The Earthbound Discussion Thread

[henrymidfields]

Decided to create this thread in response to my revisit in Earthbound/Mother series.

While it has been a long time since I've last played Earthbound, in recent years, I've been again following stuff related to the game. I love how Earthbound created an JRPG that not only made a modern-day setting that worked, and particularly nailed the 90s vibe and the nostalgia that comes with it right. Furthermore, it's did a fake-USA setting possibly the best out of most Nintendo games, and way better than Pokemon BW1+2's Unova that supposedly "took inspirations" from USA and particularly NYC, but turned out to be a half-hearted and inferior attempt in comparison.  

Both Onnett and Twoson depict typical suburban American cities that I used to live in or drive through, while Fourside looks like New York or Chicago with its yellow cabs, the contrast between the fashionable vs gritty people, and historic wedding-cake-like skyscrapers you would not see outside the US. There are even fast food joints and the like that represents Pizza Hut, MacDonalds, or other type of restaurants that kids would like to go. And all of this is seen from children's perspective.

I also like how villains are also based on real life and how the game doesn't pull any punches from that. Whether its a schoolyard bully gangster like Frank, or a corrupt politician like Monotoli, EB showed that more grounded villains - the ones not having to rely on sorcery or dragons - work too.

What was everyone's memories or nostalgia about the games?

[Fire Emblem Fan]

I never  got to play Earthbound until the Virtual Console days of the Wii and Wii U, I never got to play it on the SNES. And obviously I never played the original on the NES since it was Japan-only and I'm not Japanese, nor have I ever been to Japan. But, when I did finally get to play Earthbound SNES through the VC, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The world was delightful, the characters charming, and the sense of humor was so quirky. It's easy to see why it gathered the following it did, and that following is deserved. It's a really good game.

[King Marth 64]

2 hours ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

I never  got to play Earthbound until the Virtual Console days of the Wii and Wii U, I never got to play it on the SNES. And obviously I never played the original on the NES since it was Japan-only and I'm not Japanese, nor have I ever been to Japan. But, when I did finally get to play Earthbound SNES through the VC, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The world was delightful, the characters charming, and the sense of humor was so quirky. It's easy to see why it gathered the following it did, and that following is deserved. It's a really good game.

EarthBound wasn't rereleased in the Wii Virtual Console. It was brought back for the Wii U Virtual Console, then New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, SNES Classic Edition, and then the NSO for SNES.

 

I did managed to finish playing EarthBound and then EarthBound Beginnings. I might try Lucas's game through the Japanese GBA NSO app when I get the NSO + Expansion Pack one day. Also, I since I did managed to finish playing EarthBound and then EarthBound Beginnings, I do feel like we do need to have another EarthBound game made by someone else after Lucas's game. Also, I don't like the Japanese name of the title, it felt very generic for a video game franchise name and also, there is a N64 game was already called Mother as well. (I'm not talking about Lucas's game was planned for Nintendo 64.)

Edit: I forgot to add SNES Classic Edition in the EarthBound's rerelease order.

Edited March 14 by King Marth 64

[Fire Emblem Fan]

32 minutes ago, King Marth 64 said:

EarthBound wasn't rereleased in the Wii Virtual Console. It was brought back for the Wii U Virtual Console, then New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, then the NSO for SNES.

Whichever one it was. I don't remember since it's also now on the SNES Classic and the Switch's SNES library, among other things, much more readily available now than what it was.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Earthbound's pretty good. It was one of the first games I ever emulated because it wasn't available on any nintendo system. Fifteen years ago I was a real dweeb about playing games that way and made a promise to myself that if a future nintendo system did have Earthbound, I'd buy it, and the system itself if necessary. And that's the story of how I came into possession of the Wii U. 

I get nostalgic seeing people play the game, but don't think I'd ever go back to it. It's long and very grindy when compared to other SNES rpgs. I love reading the NPC dialogue and outrageous enemy attacks, but I can get that from watching other people play. I'd say it's B tier among 16 bit rpgs mainly for having such a stellar sense of humor pushing you forward. Mother 3 on the other hand is excellent. I think it's the best game on the system and a contender for best jrpg of the twenty first century. My only problem with it is just how broken the rhythmic combat timing can get. Of all the Undertale-era indie games being developed out there, why is no one trying to rip off that part of Mother 3? It's the one area they could boast dramatic improvements in.

Edited March 14 by Zapp Branniglenn

[indigoasis]

I don't know where to begin with how much I adore this series. I'm not as much of a die-hard as I could be, but Mother 3 is easily my favorite game of all time, and one of the extremely few games that's made me shed a tear. A friend of mine back in middle school had introduced me to the series and Team Fortress 2, and it's almost surreal how well they all stand against the test of time (except for maybe Earthbound Zero/Beginnings, but I haven't played it in forever, so that's an iffy maybe).

