/vr/ - Retro Games

>>3787096
>Any similar RPGs
Literally any Dragon Quest game.

>>3787098
Thanks! I've heard good things about Dragon Quest, if it's similar to Earthbound I'm sure I'll enjoy it! :)

>>3787096
Depends on what you liked.

If it's your first RPG, just try the classics. Like Dragon Quest 3, Final Fantasy V, and so on.

As for other Mother games, they are also good. Mother 1 has way less story/humor/atmosphere/visuals, but it's actually a bit more advanced in pure gameplay. Conversely, Mother 3 is way more story-focused and movie-like than Earthbound.

If you want directly similar games, there aren't many. But, I see some parallels in Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire (free exploration, modern setting) and Contact (Nintendo DS RPG with a setting obviously inspired by Mother, with unorthodox mechanics).

>>3787096
Mother 1 is pretty good, but not everyone can get used to the style and gameplay of a NES RPG. Mother 3 is also a fantastic entry.

As for other games that a more casual player would like, I definitely recommend you to play Super Mario RPG.

>>3787096
Not retro but there are tons of Mother-likes on the internet now. Undertale if you want disgusting levels of emotion-baiting, LISA if you want depressing levels of sadism, OFF is you puzzling levels of surrealism. Can't think of much more right now.

Mother 3 is even better imo, the rhythm attacks make the combat much less boring

>>3787318
Play the Mario RPGs. Especially Dream Team and Bowser's Inside Story

>>3787096
>Is Mother 1 worth a go?


Only for real completionists. MOTHER doesn't give you the same feeling, but it gives you a tiny piece of the story, kind of, sort of.

I'd recommend playing the GBA version with Tomato's translation, so the localization is actually competent.

If you're not that autistic, either skip it, or play it with one of the many casualization patches.


It's not an RPG, but Star Tropics gives me kind of similar feelings to Mother. It's a big battle to get used to the controls though, and you literally have to look up the solution to one puzzle in the game because the short sighted developers thought it would be fun for you to require a physical item packed in the game box to complete a puzzle.

>>3787327
747
I know it off by heart and I don't even particularly like the game.

>>3787096
It depends on what you liked about it. If you liked the simple, first person combat and NPC driven narrative, any of the DQ games will hit that spot on since the mother series is essentially a silly DQ clone. Start at DQV if you like story development, DQIII if you like exploring. SNES for both because the translations are better than the DS remakes.

If you liked how absurdly silly it is, try Super Mario RPG. It's quite lighthearted, and full of nonsense for comedy.

>>3787309

Contact on the DS

>>3787445
Just because Contact has Dr. Andonuts in it doesn't mean its similar to Earthbound. Besides it's brutally hard and OP wanted casual.

>what next?

Getting actual taste for videogames.

If you like this game you lack good judge.

>>3787645
>Contact
>brutally hard

what

>>3787768
I can't even beat the 2nd dungeon in it. Make fun of me if you want, but there you go.

>>3787826
Then you're doing something very wrong. It's a moderately challenging dungeon, but nothing more than just medium difficulty. Check some letsplays to see what you're doing wrong, you shouldn't need to grind yet.

>>3787096
UNDERTALE

>>3787868
We need a filter for this word

>>3787096
EB is pretty unique in terms of its tone and writing. Although good mother 1 and mother 3 do have a different feel to them. Mother 1 is more light hearted and fantastical, reminds me of a ghibli film in some ways. Mother 3 is more story focused. The actual gameplay is improved but dungeons and its design in general is more linear. Both are absolute masterpieces but quite different.

DQ is what the series was based off of in terms of game design. Very high quality series but quite different in terms of writing.

There have been "clones" of EB but none of them understood what made it so special, I say ignore then.

>>3787892
Fuck off. The rabid fanatastism has worn off and we can acknowledge it's a fun game.

>>3787892
Not him, but you are aware that it started as an EarthBound romhack, right?

It's not retro, but it's undeniably inspired by the mother games, and anyone who's asking for games similar to Mother, should be aware of Undertale as an option, meme game or not.

>>3787096
Mother 3 is the most similar
Paper Mario and the Mario RPGs have the same combat system more or less

>>3788814
>Not him, but you are aware that it started as an EarthBound romhack, right?
It's more the developer once made an Earthbound romhack.

>>3787096
Mother 3
>>3787098
Fuck off.

>>3788814
I still don't see what they have in common, and I've played both.

