Moth3r: Earthbound Endings
On occasion, I like to write an essay on an esoteric topic. This is one of those occasions.
Intro and Spoiler Warning
Mother 3 is my favorite game of all time. Having recently played through it again (this time guiding my wife on her first playthrough), I decided to write an essay gathering my thoughts on it, as I did with the other two games in the series. But first we need to discuss the elephant in the room. The game never got an official release outside of Japan, so like most English-speakers I played it using the fan translation, which was done by a professional translator and other dedicated fans committing thousands of hours to a labor of love. Since the game has never been officially localized I want to give you a chance to go play the game before reading my essay, which is full of spoilers and expects some familiarity with the plot/characters to avoid a lot of recapping. For the best experience, go play Earthbound, then play the fan translation of Mother 3 (a cursory google search will give you the steps needed to do so), then come back and read my essay (last part is optional). For a spoiler-free essay on Mother 3, I recommend this video by YouTuber Nerrel. If you’ve played the game and want to get my thoughts on it, read on…
SPOILERS BELOW
Prologue
Like the previous games, Mother 3 starts with a young boy waking to a noisy house. But instead of haunted dolls or a meteor crashing, the noise is a simple knock. Lucas is staying with his mom Hinawa and brother Claus at their grandpa Alec’s log cabin, out in the woods far north of their hometown. Leaving the cabin brings you into a tutorial on battling and running, but if you already know how to dash you can bump into Hinawa to receive some free bread. Lucas and Claus play with friendly dinosaurs called Dragos (every boy’s dream) while Hinawa sends their father Flint a letter by carrier pigeon. She writes of missing him, how they’ll be leaving today to return home, and some other nice exposition about the happy family, establishing the idyllic life of the inhabitants of the Nowhere Islands. All of this could feel on the nose, but it’s delivered with such sincerity and humor that one can’t help but grow attached to the little clan. And then, a mysterious flying object casts a shadow over Hinawa, blaring a song that will soon become inescapable.
Chapter 1
While there is a lot of shared DNA with the previous entries, Mother 3 quickly establishes its own narrative identity. Whereas Earthbound was a globetrotting adventure told solely from a child’s perspective, Mother 3 is centered on the village of Tazmily and breaks its perspective amongst several protagonists of varying age. Its smaller, denser map lends itself to a heavier focus on how the village and its villagers change throughout the narrative. Mother 3 is also a bit more down to earth; the antagonists are human invaders instead of an alien threat, most enemies are creepy chimera science experiments instead of random gags (there are still some good ones, though), and the narrative deals with more mature themes than its predecessors. The division of the game into chapters lets it shift characters/parties freely, weaving an interlocking story on a grand scale. The tone between chapters can also shift dramatically, as how the Prologue’s calm gives way to Chapter 1’s fiery emergency.
Flint is only playable in Chapter 1, but makes a strong impression. As the first adult protagonist in the series, his strength and heroism is in stark contrast to the meek cowardice most villagers exhibit, rescuing both his friend Lighter and their son Fuel (great names) from chimeras and forest fire. The danger is always tempered by some humor, such as Flint and Fuel’s soot covered sprites recalling teleportation failure in Mother/Mother 2 and a funny gag if you try to wash it off in the hot spring. But as Flint was saving this family, he soon realizes that his own has gone missing. Returning home, he finds only the carrier pigeon with Hinawa’s letter. The full text is shown again on screen, building dread. The town bands together to search for the missing mother and children; some are optimistic while others can’t help but fear for the worst. Playing this section is tough, as the game throws more and more evidence at you that something terrible has happened offscreen. In a short amount of time, it manipulates our feelings and expectations for the family, making the tragedy that follows all the more senseless.
The fire has transformed the forest, charring many of its trees (and some enemies) but also opening a new path forward. Flint finds a scrap of Hinawa’s dress fluttering on a cliff defaced by huge claw marks. He scales the cliff with the help of Duster, a thief that makes a bad first impression (my wife said he ‘looked like a monkey man’). On top of the cliff, mysterious Pigmask soldiers (the cause of the fire) unleash a chimera caribou boss onto the duo.
Mother 3’s combat system is streamlined to deliver some excellent moments of strategy. Aside from improved menus and animations, every character has special abilities that are actually useful (looking at you, Poo). Buff/debuffs are vital to winning, which gel with the rolling health bars that return from Earthbound. On top of this is a novel rhythm battle system that lets each party member land up to 16 hits if you press A on the pulse of battle themes, though it’s easier said than done as every theme has a different ‘heartbeat'. Outside of battle, the old hospital/hotel system has been replaced by frequent free hot springs for full heals, which is balanced by having enemies hit hard as hell. The Reconstructed Caribou is a great example, and I feel like most people die to this boss on their first attempt. We were no exception, with only Duster surviving on my wife’s successful attempt.
Defeating this chimera coincides with Lucas and Claus being found unscathed, so naturally Flint runs to reunite with them. But this happy moment is cut short by the news that Hinawa was killed defending the children from a Drago, something both shocking and unusual for such gentle creatures. The flat delivery of this devastating news is purposefully callous, and Flint’s emotional and violent reaction is difficult to witness for the player as well as his sons. Just as the gentle Dragos are turned violent, so too does Flint’s great strength morph into a frightening outburst.
After getting conked on the head, Flint spends the night in jail (missing his wife’s burial), but after leaving his troubles are far from over. Claus has run off, determined to get revenge on the Drago. At Hinawa’s grave, Alec chastises Lucas for not stopping his brother, leading the boy to run off too. It’s more subtle than Flint’s outburst, but I appreciate that Alec is also in mourning and struggling to handle these bad feelings. Earlier in the chapter, when Flint was called to action, the doorknob of his house was pulled off and went missing. Many speculate (including me) that this occurred at the same moment Hinawa was killed, an totem of their family’s shattering.
Flint and Alec set off to save Claus, with an odd dynamic that helps keep the tension from boiling over. During the trek, Alec will advise Flint to think positively, often cracking the groan-inducing jokes expected from a father-in-law. Though narratively there’s no time to lose, in truth you can explore the village as much as you want, which is finally open during the daytime. The shops offer some useful items, notably all sold for free. Villagers will offer condolences for Hinawa’s passing, but many also scold Flint for acting ‘inappropriately’ at the news. During his outburst, Flint attacked several people, who vary in their level of understanding/forgiveness/fear when talked to. It seems few understand what Flint is going through, which adds to his already distant disposition.
