I finally released my retrospective analysis for EarthBound, the sequel! Check it out here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hBJ5-p57xWI.html
I think Ness' taunt is a reference to the "so desu ka" that plays each time you confirm one of the characters' names in the very beginning of Earthbound. "Okay?" "Is that so?"
About the map being hard to navigate you have to keep in mind that this is a NES game, and NES games where designed with their manuals in mind, a lot of things like what each PSI does and maps of the various areas of the game where all included in the original Japanese manual, games from that era where not made for people to jump in blind on them, they where made to be played with a manual in hands, is not like manuals from the gamecube and Wii era where the manual used to be just a bonus little book that you can ignore
I think that's a very fair and valid criticism. As I mentioned in the video, I did try to think of the game from an NES era perspective but admittedly, I didn't bother looking at the manual online somewhere. I was bound to have a couple slip ups with this being my first video on this scale haha. Still though, I do think my final thoughts on the game do factor in certain things this. I think it was a fantastic game for its era but it just hasn't aged particularly well.
What an amazingly American kid idea that a final boss should be a kind of standardized test that reviews the curricula already covered over the course of the game.
That feels like a reductive way of looking at my point. My issue is less that the final boss didn't test every skill learned and more that it entirely relies on a new, barely introduced mechanic that hasn't been present all game. I don't think the final boss is the time to completely change how fights work
I’m stoked you made this video. I’m a longtime earthbound fan getting ready to play mother for the first time and there’s almost no info on it compared to earthbound.
Awesome vid, I totally agree that this game has the charm the series is known for, except it is far, far more flawed than both its sequels. I played it emulated with an xp boost mod and strictly following a guide. I am glad I played through it like this, as I got to experience the basis for the series as a whole and I really enjoyed the music and general concept. Sadly all but a few NES games just seem to fail at giving the player any guidance while padding out simple gameplay as much as possible. Can't wait to see more similar vids 👍
Big thanks! I would agree that's probably the best way to experience the game at this point. I did have another commenter remind me that in this era, most games made a lot of use out of the manuals that came with the game. So some criticisms I had such as the game not explaining what PSI abilities do can be explained by them simply being explained in the guide. As far as similar vids go, I'm actually working on the EarthBound Retrospective as I type this, so stay tuned!
I think a remaster could definitely be done, it just needs proper rebalancing and maybe some design overhaul. Reducing the encounter rate will result in less experience points and money, but that would just require reducing the amount of money and exp to play the game. It could also get some dungeons redesigned to not be as empty as before. If you think this would be considered "a new game" that's fine, it would still be a solution. Otherwise this is a great video. I like how you could understand a lot of the game's intention despite a 30 year old game and being a newcomer to the series, some of your frustration could be explained by the game using mechanics for the sake of lore but would still be bad game design regardless.
I'm not sure if my take in this video is on a Mother remaster is one I still stand by or not. I do think that point was made almost entirely based on what I heard about another version of the game which I didn't even play for myself (that being the 25th anniversary edition). That doesn't necessarily mean what I said was wrong, but reflecting on things, I do think that may have been an unfair conclusion to arrive at without looking into things further. I'm interested to see further development on Mother Encore which has been attempting to remake the game with enhancements to pretty much every aspect of the game. Although, some of what excites me the most about that remaster is the new content being added, which in a way makes me think that my point about a solid remaster being essentially a new game may have some merit to it. I'm not sure and it's something I'd have to think more about. Thanks for watching and commenting! Hopefully I'll see you when the EarthBound video drops later down the road
@@SketchaV I'm looking forward to it. I love Earthbound and i think it's way better for newcomers for the series. I think when i got into the series i already knew what the game was like, and it was exactly what i wanted, but you seem to have gotten into it without much expectations, so i'd love to hear about it.
I've never had that much of a problem with the encounter rate, at least in the field. I don't know, sometimes I go 30 seconds of straight walking without an encounter. The dungeons, on the other hand... I can see the problem more there.
