Brontoforumus Archive

Game Boards => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Detonator on September 26, 2008, 09:11:17 PM

Title: Mother
Post by: Detonator on September 26, 2008, 09:11:17 PM
Mother 3 fan translation enters final testing. (http://mother3.fobby.net/2008/09/26/all-hacking-complete/)
 
:victory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgbI8FK63xU
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on September 26, 2008, 09:17:37 PM
 :;_;: :tears: So... ... Happy.

TOMORROW:
NINTENDO: RESPECT OUR PROPT'Y!

ALL OF INTERNET:
:pop: :oh: :goggles: :dead: :scanners: :painful:
:despair: :HUGE: :serious: :wakka: :hurr:
:MENDOZAAAAA: :fuckoff: :fukit: :sarcasm: :evil:
:lol: :richiam: :gameover: :doit: :omg:
:gasp: :?: :kazz: :holy: :scanners:
:endit: :loser: :ohshi~: :8V: :wrong:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on September 26, 2008, 09:19:17 PM
LOOK OUT, IT'S A PIRANHA PLANT
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Burrito Al Pastor on September 26, 2008, 10:01:33 PM
So I guess this means now would be a good time to get on the writable DS cart gravy train?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bongo Bill on September 26, 2008, 10:02:54 PM
So I guess this means now would be a good time to get on the writable DS cart gravy train?
Mother 3 is for GBA. If you're getting one for Mother 3, make sure it's one that can run GBA roms. GBA emulators are much more reliable than DS emulators if you'd rather not.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on September 26, 2008, 10:07:46 PM
This news makes me very, very happy. It's probably too late for this thing to get all Chrono Ressurrectioned, right?


Right??

Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on September 26, 2008, 10:15:04 PM
I have a DS flashcart, but not one that can play GBA games. I can, however, emulate the GBA on my PSP pretty much perfectly... with one small flaw. After playing it for a while, both the music and sound effects get delayed from the action until I reset the game. Needless to say, this might be a problem with timing my hits during fights. I think it might be related to statesaving, though, so I'll just avoid that and see what happens.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bongo Bill on September 26, 2008, 10:42:05 PM
This news makes me very, very happy. It's probably too late for this thing to get all Chrono Ressurrectioned, right?


Right??


Right.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Thad on September 26, 2008, 11:22:06 PM
I...should probably play Earthbound.

Damn thing's still not on VC, right?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Romosome on September 26, 2008, 11:39:23 PM
I...should probably play Earthbound.

Damn thing's still not on VC, right?

Can you speak Japanese?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Thad on September 27, 2008, 12:06:46 AM
Un poco.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on September 27, 2008, 02:05:36 AM
Hilarity ensues when Thad mistakes tako for taco.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on September 27, 2008, 04:43:24 AM
That ..

actually happened with my friend and her host family when she wanted tacos for her going away dinner, having been without Mexican food for quite a long time.

Thad: If you want to play the whole series, make sure to grab the XP Patch from somewhere in the depths of Starment.net for Mother 1.  It makes the game significantly less grindy.  And when playing Earthbound, if you grind for a while in the first town, you pretty much never have to grind again after that.  These are good notes to have in a series notorious for being quirky Dragon Quest clones.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on September 27, 2008, 04:54:36 AM
A) Is there a quick and painless way to load Earthbound Zero and an NES emulator on my PSP/DS?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on September 27, 2008, 04:56:51 AM
uh, if your psp is already able to load homebrew, then yes.  Just load up an emulator on your memory stick in the usual fashion.  Some DS flash cards also have native NES emulator support (mine automatically converts them into a pocketnes file basically) but I'm fairly sure there are actual NES emulators out there for them by this point.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on September 27, 2008, 05:02:26 AM
Well, getting a GBA emu to work on my PSP involved a visit to parts of the internet that no mortal person should ever have to see so I was just making sure Niku

Got any emu names I should look at first
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on September 27, 2008, 06:07:19 AM
NesterJ is what I've used.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on September 27, 2008, 06:52:27 AM
Personally, I skipped playing Mother/Earthbound 0 with no regrets.  Earthbound's kind of important, though.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on September 27, 2008, 09:07:36 AM
Honestly, Earthbound Zero can be safely skipped. It is to Earthbound what Evil Dead is to Evil Dead 2.

Also, nesDS is a pretty painless emulator, but I'm not sure what its compatibility is like. Couldn't hurt to try.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Doom on September 27, 2008, 10:13:00 AM
Reading an EBZ script/summary(especially for the Magicant/Last Boss bits) is vital to being a true Giygas lore-fag.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Thad on September 27, 2008, 10:49:45 AM
...The original Mother is one of those that makes you select "Talk" from a menu, right?

Because I'm too old for that shit.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on September 27, 2008, 12:12:43 PM
>stairs
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: James Edward Smith on September 27, 2008, 01:37:32 PM
I just got my GBA flash cart linker cable working again after some very annoying driver issues that had left me unable to load or remove roms from it for about 3 years (I've had Zero Mission, Circle of the Moon, Airtraffic Controller, Advanced Wars and RCR:EX on it ever since). When this translation is done, I know what I'm loading onto it.

But until then, what should I load on it for now? What are some other good GBA games besides the ones I mentioned were on the cart for all this time?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on September 27, 2008, 02:00:52 PM
Sift through metacritic's listing by rating (http://www.metacritic.com/games/gba/scores/) and go with stuff in genres you like or that otherwise looks appealing? GameSpot's got a list (http://www.gamespot.com/games.html?type=top_rated&platform=12&mode=top&sort=score&page_type=games&dlx_type=all&date_filter=all&sortdir=asc&official=all) and lots of other sites probably do too.

(Yeah, cop-out.)

Sigma Star Saga wasn't that great, but it was kind of unique and may be worth dinking around with.

I liked the Golden Sun games, the Metroids (ZM and F), Mario & Luigi, and FFTA.  Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis was okay.  Don't think I was a huge fan of MMZ or the MMBNs.  It's been a while.

Guilty Gear X: Advance Edition had bad AI.  You could go on basically forever in survival mode spamming Baiken's air HS.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: LaserBeing on September 27, 2008, 02:06:16 PM
This news makes me very, very happy. It's probably too late for this thing to get all Chrono Ressurrectioned, right?

This really isn't the same thing as Chrono Resurrection. That was an entirely new game, made from scratch, using an existing IP without permission, and as sorry as I am that all that hard work was wasted, they really should have fucking known better.

This on the other hand, (as far as I know) is no more illegal than writing a script translation for GameFAQs. They're not providing a game or a ROM, all they're doing is providing a patch to translate the text. Seems to me to be closer to reverse-engineering than to IP "theft", and reverse-engineering is legal if I'm not mistaken. Then again IANAL and I am probably way off base on all that. God knows current IP laws don't need to be any more nebulous or confusing.

My point is: it's not like this project is exactly secret. The simple fact that it's been allowed to progress for so long without getting a C&D suggests to me that Nintendo actually doesn't have a legal basis to do so. A friend of mine got a C&D for making a Zelda game in Klik & Play; these are not exactly the kind of folks who just let this shit slide. The only reason I can think of for them not putting the kibosh on this immediately is that they actually can't.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Thad on September 27, 2008, 02:44:46 PM
This on the other hand, (as far as I know) is no more illegal than writing a script translation for GameFAQs.

Probably true.

They're not providing a game or a ROM, all they're doing is providing a patch to translate the text. Seems to me to be closer to reverse-engineering than to IP "theft", and reverse-engineering is legal if I'm not mistaken.

Used to be.  Isn't under the DMCA.

Then again IANAL and I am probably way off base on all that. God knows current IP laws don't need to be any more nebulous or confusing.

My point is: it's not like this project is exactly secret. The simple fact that it's been allowed to progress for so long without getting a C&D suggests to me that Nintendo actually doesn't have a legal basis to do so. A friend of mine got a C&D for making a Zelda game in Klik & Play; these are not exactly the kind of folks who just let this shit slide. The only reason I can think of for them not putting the kibosh on this immediately is that they actually can't.

No, the difference is that Resurrection was a trademark issue and this is a copyright issue.  As I've said before, the blanket term "IP" tends to muddy the distinction.  The main point here is that trademarks must be aggressively enforced or you lose them, while copyrights can be enforced selectively.

Fan translations ARE copyright infringement; translation rights are covered under copyright.  But copyright infringement is not the same as trademark infringement.

Remember the motivation here is in protecting the company's bottom line.  ANY reasonably high-profile example of trademark infringement has the potential to do financial harm to a business.  Whereas in cases of copyright infringement, the company gets to pick and choose which cases are worth prosecuting -- there's a financial incentive for sending the FBI to a warehouse full of bootlegs, but not necessarily for sending a C&D over a fan translation of a game that isn't being sold in that language anyway.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on September 27, 2008, 03:15:21 PM
But until then, what should I load on it for now? What are some other good GBA games besides the ones I mentioned were on the cart for all this time?

Ninja Five-O, Drill Dozer, Astro Boy: Omega Factor.

Honestly, Earthbound Zero can be safely skipped. It is to Earthbound what Evil Dead is to Evil Dead 2.

This is technically true, but by playing EB0 with the XP patch and constantly using the double speed frameskip for the grindy portions, there are some fun little experiences to be had in the game just the same while wiping out several of the annoyingly aged situations.  I think I appreciate the game more having played it after Earthbound than I would have otherwise, but I appreciate it nonetheless.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: LaserBeing on September 27, 2008, 03:15:30 PM
I knew if I talked out of my ass with enough gusto, someone smarter would make the situation clear.

Mission accomplished, by me. Please, please... no applause necessary. Just doing my duty.


Oh, I should also possibly point out that the aforementioned Zelda fan-game was singled out because it was the only one that actually had "The Legend of Zelda" in the title. His dozens of other Mario and Zelda-based fan-games were left alone because they had nonsense titles. So yeah, the difference between trademark and copyright right there, I guess. Or between fair-use parody and blatant IP infringement, possibly.

My head hurts.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on September 27, 2008, 03:42:13 PM
I had a class on e-commerce law in college that went over IP, trademarks, copyrights, and the DMCA extensively.

It was truly the worst.

GBA RIDER: GAME RECOMMENDATION: Rhythm Tengoku
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Norondor on September 27, 2008, 07:59:09 PM
Ninja Five-O, Drill Dozer, Astro Boy: Omega Factor.

Don't get Sigma Star Saga unless you like being sad that the game isn't beatable.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on September 27, 2008, 08:25:03 PM
Ninja Five-O, Drill Dozer, Astro Boy: Omega Factor.
Don't get Sigma Star Saga unless you like being sad that the game isn't beatable.

What do you mean?  I beat that game.  I liked it too.  Well, except when I randomly got stuck with the fatship.