Alec leads Flint to meet the Magypsies, magical humanoids who are perhaps the most controversial part of the cast. People have conflicting opinions on them, but I personally love their role. Although they are initially dismissive/outright rude towards humans, who live such short lives, they provide vital assistance in subsequent chapters. In Chapter 1, they casually mention teaching Claus some powerful PSI moves before sending him off to go fight the Drago, indifferent to the outcome. Like Duster, not the best introduction, but that’s one of the things that makes this game special: every character is written to earn your affection, few are immediately likable. Even Lucas, the main character, must grow from a helpless crybaby into a brave, endearing hero. And just as Duster adds some refreshing representation for disabled people (he walks with a limp, yet all his attacks are blinding fast kicks), the Magypsies help represent gender fluid queer people.
The rest of the chapter concludes the search, though Flint and Alec have opposing goals. Flint seeks revenge, while Alec just wants to save Claus (bearing some parallels to The Searchers, which tracks with Flint’s whole cowboy get up). Eventually you find one of Claus’ shoes, as well as the monstrous Mecha-Drago, whose gentle disposition has been replaced with a badass flamethrower. This fight is incredibly tough and the victory does not feel good, with a baby Drago jumping out to comfort the injured beast that was once its parent. Flint, fatigued from the battle and the incredible weight of his losses, ultimately spares the Drago, accepting that killing it won’t bring Hinawa or Claus back. After this chapter, he fades into the background of the game, spending his time searching the mountains for Claus, though it’s made clear to the player that this search is futile. In the span of a few days, he seems a shell of his former self.
Beginning with a tragedy is pretty much required for any hero’s journey (and yes, this game has a lot of parallels to Star Wars), but Mother 3 handles it with the perfect amount of tension and sincerity. What makes it perhaps most impressive is that this heavy sequel still feels naturally tied to its sillier predecessor.
Chapter 2
As Flint left the jail in Chapter 1, Duster offered some words of condolence for his loss, which Flint did not reply to. But as Chapter 2 opens, the scene replays and Flint is shown saying thanks for the kind words. The game’s choice to hide dialogue spoken by the active protagonist helps build immersion for the player (and led to the misconception that Lucas is a silent protagonist), but here it also is used to transition player control to Duster, the protagonist of Chapter 2. The thief is tasked by his father Wess with stealing something special and important from Osohe Castle, a ruin north of town that predates the village. He can’t remember anything about the item, which one initially chalks up to him being old, but it’s also a subtle nod to the big twist later about Tazmily’s origin. Duster does as he’s told, grabbing some special ‘Thief Skills’ (reusable items) before heading out.
It’s fitting that the lightest chapter follows one of the heaviest, as if to remind players that this is still a Mother game. No family trauma here, just the fun vibes of breaking and entering an abandoned castle. Inside Osohe, Duster is free to explore as he pleases, but to progress you need to go upstairs and defeat the unfriendly ghosts. Unlike Earthbound, which spawned enemies randomly, Mother 3 places a set number of enemies in each room, removing the player’s need to get a ‘fair roll’. As you climb the floors, you’ll likely need to heal or retreat. There’s a hot spring in the basement that can be reached from each floor via fireplace, but tumbling down one means you’ll have to start the climb all over, adding a nice bit of risk/reward. This could have gotten annoying, since it’s a tall castle and you are bound to take damage, but there’s a system to get free healing items midway through the dungeon that balances things (a ghost gives you rotten eclairs that another will trade for edible food, of course). Overall, the design of this dungeon is a far cry from the simplistic caves of Earthbound. Its dilapidated rooms and eerie soundtrack make for a great set piece of environmental storytelling. While some areas may feel creepy, the tone stays light, especially in the ‘party room’ where all the friendly ghosts pretend to live like humans; playing ragtime piano, cooking horrible food, and drinking wine that goes right through them. It’s all very amusing, even if the strawberry slime enemy in the kitchen is surprisingly tough (took my wife three tries to beat).
After battling an operatic ghost (his battle theme a chimera of classical music snippets), Duster finds a noble spittoon, which he brings back to Wess as dawn breaks. Wess examines the spittoon, then angrily shatters it, saying it’s worthless and calling Duster a moron. This reaction is unexpected and very mean, but only because we know less about this family than we may realize (their shared dialogue by this point amounts to just a few paragraphs). Mother 3 frequently plays off our habit to interpolate character dynamics from relatively scant evidence, subverting expectations with a single dramatic cut scene. This isn’t just done to be dramatic though, as it’s fairly common for a father and son to have a fraught relationship in the real world. But as the game later shows, it’s also possible to mend the bond and grow into mutual respect. As in many places, Mother 3 often displays life as it is, but also shows how it can naturally change.
Wess drags Duster back to the castle to locate the real special item, though on the way you are free to explore the town more. Since Chapter 1 has a lot going on, this is the first time you can see the villagers going about their normal routines. The way they talk with Duster/Wess vs. Flint is unique, a sign of the dedication put into the narrative and script. For my first playthrough, I would run back to the village and talk to everyone after nearly every event and was amazed how often NPCs had new things to say. My wife didn’t have as much patience for this on her run, but still appreciated the level of detail packed in. Every villager has their own thoughts, motivations, character growth, alliances, and reactions to events, such that Tazmily may be the most fleshed out town in all of gaming. Honestly, it’s hard to think of another game that compares, except maybe Clock Town in Majora’s Mask.
The return to Osohe could have been repetitive, but narratively this is where things kick into gear. In the short time that Duster’s been gone, the Pigmasks have stormed the castle, leaving tank treads all over (the first of many ways they will transform the terrain). The ghosts have been flushed out, replaced by Pigmask infantry. Although the old enemies were annoying, there’s something sad about the castle’s inhabitants being displaced or destroyed. Haunted suits of armor have been reduced to piles of scrap, the party ghosts have been crammed into the kitchen (and later in the game, will be ousted completely). This sense of loss and unwarranted change is a theme throughout the game, enacted here in a brilliant microcosm.
Getting back up the castle isn’t too bad, then once Wess reveals there’s more to explore beyond a locked door (opened in the most hilarious way possible), you run into Kumatora, the ‘princess’ of Osohe. While Ana and Paula were typical girls with psychic powers, Kumatora is a foul mouthed tomboy (and best girl). She joins your party, adding useful PSI attacks to the mix. With her, the game also introduces a change to how PSI moves are learned, with a fever stopping your character from running until it wears off and they unlock the new ability. This hinderance can seem annoying, but I like the way it casts PSI as a change that requires some pain to achieve, like a secondary puberty. It makes a rote leveling system feel novel and thematic, adding more heart to the game.
