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DialTheDude posted:So, why did the game feel the need to repeat Hinawa's message twice within an hour (reasonably)? I never quite got why the game focused a bit too much attention to it. Probably a bit of a nitpick, but I remember how slowly the game scrolls the letter for the player. The game could have easily showed Hinawa releasing the messenger bird sans the text dump and had the player find out what it said when Flint received it. Because they're two fundamentally different letters. The first time, we get the letter from the perspective of Hinawa, surrounded by family, during a playful vacation; the second time, we get it from the perspective of the husband who hasn't seen his family in a long while. Even if the two letters share the same text, they are very different experiences. I'm looking forward to this; my only experience with Mother 3 was the previous LP, and I'm not a big fan of narrative LPs so I burnt out on that one. This looks great so far!
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Aug 9, 2014 18:44
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Carbon dioxide posted:One thing about the Mother games is that the villages feel... alive. There's not just 3 people living in there saying the same single line all game long like in other RPGs. Yeah, every single NPC in this town has their own personality. And they act like actual people instead of just getting you from point A to point B. Like in this update, if this were an average JRPG, you'd have some NPC run in to say "Flint! Hinawa and the kids might be in trouble! Go save them, that's your next plot hook obviously!" and that'd be like the only thing they ever say. But here, when Isaac just meanders up, says he'll stand there under the awning to get in from the rain... asks about the kids... says you know, he was up in the mountains and heard this creepy stuff... it might've been... screams... This whole sequence was so unsettling, especially with that ambient rain in the background. It really made me feel invested in the search. That and the second reading of the letter: Cyphoderus posted:Because they're two fundamentally different letters. The first time, we get the letter from the perspective of Hinawa, surrounded by family, during a playful vacation; the second time, we get it from the perspective of the husband who hasn't seen his family in a long while. Even if the two letters share the same text, they are very different experiences. They even give each reading of it different music, which is a nice touch. Well, different arrangements of the same theme, but still. I really love this game's music. Although I like a lot of the Earthbound music better, Mother 3 has a different feel to it and its music fits it perfectly.
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Aug 9, 2014 22:56
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Carbon dioxide posted:One thing about the Mother games is that the villages feel... alive. There's not just 3 people living in there saying the same single line all game long like in other RPGs.
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Aug 9, 2014 23:09
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I do like how the conversations about plot points are a little meandering, and people are trying to avoid saying uncomfortable things to the guy who just saved a kid from a burning house.
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Aug 10, 2014 05:03
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Endorph posted:I can think of a few other RPGs that do a decent job at that. Trails in the Sky comes to mind. Grandia is another. The ongoing Screenshot LP is doing a good job of at least showing off the sheer variety of NPC dialog, and how it changes so rapidly and often. I have no idea who the writers for that game were, but they were not paid nearly enough for the sheer volume of words they put in. SMT games do this pretty well too, although it varies from game to game. Strange Journey has a static crop of NPC's in your shipmates who all have their own personalities and quirks, and your actions and morality choices determine how sane they remain throughout the arduous trials. Persona 3, too, has a number of townsfolk scattered around who have new dialog every month--there's a cabby whose ups and downs you chronicle, there's some school kid who wants a cat but his parents won't let him, and you get resolutions to all their stories by the end too. Final Fantasy IX does this really well too. The very first opening sequence in Alexandria really showcases the variety of personalities and color to the townsfolk.
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Aug 10, 2014 14:47
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SMT IV had most of the NPCs change dialogue as you progressed through the story. If you didn't talk to some NPCs at certain times, you wouldn't even learn the backstory of how the current situation happened. I'm pretty sure there are only like 2 NPCs that hint about a certain characteristic of the underground, and without it you can't figure out exactly what happened. These NPCs are pretty missable too, if you don't go back to areas and talk to all of the NPCs.
