one town a third of the way into the game, after which you will never get any better at tanking hits. I cannot recommend this to anyone not willing to just... try getting through a stretch over and over again until you make it after several deaths.
That doesn't really matter very much, though, right? Earthbound didn't become a cult hit because of the combat or whatever. It was the setting, the humor, and the heart of the thing, and that's all here. The little fascinations. The jokes. All of it. The weird little details quotient is even stronger here than any other game in the series. A few examples:
1) Ninten has asthma. He, and only he, will get fucked up by certain attacks such as the evil cars shooting exhaust at you. It's not super major, but it is representing an extremely normal aspect of real life that's never in games. Even the homesickness of Earthbound isn't quite the same thing. You just see acknowledgement of the mundane conditions that real people have to live with!
2) Fairly early on, you get the key to the zoo. There's a monkey that's been standing in front of the gate who steals the key when you get close and runs off, but the lock is broken anyway.
3) Mothers 2 and 3 both have you watching a live performance. In Mother 1, your party gives the performance instead. It plays a unique (and catchy!) song and they do a little dance.
It's a game made up of moments, and there are plenty more like that. Little bits of versimilitude or just deadpan jokes. There isn't actually much else. There aren't a lot of bosses, and almost all of the story is kept for the last 20 minutes or so. Only one of the four main characters has any motivation to be on this adventure, and it's not the one you start with. The small amount of story is actually cool and recontextualizes Giygas/Giegue, who only exists as a sort of idea in Earthbound. Here, he has a dash of pathos, another unique thing for an NES RPG of the Dragon Quest style to be dealing with.
Part of me will probably always view Earthbound: Origins: The First One as something of a prototype of a game I really love, but it deserves better than that. It asks questions about what a pretty normal game genre can do. Can depict. Can be about. And its answers are pretty radical, even today! In a genre that mostly invents cool fantasy worlds, it sees adventure in the everyday. It's sweet and heartfelt, even if it's a little sparse, like a fun kids cartoon movie you saw once on TV and don't remember the name of.
If you already like the series, I think it's a good thing to check out, especially if you have the Switch Online and therefore automatic access to it. Just remember the solumn law of Shigasato Itoi: No crying until the end.
In my final summation, it's not that bad, but it's really uneven and you're best off running from most encounters in the final area. There are a lot of enemies with attacks that instantly kill, though, and only a few ways to mitigate it. Also your only party member with a revive spell is the squishiest. And all the armor upgrades are in one town a third of the way into the game, after which you will never get any better at tanking hits. I cannot recommend this to anyone not willing to just... try getting through a stretch over and over again until you make it after several deaths.
That doesn't really matter very much, though, right? Earthbound didn't become a cult hit because of the combat or whatever. It was the setting, the humor, and the heart of the thing, and that's all here. The little fascinations. The jokes. All of it. The weird little details quotient is even stronger here than any other game in the series. A few examples:
1) Ninten has asthma. He, and only he, will get fucked up by certain attacks such as the evil cars shooting exhaust at you. It's not super major, but it is representing an extremely normal aspect of real life that's never in games. Even the homesickness of Earthbound isn't quite the same thing. You just see acknowledgement of the mundane conditions that real people have to live with!
2) Fairly early on, you get the key to the zoo. There's a monkey that's been standing in front of the gate who steals the key when you get close and runs off, but the lock is broken anyway.
3) Mothers 2 and 3 both have you watching a live performance. In Mother 1, your party gives the performance instead. It plays a unique (and catchy!) song and they do a little dance.
It's a game made up of moments, and there are plenty more like that. Little bits of versimilitude or just deadpan jokes. There isn't actually much else. There aren't a lot of bosses, and almost all of the story is kept for the last 20 minutes or so. Only one of the four main characters has any motivation to be on this adventure, and it's not the one you start with. The small amount of story is actually cool and recontextualizes Giygas/Giegue, who only exists as a sort of idea in Earthbound. Here, he has a dash of pathos, another unique thing for an NES RPG of the Dragon Quest style to be dealing with.
Part of me will probably always view Earthbound: Origins: The First One as something of a prototype of a game I really love, but it deserves better than that. It asks questions about what a pretty normal game genre can do. Can depict. Can be about. And its answers are pretty radical, even today! In a genre that mostly invents cool fantasy worlds, it sees adventure in the everyday. It's sweet and heartfelt, even if it's a little sparse, like a fun kids cartoon movie you saw once on TV and don't remember the name of.
If you already like the series, I think it's a good thing to check out, especially if you have the Switch Online and therefore automatic access to it. Just remember the solumn law of Shigasato Itoi: No crying until the end.