After dealing with some annoying brooms, the party reaches the true treasure at the top, the Hummingbird Egg, just in time for one of Wess’ traps to drop them all the way down into a pool in the basement. While climbing the castle, there are a number of holes per floor that must be crossed using the Rope Snake (a living grappling hook). In a nice touch, the party falls through these same holes after the trap is activated, revealing a coherence in the castle’s architecture. Wess once more calls Duster a moron, but Kumatora comes to his defense. Though they haven’t known each other long and he gave her a bad first impression, she’s growing to like Duster and doesn’t think he deserves such shabby treatment (a sentiment the player no doubt echoes). The resolution is cut short with the chapter’s big boss, the Oh-So-Snake, who bears a striking resemblance to Earthbound’s kraken. After defeating it, the trio is flushed out of the castle, with Duster separated from the others.
Lighter and Fuel (unsung heroes of the game) help Wess and Kumatora out of the water, after they encounter a crowd around the irate pig farmer Butch, who blames the absent Duster for his missing money (given to him earlier in a trade for some pigs). Flint sticks up for Duster/Wess/Kumatora against various accusations, showing that a split is forming in the village between people who are in the right and people who are falling under the influence of outside forces. The game will keep track of where each villager stands throughout the story, though no one really changes their mind once they pick a camp, they just get deeper entrenched (sadly realistic).
The fun chapter ends on an uncertain note, with Duster missing, the Pigmasks making their move, and the village facing an identity crisis.
Chapter 3
The cliffhanger is left unresolved as the clock is reset and the player takes control of Salsa, a monkey being forced to work for the Pigmasks to save his girlfriend. Kept in line by a shock collar, Salsa is joined by Fassad to an unhappy fanfare. Being a cute monkey, Salsa is a weak fighter and relies on Fassad to win many battles, subverting the will of the player to feel in control since they can’t control Fassad’s actions in battle. They wander a desert, which allows for easy leveling through a dung beetle system that is equal parts stupid and funny. There are some nice gags, like Salsa opening a present box containing a useful banana item, only for Fassad to take and eat it, or the save frog that is stuck in a sandstorm, but the story doesn’t really kick off until you get out of the area and into a Pork Bean. Taking this obnoxiously fast hover car through a network of tunnels, the player starts to appreciate how much planning has gone into the Pigmask’s evil schemes. Aside from the technological advantage, their resources seem unlimited (and yet a random monkey is pivotal to their machinations…).
The tunnels lead to a secret entrance in the village graveyard (morbidly close to Hinawa’s), after which the true charm of the chapter sets in. Its events happen in parallel with those in Chapter 2, allowing for a lot of intersection points that make you rethink what you previously played. Fassad goes around making trouble, stealing back the money he gave Butch and confusing the innkeeper as he tries to pay for a room for the night (it’s free, of course). The townsfolk seem indifferent to the plight of Salsa, who is frequently shocked by Fassad when you mess up a dance move or try to head in the wrong direction (or just for the hell of it). But his silly monkey dance helps sell the peddler’s big speech in the town square about happiness and the need for more of it. I love how the villagers aren’t immediately wowed by Fassad’s words, with some leaving mid-speech. It’s a realistic touch that even naive people aren’t necessarily stupid. Fassad gets four villagers to sign up for happy boxes, then orders Salsa to deliver them while he relaxes at the inn. The gameplay is intentionally slow and grueling (basically an Amazon delivery simulator), but what sells it is the music.
The composer for Mother 3’s soundtrack, Shogo Sakai, replaces the previous composers Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka, who could not commit to the game’s enormous soundtrack needs (over 250 tracks). Many of these songs form the battle theme system, while the rest ensure that every scene, event, or room has the exact perfect energy. Sakai’s orchestral background offers an interesting contrast to Suzuki’s rock sensibilities. For the track Monkey Delivery Service, Sakai used the structure of a fugue, where the instruments play the melody in a round and evoke a sense of being followed. Salsa walks alone at this point, but is always dogged by the unseen hand of his master. This kind of structural synergy of narrative, music and tone is staggering and all over. The two main themes of the game, His Highness’ Theme and the Love Theme, are remixed and chimera’d into dozens of tracks, extending the battle between the Pigmasks and Lucas into the sonic sphere. Multiple characters have unique leitmotifs, lending an operatic epicness to the whole game (also seen in Sakai’s arrangement work on Smash Melee and Brawl). When listening to its full soundtrack (a whopping six hours), one can relive the entire experience of playing it through, a testament to Sakai being the right choice to succeed Suzuki and Tanaka. Sakai worked on the soundtrack for over ten years alongside Mother 3’s long and difficult development, and that dedication shines through time and again. In many ways, it’s my favorite soundtrack in the series and one of my favorite bodies of music, period.
After the Pigmasks have taken Osohe castle, Fassad and Salsa go to check the progress. They find defeated infantry (beat up earlier by the thieves) and seek a way to flush them out before they reach the Egg first, but without Rope Snake they can’t get far upstairs. Instead, they head into the basement, pulling a lever that causes the party of Chapter 2 to get flushed out of the castle and syncing up the stories as they all meet back in the village. The earlier cut scene replays, with Butch accusing the absent Duster of stealing his money and Fassad using this to sow discord and get more happy boxes into people’s homes.
With Duster missing, Fassad doesn’t register that Wess and Kumatora were also inside the castle earlier, allowing Kumatora to telepathically communicate with Salsa and learn his plight. Naturally, Kumatora and Wess help Salsa escape and remove the shock collar, though the victory is short lived as Fassad pursues with a full army of Pigmasks (I love Kumatora’s brash willingness to help a random monkey, and her little animation as she runs off). The chase ends in the forest, where the trio have to fight a tank. This fight has a great moment where the tank breaks and its driver gets out to chuck things at you, once again striking that terrific balance between scary and bumbling. Victory over the tank is short-lived as more soon arrive, led by a gleeful Fassad. But just as hope is lost, little Lucas appears alongside the baby Drago… and its full grown parent. The catharsis of watching the Drago destroy a tank and knock Fassad offscreen concludes the first portion of the story. I love how Lucas heals his loss by banding together with the similarly impacted Dragos against the true enemy, something his brother and father failed to perceive. This triumph of righteous justice over empty revenge sets the stage for Lucas and the others to grow into a noble band of freedom fighters. What an optimistic note to end on!
Chapter 4
Three years later, the hopes raised so high have been swiftly dashed. From here on out, you control Lucas, accompanied by Boney (having the dog be a permanent party member is a great choice more games should make). Before even leaving the house, Lucas is reminded several times of his mother and happier times. It’s clear that the time skip has been a difficult period for the boy; his town is changing for the worse, his friends are lost or hiding, and his father is absent searching for Claus most of the time. The song that plays around town sounds strikingly similar to one from the Prologue, but notably it is now missing Hinawa’s Love Theme.