Edit:  :thad:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on September 27, 2008, 08:43:59 PM
except.
:thad:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on September 27, 2008, 08:55:15 PM
Earthbound SEEMS like it does the "select talk from menu" thing, but it's actually mapped the contextual interaction command to the L button.  Since you can open the menu by pressing L after pressing Select, you can play the game one-handed.  Not so relevant on a computer, but on an actual SNES, it's amazing.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on September 27, 2008, 09:16:17 PM
I don't know why more games don't let you play one handed.  Especially with the amount of porn games in japan. 
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bongo Bill on September 27, 2008, 09:24:57 PM
Because then you'd be wasting half the buttons! Half of them!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on September 27, 2008, 09:27:48 PM
They actually make one-handed controllers.  I remember one for as old of a console as SNES (and I'm sure one of you fucking dinosaurs will discover one from the atari era or talk about bearing down on a joystick).  While Catloaf is close, they claimed it was one-handed so that one could map while playing.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: LaserBeing on September 27, 2008, 09:40:44 PM
some people just have one hand

don't they deserve video games too
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on September 27, 2008, 09:45:44 PM
some people just have one hand

don't they deserve video games too

From my experience, these people just get pissy about using autofire.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on September 27, 2008, 09:58:22 PM
some people just have one hand

don't they deserve video games too
doesn't the rest of the world deserve to watch them work the other half of the controller with their mouths

om nom shimpu nom hadouken
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Romosome on September 27, 2008, 10:03:08 PM
Either Nintendo Power, the manual, or the strategy guide actually said how that control scheme let you play while eating a sandwich.

If you don't think this is awesome you need to move out of America.

To the BOTTOM OF THE SEA.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on September 27, 2008, 10:04:11 PM
Either Nintendo Power, the manual, or the strategy guide actually said how that control scheme let you play while eating a sandwich.

If you don't think this is awesome you need to move out of America.

To the BOTTOM OF THE SEA.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, EARTHBOUND PLAYS YOU WHILE SANDVICH EATS YOU!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: James Edward Smith on September 27, 2008, 10:34:07 PM
Quote
Ninja Five-O, Drill Dozer, Astro Boy: Omega Factor.

Yeah, I picked up all of those except for the astro boy one after skimming some best of lists on sweet lady Internet.

Drill Dozer is great but I haven't been too impressed with the first few levels of Ninja Five-O. He's got a cool grappling hook and doesn't afraid of anything, but the level design seems to limit the character too much and the enemies never seem very interesting. I'll give it some more time though.

I've actually been playing Car Battler Joe for the most part. It's pretty fun and the mode-7-ness of it all tugs at the old heart strings. Oh to the days when consoles couldn't handle truely 3d engines. Rest assured, I've decided that Devils in Heaven will be entirely sprite based and just be a huge paralax whore. I just realized that I've almost never seen paralax style backgrounds be used to show upwards travel rather than just horizontal travel.

So get ready to see the far background layer stay on screen as the closer ones drop off quickly when you climb into the sky and then just as that final ground layer slowly slips off the bottom of the screen, in come the cloud layers from the top.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Norondor on September 28, 2008, 02:43:56 AM
Quote
stuff about one-handed controls

Suikoden 2 (aka "the best suikoden") can also be played one-handed, barring menus (which in suikoden are basically worthless, so). It has run/cancel mapped to L2.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 13, 2008, 09:32:14 PM
The patch is out at the end of this week. (http://mother3.fobby.net/2008/10/14/testing-finishes-patch-this-week/#more-842)
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bongo Bill on October 13, 2008, 09:34:44 PM
Hooray!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 13, 2008, 09:52:01 PM
:;_;: So... Excited!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on October 14, 2008, 05:36:48 AM
These are good days, my friends. Good days indeed.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bal on October 14, 2008, 10:42:08 AM
I don't feel like looking them up, but there are a bunch of Japanese controllers for various consoles that are redesigned for one handed use. Generally it'll be a small stalk with the d-pad in the middle, surrounded by the face buttons. They're marketed for RPGs.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Thad on October 14, 2008, 10:52:41 AM
The first couple Suikodens were playable with only the left hand.  Select, L1, and L2 did the same things as Square, X, and Circle.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Guild on October 14, 2008, 11:41:40 AM
Mother 3

FUCK YEAH

Comin' on line to save the motherfuckin' day now!

Mother 3

FUCK YEAH

Freedom is the only way now!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Metal Slime on October 14, 2008, 12:40:43 PM
I don't feel like looking them up, but there are a bunch of Japanese controllers for various consoles that are redesigned for one handed use. Generally it'll be a small stalk with the d-pad in the middle, surrounded by the face buttons. They're marketed for HENTAI AND DATING SIM GAMES

Meant to say that, right?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bongo Bill on October 14, 2008, 12:50:34 PM
There's a difference between what they're marketed for and what they're used for.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on October 14, 2008, 01:10:32 PM
What?  This is a shoulder massager.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bal on October 14, 2008, 02:35:07 PM
I don't feel like looking them up, but there are a bunch of Japanese controllers for various consoles that are redesigned for one handed use. Generally it'll be a small stalk with the d-pad in the middle, surrounded by the face buttons. They're marketed for HENTAI AND DATING SIM GAMES

Meant to say that, right?

It's what I was deliberately not saying for effect.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 14, 2008, 02:39:18 PM
[Ness]
Swing, batta batta, take a bat to the face
Motha fucka, ya sucka, I'll beat ya like no other
From Onett to Threed, doin what I need
To save the day and keep Giygas at bay

Skip Sandwich Deluxe, speed up my feet
Get through Scaraba before I die of heat
To a dungeon man, the brick road Mazedude
Happy Happy Town "What the fuck?" It's all blue

Summers and Winters, Twoson and Fourside
Chill with Andonuts or the Runaway Five
I've got my posse in tow, Paula, Jeff, and Poo
Pokey watch out cause we're comin for you

So grab your yo-yo and gun, we'll have a little fun
Bottle rocket in your face, yea you know I fuckin won
Throw him to the curb, stomp that little bitch's face
Make the fat piggy cry, yea I put him in his place

So I'll save the day, and the world from devastation
United for peace across the Earthbound nation
So back up, and shut up, and bow at our feet
Ness is takin care of business cause I'm fuckin leet

[Paula & Jeff]
How you living, big Myth?
I’m having trouble with my Tribbles
Shit smells so foul you could call it double dribble
In fact make it a triple. Got beef? We call it mutton
Moving through the vents, a-three ‘n charley Dutton

I’m a strapp’d bomb, verbal blitz, vocation
I’m patient with my rhyme, scope snipes like agents
A rap vacation, a rhyme culmination
Putting words on the page like bird flu to Asians

Hit hard like crack rock, they call me the shock doc
I’m stocking like pet shops, on one of them red jobs
Sign Poland to Papa, smuggle like bed frames
Two pounds of Cole Slaw, delivered in red veins

I’m Hank on the root, big man on a mission,
You can’t fuck with the truth, It‘s like balm on ya fission
Go two rounds get spashed on ya dome like baseballs
An’ facefall to the ground, corned like Maize walls

Now they can’t stop us cause we moving too fast
Nuff sand in the eyes, turn the desert to glass
Hit em BOW, it’s a nuclear bomb detected
Infected, with the rhyme meat, rejected

[Poo]
Your fourth and final ally, master of the PSI,
Pokey's causin trouble and now he's gonna die
I come from Dalamm, where the samurai hail
I've gotta make my master proud, and prove that I won't fail

These demons are attacking cause I'm no defensive dude
HP's rollin down to zero .. but wait I got the food
Health's back again, Prince is back on top
OMG critical SMASH, baddies just got rocked

That hippie's got a toothbrush and a tube of Colgate
He'll blind you with those whites, Ness, you better look away
I'll slice n dice with my Sword of Kings, till the fat lady sings
Starstorm in yo face "Woah, where'd you get that?" Mu Training

Runnin through the cities with people talkin witty,
From the Dunes that are Dusty down to ol' Saturn Valley
Pickin up presents and stealin' monsters money
That's how I gotta roll if I wanna keep my honeys’
Yeah, that’s all you get. Fuck you.


[Nerds]
Woh hey Earthbound, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!
Apparently it’s a three dimensional plastic case with a modern
day circuit board mounted inside, with the sole intensive purpose of entertaining a modern day audience of years ago but not limited to today.

Duhh, but I’ve never played this game! Sounds lame, but it’s true. And this unfortunate lack of game playing I can not undo.
The cartridge is downstairs you dumb fuck, go play it I say!
I don’t want to mommy, games make my wee wee tingle, ok?

Curiosity killed the cat, and cats are fat. So I measured the dimensions of the cartridge itself and have come to this stunning conclusion
Five point five, by three point five, by one point something, but that something means nothing.

A chemical analysis proves nothing of hypothesis of which I thought up in the shower while I read Nintendo Power.
WHAT?!
So I lied. But the fact remains that this game is made of grey plastic.

…OR SO I THINK. (http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01424/)
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 14, 2008, 03:25:59 PM
Lyrai is forever and irrevocably banned from the Mother thread.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 14, 2008, 05:32:35 PM
I had the song on my iPod and had it playing appropriately loud enough while at the store that a Soccer Mom gave me this dirty look when the f-bombs dropped.

Also It's a pretty good song.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on October 15, 2008, 01:53:56 AM
The F-bombs were nothing; you were defiling her memories of a beloved RPG.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 15, 2008, 05:20:47 AM
The F-bombs were nothing; you were defiling her memories of a beloved RPG.

If she fucking played any video games, then Sharkey is the ideal person to run a day care.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 15, 2008, 08:02:26 AM
Everyone loves Mother.

Except for you apparantly.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Mongrel on October 15, 2008, 07:14:40 PM
I can't help it. I have to tell the tale.

Koipond as many of you know is a vegan.

Now, he recently bought a Wii someone else at work was selling. One of the games it came with was cooking mama. He played it ONCE and can't play it again. He was actually so put off by chopping the heads off imaginary pixellated shrimp and crab that he can never play mother again.

You have no idea how hard it was for me not to make fun of that. Not that I would belittle his dietary choices (which are pretty responsible), but more because that line of thinking is equal to  "boning a spy with a crit wrench to the head is like killing real people".

 :serious:  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Romosome on October 15, 2008, 07:17:41 PM
...what does Cooking Mama have to do with Mother/Earthbound?

I'm assuming there is just a good-natured misunderstanding here, not being a dick.   :slow:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 15, 2008, 07:25:11 PM
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/diowho/cooking-mama-ds-video-game-still.jpg)

:thad: Call me "Mama" again and you're perma-banned.




:tears:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Mongrel on October 15, 2008, 07:59:45 PM
...what does Cooking Mama have to do with Mother/Earthbound?

