If you're wondering how the hell the Runaway Five knew Ness was in trouble...they didn't. And that's the joke! That part of the game was poking fun at how minor characters in JRPGs would often claim they'll help you someday and do precisely that!...But only when the plot necessitated it, and usually when it didn't make sense for them to be there, and there were no other viable alternatives. Thus, the Runaway Five showing up literally out of nowhere. Basically, it was poking fun at the clumsy writing that plagued JRPGs during the "golden age".
The Mother series in general is, for the most part, a deconstructive parody of typical JRPGs; the Runaway 5 just randomly showing up out of the blue to save the day in the most ridiculously arbitrary situation possible ties in with that nature. Comparing Mother 1 and EarthBound to other JRPGs of their time, it's pretty easy to see just how much fun Shigesato Itoi had commentating on the various tropes of the genre, right down to the use of a modern setting instead of a pseudo-medieval or futuristic one, something that was unprecedented at the time (note that the first game came out in 1989).
While it certainly lampshades those things by calling attention to them, I don't necessarily think it's a deconstruction of them. For it to be deconstruction of tropes, it would have to actually show how the consequences of their inclusion. Here, it doesn't seem to be doing that. I think its status conditions like cold, crying, or homesick work as deconstructions because instead of holding dozens of cure-all items, they are treated in ways that mimic real life. The PSI Healing could almost still count because its different levels cure different things. So in this situation, the Runaway Five are satirizing the trope by exaggerating it and making it obvious. A deconstruction would be something like this being part of a series of events that foreshadow the band discovering that they have psychic powers that let them sense Ness in trouble. In conclusion... Mother 4 starring the Runaway Five as your playable characters!
Earthbound has never claimed to be a deconstruction; it's always been a satire. Earthbound's goal was always to call attention to stupid tropes of the genre, and explain why they're stupid. In my opinion, the consequences of their inclusion are made obvious by the scene itself: you end up with a scene that contributes nothing to the overall plot and could've done just as well without, the battle feels like a waste of time because the player didn't actually do anything, and the Runaway Five themselves feel superfluous because the Clumsy Robot fight was actually an artificial roadblock; with the game tricking you into thinking you're doing damage when you actually aren't, as Chugga said. What Itoi is trying to say is that most of these games would be better if moments like these were never included because they contribute nothing and waste time.
Small thing, but for some reason, I always loved the whole Paula kidnapped section: while the loss of inventory space and money caves sucks, I love how it leads to things like toppling monotolli’s empire through the mani mani and storming the building, going through the Trippy hell that is fourside on the advice of a dead noble butglar friend, gaining the freedom of teleportation, the wackiness of the clumsy robot and getting a sudden last minute by the rescue of the runaway five, all just because someone took Paula. Plus how it acts like a halfway point is essentially the end of the eagleand section of the game. Honestly, I’m not quite sure if the mani mani was outright making everyone in fourside insane, even though it did have a whole town affect on happy happy village. I guess I sorta took it as the statue basically turning Monotoli from legit businessman to corrupt corporate executive, robbing him of good restraint with his power and telling him to ruin the city. Huh, I assumed video relaxant was code name for “porn” similar to the tape in paper mario.
Honestly, I thought the "Video Relaxant" was meant to be porn. Coupled with the fact that porn in Japan is often genitally-pixelated, a 10 year old would probably think "what the hey is this" if they watched it. Jeff, meanwhile, would probably cover Ness's eyes before changing the tape to Question Time with John Major.
It’s cool seeing all of the things in this game that inspired Undertale. Obviously everyone knows This was a huge inspiration for UT, but it’s fun seeing the more specific homages.
I really hope it's explained later how Pokey just inexplicably gets these important roles related to what Ness is up to despite having seemingly no redeeming qualities to reach the position.
Slightly off-topic... but I absolutely LOVE the rant that Ness gives to Pokey in this scene during the comic “The Chosen Four”. It’s pretty cool to see him absolutely shoot Pokey down how he does.