You aren’t given much in the way of an objective, allowing the player to take in everything that’s changed in the time skip. The town has been rebuilt, Pigmasks roam freely, most villagers have happy boxes in their homes and those that don’t get hit unusually often by lightning strikes. Fassad is doing well, holding court in the town square to keep the villagers in line (though he’ll ignore Lucas). Instead of everything being free, there’s now a money system to the game, with save frogs acting as ATMs (at least one owns a car now). Wess, Alec, and the other elderly have been moved into a retirement home that is hilariously dilapidated for having being built so recently, and every business has transformed to more closely resemble the ones found in Earthbound. The inn is now a hotel, the bazaar a store, and many of the adults take a railroad from town to a factory for their daily labor.
The new town and its new systems recast the nostalgic modern life of Earthbound as a negative, invasive force. Taking things that people cherish and grafting it onto a new environment makes you reevaluate how nice those things were in the first place, and modern life in general. Making Tazmily into Onett feels wrong and seems like a meta commentary on fans wishing for an Earthbound sequel that is exactly like the original. It also aligns with the true villain of Mother 3, who originated from that modern world and apes it here. Porky, revealed much later as the king of the Pigmasks, is said to have traveled time and space so much he aged unnaturally. And yet, his vision for the ideal world is frozen in the world he grew up in. I don’t think this is done out of nostalgia, but instead familiarity and a need to project control. By recreating his past, he can act it out as he pleases, treating the village as his personal toy chest.
It’s impossible to capture everything that’s changed between chapters, but the level of consideration is astounding. And while it’s optional to explore all of this, I think a big aspect of the game is absorbing the village through its varying states. Villagers are progressively nastier towards Lucas, seeing him as a troublemaker the more that the game goes on (especially the mayor’s family, who flat out say they don’t like him after a while). Many can’t understand why Lucas refuses to get a happy box, and yet none of them seem any happier. The factory workers seem depressed, preferring time at Club Titiboo over time with their families after a long day of work. And while they bemoan the labor, after the factory closes they stress about losing their jobs. The village is crowded with tourists, a brainwashed assortment of people that Porky seems to keep on hand for just such occasions (not everyone is suited to be a Pigmask, I suppose). They can be seen as a comment on how service economies can drain a locale of the charms that made it appealing in the first place, with many complaining of how boring the town is to visit. The song that plays at Tazmily’s beach is now a remix of Summer’s theme from Earthbound, solidifying its transformation into an eternal tourist trap. The Pigmasks around town will chat with Lucas instead of picking fights, since they’ve clearly already won. Despite the ending of Chapter 3, Tazmily is theirs and its people for the most part are under their control.
The only gripe I have with this chapter is how to progress the story. Wess asks Lucas to check out the band at Club Titiboo, as he’s heard the bassist might be an amnesiac Duster. You need to engage a few cut scenes in a particular order to unlock access to the railroad tunnel (the train itself costing far too much), with some movement in and out of town required. I think this was done to encourage exploration, but the backtracking is unintuitive. And since the whole map is open, you can accidentally take Lucas all the way through the forest back to Alec’s destroyed cabin, a far walk to a dead end. Things go smoother after you enter the train tunnel, as it leads directly to the factory. On the way, you encounter the Magypsy Ionia, who teaches you PSI moves through an odd cut scene (one of the few times I don’t think the humor lands). At the factory, Lucas and Boney must do some tedious work to earn a ticket to Club Titiboo, seeing the plight of fellow villagers (no one likes their new job very much). You can work as much as you like, but the pay is paltry so it’s best to move on. There’s a lift behind the factory that goes right to the club, or you can try to explore the area and face many tough enemies (aside from one gag with a rock climber, it’s not really worth the effort). It feels odd to present the map as so open when there are so many dead ends, as in other places the game uses invisible walls (well, marching ants) to keep you on the right path.
Getting into the club has some funny bits with Boney the dog-like man, and from the cliff you can get a preview of Chapter 5’s area, but the main draw of the club is DCMC, the house band. As predicted, the bassist is an amnesiac Duster in a wig, with Kumatora disguised as a waitress to keep an eye on him (very sweet of her). After an awesome show (tonda gossa), Lucas and Boney follow Kumatora to her room, with a nice moment of reunion followed by a soothing shower ballad. All of this joy is a great contrast to the pain of the attic dungeon, a difficulty spike when least expected. The Jealous Bass boss might be the worst fight in the game (I know I say that for every boss, but this time I mean it). Eventually, my wife put him down, after which a few funny rounds of stone/sheet/clippers sees Duster rejoin your party, leaving his bandmates behind. The parting is surprisingly emotional, with the band playing bon voyage as flashbacks show how Duster’s last three years brought them close together. In Mother 3, no part is too small to be endearing.
Chapter 5
With the party in its final form, the main plot kicks in. But first, optional backtracking! With Boney still in disguise as a dog-like man, you can get some amusing extra dialogue from various NPCs. And although Lucas informed Wess about Duster via carrier pigeon, if you return to the village he’ll appreciate the in-person reunion (he no longer calls his son a moron, progress!). The best reward for backtracking is inside Osohe castle, where a new boss unlocks powerful weapons for Duster. My only annoyance is that you can almost take the tunnel shortcut used by Fassad/Salsa to get to the village, but in an odd design choice the door is blocked. The only way back is through the train tunnel, which is much longer and slower. There may be other notable things to find from backtracking, but by this point my wife wanted to return to the main plot, which picks up in the forest north of the factory.
After a mole hole dungeon (none of them are the third strongest, unfortunately), you go through another factory staffed by Pigmasks (notable that the grunt labor is reserved for the villagers) who mistake Lucas for their commander. There’s a wacky chase after a clayman containing the Hummingbird Egg (required to restore Duster’s memory), but first a fight against a DCMC super fan. The Fierce Pork Trooper is one of the best enemies in the game, with devastating attacks that can be completely cheesed by distracting him with DCMC merch. His theme song, Unfounded Revenge, is an all-time classic (and might have inspired Undertale’s Bonetrousle), and perfectly fits the silly mood of the battle.
From here, you are free to explore a large highway system, using the Pork Bean to get around quickly and avoid enemy battles (just keep it full of gas). This area has a lot of dead space, but the game makes good use of it with a mouse side quest (as one is wont to do). Completing it nets the Shield Snatcher, an item that makes the game’s later bosses far more tolerable (as many begin bouts with a shield or recast it often). Since Boney has the best party speed, it’s best to give it to him, along with any bombs, etc. you find.
The party make-up of Mother 3 is the most balanced of the three games, with Lucas/Kumatora/Duster/Boney each fulfilling strategic roles. Having two PSI users, one focused on assistance/healing and the other on attacks, feels so natural, an improvement on Ness/Paula in many ways. Unlike Poo, who always felt like a third wheel, Boney’s speed takes on the item hog aspect of Jeff, while Duster’s special status/debuff tools replace his reusable arsenal. So basically, you have two Jeffs in your party instead of Poo, and it’s a major improvement.