I know that this game is basically considered the Boogeyman in the Mother and even Nintendo community but I don't think I will ever waver from giving this game a perfect score. I will be honest though, they have a point. The encounter rate is obnoxious and the overworld and dungeon design is legitamately kind of awful, but this is one of the most charming games I've played in my life. The combat is simple but difficult enough to keep you engaged, the dialog is both funny and beautiful, the atmosphere is great, the story is excellent, and everything about this game just fills me with a sense of wonder. I am extremely biased as such a hardcore fan of the Mother series, but I just can't force myself to give this game a score under a 10.
Não sei exatamente o que senti, só sei que senti alguma coisa,
talvez felicidade genuína?
7/10
talvez felicidade genuína?
7/10
This review contains spoilers
There's something to say about quality vs enjoyment. There are pieces of media everyone around you thinks is fantastic but you don't seem to get, or you can find guilty pleasure in something maligned by the public. Earthbound Beginnings is the latter.
The mechanics of this game have aged like an ice cream cone in the heat, with barely stapled together "balancing" consisting of enemies who consistently take negative damage while posing as massive threats to your party. The world is rather barren and labyrinthian, and key objectives are obtuse to find with little to guide you on your way. Yet, despite all this, there lies this nostalgic charm in the game's presentation that drives me to think about it more than I should.
Similarly to Persona 5, I would say that the best thing this game has to offer is the general aesthetic. Simple and cute westernized characters fighting enemies ranging from everyday birds and bullies to more bizarre zombies and alien robots lends itself to a sense of escapism. This is a game that I often imagined me and my friends partaking in when I was younger, being psychics and exploring the world while dealing with weird threats. While Earthbound fulfills this escapism fantasy arguably better, with more varied locations and set pieces, Earthbound Beginnings takes pride in it's simplicity, feeling more homely as a result. And that humble, nostalgic feel also ties into this game's underground narrative.
SPOILERS START HERE
While this game is now more formally called Earthbound Beginnings due to the original translation officially being published, I am more keen on calling this game as it was initially pitched in japan, MOTHER. MOTHER, for how narratively shallow it seems on the surface, actually has more underneath the plot than is shown, all relating back to its namesake. Giygas is genuinely a sympathetic being, raised as a child by a young couple and growing conflicting feelings as the love of his mother Maria is constantly swept away by his hatred for his father George for treating his psychic powers like a toy. This is even shown in the final battle, where Giygas offers Ninten, the great grandchild of George and Maria to be spared while the rest of humanity is conquered. I like to believe that he sees the same spark of hope that Maria instilled him with. However, so filled with hate, it's hard to accept the love in your life, especially when it stems from something that hurt you. Like anyone dealing with trauma, his conflicting feelings end up causing him to escape in the end when confronted with the side of his family that loved him, wrought with his emotions until he eventually collapses and becomes the embodiment of misery we see in the sequel. For how little this game actually says, the deep emotional core of the MOTHER series still manages to shine in what is still by far the lightest in tone of the series.
SPOILERS END HERE
So, that's it right? Bad game is saved by a good story? Well, you've seen my review score, and all that I just said in that last paragraph is my own interpretation of what happens. MOTHER is a series built on implication, with barely anything of its deeper themes being explicitly stated to the player. This is most evident here, where the game plays more of like a comedy (not that it's a bad thing. I think this game is very charming) than an emotional gut punch like its grandchild. When you're playing this game, instead of dealing with a gripping story, you're dealing with tedious to bullshit encounters and getting lost in large areas that barely look distinct from each other. There are literally two factories you do back to back in the middle of the game, with the second one just being a longer, more annoying version of the first one, and it's just one example of this games many frustrating areas.
MOTHER is not a good game, and honestly I would advise to NOT play it. But, that does not mean this game doesn't have any merits. This is a game I love discussing and thinking about more than actually playing, with a whimsical OST, escapist nostalgia, and a story deeper than what is presented. It's a prime example that shows that while flaws may be prevalent, you can still find enjoyment in other aspects of a piece of art, and that's exactly what I do with this game.
TL;DR Pollyanna is the best overworld theme of all time and Teddy is a gigachad.
The mechanics of this game have aged like an ice cream cone in the heat, with barely stapled together "balancing" consisting of enemies who consistently take negative damage while posing as massive threats to your party. The world is rather barren and labyrinthian, and key objectives are obtuse to find with little to guide you on your way. Yet, despite all this, there lies this nostalgic charm in the game's presentation that drives me to think about it more than I should.