I also remember the Pollyanna tribute animation that came out all that time ago, and it was so well done that my middle school brain loved everything about it. One of my teachers had a "Fun Video Friday" every week, and she took suggestions from the students. I was very adamant about sharing that tribute video to the point that I suggested it every week, but she was pretty hesitant about it. She did eventually show it, and she only played it up until the Kraken showed up if I remember right, but I was happy that I was able to share it at all with other kids my age.

It was also super exciting when Chuggaconroy announced that he was remaking his Earthbound Let's Play, which was a few years ago now. Being able to go through that game again with his commentary and video quality was such a treat, and learning all the new things about the game that I had never known before was awesome (which I think he made a point about there always seemingly being something new to find every time you play the game again). Of course, it was an absolute shame as a long-time viewer to see him go out the way he did; there were some moments during his Black 2/White 2 Let's Play that stood out as pretty sus, but I gave it a tentative pass thinking that's just him being who he is. After everything that came out about him, it all makes sense in hindsight now.

At the very least, one thing I'm still very much still looking forward to is the Mother 4 fan project. Can't wait for Winter 2014!

[henrymidfields]

On 3/15/2024 at 4:19 AM, indigoasis said:

except for maybe Earthbound Zero/Beginnings

Yeah, I remember the level curve was (and still feels like in the GBA remake) misaligned with particularly Mt Itoi. EB proper, on the other hand was quite easy for the most part if you know what you were doing - probably intentional considering how story-focused the game was by SNES standards.

As for Mother 4, I think I remember Shigesato Itoi himself mentioning that he intended to finish this with M3. Did he change his mind on that one?

[indigoasis]

On 3/15/2024 at 9:38 PM, henrymidfields said:

As for Mother 4, I think I remember Shigesato Itoi himself mentioning that he intended to finish this with M3. Did he change his mind on that one?

No, you're right, I think Mother 3 was more or less always meant to be the last one.

There's actually 2 different Mother 4's, both of which are fan projects. The first one has been rebranded as Oddity, and it's arguable if it's actually ever coming out. They did release an absolutely killer soundtrack for it, though. If you ever get a chance, definitely listen to it because it's phenomenal (and the only real thing for the game that's been officially released, lol).

The second one I know less about, but it may actually (hopefully) have a decent shot in releasing in a playable format. There's a trailer for it here.

At the end of the day, though, they're more just concepts than anything else.

[King Marth 64]

2 hours ago, indigoasis said:

No, you're right, I think Mother 3 was more or less always meant to be the last one.

There's actually 2 different Mother 4's, both of which are fan projects. The first one has been rebranded as Oddity, and it's arguable if it's actually ever coming out. They did release an absolutely killer soundtrack for it, though. If you ever get a chance, definitely listen to it because it's phenomenal (and the only real thing for the game that's been officially released, lol).

The second one I know less about, but it may actually (hopefully) have a decent shot in releasing in a playable format. There's a trailer for it here.

At the end of the day, though, they're more just concepts than anything else.

I don't think the fourth game should be made by Itoi himself, they could have someone at Nintendo should do it with someone else who has the same energy as Itoi. I do remeber that Itoi did said that he's okay with someone making EarthBound 4 and he's okay willing to play it.

Also, didn't the Oddity team had to change the name of their game to Oddity, getting rid of EarthBound connections/making it's own game, and as well as changing some of the assets from the EarthBound series to newer creations to avoid getting into trouble with Nintendo since we know that Nintendo has been taking down any Fan Projects that uses their IPs and for legal reasons as well?

Edited March 18 by King Marth 64

[indigoasis]

2 hours ago, King Marth 64 said:

Also, didn't the Oddity team had to change the name of their game to Oddity, getting rid of EarthBound connections/making it's own game, and as well as changing some of the assets from the EarthBound series to newer creations to avoid getting into trouble with Nintendo since we know that Nintendo has been taking down any Fan Projects that uses their IPs and for legal reasons as well?

Yeah, I remember from around the time of the rebrand, stuff like AM2R and Pokémon Uranium were DMCA'd by Nintendo, so I think the Oddity team decided to change everything related to Earthbound/Mother to avoid a takedown from Nintendo as a preventative measure. I honestly like the rebranded name Oddity better than Mother 4; I think it actually kind of keeps it in the spirit of Earthbound being the localized title for Mother 2, if that makes any sense. It's just a cool name for a standalone game.

Assuming it's a real game that will eventually come out one day, it also means that it has a legitimate shot at being on the Switch (or whatever Nintendo's next console is).