Interesting, everyone will have their own unique experiences with the game, but the encounter rate is one of the more common issues I hear brought up in discussions on Mother. I personally have a bigger issue with it than with the dungeons themselves since the dungeon design is only so noticeable (at least to me) when encounters slow down the progression through them. But it's cool to hear a different take on that. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@SketchaV Thanks for replying! I think it has something to do with the fact that the encounters are actually entirely random, while most other games use an encounter table. That would be my guess as to why it seems so random but I really don't know. Great video, I loved the part about the "okay?" since I have had similar experiences with some other series.
@@magicowlofbacon9416 Thanks! Sorry, I'm only just now seeing this. But yes, it is random, so everyone will have a different experience with it. But I do think the odds of an encounter starting are a bit overtuned, at least for my taste.
@@SketchaV I totally agree, since commenting this I have gone back and tested things on Mt. Itoi and the encounter rate is very inconsistent. I think that is the real problem, sometimes you get no encounters and sometimes you get 10 in less than a minute of overworld movement. I think that's the better point to take away.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed. I'm already a good way through Earthbound and I've been recording the footage along the way. So you can expect a video on that and eventually Mother 3 in the future!
I decided to play this game and came here to listen to this entire video and agree with everything. Loved it, hated it and will never play it again, but boy I’m glad I did.
I don't consider Ninten , Ness and Lucas as silent protagonists because all of them can talk to NPCs other party members and their enemies , and also there are moments where Ninten reads certain parts of his great-grandfather's diary to access the magicant realm . My defeniton of a "silent charcter" is character who would only talk for some seconds before dying or sacrificing their own life so their friends or teammates could win . And all three Mother/Earthbound protagonist who are proclaimed as silent chatacters break the rules of my definition of a silent character .
Crazy this is being sent to me now but I will feed the algorithm. A lovely video full of fun facts some I've never heard before! Gonna watch the sequel next
Ninten can use his PSI to strengthen Loid. Which lets him be more than just the healing guy or item boy. And the air bazooka you get in youngtown helps him be a competent fighter too.
I can see the joke being that Lloyd's dad is still getting shoved into trash cans by whoever passes by. And the "Bla-Bla Gang" would've been called the "Black Blood Gang" without translation. I'm just glad the English version gave the game any sort of epilogue. Great review, though.
Oh, some people think Modern Nintendo should be less hand holdy? *Modern Paper Mario has entered the chat* And that canary puzzle is pretty odd. Obviously the different colored pillar denotes something, but walking behind it would not be my first instinct.
I first played the gba version of this game with the easy ring patch and it became remarkably more tolerable. it's definitely not for everyone and is still heavily flawed but I personally think the good of the game outweighs the bad. honestly in some ways I may like it more than earthbound.
Despite significantly more time of the video being allocated to the flaws, I'd probably agree that the pros outweigh the cons. I'd still hesitate to recommend the game to everyone but I really feel like Mother did a lot for the genre. And now that I've completed EarthBound (and have a retrospective in the works 👀), I can see some things I appreciate more about Mother and vice-versa. They both have their pros and cons for sure. Thanks for watching!
I didn't mention the guy in the video but I was actually aware of him! I remember him being a little out of the way though. And I don't think he makes it clear that you need to be Level 25. From what I remember, he just says to come back when you're stronger which can come across as a little vague. Honestly though, making him a little more accessible would have improved this game a lot in my opinion. If they maybe put him in the Queen's castle, he'd be easier to find and it would even make sense since someone in close contact with the queen would probably know her melodies. I'd also maybe make it so that his advice scales with your game progression. So rather than unlocking all the hints after you reach level 25, it would be cool if you got hints for the early melodies when you first meet him and if you returned, he gradually had more for you as you level up and/or reach new cities.
I liked it so much that i downloaded the 1+2 rom of the gba and play on my phone from time to time. A great game, the Soundtrack is beautiful i have the soundtrack in my download.
