Initially written December 4th, 2018. Edited and re-posted here for archival purposes.
I’d never played a Mother/Earthbound game before, but I always knew of them. I gained knowledge of things like Mr. Saturn, Negativeman, Starmen, and such via osmosis online and through games like Smash Bros. I’d also had them pitched to me numerous times by RPG fans who’d been stomping around the genre far longer than I have. For the longest time, I skipped on the series. People had told me wondrous things about its charm and whimsy, but I let their words just flutter on by. I had a few reasons to never bother with the series, and I stuck to them for many years until recently. I’d said it was before my time and a much older game than I cared to play for. I also stated my distaste for firth person combat in RPGs. Finally, I’ve been lead astray before by friends and colleagues citing games as the greatest works in the medium only to find myself with contrasting thoughts and feeling as if I’d even played the same game.
I’d like to say my excuses failed me as I gave Mother 1 a spin. I was encouraged to do so by having friends online also get excited to play it alongside me. They too had never touched it, and I felt like I wasn’t alone in wandering into a series I’d known so much about but experienced so little of. Yet, the most encouraging thing came from simple comments like “I think you’ll like it.” or “It’s one of my favorite games, here’s why: ____” There was nothing hyperbolic that could get my hopes and expectations up too high. There was just personal positivity in the nudges telling me to check it out, which was a huge relief for me.
With my reservations set aside, I started it up. Initially, I felt it was obtuse and immediately quite bizarre. The opening throws you into the mix with little explanation, rhyme, or reason for what is happening. I imagine that was intentional, but it left a strange start to a game that I figured I was going to be lukewarm on throughout the entire experience. Clearing the starting area and simply wandering around left me more confused, but I didn’t find any frustration in it. I found myself listening to the cute soundtrack and gradually nodding my head, humming it to myself while I aimlessly poked around and talked to people. I suppose it made me feel like a kid in some sense, having no real aims, ambitions, or real responsibilities that shackle me to the earth.
There was a charm to it though that started to grow out. Slowly but surely, I found myself with a bit of a smirk. It was me against the world with my trusty slugger on my shoulder, taming and hushing hippies and rednecks alike as they accosted me for whatever reason. I started to crack a smile when I got into battle with a rather large crow who had a cigar. He stole my bread. So I beat him with my bat. I never got my bread back, and I’ll always remember it as my first tragic loss. I carried that tragedy with me as I took my bat to cars, rabid dogs, saucers, punks, and more.
While I’m touching on combat, I found myself surprised that I didn’t bounce off of it with my usual dislike of first person battles. The wit and the charm do a lot to carry it, and getting that ever-satisfying Smaaaaaaaaaaaaaash! certainly adds a lot of character to the battles. In fact, the game did such a stand-up job of making me feel like a kid again, that I had to use my imagination even in battle. Every swing, each exploding bomb, bolt of lightning, sparkle of healing light – they’re not represented in much more than sound effects, small flickers, and simple descriptions in combat. But they had weight to them, at least… they did in my head.
Mother brought my imagination to the forefront to help me through the types of battles that I typically shy away from, but it also did something on the emotional front. It made me smile. It made me laugh. It made me get choked up. It made genuinely chuckle aloud, which is something especially rare. Mother also pulled on the heartstrings whenever it could. Personally, I resonate very strongly with games that make me feel something. It’s why I like survival horror so much. My heart racing, that feeling of fear, and the excitement of being moved emotionally through the negative spectrum. It’s also why I love romantic k-dramas, intense metal music, and tragic novels – they make me feel something, so I resonate strongly in response. And Mother managed to elicit feelings from me.
I don’t want to go too far into spoilers, so I’ll refrain from sharing specifics about what else made me smile, laugh, or feel good throughout the story as I believe these things are best discovered organically. Everything felt wholesome, with a charm to it that I usually find in slower paced slice of life games. The story leaves you curious for oh-so-long before it starts to give you a few more of the pieces that you need to put everything together. By the time you have it, you’re at the end of the game with a very heartwarming and perhaps bittersweet story. You’ve picked up allies, hardened yourselves in combat alongside them, and helped them grow through their own arcs.
Once you learn more about the world and see what it has to offer, exploring it rewards you with quite a bit. One such example would be the graceful Flying Man. Such an event made me try to talk to everyone when I could. This is notable for me as I am not the type who talks to every NPC. I don’t enter every home, nor do I explore every nook and cranny of the map. Yet Mother 1 packed charm into every spot it could. It rewards you with little bits, no matter how tiny they are, that make the world feel alive.
While I’m largely positive on the game, there are some issues that I have with it. It’s hard to hold them against it due to how old the game is and the overall scope. Still, I found some things like item management to be a pain, and general UI navigation can dampen the experience. Items don’t tell you what they do unless you inspect them, you’ve no idea what stats your weapons have, and you’d be forgiven if you thought the Healing spell actually restored health. Yet, with those are things that I overlooked as I carried on. I mention them only to make anyone aware that it is still an older game that is missing some of the modern quality of life options we have in today’s games, but they don’t break or ruin the experience per se.
Initially, I listed ‘lack of direction’ and ‘no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going most of the time’ as negatives. Yet, looking back on my experience, I don’t think I’d consider them anything more than just neutral thoughts. In an era where we have giant arrows pointing us to checkpoints or flashing beacons on the screen or someone yelling at you to head to the next cutscene, it felt a bit refreshing to go back to just looking around and thinking about my next plan of attack or location I haven’t been to yet. I opened up a notepad and jotted down a couple things, which is something I haven’t done in many years.
Overall, I quite enjoyed Mother 1. It was short and sweet. It never overstayed its welcome and it never really frustrated me or wasted my time. It was strange, bizarre, and humorous. It was wholesome and fun throughout my journey across its weird world. While it may not be one of my favorite games, it’s one that I’ll think highly of and recommend to others. It’s unique and I’m glad I was able to be persuaded to check it out. I’d recommend it to anyone who hasn’t played it yet, but do go in knowing it can be a little unruly when it comes to UI navigation. Even if you’re like me and don’t enjoy first person combat, don’t let that scare you off. I think it works well as its snappy, and the charm itself pours into the combat as well.
It was great sharing my experiences with friends who started around the same time I did and kept pace with me (some even finishing around 30 mins after I did), giving updates to colleagues who adore the game and took great joy in more people playing something they love, and now writing this up to reflect upon my experience. I now have that feeling of excitement when others are running through the game.
I’m looking forward to Earthbound now, but I’ll give it some time before I pick up the bat again. To finish this off, I’ll simply share a hint of what my favorite part of Mother 1 is.