I'm assuming there is just a good-natured misunderstanding here, not being a dick.   :slow:

I just went with the videogame thread with 'mother' in the title.  :slow:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on October 16, 2008, 08:17:21 PM
:thad: Call me "Mama" again and you're perma-banned.

I miss being having mods like that.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 16, 2008, 08:23:47 PM
Only because you can't get big if you're not called "Daddy".
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 16, 2008, 09:24:55 PM
... I'm never going to sleep again. :sadpanda:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 16, 2008, 09:41:47 PM
Quote from: Tomato
Damn I’m tired. I finished putting demi’s lines in and testing them to make sure I didn’t break anything. Jeff and I did see one last-minute bug with a naming screen, scared the crap out of us but turned out to be a one byte fix.

For those waiting until midnight or whatever, it’s not going to happen at a specific time like that, it’s just gonna go up when it does. It’ll be out in the next 24-48 hours, but most likely earlier rather than later. People asking if they should go out and play with their friends or sit here and refresh the page and wait… wtf, the patch is still going to be here, so go do stuff! That’s crazy.

It's nearly time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYlPTYBhtOI

(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203484029755.gif)(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203484049465.gif)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203484064107.gif)(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203484115358.gif)

(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864570159.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864607773.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191863299325.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864649697.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864625734.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864463432.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864484451.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864532328.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1191864690270.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-17YE61Fl8

(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203483453062.gif)(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203483485166.gif)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203483501118.gif)(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1203483516850.gif)

(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb1.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb2.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb3.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb4.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb5.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb6.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb7.jpg)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/eb8.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7sf5fVui9w

(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/1202101445199.jpg)
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 16, 2008, 09:46:16 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQUN7QAnMp0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogDi1o2xleU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8YaKuWLvGs
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 16, 2008, 09:57:12 PM
 :tears:

I'm ready.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 17, 2008, 06:40:17 AM
 :wuv: :wuv: :wuv: :wuv:
 :wuv:  It's here.       :wuv:
 :wuv: :wuv: :wuv: :wuv:




Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 17, 2008, 06:44:31 AM
CRAZY AS A LOON!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmA5bGv6FSQ
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Royal☭ on October 17, 2008, 06:57:28 AM
Can anyone hook a brother up with a ROM?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on October 17, 2008, 07:09:03 AM
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1738162.jpg)
ItS HeRe!
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1217894206544.png)
iTs hErE!
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1217897783309.jpg)
I
t
S

h
E
r
E
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1210822562906.jpg)
It's here.
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1202438039723.jpg)
Fuck yes, it's finally here.
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1195965123270.png)
What are you doing here?  You should be playing already!
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1193612523176-1.jpg)
Awww Yeaaahh... It's heeereee....
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1193614110165.png)
It's here!  But what do I do with these things?
Can anyone hook a brother up with a ROM?
4chan's /rs/
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on October 17, 2008, 07:14:55 AM
EPIC. Maybe I should order one of those slot 2 cards....
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 17, 2008, 07:54:20 AM
Can anyone hook a brother up with a ROM?

I know a guy who knows a guy.  PM me with your email address.

EDIT: Or 4chan, I guess.  That works too.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 17, 2008, 08:00:57 AM
I tried to play it when the menu patch came out, but when I was reading the translation as I was playing, I was mentally find/replacing the names of the initial naming settings with members of my family, and I couldn't get past Chapter 1.  :sadpanda:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 17, 2008, 09:10:49 AM
This is my fourth time through the game!  My old save files still work, apparently, although the character names are garbled.

Most of my favorite parts involve water somehow.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on October 17, 2008, 09:14:05 AM
That'll do, Tomato. That'll do.

Also, the fanmade players guide - complete with clay models - is a fucking cool idea. But now we have something else to wait for since it won't be done until January!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Zaratustra on October 17, 2008, 12:54:14 PM
Quote from: Catloaf link=topic=1292.msg34679#msg34679
(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q78/Catloaf/1202438039723.jpg)

GENTLEMEN

DO YOU DESIRE MOTHER
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 17, 2008, 05:20:17 PM
Okay, technical question:  Has anyone tried this with a PSP emulator, and does it work well with the timed hit mechanic?

EDIT: Upon further research, it appears that most of the emulators work under firmware version 2.x and such.  The firmware on my PSP is 3.90 M33-2.  Any solutions?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on October 17, 2008, 05:25:04 PM
So Nintendo's been pretty savvy with their Shopware lately.  Think there's any chance that they'll throw the translation team a bone and drop this onto Virtual Console?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on October 17, 2008, 05:27:01 PM
Okay, technical question:  Has anyone tried this with a PSP emulator, and does it work well with the timed hit mechanic?

Considering I can't find a slot 2 card that isn't completely arcane, I'll be trying this on a PSP. I'll keep you posted.

So Nintendo's been pretty savvy with their Shopware lately.  Think there's any chance that they'll throw the translation team a bone and drop this onto Virtual Console?

A year month ago? I would have LOLed. But now, I could completely see them translating this for DSi Ware.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 17, 2008, 05:31:38 PM
Where the hell do you sell things in Mother 1 / Earthbound Zero?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on October 17, 2008, 06:02:15 PM
I'm four hours into the game on my PSP, and I've managed to get 16-hit combos a few times, so the timing works pretty well. However, I do make it a point to save my game and turn off the emulator every 30-60 minutes or so just in case. (When I was playing Mario & Luigi on the emulator, the sound kept getting way out of synch, and resetting the emulator was the only way to fix it.)
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 17, 2008, 06:31:39 PM
Okay, Rosen: What's your setup?  Firmware, emulator...GIVE ME THE SKINNY  :HUGE:

EDIT: Got it running.  Haven't done combat or anything, but...

Use this emulator. (http://pspslimhacks.com/psp-emulators/game-boy-advance/)  You'll need to provide your own BIOS, but that's to be expected.  Of course, your results may vary based on firmware hacks and whatnot.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on October 17, 2008, 07:12:48 PM
Use this emulator. (http://pspslimhacks.com/psp-emulators/game-boy-advance/) 
:wuv:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on October 17, 2008, 07:52:11 PM
I'm using 4.01 M33, and apparently an older version of the emulator you linked -- mine is just called gbSP without all that other stuff. I should try that new one and see if it's any better.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 17, 2008, 09:18:31 PM
So, about Mother 3.

It's pretty fucking good :slow:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on October 17, 2008, 09:56:15 PM
Nice touches.  The burnt, crispy characters come out of a house for a dip in a spring.  Their bodies submerge, their heads do not, and so they exit the spring with their bodies de-crispified, but with their heads still charred.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Norondor on October 17, 2008, 11:57:30 PM
never playing anything else

WAIT FUCK castlevania comes out in a couple days. OK. Never playing anything else until castlevania.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 18, 2008, 12:44:44 AM
never playing anything else

Bingo.  The plethora of October releases seem so irrelevant compared to this.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 18, 2008, 07:14:04 AM
16-hit combo on Yammonsters with Boney. ::D:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on October 18, 2008, 08:48:25 AM
How exactly do the combo hits work?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 18, 2008, 10:24:07 AM
Feel the rhythm!  Let the music FLOW THROUGH YOU.

When the dialog box pops up with "Lucas attacks!" or whatnot, I like to stop for a second and let a bar or two pass to get properly in the groove, then I start hitting A to both clear the dialog and start the combo.  Every fourth hit will deal a little more damage than the rest.  It takes a little practice to get down, but it's totally worth it, especially early on, I find.  I imagine that getting good with the timed hits early on will only make life that much easier as the game continues...until it throws the Earthbound equivalent of Dragonforce at me. :ohshi~:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on October 18, 2008, 10:31:51 AM
If you put an enemy to sleep, the music will quiet down a little and you'll be able to hear the enemy's "heartbeat", which is really just the rhythm of that particular battle music.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 18, 2008, 10:37:29 AM
Haven't played deep enough to get sleep skills yet, but yeah, that too.

Also, I saved the game after the big thing in Chapter 1, and when I loaded up this morning, I was back with Flint and Thomas in the rain :ohshi~: :sadpanda:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: James Edward Smith on October 18, 2008, 10:41:04 AM
My GBA flashcart's usb cable died when I was trying to load this game onto the cart...







 :sadpanda:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 18, 2008, 10:47:48 AM
sadpanda

That happened to me once, but it turned out not to be a problem because I save-state religiously.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 18, 2008, 04:03:14 PM
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z284/Nikumatic/Earthbound3-FlintsFamily.jpg)
I have a feeling we're going to need this.  Since the game is conveniently broken up, please use spoiler tags anyway (lol) and label them from whatever chapter you're talking about.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 18, 2008, 04:21:30 PM
So I can't help it.  I'm probably going to order the handbook (http://handbook.fangamer.com/).  Cl .. clay figures!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 18, 2008, 04:43:20 PM
I love the little things I notice.

CHAPTER 5: [spoiler]When Kumatora and Duster are disguised as Pig Masks, Duster's Pig Mask sprite still limps.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 18, 2008, 06:03:16 PM
Many of my favorite moments involve water.  Being submerged in it, or moving it from one place to another.  Meeting new friends in it, and so on.

Incidentally, I got 6 of 20 correct on the quiz (http://mother3.fobby.net/quiz/).  How 'bout you?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on October 18, 2008, 07:37:15 PM
Don't feel bad. I'll be putting a preorder in for sure.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 18, 2008, 07:46:34 PM
I just did preorder it.  I mean, it looks really damn good.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on October 18, 2008, 07:50:21 PM
The only thing holding me back is that it's not scratch and sniff.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 18, 2008, 08:27:22 PM
So I beat Mother / EB0, and beat Earthbound within the past six months.

Onto Mother 3!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Disposable Ninja on October 18, 2008, 09:24:20 PM
I'm still right at the beginning when you play as Flint. I just got to the part where Bronson tells you that he found a Drago fang, which would make a great weapon.

Man. Fuck you so hard Bronson.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 19, 2008, 12:03:48 AM
CHAPTER 7: [spoiler]When you're in the chimera lab and you can hear the ultimate chimera stomping around and roaring and oh god oh god... I thought the place was scary BEFORE it got loose...[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 19, 2008, 11:38:59 AM
The following is the entire story of Mother 1. Don't play it, the tech limitations of the NES hamper it, and there are a few game-breaking glitches that may pop up.