The singing option appearing out of nowhere is a problem with the GBA version of the game, in the original is there from the start, tho you can only really use it after he invites you to his ship
Interesting! I do wish I had played the other version but I didn't realize there were significant differences going into the game. Although, even if it was made clear that the Sing option was there, I don't think that would fix my main issue with that section, that being the game's sudden introduction of a new mechanic at the last second. It still kinda fails to deliver on a boss fight which tests the players' skills they've learned through the game.
Yeah I actually do change directions in the clip I put in that section but it was probably a little misleading since I said you have to travel in a "straight line" lol. Thanks for watching!
I feel like I have so much useless knowledge on a game I'm never gonna play. In other words great job on having me save some time from playing this Charming , Item wasting, Lloyd wanna be Oscar from Elmo of a game. Thanks for the Amazing video!
Awesome video. 100% fully agree with you on it. This said, soooooo...what do you think of Mother Encore? (Wish you could have covered it in the video 😢)
Big thanks! I've seen the trailer and listened to the ost of Mother Encore. So far, I like what I've seen and heard from it. It looks very polished. I think the overworld puzzles are a fun inclusion that helps things up and distract from the constant battle grind in the original. I won't comment on some of the quality of life changes that were introduced in EarrhBound yet (enemies in the overworld for example) since I'm currently working on that video and don't want to spoil it. But overall, Mother Encore looks really cool. I'm curious how they'll handle some of the complaints I had. It's not released yet is it?
I made lots of comments in this video but I hope you eventually check out Earthbound and Mother 3, they are much much better and Mother 3 is probably the greatest story I've ever saw in a video game, also look up "Mother Encore" on youtube, is a fan remake on the making
Thanks for watching! I think I got back to all your comments now (sorry it took me so long haha). I've actually already played EarthBound and the video on that is in the works. And don't worry, I didn't play the GBA version this time lol. Lesson learned. I've heard nothing but great things about Mother 3 and I'm super excited to jump into that game. I'm not planning on playing it until I've finished the EarthBound video which is still pretty far down the road. But I'm sure it'll be great when I get to it
@@SketchaV but in the video you stated that the left path was the “correct and only way ” to go the rocket and I was wondering why’d you say that left path was the correct way even tho clearly with the map you’ve showed that to the right shows a series of ladders going up and you can even collect the Franklin badge on the way too like the left path did
At first I thought it was your experience but in the video you say in 42:28 you say “unless you choose the one corrected path” and “how counterintuitive the right path feels”
@@davinhintz7786 My bad, I never got a notification that you responded so I'm only just now seeing this. Also I think I misinterpreted your original comment by thinking you were using "right path" as in "correct path" instead of opposite of left. So my bad for laughing it off, I thought you were joking haha. After a closer examination of the map, I saw that what you said is in fact correct. There is a second and probably faster way through Duncan's Factory by going to the right. At the time of recording, I thought there was only one path, so that's definitely my bad and a good catch on your part. But, I don't think that changes my problem with the area all that much. Either way you go, you still have to take a pretty specific route to get through the area. And while the path on the right side isn't as complex as the one on the left side, it's still guilty of forcing you to take a specific path that ultimately feels counterintuitive to me (When looking at a map, maybe not so much. But when actually playing the game, especially for the first time, I'd be surprised if someone stuck to that path without getting lost). The other thing with Duncan's Factory for me personally is that as I mention in the video, I consider myself to be pretty explorative with games like this. So I'm always gonna be curious what I'm missing out on if I take one path over the other. So even if I did take the right path I would still feel a need to go check the left side to see what items are over there too. And that would have of course resulted in me getting just as lost anyway. On future playthroughs, now that I know this is an option, I'll just hug the right wall. But I do, to a certain extent, stand by my overall thoughts on the area, although you were 100% right in pointing that out. As for your other point, I know there's item storage in Magicant, but that's not exactly the point I was making there about the diary. Sure, you can store the diary once you get into Magicant (and I definitely made sure to do that in my playthroughs), but you can't get into Magicant without the diary which is the main problem. You get that item all the way at the beginning in your house. And unless you want to walk all the way home to your sister when it's time to go into Magicant for the first time, you'll have to hold on to it for the whole game up until when it's time to enter. To be fair, this isn't terribly far into the game as it's probably only about 25-30% or so into it. But, it'll still be really annoying having to throw away items because your already small bag has 1/8 slots being taken up by an otherwise useless diary. Thanks for commenting to point that stuff out though! It was really cool seeing there was a completely different way through the factory the whole time haha.