>>3788829
Nigguh are you denying Earthbound was unashamedly ripping off the Dragon Quest battle system?

>>3788805
>we can acknowledge it's a fun game.
Stop projecting your disgusting opinions on others

>>3788858
Ebonics? This explains why are you so dumb. EB is so similar because it is an obvious parody of DQ.

>>3789172
>because it is an obvious parody of DQ.
At least you admit that, huh.

>>3789173
What's there to admit when it's laid bare open? They took everything from interface to party structure from DQ, but changed the setting to 1990s America for lulz. That's the joke.

In any case: RPG Maker was released in 1992. Even back then everyone understood that RPGs were all the same. If you don't see the tongue-in-cheek aspect of EB, I guess most of its intended appeal flew over your head.

>>3788829
>>3788858
>>3789172
>>3789173
>>3789216

how does every thread here devolve into this shit

>>3789250
I guess some popular youtuber dismissed EB as a poor JRPG and a total DQ ripoff

in regards to story? Panzer Dragoon Saga does something very similar. In regards to game play? Every dragon quest. I found the combat in earthbound absolutely boring however.

>>3789261
It is though.

>>3789264
>I found the combat in earthbound absolutely boring however.
Kind of have to agree. Not that I found battles boring—I loved them for monster designs and psychedelic backgrounds. But the mechanics is just the most bare-bones RPG system, even more so than Mother 1 really. And Mother 3 at least had rhythm combat, some special abilities and more pronounced elemental weaknesses. It's just pretty unremarkable, that's what I want to say.

That said, combat never was the thing I cared for in EB. As the game got more linear and more expressive, I cared way more about the story and visuals. I guess the gameplay simply gave way to story and plot in EB.

>>3789273
Fuck can you even read several replies back? EB is a parody of DQ, made after RPG maker was already a thing. It's tongue in cheek DQ in America, that's it.

>>3789289
BUT I AIN'T DISPUTING THAT, NIGGER

>>3789280
I found the story to be really inconsistent and a decent story is never a replacement for poor game play. The combat had interesting mechanics with the rolling HP, but apart from one enemy, the best use it ever gets is hammering away text prompts and level ups at the end of combat to rush to the end to save on a few points of HP. Very uninteresting.

Panzer Dragoon Saga does a very similar stunt with the story as far as fourth wall breaking goes, but instead of being a loosely tied event to an off moment in the middle of the game, it connects to the very start of the game and recontextualizes every event from there to the conclusion, providing some real material for thought. That combined with a truly superb combat system makes it a game that's not a chore to attend to, but a pleasure to master and engage with.

>>3789296
I see. Well, your complaint is 100% legit. The thing is, the rest just depends on your taste.

The great deal of enjoyment for me in the game came from the aesthetics: the pixel art style, the psychedelic backgrounds, the imaginative enemy designs, the '90s references and style, etc. But it's not the thing for everyone, far from it in fact. Few if any people really care about aesthetics in games as much as I do; but even then, tastes will differ drastically when it comes to styles. Whether you like this kind of thing or not is subjective preference.

When I think of it, if EB didn't have its aesthetics, I probably wouldn't play it. OK humor is not enough to grab me to play an RPG, and EB's gameplay is not something good enough on its own, as you said. The story is a nice "journey to your mind" schtick, but for me it's not enough to beat the game. Hence why I don't play RPGs in general aside from DQ and some unorthodox gameplay-centric ones, I don't care about sob stories. If I did, I'd read books.

So all in all, I think that if the aesthetics of the game didn't catch you, and the gameplay is too bland for you, EB is just not your kind of game. It's a matter of subjective preference. I feel EB left me with far more contradicting feelings than you'd expect from it. I feel it uses RPG only as a framework, going straight for a style-over-substance experience. But the "style" itself is the biggest point: it goes throughout the game and forms a very cohesive overall vision together with the story. The rest boils down to whether you care about this kind of thing or not. And usually, people don't.

>>3788851
It's hard to put it into words, but I definitely could detect the Mother vibes even just from when I played the demo that does the Ruins section. And this was before I learned about Toby Fox aka Radiation (a handle I remember from when I casually was on the Starmen.net boards) being the creator .

I'll say that the vibes are closer to Mother 3 than Mother 2 though, and it's mostly its own thing.

>>3787096
mother 3

>>3787843

>YET

Eh...

>>3789250

They do this shit all day. I just make dick jokes.

Lol. Bonerbound.