Before finding the clayman and exiting the highway, be sure to stop at the filthy diner, featuring a dirty jukebox that happens to contain five of the best songs in the entire soundtrack. These are all tracks that were cut for various reasons from more important parts of the game, leading to speculation on their original intentions. Resolve is the most lauded of the five (and for good reason, it’s fucking sick), but they’re all worth a listen. There’s also some funny gags with a line to use the toilet (which gets shorter as you progress through the game) and a robot in need of refueling (even with save scumming, I couldn’t fill it exactly on time), but eventually it’s time to move on.
The clayman has been trashed, but before recovering the Egg you need to fend off the Fornlorn Junk Heap, another discarded clayman that has fused with a bunch of garbage into a really annoying enemy. Earlier, the factory showed how claymen were recycled after running out of energy (like remodeling clay into new figures), so it’s interesting to see how much junk Pigmask society produces anyway (much like real life, sadly). With the Egg, Duster is finally back to his old self, but the chapter isn’t over yet. Through a bunch of silly accidents, the party ends up inside the nearby Thunder Tower, which has been used to shoot bolts of electricity at the homes of freethinking villagers. While I love how these rebels end up destroying the tower without even meaning to (they just wanted the Egg), I feel like it goes a bit too far in portraying the Pigmasks as inept. That fine line I mentioned earlier is tough to tow, I just think it would have helped for the party to express a desire to shut down the tower, instead of it just happening by circumstance.
Inside the tower is fine, some enemies have nice synergy (battery enemies recharge robot enemies) and the ‘Whatever’ is great, but the Pork Trooper rematch feels relatively lazy (even if they lampshade his new color scheme, a common tactic in RPG enemy scaling). Due to being surrounded by Pigmasks and having their cover blown, the party is forced to climb the tower, passing through King P’s playroom, one of many hints to the true enemy’s identity. The child-like room is such an odd addition to the tower and begs the question if it was ever used, since Porky later seems to be bedridden. There’s a nice optional boss against a robot maid (based off Porky’s maid from Earthbound), with the reward being a friend’s yo-yo (obviously Ness’, though no one I know uses yo-yos in Earthbound since they miss all the time). The yo-yo can be shown to enemies and they will cheer, which never gets old (Nothing beats making the Masked Man cheer for a yo-yo). Aside from this and a jukebox that plays Earthbound tunes, the room leads onward to the top of the tower, where all the electricity is produced.
This section is pretty boring, but I like how a lightning strike unlocks PK Flash for Lucas (though maybe it should’ve unlocked PK Thunder…). The final boss, Mr Generator, is a tough time until you learn his pattern, after which there’s a showdown with Fassad on the roof. The tower is due to explode and Fassad plans to make his escape via helicopter, but he comes to a delightfully ironic end by slipping on one of his own banana peels. He’ll later blame Lucas for this, but as with the rest of the chapter Lucas hasn’t really done anything, he’s just been there as things happen. The group hitches a ride on the helicopter’s rope ladder, catching a glimpse of the Masked Man (who does look a lot like Lucas) before falling to certain doom. Chapter 5 is an odd one, maybe the weakest in the game, but its comedy of errors does result in some great moments that are hard to deny.
Chapter 6
The shortest chapter in the game is also one of the most impactful. Instead of falling to certain doom, Lucas lands in a huge field of sunflowers, which were his mother’s favorite. Walking around, you’ll find Boney is here too, and then you catch a glimpse of Hinawa. The music swells to an emotional climax as Lucas tries and fails to reach her, falling from this place back to Earth. Very short, but very sweet.
Chapter 7
Through a tiny enormous miracle, Lucas and Boney land in a big pile of hay, which Alec says Hinawa told him to prepare in a dream. With the knowledge that Hinawa is still watching over him, Lucas projects a new level of confidence and strength, his pain turned to resilience. Although he remains silent, you become aware of this change through interactions with other NPCs. Many will note how he’s no longer a crybaby and may even be jealous for how much he’s seen and done while they’ve stayed still (a bit of a meta joke on video game design). A parallel message comes through the sheep back at Lucas’ home, with the ones burnt by earlier lightning strikes growing stronger than the others who went through less trauma. That’s how you know this is a good game, even the farm animals have character arcs.
Chapter 7 is the longest by far, mostly built around the race to pull the Dragon’s needles. It’s kicked off by finding Ionia tied up, then having them join your party (they remained tied up for a long time in a funny gag). Either by boat or walking, you can make your way towards the first needle, but this is also a good time to catch up with townsfolk, many of whom now talk of leaving for the big city now that the factory is shuttered.
The shift from peaceful village to thriving town to abandonment for the big city mimics real world trends, showing a hollowness in hedonism and materialism. A lot of people identify Mother 3 as a critique of capitalism, and in many ways it is, but I think there is more nuance under the hood. Tazmily is a utopia, which by design is impossible to sustain. Even if the Pigmasks had never come to exploit it, eventually the ways of the old world would have seeped back into their lives, because the village was built upon denying basic aspects of the human condition (Porky later berates them for how dumb this plan was, and he’s not wrong). By running from all bad things, the villagers were left defenseless, an escapist way of thinking that the game also criticizes (such as in Chapter 1, when most villagers are useless to help the forest fire, relying on brave ones like Flint). The Pigmasks introduce a monetary system and emphasize happiness through materialism (things usually associated with capitalism), but also build everyone homes and ensure all abled bodied workers are assigned a job (things associated with communism, though maybe this situation is more like a company town, I don’t know). Whether by capitalism or communism or any other ism, the end result is a corrupt desire for control of humans and nature, a nefarious paternalism that gels well with the childish innocence of the village. By bending both to their will, the Pigmasks have soiled Eden, but it’s more than possible that a similar result would have happened eventually even if they never interfered.
If you go to the beach, there’s a lady who will grab Leo Leo’s sweater without asking (an optional item that requires bothering an NPC in a cave full of gift boxes). I don’t have much to add, I just love how this is a thing in the game.
Ionia leads you back to Osohe Castle, but this time to its courtyard, where the first needle has already been pulled. There’s a lore dump and you pick up Fassad’s phone (nice to know he didn’t die, I guess), but there’s two things I love about this sequence. The first is that the bad guys pull the needle without waiting for the heroes, they are working on their own agenda (it’s shocking how many narratives don’t do this). The second is how Ionia flies away like a plastic bag in the wind, it’s hilarious and just excellent sprite work. After this, Lucas meets his father at Hinawa’s grave (the first time in a while). Flint gives Lucas a ‘courage badge’, as a sign that he’s grown so strong that Flint didn’t need to worry about him (more time to go searching for Claus, I guess). A lot of people call Flint a deadbeat dad, but I think it’s unfair. The man lost his wife and son, as a father myself I can’t help but sympathize.
