/vr/ - Retro Games

>>7922103
One of the best games ever made. The original famicom version is the best though.

Nah, the difficulty hack actually makes the game bearable

>>7922103
Note that Lloyd doesn't really fix the boat, he's just the only one able to start it - so you do have to do the whole EVE sequence with Lloyd (in the NES version at least)

I've just started a game and this shit is tough. I just got through Magicant for the first time. Some of this stuff is pretty cryptic.
Game gets more interesting after the zoo, I'd say, but is there a part where it really gets good?

>>7923613
Maybe around the time you get Ana?

Learn Japanese and watch korone's playthrough

>>7922136
I never found the game hard till near the factory and mountain.

Reminder that the only pendant worth using, besides the one-of-a-kind Sea Pendant, is the H20/Rain Pendant. Most enemies cast PK Fire or equivalent attack (bombs or bursting into flames), all forms of PK Fire are multitarget, and PK Fire does the most damage of the elemental PSI (with the exception of a successful PK Freeze γ reducing you to 1 HP, which the Fire and Sea Pendants do NOT protect against). Give your Sea Pendant to whomever needs it most, equip Sea Pendants on the rest of your party, and forget that the other pendants exist because in practical use they're really quite useless in comparison.

>>7923613
Bring up the menu every couple steps to avoid getting too many encounters.

>>7923898
Does the menu reset the amount of steps needed to trigger an encounter?

>>7922103
Did anyone else play this game before playing earthbound? I feel like playing this first made my experience with earthbound a lot less impactful than it would have been if I hadn’t played this. I mean I still enjoyed earthbound and it was a different game in its own right, but it felt like it just did everything mother did on the NES but on the SNES. Just goes to show how impressive of a game mother was.

>>7923914
Yes, it makes the game have way less encounters and balances it out. Normally you get encounters every few steps, but if you bring up the menu every 4 or 5 times it makes them less frequent. If you really wanna be cheap bring up the menu every step and you won’t get any encounters

>>7922815
Ah yeah, I misremembered it as being broken.
I think the whole path to My. Itoi is actually not as bad once you get creative with the psi abilities. Of course it's easier with Teddy and his great speed+strength, but I think I can do it with Lloyd. The most annoying enemies in the cave are the brains, but Anna can make them her bitches with Psycho block and then using them as PP drain slaves with psi magnet.

>>7923613
Once you get Ana I think it gets really good. I don't remember Mother 1 being that cryptic, it was usually pretty easy to figure out where to go, I only remember having to look up where one of the melodies were because it was easy to miss (the bird one)

>>7925562
>dat pic
Something about Ana panicking for Ninten's well-being is adorable to me. Am I sick for finding enjoyment in Ninten's suffering?

>>7926389
No it is pretty cute

Anyone else think Mother 1 has the best sound track of the series? 2 and 3 have some great songs as well but I think Mother 1 has some of the best music on the NES/famicom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w6siYk_Ge0

>>7922103
Abusing plasma guns and bombs with lloyd

When I played mother as a kid I didn't use a guide and I got stuck for awhile, so I ended up becoming way overleveled just from all the wandering around I was doing.

So I didn't experience the "it's too grindy" complaint. Maybe they figured players were going to get lost like I did?

>>7927725
even if you don't get lost you only really have to grind before duncan's factory iirc, compared to other NES RPGs the grinding isn't that bad here.

>>7927614
Mother 1 has the

>>7927725
Grinding in the proper sense is not even necessary. Most people who think Mother is "grindy" never played any other famicom RPG

>>7929345
Getting characters that start at level 1 can be considered grindy, though honestly it's not that bad as long as they don't die in the first few or so battles.
I didn't mind leveling up the characters in Phantasy Star 2, long as you have the latest gear on them they're not going to die easily while you level them.

What is the recommended way to play this game these days? What ROM hacks are worth it? I’ve already been in the game twice.

>>7927725
Most of these RPGs assumed that players were not using guides and were probably more conservative than many players today are willing to be. The assumption isn't that one is grinding so much as one is making calculated trips into the various dungeons and whatnot and that the "grind" therefore is scaled out over multiple trips back and forth.

>>7929538
Just patch the Japanese Mother Patch with Tomato and Jeffman's translation or play Earthbound Beginnings which has the "official" Phil Sandhop translation.

>>7929345
Most Earthbound fans haven't even played Earthbound let alone Mother 1. it's the weirdest goddamn shit.

