Day 10 - What makes Mother 3 such a good game

A picture I did with Colors 3D! about a year ago, close to completing the game

The meaning behind a game changes a lot between players. Players add more than half of the meaning and value to games, which is more than any other mode of expression. So I feel like that half that you've added is entirely your own... all I did was provide assistance. [...] My personal feelings steer me to want to affirm everything the player thinks about the game. I wanted to make MOTHER 3 like a mirror. One that reflects the heart of the player off of the screen."

—Shigesato Itoi

Mother 3, the third and last official game in the Mother-series (EarthBound in the west) and currently my favorite game of all time. Today, I want to talk about why this particular game is so good in my opinion. Just like with the Fullmetal Alchemist analysis, there will be minor spoilers ahead.

The Mother series is different from most RPGs as it is set in the everyday world instead of some kind of fantasy land. The first two games take place in an alternate version of America, in EarthBound (Mother 2) called Eagle Land. Mother 3 on the other hand takes place on Nowhere Island, which location is not specified. On the island there's a peaceful village called Tazmily, a town that seems like it is "stuck" in the 19th-ish Century and has some western-ish elements to it. People live in harmony with each and the creatures of the island. Not only that, but they also don't even know money. That idyllic lifestyle is about to fade as the game starts.

In the prologue of the game, Lucas, the main protagonist of the game is visiting his grandpa Alec in his cabin beyond the Sunshine Forest together with his brother Claus and their mother Hinawa. After their joyful visit, they leave for Tazmily in the evening. When Hinawa sends a letter to her husband Flint, a mysterious object flies above the island and later that night a fire is set to the forest.

The first chapter of the game begins: "Chapter 1: Night of the Funeral". I'm not gonna spoil anything here, but I will say this: Chapter 1 is a really strong, emotional way to start a game and that is kept through the whole game.

Here's a thing: Mother 3 is much more serious than the previous installments in the series, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the game lost its light-hearted funny moments. Not in the slightest. In fact, the game is full of charming things and comedic moment. And that's one of the reasons it is so great. It's got a perfect balance of serious and funny. The slogan for the game was:  "Strange, Funny and Heartrending" and it lives up to it by having these saddening and tragic moments but still keeping lighthearted stuff.

While EarthBound had tons of characters who all have something unique and often memorable to say, the characters of Mother 3 are even more well-written and have their own purpose. The main characters are more complex and at some point during the end of the game, everything you know about them will change.

The story itself is probably the best story in a Nintendo game ever, many thanks to Shigesato Itoi's amazing writing. That might actually be the strongest reason why I love this game. From the well done main story elements, through the amazingly written (and wonderfully fantranslated) dialog and those small charming things like a sign reading: "Thank you for taking your time to read this sign. This sign loves you". The game itself isn't the longest. It will take 20-30 hours to beat, but replaying it will make you realize some new things you wouldn't care about before. The ending and the final battle are one of the most emotional and most memorable things in the game and very few games, if any, manage to accomplish that. There's even a chapter that lasts 5 minutes, but manages to be one of the most memorable, emotional moment in the entire game.

Tazmily Village

(A rather big spoiler ahead)
One major theme that really affected me is how Tazmily changes when Fassad introduces money and "Happy Boxes". The pretty idyllic village turns into a more modern town, people are no longer as nice and they're changing all the time, in the end all leaving to the big city of New Pork City with only Lucas and a few others left in an empty, once perfect village. It reflects the real world: how money affects people, how some good values are forgotten and how bad we people can be when influenced by such things.
(End of spoilers)

GBA isn't the best when it comes to music as the sound chip in it is... well, kinda crappy and many games didn't utilize it well. Mother 3 however, not only has the best soundtrack on GBA, it also has one of the best soundtracks ever. And it's both quantity and quality. The soundtrack is massive! The full OST on YouTube is 6 hours long! There's 10s of battle themes and many tracks are used during small portions of the game instead of having specific themes tied to specific areas. There's a variety of wonderful musical tracks like F-f-fire, Love Theme etc. Almost every important theme will be burned into your mind after playing it as it perfectly ties to what is happening in the game.

Lastly, the gameplay and the graphics. The Gameplay is not too complicated, it's a rather traditional RPG with turn-based battles with a little rhythm based twist. It's just right and so is the difficulty while you finally master it. The graphics may not be the most beautiful, but it fits the Mother style well. The sprites are wonderful though. With that small amount of pixels, they manage to express themselves really great.

Mother 3 is a masterpiece in terms of story, characters, themes and music. It's strange, funny and heartrending. It is a game everyone should play.