backupdump002

So guess who just beat MOTHER 3

NICE TRY, BRAWL, BUT YOUR SPOILERY WAYS ARE NO MATCH FOR ME! HAW HAW

I had really been trying to hold out for an English port and avoid spoilers as best as I can, but once I heard that Super Smash Brothers: Brawl was going to spoil the crap out of Mother 3, I finally broke down and played through it using this for dialogue and this for battle help/etc, as well as this menu patch. It honestly wasn't as much of a hassle as it sounds -- I didn't have any problems with it. It was actually kind of convenient, in a way, since that dialogue walkthrough had a separate section for NPCs so I could just read through that and not have to run all over town talking to people (though I did hunt people down if they said they were gonna give you an item :B). It really wasn't any trouble at all, and I highly recommend doing the same if you don't want Brawl to spoil you. Because Brawl is going to spoil you. Oh god is it going to spoil you

It wasn't even terribly long or anything. I beat it in about... 20 hours, I think? Really not too bad.

So, the game. Uh... I think a spoiler post is in order.

I'm just gonna quickly scroll through the script, here, let's seeeeee

-Oh wow, I didn't even make the connection between that doorknob you pick up at the very end and the doorknob that came off of Flint's door in the beginning. Thank you, script!

-Anyway, my first impression of the game was "Wow, this is really different from Earthbound." The whole game just seemed a lot more dark and depressing than Earthbound, and not to mention that the people you spoke to seemed a lot more... mean, I guess? I can't even count the number of times random NPCs were like GO AWAY YOU STUPID IDIOT CHILD ADFGHKAJDFHGAK just because you said hi to them or something. Everyone in Mother 3 totally needs to take a chill pill man seriously
But in all seriousness, it was kind of upsetting. The whole game was kind of upsetting, really, though more on that in a bit.

-Flint really fascinated me for some reason. Just how he seems like your regular good guy who's real dedicated to his wife and kids, how he seems so strong and confident and well-grounded, but once his wife dies and his son goes missing, he just... breaks. Just breaks and goes into a neverending loop of mourning for Hinawa and searching for Claus, over and over and over and nothing else (and not to mention ignoring Lucas in the process). His family was his strength, and once that strength was taken away, he didn't know what else to do but try to get it back and cling to the past. It's almost like his family was a crutch or some sort... maybe Flint has some underlying self-esteem issues or something, I dunno. MAYBE I'M OVER-SPECULATING AT THIS POINT
Still... just goes to show you that no one is as together as they seem, I guess.

-That scene where you find out that Hinawa is dead was really chilling to me in general. Just...

Bronson: Flint... what to say... well, first of all, calm down and listen closely. I have good news and bad news. Which should I say first? Um, I guess the good news first. I got my hands on the super-huge Drago Fang. It will be the greatest weapon. I thought you could use it. The bad news is... the bad news is... the place where I found Drago's Fang. It was in... your... it was thrust through your wife's heart.

And then Flint loses it and starts attacking people in front of his children, only to get knocked out himself and wind up in prison. Just the raw honesty and emotion of it... I dunno. IT GOT TO ME OKAY

-Man, I was really D:ing through that whole scene at the funeral where Lucas tries to cover up for Claus and gets yelled at by his grandpa. Then after he runs off you can find him distractedly petting Boney back at the house, and just awwwwwww. Poor thing. You know he has to feel like he's responsible for everything that happened.
Speaking of which, did anyone else notice that people were blaming Lucas for not stopping Claus when Claus mentioned avenging his mother to Flint, as well? why everyone gotta be hatin' on lucas huh

-I hated the Magypsys at first, but they grew on me once the whole needle-pulling thing came up. They seemed to accept their fate pretty gracefully, I thought. AH, IT SEEMS "THAT TIME" HAS ARRIVED. JUST LET ME FINISH MY PICKLES FIRST

-...am I the only one who thought Alec was being really creepy in that cave
FLINTY-POO
*THRRRR.* WAS THAT YOU? IT WASN'T ME! HEE HEE!
FLINT, SWEETHEART, DON'T BE EMBARRASSED
FRITO-LAY

-Man, Wes is a jerk. I did not care for that attitude of his at all, no sir |< Smashing jars is so rude
That dance made me smile, though.

-That castle annoyed the crap out of me, and I can't really pinpoint why -- maybe it was the enemies, the layout, going through the whole place with only Duster and no one else to help me -- but the only thing I associate that castle with is rage. And funny ghosts. And rage.