>>7929538
Avoid the anniversary fanhack thing that shits on the original artstyle

>>7929538
As >>7929638 said, you can use Tomato's translation or the official nintendo one, whichever you would prefer.

For Earthbound there's a lot of uncensor and re-translation patches, along with a lot of QoL patches. I think Maternalbound Redux is the best one of all of them.

>>7922103
>to recruit Teddy, so as to keep him until the end of the game.
What? I didn't know you could keep him.

>>7922103
>Any cool stuff you did on replays?
Beat the game with just Ninten and Lloyd. It was pretty tough, but I did it.

>>7929714
Glad others are finally starting to see it my way. There was a weird period where a lot of people were shilling it, especially around its release. No idea why anyone would want a patch that so completely alters the original appearance of the game.

>>7932148
Even when I first saw it, I was like "that looks cool, but not how you should first experience something this iconic". Something for a second playthrough, ya know?

>>7931961
Yep, you only need to recruit Lloyd for a normal playthrough; Ana is totally optional, and then you need both Lloyd and Ana in your party to get Teddy, who boots Lloyd out of the party. The weird thing is that Teddy's time in the party is ridiculous playing normally. He joins in Ellay, can get godly equipment in the Mt. Itoi caves, then leaves your party shortly after the caves, with Lloyd permanently put back in your party in order to operate the boat just beyond...only, you're not past the Mt. Itoi caves, but rather, the game sends you all the way BACK to the base of the mountain just outside of Ellay, AND Lloyd is underleveled! It's really a joke having him in the party when you're supposed to. You're better off either skipping him entirely (don't underestimate Lloyd's bombs and tools) or skipping some of the melodies (ie. Magicant Dragon is basically the true final boss of the game and should be last), getting the EVE/Itoi melodies with just Lloyd in your party, then going back and trading Lloyd for Teddy the rest of the game.

>>7932148
>>7932165
I never understood why people like it. It takes away the game's already good 8bit graphics and makes everything more square and saturated as fuck.
The trees alone made me disregard it. Most of the game you're strolling through land with trees, and the original game has good looking ones, the hack's tree sprites have a total square upper part. Doesn't look like trees, more like pipes.
I know it's a fan work and maybe some of the reworked enemy sprites are ok? Idk, but as you say for how much popular it got across fans it doesn't seem to be that good and certainly not a substitute for the original. Feel bad for people who fell for it as their first playthrough.

>>7932278
You can actually do a Ninten solo run as well if you use the onyx hook right before the dance with Ana in the Mt. Itoi cabin.

>>7932285
Yeah the redesigns for some of the terrain and stuff just looks off in the anniversary hack. I don't know why some people think it looks better.

Tried to get to Easter after destroying the boulder blocking the train line to get Teleport early cause I felt like it. Let's just say it was quite a hassle, even with repel rings.

>>7929538
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5923/
This is a recent one that's pretty much the best way IMO.

I really wanted to get into Mother, but man, it JUST doesn't capture me at all, not like Earthbound did. Didn't really get into Mother 3 either.
There's a lot I like about the style and themes in Mother, but the gameplay is not fun for me.

>>7933187
Took a while for me to get into the groove but I eventually got it. The lack of pure direction can be a little daunting.

>>7927614
hearing the opening credits' spng is comfy as hell and always bring backs good memories

>>7932278
Don't listen to this guy, leaving the Magicant Dragon for last is a terrible idea. I overlooked it because I forgot about telepathy and when I came back for the last melody I unceremoniously shat all over it.

>>7933278
how overleveled were you

>>7933187
Mother 2 has a really good combination of colors/artwork that Mother 1 and 3 didn't really get.WV

Mother is the most over rated series in history. Fuck them games

>>7933987
Why did MOTHER 3 get no official GBA artwork besides the Nowhere Islands?

>>7934051
I thought there were some artwork. Yeah that's strange, why is it?

The last part of the game feels unfinished. It's very nonsensical.

>>7934051
the N64 models are the Mother 3 equivalent to the clay models

>>7934453
Sometimes I wish we got Mother 64 but then I remember Boney's 3D model.

>>7934465
He's seen footage

>>7934465
There's something really appealing about the eb64 art style. Its such a bizzare turn from 1 and 2

>>7934051
Probably because Mother 3 had a lot of stuff cut from it and I guess they just never decided to hire an official artist.

>>7935217
I actually think the N64 models look a lot like they could be low poly representations of the classic clay models from 1 and 2.

