/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1238026]

So...I'm thinking about seriously playing through the mother series.
I've already played quite a bit of the first one (but my save got corrupted, so I need to play about a third of the game over again).
Mother 2 is nice too.
What I want to know is, should I just skip the first one?
I've heard it's not really worth playing through when I could just play the second.
However, I didn't mind playing it before.

[Anonymous No.1238086]

>>1238026
My problem is that it's a bit too grindy. Also I feel the stat gain when you level is a bit too random. So in one playthrough you would have a good bit of health. And in another you would be begging for more health. Same for the other stats. It's a fun game but I would say play the GBA version with the EXP UP. May seem cheap but I felt it make the game a bit more enjoyable.

[Anonymous No.1238093]

>>1238086
OP here. Just found out about the easy mode option. I'm weighing the options when it comes to playing with the easy ring. I mean, I like the idea of difficulty...but it's not real difficulty if it's just me repeating the same actions over and over again is it?
I guess I'll give that a try.

[Anonymous No.1238097]

The "fans" that says "Mother 1 isn't worth playing" have really stupid opinions. It's one of the best RPGs on the NES, and its story is more coherent than (and in my opinion better than) Earthbound's. The battle system is almost exactly the same, too.

I do think it'd be fine to play with the easy ring on the GBA version, but I'd only recommend doing it if you think replaying the early parts of the game (the only parts where you have to grind) would be too tedious.

[Anonymous No.1238109]

>>1238093
Some JRPG back then had a problem with grinding. Dragon Quest 3 and 4 never really had much of that problem (even after class changing in 3 and bring back to level 1 since you keep half your stats). But outside that nearly all JRPG had grinding issues on the NES. I felt the game was a nice but got almost painfully annoying about 2/3 because of the grinding. If you feel you can enjoy the normal NES version then go ahead and enjoy it. It's a nice sweet game.

[Anonymous No.1238146]

Mother 1 is beautiful and definitely should be played. 2 is not as much of a rehash of 1 as people claim it is, it just recycles the protagonist, kinda.
Every Mother game is worth playing. DO IT.

[Anonymous No.1238196]

Play and finish 2 and 3 before playing 1.

[Anonymous No.1238197]

>>1238196

Don't listen to this retard. 2 is way more enjoyable if you've played 1 first.

[Anonymous No.1238207]

You can play 3 whenever since it only shares the main antagonist and a couple of other characters from 2. Otherwise, it can stand alone.

[Anonymous No.1238247]

>>1238093
Why not just use fast forward when grinding?

[Anonymous No.1238268]

>>1238247
OP here.
I sometimes wish I could get rid of the fast forwarding to remove the temptation. I feel like I'm rushing if I do that.
I may just do it but yeah.
I think I'll wear the Easy Ring until I get to where i was before, and play the rest without.
Thanks for your opinions guys.
I plan to play through the gba version of mother1, then earthbound and mother 3.
May use the easy ring if it gets too tedious in mother.

[Anonymous No.1238357]

>>1238268
Good luck. Without the easy ring it could be rough. I'd at least use it on Mt. Itoi, or a little before then, because that portion of the game is just brutal.

[Anonymous No.1238360]

>>1238268
Good luck. Without the easy ring could be rough. I'd at least use it on Mt. Itoi, or a little before then, because that portion of the game is just brutal.

[Anonymous No.1238432]

OP, don't listen to the people who say play EB before Mother 1. DON'T.
Earthbound is a great game, and it's best enjoyed it you played Mother 1 first. If you play Mother 2 before 1 you might aswell do it completely backwards and play Mother 3 first, Mother 2 and then Mother 1... doesn't make any sense.

As other anons said, Mother is completely different plot-wise than Mother 2.. or rather, Mother 2 is the second part, with different characters. If you don't play Mother 1 first, you won't really know who the main antagonist in M2 is.

As for the grinding, I never had to grind in Mother 1. If we understand grinding as staying in the same place fighting weak enemies to level up. I just kept going forward, using the best strategies I could, and whenever I got my ass kicked I kept trying until I could get through. You will die a few times, nothing wrong with that. It's like Dragon Quest anyway, you don't lose your exp points or your proggress, just half your dosh.

>>1238196
Wrong, don't listen to him.

>>1238268
You can use the easy ring if you want but as I said, this game requires no grinding.
Some tips: be sure to get the magicant hook from the fish boss hidden in magicant's underground path. With it, you can always go back to Magicant, wherever you are. Can save your ass.
Use 4th D-Slip to run away from difficult battles, it works 100% of the times (at least, never failed to me) unlike the run command.
Not that you will really need to run away all the time, but have it into account.

The first time I playd through Mother 1 I wasn't aware of the magicant hook (somehow, I missed that item, or stored it and never used it at all) nor the 4th d-slip command, on my second playthrough I used those to my adventage and became a much easier experience.

Just remember, you aren't supposed to play this game as if it was a chore. Relax and enjoy it, every little bit of it. There's no rush anyway, I wish I could play through all the 3 games again for the first time.

[Anonymous No.1238458]

>>1238432
Thanks for the advice.
I'll see what it's like. From what I've gathered, it would be pretty inappropriate to play the second or third first.
Thanks for the input. I can tell I'm going to enjoy it.