After experiencing the joy of riding a green train (if you’re not cheap), the game suggests you explore the Chimera Lab, near which is a source of unlimited hot spring eggs (a nice boon since the enemies around the lab are tough). Although Mother 3 is the most linear of the three games, this chapter is surprisingly open and you can go do the needles in a different order. They put the effort into handling dialogue differences, but enemy levels do not scale so it’s probably best to go in the intended order (a gripe I also had with the sanctuaries in Earthbound, if they won’t scale enemies then don’t make it possible to go out of sequence!).
The Chimera Lab is itself a chimera (naturally), and this section is pretty fun and low stakes (until it isn’t). You can find some easter eggs like the old magazine from Earthbound (funny) and a frozen Drago (sad). It’s nice to see the return of Salsa and his girlfriend, but the more surprising appearance is Dr Andonuts, who acts far more cowardly in this game than in Earthbound (a reasonable change considering how Porky probably treats him). Exploring the lab is a bit aimless until the Ultimate Chimera is released, then it becomes a self contained horror game. After its defeat, you reunite with Kumatora (who apparently never learned Boney’s name). There’s a great gag with the pond chimeras before Lucas finally pulls a needle himself, netting you a powerful PSI attack (another clever way the game ties move upgrades into the narrative).
After this, you fight the Squeekz, a deadbeat mouse dad. This doesn’t have much to do with anything, but is a fun addition to the tale of the mouse mom and her seven kids from Chapter 5. A similar gag happens soon after with a mole cricket, though this one is drawn out to the nth degree, with a long dialogue about the rules of the fight and all. It was enough that my wife was actually worried it would be a tough battle, and then you beat the mole cricket in one hit (biggest laugh of the game for her). I know the mole cricket cave is a troll, but honestly it’s fitting that these annoying creatures live in an annoying place (and I love the useless map).
The cave lets out in the snowy mountains, with another rendition of the series classic song Snowman, though it’s not my favorite (too many sleigh bells). The mountain is boring, though the enemies have cute designs. There’s a nice bit with the Magypsy taking care of an injured Pigmask soldier, all before a really annoying boss battle. Through Boney’s sniff ability you can learn that the Steel Mechorilla is weak to PK Thunder, but if you use it too often it goes berserk and starts attacking way harder. This is the only time in the game I can recall where exploiting an enemy weakness is a trap, which makes it all the more diabolical. Mother 3 doesn’t troll as much as Earthbound, but it finds its moments.
After riding a fridge down the mountain, you end up back in Tazmily, with more villagers having moved to the big city. The game leads you to Saturn Valley (another colony of Mr Saturns, not the same one as Earthbound), offering a coffee table mount to replace the old Pork Bean hover cars. If you take the time to revisit old locations, you’ll find the factories abandoned and some areas blocked off by bored Pigmasks. There’s not much to gain from backtracking, but I appreciate that they considered it all. The Mr Saturn feel far more intrinsic to the plot of Earthbound than Mother 3, but I’m happy they are included nonetheless. Pigmasks have captured all of them (as well as Duster and Rope Snake), unleashing terrible Frightbots that tell scary stories but otherwise do no actual damage. I love their creepy little faces and the idea that Mr Saturns would be so petrified of something so silly. I’m not sure how Porky figured this weakness out, but he does later say he tricked Dr Andonuts and the Mr Saturns to build things for him, so maybe he’s had some experience being an evil bastard over the years.
It’s nice to have the party reunited, and just in time for a doozy of a dungeon. The volcano is really tough, especially if you forget to go by the Mr Saturn’s shop and purchase the equipment that adds resistance to fire attacks (like we did for the first hour of my wife’s run). After getting through a gauntlet of enemies, you get to fight New Fassad, now with more trumpets. This fight is one that may require some grinding before an attempt, as there is an element of luck in which attacks he decides to unleash. My wife got through it on her 2nd attempt, but that was in part due to a lucky bear attack after using the honey shower item (these games have the best items). Once the fight’s over, the game oddly forces you to walk right back through the enemy gauntlet instead of offering another path out (or at least a heal). But from there you get a nice coffee break in the hot spring. Leaving Saturn Valley requires a great flying machine, though once more Rope Snake can’t hold on for long.
The tough volcano gives way to the ridiculous ocean walk dungeon, which puts you on a short timer before you run out of oxygen and have to restart the whole thing. Since this is a long walk with no checkpoint, each reset is especially annoying. Not helping is that since the characters are underwater, they float a bit and it can be a hassle to get them to interact with an oxygen machine and replenish their supply. The machines look like mermen in an odd gag, but mostly I just hate the long unskippable cutscene each time you use one. If they had just given a bit more leeway on the oxygen meter, or tweaked the floating movement, or made the replenish animation faster, this section wouldn’t be so bad. If I could skip replaying one part of this game, it would be this one.
After a weird boss fight (even by Mother 3’s standards), you end up on an island with all items gone and health down to its lowest. Naturally, the party eats some mushrooms (except Boney) and a things go off the wall. A bad trip is definitely an interesting decision for a Nintendo game, but they do some cool stuff with it. The traumatic things inside letter boxes are well written, but I don’t know if Lucas has ever seen a letter box (can’t recall any in town at least), so I feel like another sprite would have made more sense. The use of familiar NPCs saying horrible things is really effective, especially with Lucas. I’m glad they stuck with Flint/Claus/Alec and didn’t use Hinawa’s sprite, but I feel for Kumatora they could have used Ionia to similar effect (her trauma seems a bit underwritten). The thing that sells the mushroom trip is the sober Boney, who is smart enough not to dip in the hot spring (actually a pit of garbage) and barks at the suspicious NPCs/enemies you encounter. As usual, the good boy remains good.
After the trip’s over, your reward is to fight the Barrier Trio, which is basically an assured death on first try. For my first run, even after grinding I struggled against them (all my running from enemies left me under-leveled, as had happened with Earthbound) and resorted to ‘cheesing’ the fight (you can get them to waste turns on raising their defense in an exploitation of the AI). For my wife’s run, she was a high enough level to beat them the right way, which honestly was thrilling. Mother 3’s combat is really good if you get into the groove. And even if you don’t master the rhythm hits, which for this boss is nearly impossible, you can have fun strategizing buffs/heals/attacks.
