there are few games i can think of that are riper for a remake in my eyes than the original mother, a truly wonderful and underappreciated 8-bit rpg whose idiosyncratic spirit shines through its technological constraints and outmoded design conventions. that said, as easy as it is to look at an nes rpg and identify frustrations and timesinks, when remaking a beloved title it's no simple task to seperate what constitutes the game's unique character from what should be changed to better fit modern sensibilities. for this reason i've been anticipating this up-and-coming fan-remake with both excitement and trepidation, because i do think the original mother is a unique game that does some things better than any other title in the series, things i'd like to see preserved in any project attempting to revise it.
below are my stray thoughts on its newly released demo.
- the dialogue feels blessedly faithful to itoi’s style, with weird non-sequiters, casual fourth wall breaking and lots of simple but charming punchlines, and is not overly influenced by memey zoomer humor.
- the animation and art direction is freakishly polished and feels like a very natural aesthetic evolution of mother 3.
- the music does a good job of updating one of the best soundtracks on the nes.
- the new ability of being able to use weapons in the overworld is great. the benefit when it comes to puzzle-solving in dungeon areas is obvious but it also allows for more player expression in combat, as battles can be significantly shortened and resources thus preserved if good positioning and timing is exercised. of course it's not like there's a lot of skill involved but it still feels very satisfying, and there's little reason to complain about battle time against grunts being shortened given that there's usually very little thought required in those battles anyway, with most important decisions being made outside the battle screen (what resources to use and preserve, which enemies to avoid, etc). as it stands overworld attacks are a nice way to wring out just a little additional depth from the barebones-by-nature combat of the original. difficulty isn't affected too much either, since you won't be able to attack the hardest enemies, the bosses, from the overworld. additional note: idk if you get a crit for hitting an enemy unnoticed (from behind, that is) but you should (otherwise there's basically no benefit to successfully sneaking up on enemies – why would you ever do that after unlocking the ability to attack from the overworld?)
- speaking of combat, the rolling health mechanic of mother 2 is, needless to say, much appreciated, though it's a little sad not to see the sound combos of mother 3 return.
- there are lots of bugs in the demo, which is understandable enough given that it's an unfinished, untested product that was probably rushed a little. that said, the issues they cause do have quite a significant effect on the game design - after speaking with some of the devs for a bit, it became clear that one of my biggest issues with the demo, namely that it was far too easy and rewarded careless play through an abundance of consumable items, was unintended. it's a testiment to the demo that it's still very fun to go through despite these pretty far-reaching issues.
- initially hearing pollyanna as you step into the overworld i think should have more oomph. doesn't have to be on the level of onett's intro track, but c'mon, this is one of the best tracks on the nes and is extremely iconic in the series, it shouldn't just casually fade in from another song.
- quite disappointed that bein' friends no longer kicks in after rescuing pippi from the cemetery. one of the most memorable moments in the original, imo.
- i don’t really see any reason why pippi has to tag along for the canary quest, since it's such a short detour and does not involve any powerful enemies (besides wally now, I guess). I feel like it should be completable before or after saving pippi, like in the original game. if they want to expand pippi's part (an understandable choice with how much personality this new incarnation has), i feel like the zoo is a much more reasonable area to have her tag along to (you could make the enemies there super powerful which would dissuade early players from going there and also justify pippi’s accompaniment)
- wally is kind of a weird boss. comes out of nowhere, feels like he’s mostly there to justify the canary quest only being completable after getting pippi. though he should definitely be included and i like that his part is expanded since he's already a weird and memorable enemy in the original.
- the overhaul of dungeon areas to be more like zelda's will no doubt massively decrease tedium and engage players more, given that the dungeons are such slogs in the original. that said, i hope not all of them will be entirely linear affairs and that something will remain of the maze-y, open-ended quality of the original ones later down the road
- in general, quite afraid that the progression will be made much more linear to conform to the structure of mother 2 and 3. speaking just for myself here (though i know i'm not the only one that feels this way), but the original mother's non-linearity is among its best aspects and a massive part of what makes it feel different in character to the otherwise very similar mother 2. searching for the melodies in that game feels the most like an organic scavenger hunt instead of a railroaded sequence of events, and i'd hate to see that quality disappear. i understand that the game is often rather abstruse and easy to get lost or stuck in - i have nothing against more explicit guiding, but the player should still be given the freedom to do stuff in whatever order they want. similarly, i hope that the optional parts of the original mother are not made mandatory - sometimes, areas being optional makes visiting them all the more meaningful, and it's not a bad thing for the player to have more options at their disposal.