Sorry for Necro-posting, but y'all are reaching abit if you're calling that an Undertale reference, its most likely a subtle hint at the Ultimate Chimera in Mother 3
When I first played the game, when the Runaway Five (who are some of my favorite characters) rushed in, that was probably my favorite part of the game. It kind of just surprised me and just made me happy
There's too many odd coincidences with this playthrough and NicoB's Mother 3 playthrough. Now both Nico and Chuggaa come across an enemy that requires the help of another character to shut them down via a button/switch on it's back...
While this may be two years too late, Bologna and Boloney mean the same thing, and are both pronounced the same, it’s primarily due to it being an Italian word so the Phonetics differ from how we would pronounce that spelling
I kind of picture Ness as Emile, Paula as Masae, and Jeff as Jon. Ness is constantly hitting on Paula with her getting flustered or smacking him, and Jeff just shaking his head in the background.
Yogurt with you Buffalo? So you're making Buffalo Curry? :) Also, Bologna does have a g in it. The part they got wrong was having an 'e' at the end instead if an 'a'. XD Paula: "Ness! I'm so glad you came to save me!" Ness: "I'm so glad you're okay Inventory Space!" Paula: "Paula. Ness, my name's Paula.... remember?"
I bought this game last night because of this lp and played a lot today. I already got paula and beat the second sanctuary. Thank you chugga for making me fall in love with this game.
Pokey's pretty fortunate in knowing how much of a good person Ness is. Not many people would stop to taunt a kid that is known to shoot psychic blasts and swing a bat so hard that it crushes demon statues.
I knew about the engine version of the Pokey theme before now, and I noticed: the whirring also sounds like the whirring of the door to the helipad opening.
"Bologne" is pronounced the same as "Bologna/Baloney." It's an alternate spelling of the Italian city which gives the lunchmeat its name. The more you know~
The secret to teleporting besides running really fast is "whirring" according to Fobbies are Borange. Also, I never knew the yogurt dispenser could be used in battle!
There's actually a little known glitch with the clumsy robot It actually does have an hp count, and when it is defeated it plays the special runaway five battle ending. However, because of this, if Ness and Jeff both have shield beta up, and Clumsy robot uses it's whole party hitting missile, and the reflection off of Ness's power shield defeats the robot, the runaway five cutscene will play, then the attack will hit Jeff and bounce off of his power shield, then the runaway five cutscene will play again. This error counts as beating the Clumsy Robot twice and you will recieve double the usual exp and money.
Also, the "bologne sandwich" does nothing. It doesn't actually restore any of it's hp, it just says it maxes out it's hp to make the situation feel more hopeless since it seems like it can just wipe away all your effort in one move.
The Runaway Five are definitely the best thing in this game and thia is their crowning acheivrment. I look forward to seeing them every playthrough, they are true heroes.
The creators shoulcve made monotoly respond to no as yes to show that despite being weakend and empty there are still signs he was under the statures controll
Part of me doesnt know if Chuggaa ever will do this because of the fact that there's no official English release, but I really hope Chuggaa will lets play the amazing sequel to this game. I have a very similar history to mother 3 in a similar way Chuggaa has to Earthbound, and i think it's an LP He would make in the future. but either way, awesome content man! keep it up!
I watched the first 2 seconds then paused it to go do something. When I unpaused it, the only thing i hear is "Conroy and welcome back to..." and it sounded really weird
Chuggaa, I must correct you on this. There is a way to beat the Clumsy Robot without the Runaway Five. It's actually quite simple. First you start the battle and then do exactly this, ZA WARUDO, TOKI NO TOMARE! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! ROAD ROLLER! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! Game: The Clumsy Robot was completely decimated.
17:05 Why didn't Paula just leave earlier? She was just standing there! Was it because of the Clumsy Robot? But it would only teleport her outside of the building? Heck she could have just snuck out the door, get the Clumsy Robot to teleport her and wait in the entrance or in front of the Dept. Store for Ness and Jeff to show up. Also, earlier when Paula was kidnapped she was taken Upstairs and yet when you follow, she is somehow not in the building anymore. This part of the game has some plot holes.
I have noticed something in Frank's theme it has the background of jailhouse Rock in it found that out today. Probably not the first one but hey maybe you didn't know that either.