>>3789467
Main game is medium difficulty. Aftergame is a grindfest limited only by your imagination… And, sadly, the absence of WiFi island.

>>3787096

Super Mario RPG. Its quirky, straightforward gameplay with memorable characters makes it an easy first RPG that'll scratch that post earthbound itch.

OP, just wait for the SNES remake of Mother. Looks like it's finally gonna be out this year.

And yeah, Mother 3 is worth playing obviously. I liked Undertale but it's super short, you can cheese through it in one big sitting if you're good at the battle system. I'm playing LISA right now and it's got the same sense of humour of EB, but super twisted and dark. I'd recommend Yume Nikki as well. It's basically a walking simulator but it was one of the first and the atmosphere is top notch.

>>3789498
>just wait for the SNES remake of Mother.
Shittiest advice in this thread. Ignore fan creations like cancer

>>3789559
It's official quality. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Not all fan stuff is shit. Just look at AM2R

>>3789570
Exceptions make the rule.

>>3787327
mother 1 is the best entry. and it will make the rest of the games actually make sense. plus it has robots and tanks. you can't go wrong.

>>3787269
>Contact
can some one point me out whats the best version of mother 1? I have every plataform to play it
NES/GBA and Wii U VC (Earthbound Beginnings, and yes I have flashcarts to play translated or leaked versions of the game, I heard that the US NES proto is fully playable,need some advice here

>>3790107
US proto is the definitive version. AFAIK, EB Beginnings uses the same ROM, so it should be fine too. For explanations, see these posts: >>3778254 >>3778264 . TL;DR: EB prototype adds running feature, fixes bugs from the original and has an expanded ending.

No point in playing GBA version, it's just worse. Smaller resolution, notoriously bad audio.

I finished Mother 3 this week. Go play it OP. It's seriously much better then Earthbound

>>3790156
does it run on NDS lite using a GBA flashcart?

>>3787096
If you loved Mother 2 Mother 1 is definitively worth playing so you understand the stories and catch some of the easter eggs in Mother 3 that you will only get by playing Mother 1. It improves Mother 3 so much, you have to trust me. There are some major overarching themes that all come together in Mother 3, just from small hints and callbacks.

I'm shit at videogames right, but Mother 1 was my first NES RPG and it was a really nice experience although I lost interest near the end when difficulty spiked. It's just so charming but in a simple NES game.

Mother 3 goes without saying too but I think you should play after Mother 1.


>>3787309
There's Yume Nikki and if you enjoy that there are the various Yume Nikki spiritual sequels and unofficial sequels, .flow being the best. Although you need to go in knowing that it's not an RPG. It's more like an exploration game with dream logic where you need to collect a certain amount of items. There's even an entire world inspired by Mother 1, it's normally got 16 bit graphics.

Omocat is doing a new game that looks inspired by Earthbound too. (They're a fan of it I've seen lots of fanart from Earthbound on their tumblr.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV0BST2nifk

>>3789498
>OP, just wait for the SNES remake of Mother.

I don't understand this constant need for Earthbound fans to remake Mother 1 with new graphics. NES graphics are part of its charm.

fyi: this thread needs to be read through an archiver because good, on-topic posts were deleted.

i wouldn't recommend yume nikki. op asked for rpgs, and yn's tone is vastly different from eb's. it's weird and has some psychadelic visuals, but that's basically where the similarities end.

>>3791974
don't see why it wouldn't

>>3792398
Tried playing mother 1 and it really is a chore.

>>3790107
The version Nintendo released on Wii U is the completely unaltered 'prototype'. The game was ready for release, it's completely finished. The GBA version has a solid fan translation, but it's a vastly inferior version of the game, so keep that in mind (the music SUCKS and they removed the tile-based movement which is a bizarre design choice). I would highly recommend playing the original unaltered version on Wii U. It's a masterpiece of a Famicom/NES RPG, the music and story are spectacular, and it's got an insanely large and detailed overworld. It's a really good game, in my opinion, one of my all-time favorites. I could talk about it all day.

>>3792394
Yeah I don't count exploration simulators. They're nice and all but there's no meat. And it's always about girls who rape/kill. If you want something of that nature try Toilet in Wonderland. It's great mockery of these games.

If you are going to play mother 1 I suggest you play the gba version from mother 1 + 2 because some improvements like a run button and a button to talk to people without the necessity to open the menu.

http://mother12.earthboundcentral.com/

Since all my replies about Mother 1 got deleted, I thought I'd compile a mini FAQ.