-I was sort of lukewarm on Duster at first, but oh man did he grow on me. YOU'RE NOT A MORON DUSTER :< DON'T LISTEN TO WES
I was so happy when Kumatora told him to back off, heh.

-On that note, Kumatora is totally awesome. I WAS DEBATING ABOUT WHETHER TO CUT OFF MY LEG OR NOT

-I was very intrigued by how PSI-users would get high fevers before learning new spells for some reason :O I guess it's just sort of neat to see using magic coming with a price, unlike most RPGs where it's just like YOU HAVE TO READ A LOT OF BOOKS IT'S HARD
That was something I thought was neat while I was playing FF8, too, with the GFs stealing everyone's memories and stuff. I dunno :B

-Awwww, poor Salsa. I really did feel bad for the little guy (though I laughed at that one part where he has a nightmare about getting zapped by Yokuba, then wakes up to getting zapped by Yokuba. what is wrong with me), which made Kumatora and Wes BUSTIN' HIM OUT all the sweeter.
But argh, that chapter was one of the sadder ones, to me. Not because of Salsa, but because it marks the beginning of Tazmily Village's long, downward spiral into corrupt...ness. Yes. god i'm tired
It took me a while to realize that the "Happy Box" was just a TV :B Durr

-God, that stupid train tunnel drove me nuts. I had to go through it THREE TIMES before I finally got to the end. The first time I got hit by the train, and the second time I got to the place BUT THEN I WAS KILLED BY ONE OF THOSE FREAKIN' SNAKECOWS OR WHATEVER AND GOT SENT ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BEGINGIANGKDGH AND GOD I HATE MUSHROOM DOGS

-Kind of unrelated, but I could not get the hang of the rhythm-battling thing at all. I think the highest combo I ever got was like... 4 or 5. That's it. I went through the whole game just mainly getting 2's with the occasional 3. I am hardcore.

-Duster leaving the band made me sadder than it probably should have. When they get up on stage and sing to him and he lays his afro on the floor :< I NEVER KNEW AN AFRO WOULD EVER EVOKE SUCH STRONG EMOTIONS WITHIN THE COLD CHAMBERS MY SHRIVELED HEART AND YET HERE I AM

-Chapter 6 was handled so beautifully; I really wasn't expecting any of that to happen at all. I was quite misty-eyed through the whole thing, I admit it :< When he finds Boney and has that flashback and jumps off the cliff and the music and adskfhdfga

-SO YOU KNOW WHAT SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME?
THE CHIMERA. The red one, I mean. It had a name, but I forget.
I was so jumpy during that whole thing, you have no idea. You just walk around the building and hear the chimera knocking down doors and Pigmasks squealing in the distance, and you have no idea when or where it's going to pop up next. When I saw it for the first time I actually let out this dumb little strangled cry and immediately made Lucas run back in the room he came from. I am so lame
God, and at one point it saw me run into another room and it started trying to break down the door D: And not to mention you can run into it later while you're going through that toilet maze thing in the final building. I NEVER WANT TO LOOK IN A BATHROOM STALL TO FIND A BLOODTHIRSTY CHIMERA INSIDE EVER AGAIN

-I got this great big grin when you run into Professor Andonuts. I WAS REALLY HOPING IT WAS A SIGN THAT WE'D GET A JEFF CAMEO OR SOMETHING but nope. Darn.

-...this is such an idiotic thing to be creeped out by, but something about when you have to transfer water from one pond to the other and are trying out different chimeras... well... creeped me out. I really have no idea why. Maybe it was the music.

-Awwwwwww, Mr. Saturns :3 Every time I see a Mr. Saturn I just want to hug it forever. BIRD FISHING
Those "Terrifying Robots" made me laugh so hard. Especially with how much faith the Pigmasks seemed to put in them. THIS ROBOT'S GONNA TERRIFY YOU SO BAD IT'S GONNA MAKE YOU WISH YOU WAS NEVER BORN KNOW WHAT I'M SAYINS