Interesting that was your takeaway from this video lol. Anyway it's not like it's the hardest thing in the world to pull off or anything. But it does take getting used to at first. And even once you have it down, what you're left with is quite possibly the easiest recovery to punish in the game haha.
20:20 Okay the video is good but I have to call you out on that, that's a terrible interpretation of that moment in the game He is in the trash can because he is hiding from the bullies that want to kick his ass, the bullies even tell you before you go to the school roof "we are looking for that nerd", that's why Lloyd is in the roof to begin with
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I was mainly just kidding in that section. Although considering that 1) the door to the roof is locked (so bullies wouldn't have access to it) and 2) Lloyd's dad is also in a trash can at his own house, I do think there's room for another interpretation of that situation lol.
@@SketchaV I feel like his dad is also hiding from bullies, and I think that's the joke, an adult man that is just as coward as his son, kinda reminds me of Milhouse's dad from the Simpsons that would probably do the same and would get beat up by Nelson
Makes me wonder, wow what kind of bullies would come after an adult man here in the middle of a lake? Maybe Lloyd's dad have his own crazy story that we dont know about and this will be Lloyd in the future
@@9-VoltGaming It makes me wonder why he wouldn't just hide in his house haha. I'm not gonna overanalyze this though since it was probably just supposed to be a quick joke lol. I love stuff like that in the game though. Really adds to the charm and humor of the game.
Ew, the GBA version with the fan translation... This is my favourite video game of all time, so seeing that version is like someone spat in my face. The things you perceive as flaws, like the grinding and confusing puzzles, are some of the reasons why I love this game, along with the music and the minimalist yet emotional story. I'm so tired of people wanting art to conform to the standards which they consider good without thinking of how people with different tastes, like me, would feel about it. To me this game is as far from a flawed experience as you can get.
Hey, thanks for watching and sharing your opinion! I honestly wasn't aware there were version differences until I was already pretty far into the game and didn't think the differences warranted starting over from the beginning, so the face-spitting definitely wasn't intentional haha. Still, none of the points I brought up in the video had anything to do with the translation or any of the bad things people associate with this version. I really didn't even mind any of that stuff and kept my criticisms to the game's core issues which are present in any version. I'm glad you enjoyed Mother but I do think there's some validity to every issue I brought up even if it wasn't your personal takeaway. Wanting art to conform to one's personal standards is just the natural response to art. I don't have to call every work of art good just because someone else out there enjoys it. That's not my job in making a video like this which is largely based around my opinion. I didn't call the game objectively bad or anything like that. In fact, I didn't even say it was bad at all. I like Mother and look back fondly on it. I have a lot of praise for the game, but if I'm being honest with myself, there are a lot of things I would change about it. And if you had a different experience, that's okay! Either way, we both got to experience a pretty cool game.