> Should I even play Mother 1?
It's a great game, but quite different from Earthbound. Its focus lies more on more engaging gameplay than story/characters/atmosphere.

> Do I miss story if I skip it?
Very little of it (you could read it online if you wish). It's not crucial to understanding SNES EB at all. The direct connection between the games is mostly only in the main villain.

> What is the definitive version of Mother 1?
Earthbound (U) (Prototype). Earthbound Beginnings on Virtual Console uses the same ROM.

> Is it a finished game?
It's a completely finished and translated game. It was ready for a release but got cancelled. The ROM, however, got leaked.

> What makes the NES prototype better than the other versions?
First, it's an official English translation of the game. Second, it has some improvements over the original, including an ability to run (crucial), an expanded ending, several bug fixes, etc. GBA version keeps all of these changes and adds a quick check button, but it has a lower screen space and much worse audio.

> Can I buy it on an official cart?
You can't. Earthbound for NES was finished but never got a release, hence the carts were never printed.

> What are my options if I want to play it on original hardware?
Either a flashcart or, undesirably, a reproduction cart. If you're dead set on it, you could buy a Mother cart and play it in Japanese.

> What is a Demiforce Hack?
Originally, back when the game was released, it didn't work properly on some emulators. So it was hacked by its release team to address this issue. Nowadays most emulators play the game without any hacks.

> I've heard the game is grindy, should I play an easy mode hack?
This is mostly bullshit. The game is only somewhat more difficult than Mother 2/SNES Earthbound. All I can say is that if you want the authentic experience, play it in the original form.

>>3795907
>> What is the definitive version of Mother 1?
>Earthbound (U) (Prototype). Earthbound Beginnings on Virtual Console uses the same ROM.
Good meme, the translation is unfaithful to the original and its censored. I don't care if "it's the version we would have got", that doesn't mean it's the version we want.

Also nice of you to forget this hack exists, adds tomato's translation to the NES version.

To anyone who hasn't played it yet just play tomato's translation, restores everyting and has the bonuses added to the US version.

>>3796505
Sorry, forgot link.

https://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/Mother-Earthbound-for-NES-with-tomato-s-translation

>>3787098
This is probably some bullshit bait post, but it's actually not a bad idea. If you like EB, you will probably like DQ.

>>3796517
It's not a bullshit bait post. Earthbound and Dragon Quest have identical battle systems.

>>3790107
The best version of Mother 1 is the 25th Anniversary Edition ROM hack.
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2211/

>>3796505
I was talking about vanilla ROMs. Haven't heard about that hack though, since I last played M1 about 3 years ago. Yep, it sounds good too.

>>3796930
Enjoy your cancer from playing that steaming turd. It looks like vomit and isn't authentic experience at all.

>>3795907
>Very little of it (you could read it online if you wish). It's not crucial to understanding SNES EB at all.

Are you fucking stupid or something.

>>3797064
Sorry for being defensive. I thought you were that guy who would argue the sandhop translation is the undisputed best and that playing any other version isn't "real".

>>3796505
The meme version is not better than the original, sorry famicom. stop spreading misinformation.

>>3797316
that's me and it's the truth.

>>3787096

Mother 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qtQWUF6-Co

>>3798818
Not retro, also that shit is vaporware.

>>3798818
Shilling cancerous fan shit again? Fuck off

>>3798813
>>3797316
I think Tomato's translation is objectively more accurate, but some like Sandhop more. I think it's bound to personal preference. Still I'd definitely recommend to play Tomato version, because you will get the most accurate picture to how Itoi and the devs intended.

>>3798843
I was being overly confrontational about it (you know, 4chan), but I do respect Tomato's work quite a bit. I think that 20th anniversary edition is awful, but I've been planning to play the GBA version for awhile. I just hate how bad the music sounds on that port.

>>3798853
I remember playing M1+2 on a flashcart on my DS. Enjoyed it quite a lot actually, especially since my cart had savestates. Funny thing is that I remember liking the audio too, although it does sound worse to me in those video comparisons. Maybe I just played the prototype on a DS emulator and it didn't have good enough sound… ditto.

What I did hate though was the smaller screen. FC/NES version had 240 lines, GBA only had 160. Going back to NES prototype felt so much more comfortable, you could see where you were running and it just felt more enjoyable. It's not as much of a problem in battles though.

>>3798818

Youtubers, everyone

>>3798935