- the jump ability you get in the zoo is a little questionable. it’s not that big of a deal or anything but i’m not sure if going full metroidvania does much for the game, at least in the case of this particular ability which does not meaningfully alter gameplay at all (compare this to, say, being able to hit stuff from the overworld, which is a total game changer). i hope if there’s more of this sort of stuff in the full game it won’t just be limited to contextual prompts because frankly it’ll feel like little more than padding
overall, my feelings on the demo are very positive, and i'm really looking forward to being able to play the full game. i wish the encore team all the best and my only hope is that they'll give a little more thought to preserving some of the interesting and unique thorniness of the original.
below are my stray thoughts on its newly released demo.
- the dialogue feels blessedly faithful to itoi’s style, with weird non-sequiters, casual fourth wall breaking and lots of simple but charming punchlines, and is not overly influenced by memey zoomer humor.
- the animation and art direction is freakishly polished and feels like a very natural aesthetic evolution of mother 3.
- the music does a good job of updating one of the best soundtracks on the nes.
- the new ability of being able to use weapons in the overworld is great. the benefit when it comes to puzzle-solving in dungeon areas is obvious but it also allows for more player expression in combat, as battles can be significantly shortened and resources thus preserved if good positioning and timing is exercised. of course it's not like there's a lot of skill involved but it still feels very satisfying, and there's little reason to complain about battle time against grunts being shortened given that there's usually very little thought required in those battles anyway, with most important decisions being made outside the battle screen (what resources to use and preserve, which enemies to avoid, etc). as it stands overworld attacks are a nice way to wring out just a little additional depth from the barebones-by-nature combat of the original. difficulty isn't affected too much either, since you won't be able to attack the hardest enemies, the bosses, from the overworld. additional note: idk if you get a crit for hitting an enemy unnoticed (from behind, that is) but you should (otherwise there's basically no benefit to successfully sneaking up on enemies – why would you ever do that after unlocking the ability to attack from the overworld?)
- speaking of combat, the rolling health mechanic of mother 2 is, needless to say, much appreciated, though it's a little sad not to see the sound combos of mother 3 return.
- there are lots of bugs in the demo, which is understandable enough given that it's an unfinished, untested product that was probably rushed a little. that said, the issues they cause do have quite a significant effect on the game design - after speaking with some of the devs for a bit, it became clear that one of my biggest issues with the demo, namely that it was far too easy and rewarded careless play through an abundance of consumable items, was unintended. it's a testiment to the demo that it's still very fun to go through despite these pretty far-reaching issues.
- initially hearing pollyanna as you step into the overworld i think should have more oomph. doesn't have to be on the level of onett's intro track, but c'mon, this is one of the best tracks on the nes and is extremely iconic in the series, it shouldn't just casually fade in from another song.
- quite disappointed that bein' friends no longer kicks in after rescuing pippi from the cemetery. one of the most memorable moments in the original, imo.
- i don’t really see any reason why pippi has to tag along for the canary quest, since it's such a short detour and does not involve any powerful enemies (besides wally now, I guess). I feel like it should be completable before or after saving pippi, like in the original game. if they want to expand pippi's part (an understandable choice with how much personality this new incarnation has), i feel like the zoo is a much more reasonable area to have her tag along to (you could make the enemies there super powerful which would dissuade early players from going there and also justify pippi’s accompaniment)
- wally is kind of a weird boss. comes out of nowhere, feels like he’s mostly there to justify the canary quest only being completable after getting pippi. though he should definitely be included and i like that his part is expanded since he's already a weird and memorable enemy in the original.
- the overhaul of dungeon areas to be more like zelda's will no doubt massively decrease tedium and engage players more, given that the dungeons are such slogs in the original. that said, i hope not all of them will be entirely linear affairs and that something will remain of the maze-y, open-ended quality of the original ones later down the road
- in general, quite afraid that the progression will be made much more linear to conform to the structure of mother 2 and 3. speaking just for myself here (though i know i'm not the only one that feels this way), but the original mother's non-linearity is among its best aspects and a massive part of what makes it feel different in character to the otherwise very similar mother 2. searching for the melodies in that game feels the most like an organic scavenger hunt instead of a railroaded sequence of events, and i'd hate to see that quality disappear. i understand that the game is often rather abstruse and easy to get lost or stuck in - i have nothing against more explicit guiding, but the player should still be given the freedom to do stuff in whatever order they want. similarly, i hope that the optional parts of the original mother are not made mandatory - sometimes, areas being optional makes visiting them all the more meaningful, and it's not a bad thing for the player to have more options at their disposal.
- the jump ability you get in the zoo is a little questionable. it’s not that big of a deal or anything but i’m not sure if going full metroidvania does much for the game, at least in the case of this particular ability which does not meaningfully alter gameplay at all (compare this to, say, being able to hit stuff from the overworld, which is a total game changer). i hope if there’s more of this sort of stuff in the full game it won’t just be limited to contextual prompts because frankly it’ll feel like little more than padding
overall, my feelings on the demo are very positive, and i'm really looking forward to being able to play the full game. i wish the encore team all the best and my only hope is that they'll give a little more thought to preserving some of the interesting and unique thorniness of the original.