[spoiler]Ninten woke up one day with his house attacking him. He defeated them, then found his Great Grandfather's Diary, who said that he was a destined child. He found part of an old melody in a music box. He found another part from a bird in a cemetary.
Ninten then came across the magical land of Magicant, where he was welcome. There, Queen Mary told him to find all 8 parts of the melody, because she couldn't sing it, and wanted to hear it again.
He found a third part of the melody from a singing monkey.
He came across a nerd everyone picked on called Lloyd, whom he made friends with.
He came across a girl called Ann who simply knew it was her destiny to travel with Ninten. The trio found the fourth melody in a piano in a haunted house. They found the fifth melody in a cactus in the desert. The sixth melody was given to them by a dragon in Magicant.
They traveled to the city of Ellay where they beat down a gang called the BBs, and their boss, Teddy, asked to travel with them to avenge his parents, whom were murdered. Teddy told Lloyd to take a break, he'd take over for him.
In the city of Youngstown, children everywhere beg and plead for you to get their moms and dads back, who are being held at Mt Itoi.
At Mt Itoi, you are assaulted by a gigantic robot. Lloyd comes with a tank and saves you. Teddy is wounded, so Lloyd takes his place.
You go to the lake on Mt Itoi, where you find your great grandfather's lab, and a robot named EVE who is sworn to protect you.
You climd Mt Itoi where the robot from earlier attacks you. It destroys EVE, but EVE's explosion kills it. EVE gives you the seventh melody, it's mission fufilled.
The 8th Melody is given to you from a strange stone that has "XX" carved in it that speaks telepathically to you. You return to Magicant and sing the melody to Queen Mary.
Queen Mary is your Great Grandmother, who begins sobbing, saying that Giegue is behind the whole mess, and that she raised Giegue when it was a child.
Magicant dissolves. It was nothing more than an illusion held together by the ghost of your Great Grandmother Mary.
You return to the XX Stone, which is revealed to be your Great Grandfather's gravestone. It was him who spoke to you earlier.
You go foward to confront Giegue, who attacks you in an incomprehensible nature. He says he will wipe out all of humanity, and then offers Ninten a place in his ship, spared from the slaughter. Ninten refuses.
You sing the melody to Giegue, forcing him to retreat as he can't reconcile the pleasant memories of his 'youth' with the desire to kill everyone. He swears to return one day.

Giygas is Giegue after he has lost what little humanity remains in him.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 19, 2008, 03:05:19 PM
The following is the entire story of Mother 1. Don't play it, the tech limitations of the NES hamper it, and there are a few game-breaking glitches that may pop up.

Play it with frame skip and the XP-boosting patch.  The only "game-breaking" glitch I know of is if you're playing the wrong version of the ROM there is a point where the game can lock up, at which point you just .. need to get the right ROM and continue from your save.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: TA on October 19, 2008, 03:51:25 PM
No, even the XP-boosting patch won't help much.  They did no playtesting at all for Mother 1, and the latter areas are nearly impossible.

To put it this way, I went through most of the game up to about Mt. Itoi with just the patch, frameskip, and ordinary grinding.  In order to stand even a chance against the random encounters I started running into, I had to go into the emulator's data editor and up my XP tally by two orders of magnitude.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 19, 2008, 03:55:23 PM
The following is the entire story of Mother 1. Don't play it, the tech limitations of the NES hamper it, and there are a few game-breaking glitches that may pop up.

Play it with frame skip and the XP-boosting patch.  The only "game-breaking" glitch I know of is if you're playing the wrong version of the ROM there is a point where the game can lock up, at which point you just .. need to get the right ROM and continue from your save.

If your inventory is full when an NPC attempts to hand you a key item you need to proceed, it doesn't give it to you, but the game thinks it has, so you can't get it again.
Even with the 2x EXP Patch I had to game genie my ass up in the later levels because things were kicking my ass so hard.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 19, 2008, 03:59:52 PM
I never had either of those problems?   :whoops:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 19, 2008, 04:04:26 PM
Yeah, I ended up getting to the end of Mother 1 and I derped and [spoiler]just kept singing with no regard to my characters' health, causing Giegue to kill me, and I never really tried again.[/spoiler]  I don't really remember any issues with getting up to that point, though.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 19, 2008, 06:21:11 PM
Dohl: [spoiler]You need to simply shield yourself and heal while Giegue is giving his speech. Once he's done - he says like one more line after offering to take Ninten onto his ship - then you can Sing. You can tell it's working when he starts pleading for you to stop
Simply have Ninten use his shield on you at the very start - PowerShield, I think - to halve damage. Have Ninten & Ann alternate group healing while he's speaking, and have Lloyd guard. Once he's done, alternate between Sing/Heal/Sing and Heal/Sing/Sing and you're gold[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 19, 2008, 10:41:56 PM
So I assume everyone is too enraptured by Mother 3 to post here about it.

It is going to suck when I finish this.  :tears:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: TA on October 20, 2008, 05:50:45 PM
So is it unfair to be comparing Mother 3 to Earthbound?  Because jesus babyfucking christ does it ever fall short.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 20, 2008, 05:57:13 PM
So is it unfair to be comparing Mother 3 to Earthbound?  Because jesus babyfucking christ does it ever fall short.

It is unfair. Earthbound was at the time a truly unique gem. Filled with charm up the ass, it stood out. Since then, not only have we had Earthbound, we've had other quirky RPGs - and games in general - that took a few steps off the beaten path and pleased our desire for widget series (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WidgetSeries).
Earthbound is remembered fondly through Nostalgia Goggles due to just how different it was. I think a lot of people were expecting Mother 3 to be just as different and...well, that's impossible. We've experienced the weirdness, the insanity of all sorts of things.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Guild on October 20, 2008, 05:57:38 PM
Aww, don't say that! I haven't played it yet and I've got high hopes for the timing based battle system and familiar style!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 20, 2008, 06:11:37 PM
From what I've played of it, I actually thought Mother3 was better than both of its predecessors. Its life and charm reminded me of everything its predecessor was, with a little more punch to everything.
:;_;: N-no crying 'til the end!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: TA on October 20, 2008, 06:34:14 PM
Not just a matter of "oh yay weird shit", there's no shortage of that.  I mean in terms of, like ... fuck it i'll just spoilertag the whole thing.  Not safe for spoilers if you haven't beaten the game.

[spoiler]The very tiny world in which you play, which I think goes hand in hand with a focus that's a lot more "go fetch this plot coupon" and a lot less of exploration.  I thought the cast was pretty lackluster, with most of the people you interact with having essentially nothing to them except that interaction ... and really, is "Lucas's dog" really the best they can do for the fourth party member?  The plot came off as a lot more lockstep than Earthbound's did, with your actions being essentially limited to "Go to the place we marked on your map for your next widget", and little to no reason to go back to anywhere or revisit things.  That ties a lot into the size of the game, too.  They're comparably long, but Earthbound got its length legitimately, by having a ton of places to go and a huge variety of things to see, where Mother 3 is a short game that pads itself with level grind.

Your objective for much of the game was both depressingly limited and absolutely primatized - you go to where the Needle you currently know about is and pull it, and the Magypsie there will tell you where the next one is, right up until the endgame - and then when you finally get to New Pork City you get a massive exposition dump.  The whole Claus thing was blindingly obvious as soon as the first Needle was pulled, which I guess makes it better that they didn't try to play it up as any sort of surprise, but the fact that his big sad death was self-inflicted after he came to his senses ... well, that kind of robbed it of the impact, for me.

Mechanically, the timed hits system was pretty terrible.  Doubling my damage output if I happen to be good at rhythm games is not good design.  And while the scrolling HP thing in Earthbound was a nice little touch, Mother 3 made it a necessity.  Too often, particularly later in the game, I'd get hit with an attack that would kill my entire party, and spend my next turn rushing through menus to set up heals so I won't die.  Hell, the last fight with Claus was entirely about working the rolling HP meter to never technically die through like fifty rounds of being beat on.  It lost a lot by virtue of that.

What I loved about Earthbound, and still love about it, isn't as simple as just "quirky charm", like the TV Tropes page talks about.  That's certainly a nice thing, and it's not like Mother 3 doesn't have it, but whimsy isn't enough to captivate.  What set Earthbound apart, I feel, was more a sense of wonder to it.  You're going to all these vastly different places, seeing all these otherworldly things, and it really had a consistent feeling of childlike joy as your horizons are wildly, shockingly expanded.  Mother 3 doesn't have that.  It feels like it's trying to be more dark, but it came off as just a lot more dreary, with nothing like the psychological impact of Earthbound's sheer creepy.  There's no feeling of exploration, no feeling of awe.  And where the game stopped was just retarded.  I can't even call that an ending, because that implies some sense of "closure", or "resolution", or "anything".  And yes, I moved the "End?" thing around and talked to people until it went to credits.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on October 20, 2008, 07:26:22 PM
AWESOME THINGS (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WidgetSeries)

For the most part, I would say that the examples listed should be required reading/viewing/playing for everyone who enjoys fun.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 20, 2008, 08:30:37 PM
Not just a matter of "oh yay weird shit", there's no shortage of that.  I mean in terms of, like ... fuck it i'll just spoilertag the whole thing.  Not safe for spoilers if you haven't beaten the game.

Likewise for my response!

Quote
[spoiler]The very tiny world in which you play, which I think goes hand in hand with a focus that's a lot more "go fetch this plot coupon" and a lot less of exploration.  I thought the cast was pretty lackluster, with most of the people you interact with having essentially nothing to them except that interaction ... and really, is "Lucas's dog" really the best they can do for the fourth party member?  The plot came off as a lot more lockstep than Earthbound's did, with your actions being essentially limited to "Go to the place we marked on your map for your next widget", and little to no reason to go back to anywhere or revisit things.  That ties a lot into the size of the game, too.  They're comparably long, but Earthbound got its length legitimately, by having a ton of places to go and a huge variety of things to see, where Mother 3 is a short game that pads itself with level grind.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]It may not seem that way, but Mother 3 is actually LARGER than its predecessors.  The difference is that, rather than using cookie-cutter art assets to portray a progression of generic places and NPCs, it's the same places and NPCs portrayed in different ways over a longer period of time.  The central town in particular: people have new things to say after almost every event; and the town's gradual metamorphosis takes the place of the Onett -> Twoson -> Threed style progression.  Now, if you didn't like that approach, I don't know what to tell you; I found people like Bronson, Lighter, and the rest a lot deeper than even the central NPCs of Earthbound.