After beating the Barrier Trio, your reward is to get zapped by the Masked Man, who then pulls the needle they protected. Very fun. Returning defeated to Tazmily, you find it all but abandoned. The music is somber as you go around, with most homes locked up and whoever is remaining readying to leave too. It’s heartbreaking to see what’s become of the place, but also gives you a sense that you too have outgrown the small town, so now it’s time to move on. Although you couldn’t save Tazmily, there’s still hope to save its villagers.
Aside from a funny pickle search (the only time you get to control Boney), you are onto the last dungeon/needle of the chapter. This dungeon is fine though somewhat forgettable. The main attraction is Negative Man, a depressed rectangle who quotes the lyrics to the Flying Man song. Everyone loves this fight and for good reason, it’s silly and random, but I can’t help but feel a bit bad for him… Before the boss, a Mr Saturn inexplicably in disguise returns the polished courage badge, revealing it is actually a Franklin badge. This is a cool moment and allows Lucas to deflect the Masked Man’s lightning attack, leading into a battle that feels stacked against you. Each attempt, you must first defeat some high ranking Pigmasks, then the Masked Man, who can attack twice in a turn and use both physical and PSI move sets. With some strategy and luck, he’s sent packing and the sixth needle gets pulled, with the score tied 3:3. Ionia in one last action gifts Kumatora PK Starstorm in the only way they know how, by zapping their daughter with a lightning bolt (this is the second time in the game a character learned a PSI move after being zapped, which is not a lot but still weird that it happened twice). With the dense world thoroughly explored and all known needles pulled, a limo awaits outside to take you to the final destination: New Pork City.
Chapter 8
To reach New Pork City, Porky has sent a stretch limo, but it’s about where his generosity ends. NPC is a sprawling mess of kitsch, kiddy rides, and shoddy craftsmanship. It’s fun to roam around, encountering the villagers to see their diverse reactions. Many are disappointed in the big city, some are too distracted to care, and others have fully given into the madness, with one even recruited as a new Pigmask (though thankfully you don’t need to fight him). As you trigger various story progression beats, more will arrive until every former resident of Tazmily is accounted for (at least I assume so, I didn’t do a headcount).
There are a few points of interest worth noting, which I’ll note in order of story progression. The theatre shows a movie hand selected by Porky, featuring various adventures of the Earthbound gang (Porky is notably absent). I love these scenes because they mean nothing to Lucas, who is more focused on the stinkbug hiding in the seats. The arcade next door has some funny interactions, but mostly it’s there to lead into the sewer and follow the stinkbug into a block of disgusting apartments. There’s a lot of unspoken storytelling in the environment of this game, and this one is very curious to me. Are these apartments where Pigmasks have been living or do they all live on their big ship and these apartments were built for the other brainwashed folks? I’m not sure of the answer, but I like to think Porky built the whole sad complex just to set the atmosphere for his one very tall prisoner, Leder.
Leder’s lore dump is an interesting part of the game, in that it feels like something that is very key and also completely worthless. Leder explains the journey of the White Ship, the founding of Tazmily, Porky’s arrival, and lots of other stuff that fills in many gaps and probably puts the characters through an existential crisis (some cut content did have Duster and Kumatora discussing the revelations, but I kind of like that it’s left to the player’s imagination in the final game). It’s an interesting story and explains why the villagers were so naive, but you also could just have chalked it up to them living in an isolated fashion for a long time. Nothing from his tale changes anything for the characters or their motivations. Leder tells Lucas to go and pull the final needle, as if he wasn’t planning to already, so what is the ultimate purpose for this exposition? I think it betrays a need for explanation that comes with crafting such a narrative-driven story. Earthbound and Mother 1 provide relatively little exposition beyond the opening chapters because at heart they are simple tales (Earth needs saving, go save it). But Mother 3 wants to make deeper points about human nature and its tendency towards self destruction, interspersed within a complex plot involving dozens of interconnected characters. I feel that it succeeds in this theming through a lot of its environmental storytelling (the transformation of Tazmily, the wasteful consequences of Pigmask constructions, the chimeras and their disturbance of natural order), and the lore dump smacks of self consciousness. It’s interesting and makes you think, but I feel it’s too didactic and the game might have been stronger without it.
Fassad is back and worse than ever (why was he in the sewer?) This fight sucks, and even in defeat he’s a jerk. The palate cleanser is the optional Porky statue fight, which my wife found hilarious. Before going into Porky’s tower and the point of no return, make sure to also check out the Beauty & Tasty, a restaurant full of robots that look identical to Porky’s mom (read into that what you will). It’s optional to visit, but why would you miss more time with Lardna?
Aside from some nice muzak, the Empire Pork Building is a very unusual final dungeon. After a stirring DCMC reunion (love their rendition of Duster’s theme), Porky taunts you to come join him on the 100th floor, leading you on a long goose chase as his elevator makes various stops along the way, which I’ll review briefly in order:
Hippos: Chill, nice song
Fan Club Room: Creepy, but quick
Bathroom floor: Funny, love to see the friendly ghosts and other characters again
Locria’s floor: The reveal that Fassad is the last Magypsy isn’t too surprising, unlike the reveal that there’s a mouse Fassad was supposedly nice to that will miss him (everyone has layers, I guess)
Construction floor: Excellent slapstick, annoying enemies (appreciate that you can disarm the nuclear robot’s explosive from behind). As a designer, find it interesting that even this massive tower is built in such an erratic manner (like the rest of the city, lots of plywood and OSHA violations)
Laboratory floor: Hate the enemies here, but like seeing that Porky’s adopted Giygas’ green tube technology (he truly is evil’s successor)
Mini Porky floors: Took my wife way too many tries to do the whack-a-mole and we couldn’t stop laughing. The others are funny too
NK Cyborg: Amazing theme song, but by this point the boss isn’t too hard with how the party is usually leveled
Riverboat ride: Nostalgic for player, meaningless for Lucas (he probably just thinks Porky is a collector of odd garbage)
Porky bots fight: Another great song, and love how the DCMC rescue recalls the Runaway Five’s help in Earthbound
After all this, you finally meet the real Porky, who is looking worse for wear. Porky’s personality hasn’t changed much since Earthbound, and Mother 3 takes this way of being to its natural conclusion. Porky is pure nihilism, thinking of himself as godlike and distant from the rest of humanity. As he monologues, the other characters remain silent, except for Dr. Andonuts who says he’ll never help Porky again (too little too late, my guy). Part of this goes back to keeping the protagonist silent for the sake of immersion, but I like to think they all saw that Porky is clearly insane and were just awestruck that all their toil and misery was due to such a pitiful person. Aside from the main party and DCMC, Flint/Alec/Wess all show up, as well as Lighter, Fuel, and Bronson. It’s nice how everyone that helped out during the game, even in a small part, shows up at the end to lend their support.