I remember the first time the runaway five distracted me and I just bursted out laughing. I thought it was the funniest thing at the time and it is still my favorite part of the game. Also to find out a couple minutes later that Pokey gave me another reason to hate him was a great feeling.
2:26 If you sautee scallops in a nonstick pan... they won't stick! That's why it's called stinking non-STIIIICK!!!! I don't know what that means down in Texas, sweetheart, but DEAR ME!!!
15:23 Not gonna lie, I'm kinda offended on a personal level. I'm a clean freak, and It's not my fault that I'll opt for standing on the bus if the seats have stains or cracks in them, or that I'll get disgusted if so much as a drop of milk touches me, that's just the way my mind works.
There's a starman waiting in the sky he always sounds so cheerful and happy, it’s contagious. There’s no way to not be happy while watching his videos.
@Chuggaaconroy: Actually, The Clumsy Robot fight ends when you have dealt at least 962 total damage to him before the Runaway five switches him off. It's not based on number of turns.
Apparently, you can set up shields with Ness and wait for it to kill itself with a multi-targeting attack to see the Runaway Five text twice. I say "apparently," because I've never seen it myself. Only read about it in a few places.
My computer recently started playing a loud noise whenever a new video from someone I'm subscribed to (i.e. Chugga) arrives. Now I need to figure out how to mod my computer so that noise is Chugga screaming.
I actually Teleported to Winters, got T-Rex Bat and Non-Stick Pan before rescuing Paula blind, and it's very interesting that the Enemies don't change until AFTER you got Paula back. It went horribly for me when I tried that to get another Coin of Silence since I didn't think to buy that beforehand. It's good to see you didn't miss out on this, because it's exceptionally hard to teleport out after getting Paula, because the Enemies are unforgiving, and they can block your Teleport because the Game is a JERK like that. Edit: I was having a horrible time... and I was OVER LEVELED!! Ness Level 50 and Jeff Level 44, compared to Chuggaa's Levels here at 42 and 37.
DefinitivNichtSascha you most likely can, but I never tried it. Record yourself doing it and post it on utube or Twitter and link it to this video or something.
And here is a cheap man's version of teleporting on the spot: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KVhPp5tS_Ro.html Just expect a bit of RSI after doing this too much.
You know, it's kinda weird seeing how the Clumsy Robot- an actual BOSS I should say- has more actions that literally don't do anything than it does with actions that do actually do damage. Other than that though, what I saw today is just how anti-climatic of a boss fight it is knowing that you only have to survive for a few turns before the Runaway Five come in and flip the robot's switch. ...And yes, I know it can also dodge your attacks pretty easily; I'm just saying that if you happen to not get unlucky, the Clumsy Robot is probably one of the least interesting bosses in the game.
Jeff: Ness I have a great idea for an invention Ness: A Paula Doll? Jeff: No...something even better Ness: So what is it Jeff: So I have this beam gun, how about I add two beam guns instead Ness: That’s sounds stupid Jeff: I call it the “double beam” Ness: Even the name sounds stupid
Jeff: I have this Hyper Beam, so I got this idea to find two beams and stick em together! Ness: Why didn't you just add a beam to the Hyper Beam? Jeff: Good question.
Hey, Chugaa, do you know about the glitch that lets you (or rather makes you) have the Sound Stone, even until the very end of the game, when you're not supposed to have it anymore? When Tracy is holding onto the stone and you try to get it from her but Ness has a full inventory, she'll instead give it to the next person in line. That's already weird enough since you can basically turn any of the other kids into the new chosen one, since only they will be able to use the sound stone for the rest of the game (It even says "Paula touched the Sound Stone to *his* forehead and gathered *his* thoughts." when you use it as Paula). But in addition to that, after Magicant the sound stone will not be removed from your inventory, even though it says it did. So it will forever be another inventory clogger.
I’m surprised Chuggaa hasn’t mentioned that the Trout Yogurt, in the Japanese version, is Strawberry Tofu, which is a running joke in all of Shigesato Itoi’s works, particularly in the MOTHER trilogy.