-I KNEW IT, I KNEW THOSE LOBSTER MONSTERS WOULD BE CALLED ROCKLOBSTERS
I CALLED IT MERE MOMENTS BEFORE BATTLING ONE AND COULD NOT STOP GRINNING WHEN I WAS RIGHT
And hahahaha, merman-kissing. It took me the longest time to notice that Duster blushed when he was kissed -- I was kind of wondering why he didn't seem to mind beforehand. HIS FACE TURNS A SHADE DARKER, IT'S VERY SUBTLE
And there's really no way I can say this without it sounding horribly perverted and weird, but I wonder how the merman thing must feel. I mean, their lips like... engulf your entire face. Not to mention that they're blowing a lungful of air into your mouth. I imagine that it is not very pleasant :O

-Soooooo I guess this brings us to the mushroom sequence, then. Oh God. This is the part that creeped me out more than anything else in the game, personally, and is also the part that stuck with me the most. Just... quotes that stood out the most to me:

Wes: Duster, it's my fault that you lost the use of your left leg. Sorry. Don't go anywhere else. Come home with me. I see. So you're going to go off with Princess Kumatora. I hope you go to some dark place far away.
So if the things people say are supposed to reflect the team's weaknesses/fears/etc... does this mean that Duster feels obligated to stay with Wes for some reason, despite his verbal abuse? Is he afraid Wes will hate him if he tries to leave? If so, that seems like a kind of odd interpretation of him; really makes me wonder how that came to be.
Also, fake*Wes apologizes... somehow, Wes doesn't really strike me as the "type" to apologize, or at least not to Duster. I could be wrong, though. But could it be that maybe he never apologized, and Duster, deep down, wishes that he would? I mean, if he DID apologize, then I don't really see how that would be a weakness or a fear or anything, y'know? So I kind of suspect that he didn't. Poor Duster.

"The mailbox is open. Will you look inside? (YES/NO) There are many
postcards inside. Will you read them? (YES/NO)"
"The boy names Lucas is crying at the grave."
"The boy named Lucas and a dog are loitering in the forest."
"The boy named Lucas is up to no good in the mountains."
"The boy named Lucas stole Nuts from our garden."
"The boy named Lucas is bullying creatures."
"The boy named Lucas learned some bad magic."
"The boy named Lucas..."
"The boy named Lucas..."
"The mailbox let out a shriek."
PROBABLY ONE OF THE CREEPIEST LINES, IN MY HONEST OPINION
But ugh, poor Lucas. I really don't think he's that... mentally stable, myself.

Claus: Lucas, what are you up to? It looks like fun! Can I play? (YES/NO) Yeah! I'll pull up the rear. Thanks! Lucas! Lucas! I'm Claus! Claus. The Claus that Lucas doesn't see.

Claus: Everyone is waiting for you. Waiting to hit you with rocks and spit at you. Who's everyone? Everyone you love.

Flint: It's almost time for dinner. Your mother will be home shortly. What? She won't? Why? What did you do to her? What? I did it? She won't be home? Who are you? What did you do? It's time for dinner.

Flint: I'm gonna hit you, boy. Your father's gonna give you a beating.
This one really made me wonder. I really don't see Flint as the kind of person who would ever beat his kids or anything, so... why would Lucas think something like that?

Claus: Lucas, we finally meet. It's me, Claus. Feel my heart. It's beating fast. Lucas, you don't have to worry about anything anymore. It's me, Claus.
This one gave me a shiver. This could really mean so many things. It could mean that Lucas was dependant on Claus and he feels lost and helpless without his support, it could mean that Lucas feels incredibly guilty about letting Claus go and having him back would "solve" all his problems... I mean, I think the "anything anymore" really gives you a sense of how Lucas percieves the loss of Claus, y'know? It just... really did a number on him.

Woooooo but enough of that. I really need to speed this along.

-My jaw dropped at the name "Pokey." I WAS VERY SURPRISED YET NOT SURPRISED AT ALL AT THE SAME TIME

-Also, Lida's creepy, tl;dr speech about how everything was just part of a story really did not help with Lucas' insane amount of mental trauma, there

-AND WHILE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HOW MOTHER 3 IS CREEPY AND DISTURBING HOW ABOUT THAT YOKUBA BECAUSE MAN THAT WAS ANOTHER THING THAT REALLY GOT TO ME
He was barely even human anymore after he fell off that tower. He couldn't even speak without the help of those ridiculous trumpets, he could no longer use his legs, and yet he was just so determined to get his revenge and kill Lucas. When you first see him after he fell he looks bad enough, but the second time he looked even worse, and after that he's still lying on the ground and spitting insults at you before blowing up and dying. SO FULL OF HATE
I really thought too much about everything that happened in this game if you couldn't tell

