Stories should mean something. They should say something. MOTHER 3 is a great example of this - it's a pretty simple story about how capitalism causes the apocalypse. Depressingly realistic, beautifully charming, and utterly desperate, it's a rollercoaster of emotions that resonates with people due to its messaging even when they don't realize it. I've met tons of MOTHER 3 fans who don't even understand that it's about capitalism... somehow. It's always immensely disappointing for me. How could you miss the point so badly?

Then you play MOTHER 3: Opposing Force.

MOTHER 3: Opposing Force came out just a bit ago, and initially, I was pretty excited for it. In a fanservice-y kind of way, it would be neat to see what the villains' side of things was, particularly Claus - we didn't get a lot of time with him in the main game, so getting to see further the horrible things he was subject to while under the control of Porky would be very interesting. There's potential there for a plot with a lot of pathos and a deeper exploration of the suffering induced by capital. What kind of atrocities are committed in the name of profit motive?

What does Opposing Force say to this?

"I don't know, just run around in circles for a few hours."

Opposing Force is a game without substance. Though technically impressive for a ROM hack in a lot of ways, like the new spritework done for it (when there is new spritework done for it, that is) the game does not introduce anything meaningful within its entire run. The game is constantly ping-ponging you from idea to idea with no sense to it; as soon as you get accustomed to one, it's onto the next. Much of the game isn't even modified, and a lot of what happens is just what happens in base MOTHER 3 - including the game's finisher, the raid on Osohe Castle by the Masked Man. Why even bother adapting this is if it doesn't tell us anything meaningful? What is the point of any of this? If it's trying to be faithful to the original work, then why? Give me something to work off of here.

A ridiculous example is that there's just a bald-faced reuse of the Leo-Leo gag from the original MOTHER 3, but with a slightly different sprite and a different name. What's the point of this? Seriously, why? Was the interaction really that funny that you felt the need to include it again? In a game like MOTHER 3 which prides itself on these bespoke little nooks and crannies of the world you can find, why would you just recreate one of them verbatim?

The only vaguely interesting part of the game is when you have to put down a rebel faction of the Pigmasks that are trying to take over the Claymen Factory. This is something for me to latch onto! This might be something good! But it ends up just being nothing: the leader of the rebellion escapes, and there is no reflection on why he might have rebelled. The game thinks it's enough to insinuate that some Pigmasks don't agree with Porky but then not actually examine that in a meaningful capacity. You don't even get to meet the guy, he disappears offscreen - it's just a thoughtless stamping out of his forces.

MOTHER 3: Opposing Force is all the worst aspects of fanwork. It's faithful to a fault. It's obsessed with the original's games what instead of the why to the point of being meaningless. Its production value isn't even that high. It is not the exploration into the Pigmasks that its trailers frame it to be: it's just generic, vapid fluff.