absolutely great vid about one of my fave games. the only part I disagree w is Duncan's factory, while I agree it cane be frustrating it's super fun to explore a HUGE factory imo, and if you talk to townspeople they tell you the rocket is on the top floor l (I think I may be wrong there tho) also the route I always take to the top is a much different route (go right, up the second stairs and then up and up til u hit the top) anyways truly great video I really enjoyed
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed! Admittedly, I was unaware of the factory's shortcut when making the video until relatively recently when another commenter pointed that out. It doesn't necessarily change my overall thoughts on the area, because I'm the type of person who would want to check all the other routes too in case I'm missing something. On repeat playthroughs, it can be nice though. Also I think you're right about people mentioning the rocket is on the top floor. In fact, it might even be Lloyd who tells you if I remember correctly. I do think they made it clear where to go. I just didn't like the path to get there if that makes sense. Anyway, thanks again for watching! I'm super excited to have this game and EarthBound available on the Switch now :)
I finished Mother recently and absolutely loved it, and I’ve been looking for videos on it that don’t immediately dismiss it as bad because of some of its aging features. I’m glad you took a look at the entire packaged and analyzed it to its entirety, positives and negative. It made me really enjoy the video, so thank you! :D Personally speaking, I thought it was cool how the Melodies behaved like a side quest throughout the game. I felt like I was being rewarded for going out of my way to explore certain sections, and it was almost like a secret between me and the game. Later on when I realized that the songs were actually part of the main story, it was like a revelation in itself and made for a really cool moment.
Thanks for watching and commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed my approach. In hindsight, I realized my thoughts probably came across as too negative since such a large part of the video is dedicated to that. I just had way more to say about the negative stuff haha. But I think the positive aspects of the game speak for themselves a bit more and in that sense, can go without saying. I'll always have a soft spot for this game despite the many flaws haha. Also I think that's a super cool experience you got to have with the melodies! I've been thinking more about my thoughts on the secretive approach to melodies and I'm a little unsure where I land. I've been playing the old Metroid games lately (highly recommend if you haven't played them) and I loved the process of uncovering secrets, even the ones that were unnecessarily difficult to uncover. It made me wonder why I liked it here but not in Mother. And I think the main difference lies in the point I mentioned about the game disincentivizing exploration for the player. I feel like I would've explored the desert more, for example, if I wasn't running the risk of 30 more battles to do so. So ultimately, I think I do like the idea of secrets in the game, as long as the process of finding them is fun. For me the fun aspect of things there fell a little flat, but I like what they were going for.
@@SketchaV yeah I see what you mean. I myself missed the cactus with the face, and even accidentally skipped the entire plane, tank, and monkey cave sections because I never really bothered to venture into the desert. The high encounter rate is certainly my least favorite aspect of the game, and I do not blame anybody for not liking that game because of that haha. It just is a shame that often people will fixate a little bit too much on that. When it comes to metroid though I agree, I really love the franchise too.
I played Mother on a whim in 2017 and it just clicked with me and quickly became one of my favorite games. I dont know why but playing the game makes me sad even though im having a fun time. The story is probably what I like the most as well as the characters.
It's such a unique game especially for when it was released. I sorta know what you mean with that feeling of sadness that's hard to explain. I think for me, it's because the game has strong themes of childhood and adventure. As a recent college graduate navigating the world of young adulthood, I feel like I'm leaving that era of my life behind which is sad, and Mother in a way reminds me of that
Been a longtime fan of Earthbound shortly after its release, I've since loved the entire trilogy, along the games it has inspired. Thanks for your overview, quite a thorough look through easily the most obscure Mother/Earthbound title outside of Japan. And those games, my god, have been my favorite game series ever. Only can I give Undertale/Deltarune, The Lisa series, Yume Nikki, and Off for example, as others I highly revere. Of course I love many other an RPG game. Be it Final Fantasy series (4/6/7/8 in particular) Breath of Fire 1-4, Mario RPG, etc. I taught myself how to read through playing RPG games. Time flies my man. Make the best of it.
okay i haven't watched the whole video but uh 8:48 the localization is actually a leaked version of the official english version, with fixed typos :D also good video
This was a super engaging and well made retrospective! This game is heavily flawed, and sometimes I forget just how much BS it has just because I played it with a guide on my first playthrough. All and all, this is my favorite game in the series, the one I always come back to, and as unfair and unbalanced as it is, it stands as an experience I'll always treasure for years to come.