As for the "legitimacy" of their length, I find your assessment kind of backwards.  It's hard to tell this on an emulator, since desynch is such a big problem, but Mother 3 contains almost no grinding.  The first time I played through it, it was ridiculously difficult; I had to grind at the end of Chapter 1, in Osohe Castle, in the desert of Chapter 3, in the hallucinatory swamp, in the sewers under New Pork City--and still, boss battles were a bitch.  Three months later I finally broke down and imported the cartridge, and it was like a whole new game: I was getting 5- to 12-hit combos regularly, and I don't think I ever died in a regular battle.  Boss battles were still tough, but I almost always managed to scrape by; they felt hard in a fair way.  Now that I'm on emulator again while waiting for my eLink flash cart to arrive, well, it's back to being grindy.  I don't mind as much here, though, because dungeons aren't the slog they are in Earthbound; places like Peaceful Rest Valley, the desert mine with the five deadly moles, and the maze beneath the Pyramid just seem to go on way too long, to say nothing of Magicant.  Mother 3 breaks this up by having lots of little adventures and set-pieces; it almost reminds me of the first half of Final Fantasy VI, the way the game never really stops and settles into the usual RPG grooves.  Personally, I find that to be a very good thing.[/spoiler]

Quote
[spoiler]Your objective for much of the game was both depressingly limited and absolutely primatized - you go to where the Needle you currently know about is and pull it, and the Magypsie there will tell you where the next one is, right up until the endgame - and then when you finally get to New Pork City you get a massive exposition dump.  The whole Claus thing was blindingly obvious as soon as the first Needle was pulled, which I guess makes it better that they didn't try to play it up as any sort of surprise, but the fact that his big sad death was self-inflicted after he came to his senses ... well, that kind of robbed it of the impact, for me.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]That's, like, barely half the game.  You can't disregard chapters one through six just because they don't conform to typical RPG expectations: there's a rescue in a burning forest, search parties in the rain, the quest to find Claus/avenge Hinawa, find the Valuable Thing in Osohe Castle (x2), satisfy Fassad's arbitrary demands while looking for some avenue of escape, the search for Duster (which turns into the search for the Hummingbird's Egg (which turns into the infiltration of the Lightning Tower))--all of which kind of ignores the point that while what you're trying to ultimately accomplish is important, yes, so are the methods you use to accomplish that.  So yeah, you may "only" be looking for one needle after another for that segment of the game, but that contains some of my favorite segments: traveling the ocean, hallucinating on the island, moving the water from one pool to the other oustide the Chimera Lab....

As for Claus, it was never supposed to be a surprise.  Likewise, I'd argue, with Hinawa's death.  These things are heavily foreshadowed, and immediately evident to anybody who sees the helmeted lieutenant.  For the most part, Mother 3 is not about sudden, unexpected revelations.  (Exceptions: Leder's text-dump, and the actual identity of Fassad.  Who, for my money, is probably the best character in any videogame ever.)[/spoiler]

Quote
[spoiler]Mechanically, the timed hits system was pretty terrible.  Doubling my damage output if I happen to be good at rhythm games is not good design.  And while the scrolling HP thing in Earthbound was a nice little touch, Mother 3 made it a necessity.  Too often, particularly later in the game, I'd get hit with an attack that would kill my entire party, and spend my next turn rushing through menus to set up heals so I won't die.  Hell, the last fight with Claus was entirely about working the rolling HP meter to never technically die through like fifty rounds of being beat on.  It lost a lot by virtue of that.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I disagree?  I mean, for one thing, see above about the difficulty of the rhythm battles.  But for another, it's kind of philosophically appropriate: just as Earthbound's final battle requires "prayer" to succeed, Mother's final battle requires "singing".  Mother 3 switches things up by making those two inherent prerequisites in most of the difficult battles: you need to have enough rhythm to be able to tap your foot to the time-signature of the background music, and you need to have faith that you can execute combos without delaying your healing spells too much before your characters die.  Again, a lot of this is lost in emulation.

But yeah, the heal-before-death thing is definitely necessary.  And why shouldn't it be?  They actually slowed down the rate of health drop by a significant margin in the last battle, and the whole game still drops your health slower than Earthbound did.  You can spend, I don't know, 4 out of every 5 rounds in the last fight just guarding despite the fact that you're "mortally wounded", and then heal when you hit about 40 health; once your healing spell takes effect, just don't advance the text until your health is at max.  It's one of the easiest fights in the game.[/spoiler]

Quote
[spoiler]What I loved about Earthbound, and still love about it, isn't as simple as just "quirky charm", like the TV Tropes page talks about.  That's certainly a nice thing, and it's not like Mother 3 doesn't have it, but whimsy isn't enough to captivate.  What set Earthbound apart, I feel, was more a sense of wonder to it.  You're going to all these vastly different places, seeing all these otherworldly things, and it really had a consistent feeling of childlike joy as your horizons are wildly, shockingly expanded.  Mother 3 doesn't have that.  It feels like it's trying to be more dark, but it came off as just a lot more dreary, with nothing like the psychological impact of Earthbound's sheer creepy.  There's no feeling of exploration, no feeling of awe.  And where the game stopped was just retarded.  I can't even call that an ending, because that implies some sense of "closure", or "resolution", or "anything".  And yes, I moved the "End?" thing around and talked to people until it went to credits.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Again, man, we're probably going to have to agree to disagree.  I found more meaning and significance in the magypsies alone than just about anything in Earthbound.  It isn't just an attempt at darkness--Mother 3 has the maturity to say: nostalgia's nice, yes.  There's a time to let go.  Nothing lives forever, and trying to hold on for too long is more destructive than the evillest mastermind.  I loved Earthbound, and I held it on a pedestal until I played this game--and then I realized, well, that was nice, but I can move on.  I don't want to be Porky.  I don't want to let my sense of childish expectations warp everything around me into a hideous caricature.  The world will end someday, and everyone I know will be dead long before--let's have fun, and be good to one another in the meantime.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 20, 2008, 10:20:34 PM
I knew if I waited a little bit Newbie would say everything I wanted to better.

thanx newbie
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Arc on October 20, 2008, 10:28:46 PM
I knew if I waited a little bit _____ would say everything I wanted to better.

:mahboi: We all try to chip in, here and there.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 20, 2008, 10:31:55 PM
:victory: MY WORK HERE IS DONE! THANKS NIKU! THANKS ARC!
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 20, 2008, 10:33:58 PM
I knew if I waited a little bit _____ would say everything I wanted to better.

:mahboi: We all try to chip in, here and there.

This is why I just read Real World instead of posting there.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Zaratustra on October 20, 2008, 11:27:13 PM

Quote
[spoiler]
As for Claus, it was never supposed to be a surprise.  Likewise, I'd argue, with Hinawa's death.  These things are heavily foreshadowed, and immediately evident to anybody who sees the helmeted lieutenant.  For the most part, Mother 3 is not about sudden, unexpected revelations.  (Exceptions: Leder's text-dump, and the actual identity of Fassad.  Who, for my money, is probably the best character in any videogame ever.)[/spoiler]


It's still a japanese game, and the Japanese are -horrible- at being subtle with plot points. Remember the Evangelion episode where Toji was a pilot?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Disposable Ninja on October 20, 2008, 11:34:05 PM
Wait, what? Toji was the fourth pilot? Since when?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Norondor on October 20, 2008, 11:34:57 PM
It's still a japanese game, and the Japanese are -horrible- at being subtle with plot points. Remember the Evangelion episode where Toji was a pilot?

... Zara real life is not Star Wars. Not every member of every race adheres to the same stereotype. You boner.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 21, 2008, 01:56:41 AM
Wait, what? Toji was the fourth pilot? Since when?

Toji was chosen as the 4th child mid-series.
The very next angel then reveals itself as having infected Toji's Eva.
Shinji refuses to fight (He doesn't know it's Toji, just that another kid is inside)
Rei gets her ass kicked.
Asuka is a gigantic bitch.
Gendo forcefully uses the Dummy Plug system to have Shinji's Eva wreck that shit.
Eva-01 actually rips the dummy plug out and crushes it with it's hand.
Shinji sees that it's Toji.
Shinji :ohshi~: s
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kashan on October 21, 2008, 07:19:32 AM
Cut to the class president cooking a delicious meal and humming happily to herself.  :sadpanda:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 21, 2008, 07:25:41 AM
Cut to the class president cooking a delicious meal and humming happily to herself.  :sadpanda:

You need to mention that the class president has the hots for Toji and had offered to make lunch for him to build up to confessing her love for maximum :sadpanda:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 21, 2008, 08:41:39 AM
God, I hate Evangelion.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on October 21, 2008, 08:54:36 AM
The main reason it was so obvious on that show is because they spent an entire half an hour segment talking about nothing but "fourth child" and "Toji".  Two things that had been pretty much inconsequential until they suddenly became the center of the universe.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on October 21, 2008, 09:34:58 AM
Quote from: TFrog's Thumbnail Theatre
(http://www.toastyfrog.com/img/wiki/thumbnails/misato-icon-01.gif)Misato: Oh, she's a little upset about the Fourth Child. She's upset about who it is. You see, the Fourth Child is... that is to say, the person who will be piloting Unit-03... I mean, the next Eva pilot... the person's name... I don't know how to say this, but... well, the truth is.... you see, it's hard to explain this, but...
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 21, 2008, 09:48:33 AM
Let me get this straight.  Shigesato Itoi and the Mother team are Japanese.  Studio Gainax is also Japanese.  Therefore, Mother 3 lacks subtlety.  Is that about right?

 :wank:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Norondor on October 21, 2008, 09:49:54 AM
They also all have giant buck teeth and coke-bottle glasses and eyes so squinted up it's a wonder they can see through them, obvs.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 21, 2008, 09:52:48 AM
Japanese works are known for not being subtle. There are exceptions and they are generally good.

But most of the time a point in an anime couldn't be more Anvilicious (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Anvilicious) if they stopped the show right there and for five minutes just had the screen be a giant card with the words THE POINT IS THAT THE WAR AGAINST THE ANGELS IS TEARING FRIENDS APART AND IT IS SAD.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on October 21, 2008, 10:18:28 AM
OH MAN, THIS COKE IS DELICIOUS

WAIT

WAIT

HE DID WHAT?

THAT'S NOT A JOKE
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on October 21, 2008, 10:21:49 AM
It's cool.

Further thoughts on Boney's place in the party:

[spoiler]In the interview with Itoi, he mentioned that when the game was still being designed for the N64, his forecast for the final battle was actually a lot darker and crueler.  Pretty sure that means he was going to have the dog die at that point.

They didn't go that way, though.  So what does Boney do?  Well, he has heightened senses: he smells Hinawa and the boys, tracks down Duster, and finds the jar of pickles, among other things.  He can fit in smaller places, like the hole in the speaker that the stink bug flees through.  He's also part of the family, being one of the only two characters in the final party that's actually named at the very beginning: Flint's memories of his happy family include Boney, and when Lucas is in the field of sunflowers in Chapter 6, Boney is with him.  This balances out the fact that he's a bit of a problem for the group since he's a dog: he's just as banned from Club Titiboo as Lucas is, and when Lucas works in the factory, Boney's stuck running a treadmill.  Altogether, he's a mixed set of assets and liabilities, combined with a unique identity in the world of the game--which is to say, he's a complete character.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Zaratustra on October 21, 2008, 10:25:39 AM
What, I am racist now? Fine, I'll also bring up the fact that they make entirely too many references to their own popular comedians and voice actors.