Porky sends the party and Flint deep underground so they can race to the final needle. I appreciate that he’s already won (his shortcut gets him to the needle first), but decides to keep playing out of pure boredom (classic villain stuff). There’s not much going on down here, but you do almost grab the missing doorknob before knocking it deeper into the earth (perhaps foreshadowing the tragic family reunion that’s coming up). This part feels akin to The Place, Earthbound’s final zone, with areas of ancient power deep underground and full of jagged paths above bottomless caverns. Eventually you find an injured Flint, who confirms that the Masked Man is Claus, his long lost son. This twist is obvious from way earlier in the game, but they don’t build it up to be a big moment either. The real twist is that Flint is bald, and if you badger him enough he’s got some hidden dialogue on the matter that’s pretty funny.
Before you can reach the needle, you have to fight Porky in his spider mech bed thing (an upgrade from his armored vehicle at the end of Earthbound). There’s no hot spring before the fight, so if you took a lot of damage from enemies along the way it can go sour fast (his attacks get tougher deeper into the battle). This is especially annoying as there are several unskippable cut scenes throughout the fight where Porky monologues, saying pretty disturbing things about how he’s immortal and totally prepared to destroy the world since he’ll survive regardless. Eventually, his mech runs out of power, but instead of admitting defeat he enters the Absolutely Safe Capsule, which renders the fight over since no one can deal the other damage. Dr. Andonuts shows up to explain that the capsule can’t be opened once sealed, so immortal Porky is stuck in there forever. So many horrible things happened under his direction, with countless others alluded to in the other times and places he’s said to have been kicked out of (ample room for fan fic scenarios). In a way, he’s truly carried on Giygas’ legacy as a cosmic evil, but his motivations are so small and pathetic that one can help but pity him. He’s not so much evil as empty. A lot of his lines stick with me, especially, “With my eternal life, I will see the world through to its end. Until everyone who won’t like me is gone.” This feels like something a bullied child would wish for, not a maniacal dictator. As with virtually every character in the game, Porky has layers. He’s given a fate worse than death in his Absolutely Safe Capsule, and while I don’t know if I can say he deserves it or not, I can argue he makes a lasting impression as one of the greatest villains in gaming.
Although Porky is defeated, his slave remains ready to fight to the bitter end. The second battle against the Masked Man is an emotional doozy, requiring a good understanding of the battle mechanics to stay alive. The fight prevents anyone except Lucas from battling, but Lucas will refuse to fight his brother, even if the player tries. Your only options are to guard, which slows the roll down of the health bar, or to heal, which you must do smartly to conserve PP. Eventually, a voice calls out to the Masked Man, pleading with him to remember his name and family. It’s Hinawa, though her prayers fail to reach the chimera. Flint tries to help, taking heavy damage from consecutive attacks, after which you can get Lucas to fight back (though Hinawa will scold him for it). Hinawa continues to reach out, even as Lucas loses hope. The writing in this scene is devastating, with lines like “You must be so exhausted” hitting hard after such a long battle. Eventually her words get through and Claus remembers who he is (or rather, who he was). He allows his lightning to reflect off Lucas’ Franklin badge and strike him (thanks a lot, Mr Saturn). This act may seem senseless, but I think of it less as suicide and more as finding his deferred peace. It’s heavily implied that Claus was killed in Chapter 1 (he has no heartbeat in either battle), so life as an unnatural chimera isn’t really life at all (I wonder if the Mecha-Drago felt the same). The brothers embrace, Claus returns to his mother, Lucas pulls the final needle, and the world ends…
The End?
Well, maybe not. On a totally black screen, you bump into characters from the game who tell you that by some miracle everyone was saved and everything is great. It’s a sign of the quality of the script that you can identify many of the characters by just their dialogue and I like the player’s name is used here so everyone can thank you directly (not as powerful as Earthbound’s use, but still fun). While moving around in the dark, you finally find and collect the errant doorknob, a sign of the broken home becoming whole again, and you even bump into the Absolutely Safe Capsule with Porky still inside. Before credits roll, one last person reluctantly thanks you, which many interpret to be Claus (he didn’t get a very happy role in the story, so it’s fair). Mother 3’s ending is open to interpretation and many have argued over the years as to what really happened after the Dragon awoke. For a game that built itself on tiny enormous miracles, on how a glimmer of hope can overcome the greatest of odds, I lean towards the optimistic and take their word at face value, that everything worked out okay and they get to live a happy life in peace. I take the same approach to Evangelion’s ending (there’s many parallels between that series and this game too), so interpret that as you please.
Like Earthbound, there’s a great cast roll call (fittingly ends with the doorknob), then you get the actual developer credits. Over the first, Curtain Call plays, then over the second 16 Melodies (Beginning) plays. These two songs correspond to Good Friends/Bad Friends and Smiles and Tears from Earthbound, and while it’s not really fair to compare them I’ll do it anyway. Curtain Call is better than GF/BF, but 16 Melodies is not nearly as emotional as Smiles and Tears. However, Mother 3 has one final song, Memory of Life, that plays over the truly final scene: a new image of the Mother 3 logo with all metal removed and the ‘O’ remade into the Earth, clean and blue. This song lingers in your mind, and I think it’s because it’s not as sentimental as the others. It has a pretty melody, but also feels a bit off, with some tension that underscores some of the words spoken by NPCs in the black screen scene. While you walk around, they assure you that their world is fine, but wonder if your world will be okay too. To me, this is the true message of the game: if we don’t face reality, change our ways and treat our world right, it may not be long before the survivors are forced on a White Ship to Nowhere (a theme that also reminds me of Evangelion). Not the most upbeat thought to end on, but I think this game thrives in pairing the good with the bad. For all its optimism, evil still exists and must be defeated, just as it always has. The hope is that no matter the circumstance, love is enough to conquer all.
It’s hard for me to say everything that I love about this game and this series. Although it came into my life only a few years ago, it’s one of those pieces of art that touches the soul for the better. I don’t know if Mother 3 will ever see an official release outside of Japan, but I’ll continue to hope that it does. In the meantime, the fan translation is masterful, so I’m grateful for all the hard work that went into it. Other franchises have reboots, new installments, or remasters to look forward to. Mother/Earthbound does get a steady stream of love from its creator via new merch on the Hobonichi Mother Project, but honestly I am okay if it never gets a new game. The three we got have their flaws, as all games do, but overall there is something timeless to them. I imagine in some years I’ll play through them again, maybe with my son, and pick up on things I missed before. To truly enjoy a piece of art is to make it a part of what fuels you. These games have fueled a lot of my thoughts, which I’ve tried to pour into this trilogy of essays. The Mother series’ motto is ‘No crying until the end’. Now that it’s all done, I can’t help but shed a tear.