Thanks for the support! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed. Not a lot of people rep the "Mother 1 is the best in the series" gang, but I'm glad I found one of the few haha. I've now played EarthBound and I'm currently working on the retrospective for that. I won't spoil my thoughts there but I will say that there are some things I think Mother does better than its sequel and vice versa. It's cool to see how both games have their own unique style, and from what I hear, Mother 3 is still different than both of them. Can't wait to play that one next!
Amazing video man, but sadly I am a Lloyd defender, so I must defend him. He sucks at first, but if you get him the Laser Beam, he can do good damage (I think it's similar to a Beam a). Then in the mid-game, around the time you get Ana, you can get him Plasma Beams, which do around Beam b damage. And around the time you get Teddy (before or after he's in your party, cause you can't do this when Teddy's on your team) you can fight Bla Bla Gang members to get Flamethrowers, which do around the same damage as Fire b. All of these are reusable items. Lloyd is cracked offensively, but his defense does suck. But yeah, great vid
Thanks for the kind words! I honestly don't remember testing out all the items for Lloyd so it's definitely possible that I underrated him based on my experiences. I definitely remember being annoyed by the limited inventory so I probably wasn't the most excited to go out of my way to carry more items, and that's my fault haha. I also know in my first playthrough, I got Ninten way too overleveled while wandering around lost. So I kinda just let him steamroll most fights which probably didn't give Lloyd much of an opportunity to show off. If I replay the game I'll try not to let my anti-lloyd bias get in the way of testing out all his options lol
Big thanks! I've actually already played it now and the video is in the works. My final thoughts on EarthBound aren't exactly clear to me yet but I will say I definitely enjoyed it more than Mother. I'm about to give it another playthrough to really feel ready to make the retrospective and I hope you'll stick around for when it's ready :)
@@SketchaV Gotta replay Earthbound myself first, then I'll be there. I've noticed that Teleport was an issue for you. Did you discover that Earthbound's Teleport Alpha allows you to turn, so you don't have to go in a completly straight line? I don't remember the game explaining that.
@@SketchaV In fact, I just looked it up, and I saw that Mother 1's teleport also allows you to freely turn with the D-Pad. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5LfwibH_wps.html
@@wariolandgoldpiramid Yes I actually did pick up on this trick! I even do it at 1:04:50 in the video. Teleport in general is way easier to pull off in EarthBound though since the buildup to it goes by slower and you move slower. You can just run in a circle until you take off in that game which is really nice
@@SketchaV Sorry if it may seem like I'm giving info that's too trivial, it's just that I've seen other reviewers miss some of these little facts. So I also wanted to make sure to let you know that Earthbound, despite having the archaic "Talk/Check" options being inside a menu, it does have a shortcut button for interacting without opening that menu. I'm personally interested in doing a playthrough of the romhack called _MaternalBound Redux_ , which aims to improve things such as controls, and restoring the things that Nintendo of America has censored in localisation. I'm not sure if playing that for a review is something that would interest you, but I would recommend at least looking up a playthrough to see how it would compare with your own impressions of the original game.
I really enjoyed this video. It has totally taken me on a historical journey on not just this game, but to some extent the inner working of the early gaming industry. Great job!
I definitely pulled up a fucking map for duncan factory on my phone. They made me do this, I would have NEVER beaten this game when i was a kid in the early nineties.
The mother series is my favorite series and earthbound is my favorite video game I played mother 1 twice I played earthbound 5 times and I played mother 3 twice I just love the series it’s more then just a game series it’s our game series Nintendo does not pay a lot of attention to the mother series so it’s our job as the fans to keep it alive
This video was great! I completely agree with all of your complaints about how frustrating this game is. I stopped playing midway through because the encounter rate sucked all the joy out of exploration. I would love to hear your thoughts on Earthbound and Mother 3 if you ever felt like making another video like this. I really want to know what you thought about Ness after playing Earthbound.
Yes it is! I actually haven't played Mother 3 yet. This vid was recorded when Mother 1 was the only one I had played. So there will only be spoilers for that one.