Similarly to Persona 5, I would say that the best thing this game has to offer is the general aesthetic. Simple and cute westernized characters fighting enemies ranging from everyday birds and bullies to more bizarre zombies and alien robots lends itself to a sense of escapism. This is a game that I often imagined me and my friends partaking in when I was younger, being psychics and exploring the world while dealing with weird threats. While Earthbound fulfills this escapism fantasy arguably better, with more varied locations and set pieces, Earthbound Beginnings takes pride in it's simplicity, feeling more homely as a result. And that humble, nostalgic feel also ties into this game's underground narrative.
SPOILERS START HERE
While this game is now more formally called Earthbound Beginnings due to the original translation officially being published, I am more keen on calling this game as it was initially pitched in japan, MOTHER. MOTHER, for how narratively shallow it seems on the surface, actually has more underneath the plot than is shown, all relating back to its namesake. Giygas is genuinely a sympathetic being, raised as a child by a young couple and growing conflicting feelings as the love of his mother Maria is constantly swept away by his hatred for his father George for treating his psychic powers like a toy. This is even shown in the final battle, where Giygas offers Ninten, the great grandchild of George and Maria to be spared while the rest of humanity is conquered. I like to believe that he sees the same spark of hope that Maria instilled him with. However, so filled with hate, it's hard to accept the love in your life, especially when it stems from something that hurt you. Like anyone dealing with trauma, his conflicting feelings end up causing him to escape in the end when confronted with the side of his family that loved him, wrought with his emotions until he eventually collapses and becomes the embodiment of misery we see in the sequel. For how little this game actually says, the deep emotional core of the MOTHER series still manages to shine in what is still by far the lightest in tone of the series.
SPOILERS END HERE
So, that's it right? Bad game is saved by a good story? Well, you've seen my review score, and all that I just said in that last paragraph is my own interpretation of what happens. MOTHER is a series built on implication, with barely anything of its deeper themes being explicitly stated to the player. This is most evident here, where the game plays more of like a comedy (not that it's a bad thing. I think this game is very charming) than an emotional gut punch like its grandchild. When you're playing this game, instead of dealing with a gripping story, you're dealing with tedious to bullshit encounters and getting lost in large areas that barely look distinct from each other. There are literally two factories you do back to back in the middle of the game, with the second one just being a longer, more annoying version of the first one, and it's just one example of this games many frustrating areas.
MOTHER is not a good game, and honestly I would advise to NOT play it. But, that does not mean this game doesn't have any merits. This is a game I love discussing and thinking about more than actually playing, with a whimsical OST, escapist nostalgia, and a story deeper than what is presented. It's a prime example that shows that while flaws may be prevalent, you can still find enjoyment in other aspects of a piece of art, and that's exactly what I do with this game.
TL;DR Pollyanna is the best overworld theme of all time and Teddy is a gigachad.
the soundtrack :) something about the nes beeps and boops just gets me xD
oh hey look its the best Mother game
This was OK
This game is tough as nails, and not necessarily in an interesting way. Having a guide is practically required in order not to pull your hair out navigating these maps, the encounter rate is absolutely ridiculous, and this is one of the first RPGs I've played in ages where I just had to do some honest to god grinding at times. While all that is perhaps rightfully considered outdated design by modern standards, I think enough distance has been put between me and this era of games that I can view it simultaneously as frustrating and charming. For a game that prioritizes being charming, that's a plus!
Though I will say that in comparison to its successor, Earthbound Beginnings doesn't quite reach that same level of charm and emotional impact for me. I think a lot of this is just due to the game being a bit more sparse dialogue wise in general than Earthbound, but even the NPCs that do have something to say don't manage to be quite as entertaining. Curious to know how much of that is due to translation work as well.
So yeah, it's very much Proto-Earthbound as many claim, but as a huge Earthbound fan, seeing where a lot of those ideas first gestated was a great experience for me. Also, the soundtrack is just wonderful, and this game's version of Eight Melodies is one of the few NES songs to give me goosebumps. Would recommend first playing Earthbound and seeing if you enjoy it before going back to this, and it's not for the impatient, but I walked away with a lot of respect for this project.
Though I will say that in comparison to its successor, Earthbound Beginnings doesn't quite reach that same level of charm and emotional impact for me. I think a lot of this is just due to the game being a bit more sparse dialogue wise in general than Earthbound, but even the NPCs that do have something to say don't manage to be quite as entertaining. Curious to know how much of that is due to translation work as well.
So yeah, it's very much Proto-Earthbound as many claim, but as a huge Earthbound fan, seeing where a lot of those ideas first gestated was a great experience for me. Also, the soundtrack is just wonderful, and this game's version of Eight Melodies is one of the few NES songs to give me goosebumps. Would recommend first playing Earthbound and seeing if you enjoy it before going back to this, and it's not for the impatient, but I walked away with a lot of respect for this project.