>>7936380
How so, the clay models from the old games still used beady eyes and whatnot. The graphical style of eb64 looks like a more bizzare oot. Imo

>>7935217
I agree. To me they feel like a little bit more twisted or intensified vision. Like walking around in someone's weird dream about the first two games.

>>7937074
I find them both charming and creepy, reminds me a lot of zelda OOT models.

>>7936815
Not all the characters had these beady cartoony eyes on the clay models.

>>7938508
And some of the N64 characters do have the beady eyes

>>7934453
Disagree. The closest we've got to the clay models is the few Smash renders. Just look at EarthBound 64's concept art - it feels like a totally different series, not really the next-gen evolution of the established style. It was trying too hard to fit in the perceived style of a 3D game at the time before stylized games like Jet Set Radio and The Wind Waker paved the way forward, but by then it was too late for a 3D Mother 3.

>>7940594
N64 Animal Crossing shows that they could've easily done simpler character designs in top-down angles and maybe saved the "cinematic" animations/camera for a handful of important cutscenes instead of throughout the game. If they'd had done that from the start and set their ambitions to more reasonable standards (ie. tell the 64DD to bugger off) then MAYBE we'd have gotten EB64. Honestly, EB64's shift in tone and artstyle from everything that came before it felt like Nintendo was trying to play JRPG-catchup with FFVII (and wouldn't you know it, both EB64 & FFVII started preplanning on SNES before moving next gen over, fancy that). Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.

>>7940594
I agree on the Smash renders being the closest to actual clay models but... Smash 64 Ness looks like he could be in EB64 (in fact the Ness seen on it looks very similar to Ness in smash 64)
The concept art you're posting there looks like many of the Mother 2 art by Benimaru Itoh.
Pic related totally gives me clay models vibes.

>>7940704
The "Ness" seen in EB64 is now believed to be an early Lucas or potentially Claus since they were refined to their "white-shirt" designs mid-development.
Mother 2 concept art has some different character designs (look at Andonuts' hair and Lloyd-like Jeff) but ultimately still has very similar proportions to the game and models.
I'm not seeing the supposed clay model vibes either. Most of those characters have rather exaggerated body frames and head types, whereas the clay models tend to have a similar build but with caricaturized facial features.

>>7934059
SNES > N64DD > N64 > GBA. Absolute development hell. A lot of details and gameplay features got cut along the way.

>>7934465

>>7941440
>Triple-A vs. a game the dev admitted wasn't working out in 3D.
What a smart comparison.

>>7941453
Just checking if I was banned because I didn't delete the post you're replying to

>>7941453
That post comments on how people dismiss the game based on the graphics. The developers said it didn't work gameplay-wise because they had a hard time figuring out how to make an RPG in 3d. DQ7 and FF7 both played it safe and put 2d characters on a vaguely 3d plain or 3d characters on pre-rendered backgrounds.

>>7940774
Check the way Benimaru Itoh draws Ness and co., it's very similar to that Lucas concept art.
>Most of those characters have rather exaggerated body frames and head types
Like pic related?

>>7942348
In fairness, Teddy was always an odd design. No one else really looks like him, claymodel-wise.

>>7942358
It's called "Early Installment Weirdness", like the Mr. Saturns not being in the first game. The kinks weren't ironed out yet.

>>7942384
>Mr. Saturns not being in the first game
Another reason why mother 1 is the best in the trilogy

>>7942358
Frank from Mother 2, the runaway bros, the hippie... There's many characters with weird proportions

>>7927725
I definitely never felt the need to grind except once at the beginning when you need to go to the zoo. Even then, it only took like ten minutes tops. Just enough that the stronger groups of enemies weren't just a run ender.

>>7942508
Fuck you Mr. Saturns are based

>>7943025
The Hippie and Frank are enemies and the typical clay mold doesn't fit well as an enemy sprite (see Pippi), and not seeing the Runaway Five.

>>7934465
I still can't fucking believe Nintendo canceled this. It could've been the shittiest game ever at the time but still would've been a cult classic

Do the Japanese fans pine for Mother 3, or are they happy with what they got? I feel this must exclusively be a Western thing, since it was apparently slated for translation.

>>7945068
*N64/DD version

>>7944438
BOING

>>7945068
I remember reading that the Japanese fanbase didn't really care for mother 3.
But I don't know that's true, or really know why that would be.

>>7945782
I can only assume it's moreso that it launched too late into the GBA life to get good traction there

>>7946729
Yeah, it launched in 2006. It's funny to think that the Mother series' had a game more recent than F-Zero has.