Anyway, you are free to provide counterexamples of my previous statement.

and they eat lots of fish

Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kashan on October 21, 2008, 10:27:46 AM
There is a Japanese word for metaphor, It's arcane and nobody knows it.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on October 21, 2008, 11:14:05 AM
But they all know hewohitteshiritsubome.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on October 21, 2008, 12:14:08 PM
What's that mean?  My Japanese vocabulary is not so good.  Especially when a word is in romanji.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on October 21, 2008, 12:39:29 PM
Quote from: http://www.animelab.com/anime.manga/dictionary/he/1640/40
屁をひって尻窄め   へをひってしりつぼめ   (exp) there's no point squeezing your buttocks after you have farted / no use shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted
Used to be listed in Notre Dame's old Japanese<->English dictionary (http://poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/jedi-inon), but it went down years ago.

Shit.  I'm glad you asked, because checking up on POETS made me stumble into their wordnet app (http://poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/wn) which is similar to something I was considering coding.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 21, 2008, 11:48:55 PM
Just finished this now.  I'm really amazed by how well balanced the boss fights were.  Just about every single one was challenging, sometimes brutal, without being unfair or impossible if you have a sound strategy.  Setting up buffs and shields are key, and even then you might only get through by the skin of your teeth.  It's extremely satisfying to beat them, something I've missed from a lot of games.

Be happy to discuss the spoilerific parts, but that's another night.

:slow: I'll give it my seal of approval.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on October 22, 2008, 06:08:48 PM
Overarching theme of the entire game:

[spoiler]ITOI HAET CAPITALISM[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on October 23, 2008, 08:09:15 PM
...The original Mother is one of those that makes you select "Talk" from a menu, right?

Because I'm too old for that shit.

It is also, apparently, one of those that wastes your allies' attack if you target a dead enemy.

In fact it pretty much suffers from every old-school inconvenience you could possibly name.

Oddly enough I'm not hating it.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Guild on October 24, 2008, 10:34:24 PM
In Mother 3 you can start a new game plus (sorta) by starting a new game and saving over a completed save file, provided you learned all PSI moves with both Lucas and Kumatora in your completed game: Lucas and Kumatora will start with all PSI moves known already. I haven't tested it yet, and it might already have been pointed out. I read it on a random cheats website.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on October 24, 2008, 10:41:43 PM
You can also play the game in Hard Mode if you name yourself (the player, not the characters) HARD MODE at the first opportunity.

Oh, and be sure to hold L and R when opening the Status screen in your menu (in either mode).
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on October 24, 2008, 11:01:23 PM
MOTHER 1 TIP: Name your favorite food "Minnie".
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Guild on October 24, 2008, 11:13:34 PM
Oh, and be sure to hold L and R when opening the Status screen in your menu (in either mode).

Not sure why, but my VirtualBoy emu won't let me press more than two buttons at a time. What does it do?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on October 24, 2008, 11:21:59 PM
Oh, and be sure to hold L and R when opening the Status screen in your menu (in either mode).

Not sure why, but my VirtualBoy emu won't let me press more than two buttons at a time. What does it do?

It opens up a hidden "memo" menu that lists all of the terms in the game - status effects, locations, and so on and gives them a brief description. It's not accessible in the normal game, but it was hidden in the code, so Tomato snuck it back into the patch.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on October 24, 2008, 11:23:44 PM
Tomato has once again earned my undying :wuv: .

... I think this would be his 13th?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on October 25, 2008, 12:26:24 PM
Missed the Onyx Hook, and nearly missed Jeff Fagball Loid.  Time to start playing with a FAQ.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Brentai on October 25, 2008, 05:13:09 PM
 :gay4: Yay!  I got through the obnoxiously huge dungeon and now I'm like two squares outside of town!  Nothing can stop me now!
 :wheeeee: BEEP BEEP I AM A TRUCK AND I CAN COMPLETELY IMMOBILIZE YOU AND KILL YOUR FRIEND IN ONE TURN
 :gay4: ::(:

Good thing death in Mother equals "a free trip to the department store".
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Guild on October 25, 2008, 05:23:18 PM
I'm on the final boss and [spoiler]holy hellbeans is it annoying.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on October 25, 2008, 05:26:40 PM
I'm on the final boss and [spoiler]holy hellbeans is it annoying.[/spoiler]

Of Mother 1 or 3?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on October 25, 2008, 07:56:45 PM
The final boss [spoiler]really does take way too damn long.[/spoiler]

And the ending? [spoiler]Seriously, that was it? Voices in the dark? I've been trying not to compare this game to Earthbound - and don't get me wrong, I loved Mother 3 - but EB had one of the best video game endings ever, and Mother 3's was just anticlimatic.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on October 25, 2008, 08:01:43 PM
Just beat Mother 3.  Being over cautious, I'm spoilering the rest of this post.
[spoiler]I got stuck on Masked man (chapter.7 version) before the patch so I did some grinding to get up to level 55/get the mystical stick, then the rest of the game was too easy.  As with Earthbound, Saturn valley was my favorite part of the game.  Also, are there any variations on the ending?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Koah on October 25, 2008, 11:21:52 PM
Beat it a few days ago, only posting about it now because Saturn reminded me

[spoiler]* The ending was kind of anti-climactic, I'll admit.  Felt good getting name recognition, though.
* Fassad being one of the Magypsies hit me even harder than it should have once I realized that the Magypsy theme music was... horns, same as Fassad's "speech."
* Holy shit, the later bosses kicked my ass in this.  Seriously.
* Tanetane Island had what was quite possibly the best mushroom-induced hallucinogenic fugue that I've seen in a video game to date.  Or maybe disembodied faces just creep me out, I don't know.
* The Ultimate Chimera is right behind you.  For the love of God, don't turn around.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Guild on October 26, 2008, 12:03:05 AM
Seconded, O Hak., including [spoiler]The Ultimate Chimera in the Bathroom Holy Fuck No Shit No Run DAMNIT![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on November 08, 2008, 04:03:04 AM
Okay, this PSP emulator is pissing me off.  This is the third time it hasn't retained my save after quitting, and I have to suffer through [spoiler]Hinawa's death[/spoiler] over and over again.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Bongo Bill on November 08, 2008, 06:37:49 AM
There's an option that forces it to write to the battery file every time you save, instead of only when you quit. That was the first thing I turned on.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on November 08, 2008, 06:58:15 AM
I didn't get to see what the final diamond shaped enemies at the end were, because I just ran through and insta-killed them.

It turns out they're... hostile octohedrons (http://walkthrough.starmen.net/mother3/enemylist_chapter.php#minerali) (link contains spoilers), which I think is my favorite Earthbound reference/parody.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on November 08, 2008, 08:59:39 AM
Okay, this PSP emulator is pissing me off.  This is the third time it hasn't retained my save after quitting, and I have to suffer through [spoiler]Hinawa's death[/spoiler] over and over again.

The PSP emulator is not a friend to save data. Use save states wisely.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Metal Slime on November 08, 2008, 10:04:15 PM
So, I beat Mother 3 earlier as well and also am not seeing the difficulty complaints and I didn't even bother to do excessive grinding except at one point so I could get PSI Shield Omega for a certain boss. Maybe it's because I fought the battles like I was playing a Dragon Quest game, but even the last real boss fight felt too easy for me. [spoiler]And when I say like in Dragon Quest I mean abusing the fuck out of abilities that manipulate Offense and Defense along with Shields where useful.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on March 26, 2009, 05:46:23 PM
My Mother 3 Guidebook came in today.  The dust cover makes it look like a field guide for the Pork Army.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on March 26, 2009, 05:48:51 PM
My Mother 3 Guidebook came in today.  The dust cover makes it look like a field guide for the Pork Army.

I completely forgot about this.  I wonder if it's too late to order one?  Gonna try and do that tomorrow.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Metal Slime on March 26, 2009, 06:05:34 PM
My Mother 3 Guidebook came in today.  The dust cover makes it look like a field guide for the Pork Army.

Is it awesome?
Y/N
 :wat:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Zach on March 26, 2009, 09:30:30 PM
I completely forgot about this.  I wonder if it's too late to order one?  Gonna try and do that tomorrow.

Quote from: twitter
@TheGlitchmaster It's not too late to order, still got tons of them in stock. We'll be putting up a free online version in a few weeks, too!

Courage Badges, on the other hand, are gone for good.

In general, Fangamer has the most tempting gaming merchandise out there. It's the kind of stuff that I'd use even if it didn't reference games that I want to support.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on March 26, 2009, 09:42:40 PM
My Mo3 fanguide should be here tomorrow. I'm really genuinely pumped; the teaser PDFs have been really impressive and, hey, franklin badge.

Fangasm imminent.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on March 27, 2009, 05:24:51 AM
Do you have to ask if it's awesome?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Zach on March 30, 2009, 09:45:06 PM

Well, well, well. If it isn't my old friend, Mother 3 fan guide. How are you, Mother 3 fan guide? Besides professional!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAeQMwKdL_E
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on April 30, 2009, 12:52:33 PM
I just replayed Mother 3 for the first time, and I found myself enjoying it a lot more than the first playthrough (which I still greatly enjoyed). Since I wasn't rushing through the game as fast as possible, I was able to enjoy all of the incidental dialogue and missable things. For example, the optional Lord Passion boss fight that nets you an amazing weapon for Duster that isn't overshadowed until the end of the game. Better still, since I wasn't rushing so much and I actually fought a lot more battles, I wasn't underleveled for just about every boss encounter.

...And since I had no hopes for a good ending like Earthbound had, I was less disappointed by that.  :humpf:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Cyan Prime on May 07, 2009, 08:58:51 PM
I'm going to play another Mother game. Should I play 1 or 2? I already beat 3 and LOVED it, If I play 1 I'm gonna easy-patch it. Also, should I do a fan translation, or go with the US version?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Arc on May 07, 2009, 09:07:07 PM
2.

Mother 2 is to Mother 1 as Evil Dead 2 is to Evil Dead 1.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Kayma on May 07, 2009, 09:08:52 PM
2.

Mother 2 is to Mother 1 as Evil Dead 2 is to Evil Dead 1.

That's exactly how it is. It's cool that Mother 1 exists, but it's very much the prototype. Recognize that it exists and go straight to Earthbound.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on May 07, 2009, 09:15:57 PM
I'm going to play another Mother game. Should I play 1 or 2? I already beat 3 and LOVED it, If I play 1 I'm gonna easy-patch it. Also, should I do a fan translation, or go with the US version?

I don't think the game ever had a fan translation.  Once the official version was found, there was no point.  I could be wrong, but the Nintendo translation is good enough.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on May 07, 2009, 10:53:27 PM
Play Mother 1 with the easy patch on an emulator with frameskip, if you just wanna see the sights.


p.s. que fuck? (http://cogdis.tazmily.com/)
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on May 08, 2009, 02:15:52 AM
The following is the entire story of Mother 1. Don't play it, the tech limitations of the NES hamper it, and there are a few game-breaking glitches that may pop up.