OH I ALMOST FORGOT BUT

TAKEN MERE MOMENTS AFTER I BEAT YOKUBA FOR THE LAST TIME
Everyone else was fainted, Boney was crying, and he had suffered mortal damage and his HP ticker was going down rapidly. I figured I was pretty much dead and that what I did didn't even matter at that point, so I just started mashing the attack button crazily, not even worrying about combos or anything and just trying to attack as quickly as I could, and I won. You can only imagine the overwhelming amount of sheer relief I felt at this.
I had a lot of real close calls like this, now that I think about it. I GAME DANGEROUSLY

-Oh yeah, I got this really huge grin when I saw those Earthbound screenshots playing in the movie theater. Hee hee.
At the same time, though... doesn't Pokey pretty much control the entire city? Why would he play something like that in his movie theater? I thought he hated Ness and company. Hmmmmm...

-And on that note WHY DOES POKEY HAVE ONE OF THOSE OXYGEN MANKISSING GUYS IN HIS FANCLUB ROOM WHEN IT'S NOT UNDERWATER
WHAT
WHAT

-That one scientist saying that the green liquid turns you into the kind of person Pokey likes and seeing all those tanks full of people in green liquid, brrrr

-I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR A SCREEN FULL OF ANGRY ROBOT PIGFACE, WOW

-I never thought I'd say this, but... I actually felt really sorry for Pokey. He's just so dead-set on getting people to like and admire him that it took over his entire life, and... well, my take on it is that he doesn't know HOW to get people to like him, so instead he opts to control them entirely and achieve a position of power, only to become irrationally furious when someone denies it. He even resorted to making that "green liquid" stuff to get people to become perfect little drones for him.

But I thought about this while I was reading the stuff he said when you fight him:
I have traveled countless times through both time and space. So, I haven't been able to age like a normal human would. I might be 1000 years old, or even maybe 10000 years old, but my brain is still in it's childhood. Is it strange? It is strange. Don't laugh. *cough* *cough* Don't laugh at me!

If the dragon awakes and everything is destroyed, that means all living things will disappear. Ahhahaha. Ahahahaha. *Cough* I'll still be alive, though. Just me and the dragon and the wide open world. Remember that. I am eternal. I'll watch the end of the world for you when you're gone. The world that exists after everyone who hates me is dead.

It's just kind of sad. In a way, I find it hard to hate him completely, even if he is crazy and probably a sociopath. That's probably kind of unhealthy of me, wow

I thought it was kind of odd that he was insisting that he was immortal during the battle, but then he goes and locks himself in the Absolutely Safe Capsule for all eternity so you can't kill him. HMMMMM, POKEY. HMMMMMMM.

God, that battle with Claus at the end. Hinawa's dialogue as depressing enough, but Flint saving Lucas from PK Love and telling Claus that he never stopped looking for him and then passing out nearly broke my heart. Especially after the battle, after Claus kills himself...

Flint: Lucas, thank you. Claus was always very hasty. Please forgive your brother.

Just...

And then Flint keeps telling Lucas about how everyone believes in him, let's make friends with the dragon, ask it in your heart to protect all living things, this is your destiny...

Then Lucas pulls the needle out and the world ends. That was Lucas' destiny. That's what he was chosen to do.

I actually stared at the "End?" screen for several moments after that, just sort of shocked. I would've exited if I hadn't looked at that dialogue walkthrough thing and saw that there was more. I was actually very relieved to hear everyone saying it was okay and everything 8D Still, though.

Hahahaha, I'm sure a lot of people out there thought that was really it and turned off their GBAs. CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW DEPRESSING THAT WOULD BE OH GOD

The credits really made me smile. I love it when credits sort of "revisit" the game in a way, like showing character sprites and screenshots and stuff. It's just very uplifting :D

Aaaaaaand... yup. I've got nothin' more to say. All in all, completely excellent game, I am very satisfied, A+++++++ would play again. NOW I CAN READ SPOILER POSTS WOOOOO

Man, I'm so behind on everything. At least now that I'm done with this I can stop obsessi-- well, no, that's not true, I still have fanart ideas I wanna work on. I CAN NEVER ESCAPE

Oh yeah, does anyone know where I can download the soundtrack? It's awesome.

GOD I REALLY NEED TO DO SOMETHING ELSE NOW