Anyone else playing the unlicensed PC port, featuring actual RNG?

>>7947879
Does it change anything?

>>7944523
I wonder why they made a battle sprite for her, was she planned to be a boss?

>>7949371
It's believed that she would've been possessed or pseudozombified when you found her and had to get some sense knocked into her for her to go back to normal, but it was cut because the trek there was already tough enough for early game.

I wish it happened bros

>>7949429
Less interesting but still notable is an unused pillow enemy. It would've been slightly weaker than the Lamp, so the obvious place for it would have been in place of one of the duplicate Lamps. Probably, since it was weaker, it was supposed to be encountered in Ninten's room, and the devs though the pillow would've been too lame as the first enemy and didn't think to just replace the optional Lamp in the other sister's room. That, or someone thought there was unfortunate implications of the pillow being used to smother little children in their sleep or something.

>>7944523
>The Hippie and Frank are enemies
So was Teddy when you meet him, but what does that have to do with anything?
>and the typical clay mold doesn't fit well as an enemy sprite (see Pippi)
Not sure what you mean here either.

>>7945782
I think the whole "Japanese fans don't like Mother 3" meme comes from a post in EB Central/Starmen.net where they scouted for some messages on 2ch, so that must be taken with a grain of salt at the very least. IIRC not all comments they cherrypicked were bad, some people liked it, some didn't, but we being human beings always will give more importance to the negative than the positive, since it's more "hilarious".
I think in general terms, Japan liked Mother 3, it got high scores from reviewers, and the game sold well. The thing is that Mother 2 came out at the peak of the Super Famicom popularity, while Mother 3 was a late GBA release, the DS was already out in 2006.
Mother 2 remains the most popular, sure, but that doesn't mean they dislike Mother 3.
Also, what happened to the Mother 3 shitposter? It's strange that just when we got rid of australia-kun's sega system/trashura spam, we also got rid of the /vrpg/ anti-M3 shitposter... I wonder if...

>>7951036
(kind of) big things coming ahead.

>>7951626
DON'T TOY WITH MY HEART NOW

>>7951716
It won't be any sort of rom. Most likely just pre-existing/released material, but in loseless quality :)

>>7951617
No the Mother 3 shitposter is still here, I think he just got banned from /vr/ because the last thread I saw of his here got deleted. He still posts on /vrpg/.

>>7951724
Maybe if we're really lucky we'll get better quality versions of some of the early trailers.

>>7922136
It's an rpg, can't you just grind a bit?

Weird how there aren't more complete romhacks of Earthbound. All of the ones I was able to find on Starman.net were either short as fuck, incomplete, or just some form of text/palette swap. Apparently the romhacking tools are pain to use compared to other games so that might be why.

>>7952242
On that note, I remember playing a romhack for Earthbound around 2012 or so which had Kon from Bleach as one of the enemies. Anyone knows which one I'm talking about?

Post your favorite music from each game, faggots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w6siYk_Ge0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKfXsTkA71I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF0Fb682rsY

>>7953094
I know it's an unreleased fan game but this track is kino https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Prk2TioRY

>>7953240
will it be finished one day?

>>7952242
Playing and making romhacks would require earthbound fanbase to play the game first

>>7953394
Earthbound fans BTFO

>>7953378
It got rebranded as Oddity so they wouldn't get DMCA'd and so they could make money off of it

>>7952242
>Apparently the romhacking tools are pain to use compared to other games so that might be why.
That and the fact that Earthbound isn't that fun of a video game to play. Slogging through an Earthbound that isn't Itoi/Ape Inc. (1993) doesn't seem really appealing. Mother 3's polished functionality, music combos, practical HP-scrolling, and overworld running provides greater potential for playthroughs, I think.

>>7955234
People that have tried hacking Mother 3 haven't had much luck, apparently the rom is just way too compact to do any real changes without fucking something up.

>>7955234
>Earthbound isn't that fun to play
>mfw I must have finished Earthbound around 6 to 10 times, several of them in a row with the NG+ patch plus one where I quit at the last sanctuary
I don't even know what the hell is up with this game, it's nowhere near one of my favorites.

>>7955263
It has soul

Also I think it's fun to play, the balance is pretty good so battles rarely just become an auto-battle fest like many JRPGs and they move fast enough to not get you bored.

>>7952242
In lieu of romhacks we have

>>7942348
Teddy is the best party member in the series, prove me wrong