[spoiler]Ninten woke up one day with his house attacking him. He defeated them, then found his Great Grandfather's Diary, who said that he was a destined child. He found part of an old melody in a music box. He found another part from a bird in a cemetary.
Ninten then came across the magical land of Magicant, where he was welcome. There, Queen Mary told him to find all 8 parts of the melody, because she couldn't sing it, and wanted to hear it again.
He found a third part of the melody from a singing monkey.
He came across a nerd everyone picked on called Lloyd, whom he made friends with.
He came across a girl called Ann who simply knew it was her destiny to travel with Ninten. The trio found the fourth melody in a piano in a haunted house. They found the fifth melody in a cactus in the desert. The sixth melody was given to them by a dragon in Magicant.
They traveled to the city of Ellay where they beat down a gang called the BBs, and their boss, Teddy, asked to travel with them to avenge his parents, whom were murdered. Teddy told Lloyd to take a break, he'd take over for him.
In the city of Youngstown, children everywhere beg and plead for you to get their moms and dads back, who are being held at Mt Itoi.
At Mt Itoi, you are assaulted by a gigantic robot. Lloyd comes with a tank and saves you. Teddy is wounded, so Lloyd takes his place.
You go to the lake on Mt Itoi, where you find your great grandfather's lab, and a robot named EVE who is sworn to protect you.
You climd Mt Itoi where the robot from earlier attacks you. It destroys EVE, but EVE's explosion kills it. EVE gives you the seventh melody, it's mission fufilled.
The 8th Melody is given to you from a strange stone that has "XX" carved in it that speaks telepathically to you. You return to Magicant and sing the melody to Queen Mary.
Queen Mary is your Great Grandmother, who begins sobbing, saying that Giegue is behind the whole mess, and that she raised Giegue when it was a child.
Magicant dissolves. It was nothing more than an illusion held together by the ghost of your Great Grandmother Mary.
You return to the XX Stone, which is revealed to be your Great Grandfather's gravestone. It was him who spoke to you earlier.
You go foward to confront Giegue, who attacks you in an incomprehensible nature. He says he will wipe out all of humanity, and then offers Ninten a place in his ship, spared from the slaughter. Ninten refuses.
You sing the melody to Giegue, forcing him to retreat as he can't reconcile the pleasant memories of his 'youth' with the desire to kill everyone. He swears to return one day.

Giygas is Giegue after he has lost what little humanity remains in him.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Cyan Prime on May 08, 2009, 09:41:26 PM
Oksy, I  played throught the biginning on my PSP and there wern't any crows when I left to find Picky, but on my PC there was some, and it seemed like there were more enemies. How many crows show up in the outside of the house (right outside, where you can still see the house) in hard-type? Is it really more than one? cause there was only one in my play through, and zero in my first play through.  :wat:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on May 08, 2009, 10:38:51 PM
http://starmen.net/mother2/gameinfo/antipiracy/
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Cyan Prime on May 09, 2009, 06:12:07 AM
tried it. seen no change. can someone send me a emulator and rom confermed to work?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Cyan Prime on May 09, 2009, 10:57:12 AM
In return Piggy Guys/Husle for Pride remix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSAS3mo6SpI
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Cyan Prime on May 17, 2009, 09:21:29 PM
Mother 3+
http://www.badongo.com/file/10378127

Mother 3i
http://www.badongo.com/file/5155035
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on May 17, 2009, 09:52:34 PM
Those are good albums.

Buy them.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Doom on May 17, 2009, 09:54:55 PM
Good Albums that don't include Natural Killer Cyborg Theme and [spoiler]Final Boss Porky Theme[/spoiler]

nice try general greivous
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Cyan Prime on May 17, 2009, 10:12:56 PM
Natural Killer Cyborg
0:53-0:60
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqxo1SKB0z8
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Romosome on May 17, 2009, 10:58:55 PM
Play Mother 1 with the easy patch on an emulator with frameskip, if you just wanna see the sights.


p.s. que fuck? (http://cogdis.tazmily.com/)

when did Gigue get turned into some kind of shitty Mewtwo
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: MarsDragon on May 17, 2009, 11:10:02 PM
when did Gigue get turned into some kind of shitty Mewtwo

Right about the Mother final boss fight (http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Mother/Update%2010/43-eb_06.png).
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: LaserBeing on May 18, 2009, 01:24:30 PM
I'd hit it. (http://anotherdimension.pyoko.org/giygas.jpg)

[spoiler]With a baseball bat.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: on May 18, 2009, 01:30:13 PM
when did Gigue get turned into some kind of shitty Mewtwo

The following is the entire story of Mother 1. Don't play it, the tech limitations of the NES hamper it, and there are a few game-breaking glitches that may pop up.

[spoiler]Ninten woke up one day with his house attacking him. He defeated them, then found his Great Grandfather's Diary, who said that he was a destined child. He found part of an old melody in a music box. He found another part from a bird in a cemetary.
Ninten then came across the magical land of Magicant, where he was welcome. There, Queen Mary told him to find all 8 parts of the melody, because she couldn't sing it, and wanted to hear it again.
He found a third part of the melody from a singing monkey.
He came across a nerd everyone picked on called Lloyd, whom he made friends with.
He came across a girl called Ann who simply knew it was her destiny to travel with Ninten. The trio found the fourth melody in a piano in a haunted house. They found the fifth melody in a cactus in the desert. The sixth melody was given to them by a dragon in Magicant.
They traveled to the city of Ellay where they beat down a gang called the BBs, and their boss, Teddy, asked to travel with them to avenge his parents, whom were murdered. Teddy told Lloyd to take a break, he'd take over for him.
In the city of Youngstown, children everywhere beg and plead for you to get their moms and dads back, who are being held at Mt Itoi.
At Mt Itoi, you are assaulted by a gigantic robot. Lloyd comes with a tank and saves you. Teddy is wounded, so Lloyd takes his place.
You go to the lake on Mt Itoi, where you find your great grandfather's lab, and a robot named EVE who is sworn to protect you.
You climd Mt Itoi where the robot from earlier attacks you. It destroys EVE, but EVE's explosion kills it. EVE gives you the seventh melody, it's mission fufilled.
The 8th Melody is given to you from a strange stone that has "XX" carved in it that speaks telepathically to you. You return to Magicant and sing the melody to Queen Mary.
Queen Mary is your Great Grandmother, who begins sobbing, saying that Giegue is behind the whole mess, and that she raised Giegue when it was a child.
Magicant dissolves. It was nothing more than an illusion held together by the ghost of your Great Grandmother Mary.
You return to the XX Stone, which is revealed to be your Great Grandfather's gravestone. It was him who spoke to you earlier.
You go foward to confront Giegue, who attacks you in an incomprehensible nature. He says he will wipe out all of humanity, and then offers Ninten a place in his ship, spared from the slaughter. Ninten refuses.
You sing the melody to Giegue, forcing him to retreat as he can't reconcile the pleasant memories of his 'youth' with the desire to kill everyone. He swears to return one day.

Giygas is Giegue after he has lost what little humanity remains in him.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on May 18, 2009, 01:36:36 PM
when did Gigue get turned into some kind of shitty Mewtwo

What did you think Gigue looked like before?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: LaserBeing on May 18, 2009, 01:46:34 PM
Just wait until Tomato releases his SNES Mother 1 hack.

I mean, you're not in a hurry, are you?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Romosome on May 18, 2009, 02:21:43 PM
when did Gigue get turned into some kind of shitty Mewtwo

What did you think Gigue looked like before?

the other fanart I've seen had it as more of a bluish spade-eared thing, but now that I've seen the actual sprite, that could be fucking anything.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on May 18, 2009, 06:19:44 PM
oh morphine

yes of course pokey was protecting giygas because of all the HOT BUTTSEX THEY HAD
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Catloaf on May 18, 2009, 06:24:18 PM
Porky was just a dick who was self-centeredness/greed incarnate.  He wasn't protecting Gygas, he was protecting himself from Gygas by helping Gygas kill everyone else.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on May 18, 2009, 06:27:55 PM
no

he was protecting him

because of the buttsex love

this isn't hard
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on May 18, 2009, 06:28:03 PM
but i am
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 07, 2010, 09:58:03 AM
Hey so I am finally playing this game that I have loved in theory for years. :perfect:

Turns out Earthbound really is pretty much the best game ever and I can't wait to get into Mother 3. After playing for a bit today, I realized that, probably due to how vague and quirky a lot of the game is, it's getting me to do a lot of things that I wouldn't normally do in RPGs. ie: I've been using Teddy Bears and the occasional Skip Sandwich because I really didn't understand exactly what they were supposed to do. Turns out they're actually sort of useful!


Also:

(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/CX-Neo/Red-teddy-bear.gif)

(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/CX-Neo/lots_o_huggin_bear_plush_toy.jpg)
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on August 07, 2010, 06:23:20 PM
Where are you at in Earthbound?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 07, 2010, 07:48:07 PM
Twoson! I've already beaten whathisface in the park. Next I guess I head to Grateful Dead Peaceful Rest Valley.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Esperath on August 07, 2010, 07:58:31 PM
Green, Green.  Wait, that's not how it goes...
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on August 07, 2010, 10:20:22 PM
Holy shit, you've never played Earthbound? I'm really curious to hear how this game and the sequel stack up from somebody who's playing both for the first time in close succession.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Friday on August 07, 2010, 10:24:53 PM
Strangely, I also have a friend who is going through EB for the first time. So far she "hates the inventory system."
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on August 08, 2010, 04:24:20 AM
That COULD be a valid complaint, but you're just a kid with a cute yellow backpack.  It wasn't made to be carrying around 99 Elixirs of the Mongoose.  It was made for carrying around your implement of destruction and a few hamburgers for the road.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 08, 2010, 04:53:27 AM
Admittedly I don't like it much either, on the grounds that it's a pretty small space that's about half-filled with key items even this early on. I can see that each character has their own inventory a la Golden Sun, so maybe I'll like it a bit more when I have more space to work with.


Holy shit, you've never played Earthbound? I'm really curious to hear how this game and the sequel stack up from somebody who's playing both for the first time in close succession.

I'm only nineteen.
...And I was a bit late to the party. My first console was an N64 and my first handheld was a GBA, and I didn't get them until I was about ten.
You would be amazed what games I haven't played!


I've played each Mother game at least once before now, but never for more than an hour or so. Not enough to really get into them.
Once I got over the grinding hump before beating Frankie, I really started loving this game. Plus the art is gorgeous.

Not sure whether to bother with Mother 1 or not.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Esperath on August 08, 2010, 05:06:38 AM
You get a page of inventory per person, plus a storage/delivery service, so you can dump old key items to make space for more garbage can burgers.

It's also worthwhile to keep the For Sale sign on hand, so you can convert excess junk into cash.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 08, 2010, 06:15:23 AM
I totally forgot to buy that sign before leaving Twoson. Thanks for the reminder!

Currently in Happy Happy Town. I forgot to buy food before making the second trip to Peaceful Rest Valley, so I had to avoid some battles and spam the predictably respawning Magic Butterflies. I hope I'm not too underpowered for whatever's next.
The difficulty curve is basically perfect, though, so I'm not that worried.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: McDohl on August 08, 2010, 06:35:44 AM
Yeah, you should be good.  You can get money and experience easily by pounding Happy Happy cultists.  Just make sure whatever money you have on hand is deposited in the bank.  Like Dragon Quest, if you die, you lose half your money, and all of your Psi Points are drained, necessitating a stay at a hotel.  Happy Happy Village's hotel costs $50.

Another swank thing you can do is abuse the food stand.  You can buy bananas and fresh eggs from the food stand just south of the drug store, and you only have to pay what you think you should pay.

Load up on fresh eggs, and continue as normal.  Eventually, those eggs will hatch in to Chicks, and then will eventually grow in to Chickens, which you can sell for 100% profit.  Just make sure you don't talk to the guy in green who's standing near the stand, he'll fight you.


I think you're pretty limited as far as healing items go at that part.  Aside from the eggs and bananas, if you got the phone number for Mach Pizza, I guess you could call them and order a small pizza.  The rub of that is that it takes a while for it to be delivered, and I don't know if the deliveryman can get out to Happy Happy Village.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Smiler on August 08, 2010, 07:41:06 AM
The inventory gave me problems, but then again I was abusing the magic truffle bug.   :8D:
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on August 08, 2010, 07:45:55 AM
The inventory system does suck.  Limited space is fine, but equipment and key items should be counted separately.

It's still a great game, but that doesn't excuse the inventory.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: R^2 on August 08, 2010, 07:50:10 AM
And no, you shouldn't play Mother 1/EB0. Itoi has reported he was sick of working on the game by the time development was wrapping up, so he skimped on little things like "playtesting" and "fixing gamebreaking bugs" and "game balance".
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: TA on August 08, 2010, 07:50:48 AM
Objectively, the inventory system is really not so good, for the reasons stated.  Subjectively, though, for someone who cut their teeth on the NES Dragon Warriors, it comes off as forgiving.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 08, 2010, 09:10:05 AM
I think my first RPG was Paper Mario, which had a pretty strict inventory.
So I'm fine.

Also, quit helping. I'm trying to enjoy myself here.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Niku on August 08, 2010, 09:40:22 AM
My usual response re: Mother 1 is: yes, play it if you like the series.  But only with the EXP balancing patch and the emulator cranked up to double or triple speed so you can get through it in a day or two.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: TA on August 08, 2010, 10:08:12 AM
Even with the EXP balancing patch, I had to hex edit my save to give myself a hundred times my current experience to get through Mt. Itoi.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Detonator on August 08, 2010, 12:34:27 PM
I think playing it through is worth it just to see the different themes and music that were repurporsed for Earthbound.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: R^2 on August 08, 2010, 12:51:44 PM
Best option: read someone else's LP
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on August 08, 2010, 08:49:57 PM
Best option: read someone else's LP

There is no link to your awesome LP anywhere in there R^2. You should fix that.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 09, 2010, 08:15:29 AM
I beat Mondo Mole with Paula dead and only 1 HP left on Ness! I feel like a True Cham-peenTM.

Only later did I learn about the PSI Paralysis thing.


EDIT: and now there are zombies hoooooo-ly shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit best game ever
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 10, 2010, 09:03:35 AM
Saturn Valley! Boing! Zoom!
I love the pacing of this game. I never have to leave an area until I feel that I've become totally comfortable with it but not to the extent that I feel bored.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 12, 2010, 07:08:55 PM
Moonside is kicking my ass even though I'm probably ten levels higher than I should be by now.

Not quite as bad as the department store, but it's an interesting blend of awe, surrealism, and frustration.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on August 12, 2010, 07:21:24 PM
Yeah, it kind of feels like the difficulty spikes right through that section. Then the Monkey Hole ushers in my impatience with grinding and I tumble blindly through Summers and the areas beyond until the 8th Sanctuary, at which point the pace of the game slows down a bit and I can take the time to actually fight most monsters that appear on the screen.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 12, 2010, 08:27:32 PM
Apparently the gold mine is pretty much the hardest it gets but for the most part I found it manageable. The countless Noose Men were annoying but the moles themselves can be beaten in one turn by Paula using PSI Freeze Y.

It's hard to get used to playing with two characters again, especially now that I can't use Paula's area-clearing PSI.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on August 13, 2010, 12:01:55 PM
This thread makes me a little sad that every time I try to replay Earthbound now, I stop around Twoson/Threed. I used to replay the game at least once every year because it was my first and favorite RPG, and one of my favorite games of all time. Maybe I just need to leave it alone for a long time. It's great to see teg's comments; they remind me of my first time through the game.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Smiler on August 13, 2010, 12:50:11 PM
That sounds like every attempt at playing the game up until the last time when I actually beat it two years ago. It's a great game, but it took me a decade to finally like it.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on August 13, 2010, 06:26:58 PM
if you guys are enjoying this just wait till I finally get around to playing a final fantasy game
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: jsnlxndrlv on August 18, 2010, 02:17:21 AM
I dunno. I'm kind of in Rosencrantz's boat where Final Fantasy is concerned; FF6 was an amazing formative gaming experience that concretized my attitudes over the next five years toward Squaresoft, Nintendo, RPGs, guidebooks, and Nintendo Power, but it's not really a game I can play anymore. Meanwhile, EB feels relatively timeless to me, and Mother 3 moreso—although it hasn't exactly been around long enough to really test that impression.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Classic on August 18, 2010, 05:24:30 AM
I didn't buy the FF4-6 GBA remakes so that I could stare at them in awe, admiring their ageless beauty and potent influences on my formative years (possibly while fondling myself). Just putting that out there.

If teg is able to tolerate the ways in which EB is antiquated (e.g. battle system) I'm sure he'll enjoy the SNES era FFs with similar warm, happy feelings.

EDIT:

Oh, teg, I am also enjoying reading your playblog.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: Rosencrantz on August 18, 2010, 08:00:32 AM
I dunno. I'm kind of in Rosencrantz's boat where Final Fantasy is concerned; FF6 was an amazing formative gaming experience that concretized my attitudes over the next five years toward Squaresoft, Nintendo, RPGs, guidebooks, and Nintendo Power, but it's not really a game I can play anymore.

Actually, I'm also that way about FFVI as well. I played that thing to DEATH when it was new, and then I would go back and replay it often throughout high school on an emulator. I got tired of it a couple years before the GBA release, which I was excited for. I played that and haven't been able to get past Vector since. I think I need to shake things up and use characters I've never really tried before (especially before they can all cast any spell).
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: teg on January 09, 2011, 03:56:57 PM
So I never did get around to finishing Earthbound! I stopped at Scaraba. I fully intend to get back to it, preferably after seeing if there's any way to transfer my save from my computer to my GP2X Wiz.

Speaking of the Wiz, though, what I actually came here to say was:
Mother 3 on an actual handheld is phenomenal. Seriously. Worth the hundred and fifty dollars right there.
Title: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: on March 21, 2012, 10:04:29 PM
(THAD EDIT: Merged in from the Humble Bundle thread; quote added for context.)

I've also never played any of the Earthbound games and intend to play through the entire trilogy in order, at least to get a sense of how to take a pedestrian image and make it awesome through sheer charm.

Skip Mother 1 Thad. Go read my summary in the Earthbound thread, but Mother 1 is a legitimate chore to play
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: TA on March 21, 2012, 11:02:59 PM
I remember when I played Mother.  There was a point where the random encounters were just too tough for my level, so I fired up a hex editor and gave everybody 10x their current experience.  Did a piddly fight so they'd gain a ton of levels, which they did, then tried again.  Still way too tough.  So I did it again.  At 100x the amount of experience I had earned to day, the fights were still very difficult, but at the point where I could make my way through it.

Mt. Itoi was just not playtested at all, and it shows.  And the game was not really that good prior to that point.  Skip it, just play Earthbound.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Thad on March 22, 2012, 10:45:57 AM
If I play it it'll be the Easy patch.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Bongo Bill on March 22, 2012, 10:54:20 AM
Earthbound completely subsumes Mother. Skip it.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: TA on March 22, 2012, 11:03:08 AM
If I play it it'll be the Easy patch.

You act as though I wasn't using that.  I was.  Game's a mess.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Niku on March 22, 2012, 11:43:53 AM
Eh, I had no problem blowing through Mother with the easy patch and frameskip.  It's a rough little game but I still think it's worth going through if just so you can slap it in people's faces when they decry Earthbound as being nothing but a Dragon Quest rip off.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Doom on March 22, 2012, 05:27:59 PM
The main issue is that Mother's story contributions to Earthbound can be summarized in about two brief sentences.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: TA on March 22, 2012, 05:30:26 PM
Well, the same can be said about Mother 3, but that's more of a problem that Mother 3 is a terrible sequel than that Earthbound isn't fantastic.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Doom on March 22, 2012, 05:40:03 PM
I'd say it's more that Earthbound and Mother 3 are worth playing compared to Mother, but thankfully Mother doesn't really have much to offer beyond those two plot-important sentences!
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: TA on March 22, 2012, 06:22:12 PM
Well yeah, compared to Mother, just about anything is worth playing.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Brentai on March 22, 2012, 07:42:45 PM
I liked Mother.

Didn't play the whole thing though.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Classic on March 23, 2012, 12:14:31 AM
I haven't played through MOTHER even though I'm a few dollars short of being a card-carrying http://starmen.net (http://starmen.net) member.
Title: Re: Re: The Humble Indie Bundle
Post by: Niku on March 23, 2012, 02:11:33 AM
Well, the same can be said about Mother 3, but that's more of a problem that Mother 3 is a terrible sequel than that Earthbound isn't fantastic.

I'll bite, why is it a terrible sequel?
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: R^2 on March 23, 2012, 09:05:52 AM
If you feel like nicking the Mother 1 and 2 GBA patch that version of Mother is a little more robust (you can't, say, permanently miss out on plot-crucial key items by accident) and the Easy mode is already there. That said, you can still skip it entirely.
Title: Re: Mother
Post by: sei on March 27, 2012, 05:13:24 PM
I'm just going to go ahead and leave this Earthbound music homage (http://ubiktune.org/releases/ubi042-various-artists-i-miss-you-earthbound-2012) here.