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Aug 10, 2014 15:22
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    And so Boney braved fearsome storms to fulfill his mission.  Navigated through ruined lands...  And twisted through difficult social situations...  Until at last, he reached his destination.  He attempted to rouse the man to action.  ...To no avail.  ...So Boney took matters into his own paws.    Eventually, Boney returned with Duster in tow, though at least not literally by the end.    At long last, it is time to put the thief skills you've studied since childhood to the test.   I hope this works...    Flint! Be careful coming up!    The Thief Arts are an incredible thing.Oh, did I not mention Wess is a master thief, and his son his apprentice? Yeah, that's a thing.   Another neat thing about this game is having one of the PCs be handicapped, in this case with Duster's bad leg. It'll come up a bit throughout the game.     That said, he's no slouch in combat. His attack stats are decent, but Duster is all about status effects, though right now he can only use Wall Staples to stun an enemy for several turns. Still, it's incredibly useful and works surprisingly often. I didn't fail to stun once in the next batch of enemies. Duster's regular attack is "Kick," and he attacks by kicking enemies with his bad leg.     Well, this isn't good. Maybe she's in the cave?   No, but there's some notable stuff in this one-room cave. First off, the pattern on the floor resembles the shape of Japan, as the walkthroughs I'm using helpfully pointed out. Second, the music is straight from Earthbound.  Third, there's moles.   These guys don't have a lot of HP and are easily dispatchable by three party members.  They're weak to fire and are incredibly prone to weeping. They get within a hundred feet of an onion, they burst into tears. The music name is quite appropriate for these sadsacks.    Wall Staples pin them down long to stop them from further tears.  I said no crying until the end, thank you. Nothing else of note in the cave besides yet more bread, so let's take the northern path.    Uh oh!  What're they doing...? Let's ask!     ...Maybe that wasn't the best idea.     Yes, our boss fight today is a cyborg caribou. It's pretty strong and quite beefy at 512HP.  Boney's offense is pretty limited here, so he works best as a healer tossing out food items to whoever needs them.  And you'll likely need some, because the Caribou hurts. That was close to outright knocking out Boney!  That said, it's pretty simple to trivialize this boss by using status effects. The Reconstructed Caribou is pretty susceptible to wall staples, and they'll stun it for two or three rounds.  I put my buffs on Flint, as he's my main source of damage this fight.  Two of Flint's Power Smashes plus the damage from Duster and Boney are enough to beat this guy.     With the cyborg caribou crushed completely, the pig-masks panic and perfectly prance away.  Flint picked up the notebook and read it. The following is written in poor handwriting: quote:All the creatures around here suck. We need to make 'em cooler. So the theme will be:  So the Reconstructed Caribou is the precursor to what will be the theme of a lot of the enemies in this game, being hybrids of various objects and what-not. Trust me, the enemies we'll meet will get pretty dang weird.    Unfortunately, the pig-masks get away before we could figure out why they have a cyborg caribou on this mountain in the middle of nowhere. But there is a sparrow!   (Allow me to explain "Skills" to you. Oh, sorry for being so sudden. Anyway, you and all your party members have special skills you can use during battle. These skills might be centered around items, physical actions, or whatever else. Basically, it's different for each person. For details, press Start to bring up the menu, and from there you can check everyone's skills from the "Status" screen. It'd be a real waste to neglect your special skills, so give it a try. Well, now to end this with a sparrow-like...chirp!)What the bird said. Flint's skills are great for groups of enemies or high-HP foes, while Duster's great for stunning enemies. That said, some characters have PSI powers instead of skills, though they end up being the same thing anyway. There's nothing else up there, so might as well get down and see if any progress has been made on the trees.     ...doesn't catch cold too... *sniffle*  It seems they fell into the river and washed up here. Come, Boney. I don't know why Boney doesn't get to see the kids, but whatever. At least the boys are safe! Doesn't seem like they've found Hinawa yet, though.      With everyone working together, there's nothing we can't do!  Oh, yeah, NOW you say that!  This forest would never do anything to hurt the people of Tazmily Village. If anyone ever dares hurt Hinawa... I'll... kick their butts. Even if it's a pillbug or an ant.Well, that's nice.   This way! This way!   And so the father and his sons were reunited. And yes, Lucas just spoke. The way this game handles its silent protagonists is kinda interesting, and I'll get into that later.   Here, everyone else should take a break and get warm, too.  After spending some time warming up, now we can talk to everyone.    I hope she comes back soon.  ...In any case, I'm just glad they're okay.  If you keep this up, you'll wind up worse off than her.   That's how WE grew to be adults, after all.Oh, right, we should see how the boys are doing.   You have to talk to them a bit before they actually start saying anything.   But even then, you won't get much out of them.  Suddenly, Bronson runs in.  Do you think maybe they finally found Hinawa?!Everyone else either repeat themselves or say "I wonder what Bronson wants," so let's talk to the man himself and see what's going on.   ...I'm not sure what to say... But just stay calm and hear me out. No... Let me start with the good news first. I figured you could probably use it. ...... The bad news is... It was......in your...    I think the only reason Claus and Lucas are safe and sound now is because Hinawa risked her life to protect them.    Please try to pull yourself together...   Claus and Lucas are watching!
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Aug 10, 2014 21:05
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This game can tell a hell of a story with its spritework.
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Aug 10, 2014 21:14
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"Hey, here's a weapon. By the way, it killed your wife." The Cariborg amused me, though. And Flint lashing out like that was a nice touch.
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Aug 10, 2014 21:27
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And yet all I can think is, "Didn't Lighter already give that 4x4 to Flint?".
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Aug 10, 2014 21:30
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Bronson is the worst.
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Aug 10, 2014 21:31
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Nihilarian posted:"Hey, here's a weapon. By the way, it killed your wife." Well, when you live an a peaceful utopia where nothing goes wrong, you lose the ability to tactfully deliver bad news.
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Aug 10, 2014 21:40
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No crying yet, but even though the last time I played was way back when the translation first came out, I started sniffling as soon as they found the cloth in the tree. I remember when I got to that part, I was thinking the story'd play out the way it does, then told myself "Nah, they'd never put something like THAT in a NINTENDO game. They usually didn't even let them use the word 'death/die/kill' in their games." Cue having to turn off the game after drying my eyes and not being able to pick it back up for a couple of months after the scene at the end of last update. It kinda shows just how much of a utopia their village actually is, that not a single person has any idea how to act (or react) when something that happens tens of thousands(+?) of times every single day in the real world happens to them. ^Also, Lighter probably has a whole HOUSE full of 4x4's, although they might be a little pitch black and covered with soot...
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Aug 10, 2014 21:44
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Kind of messed up way to break the news to him though. 'Flint I found this Drago tooth and made into a weapon for you since you're the always keeping the town safe! Buuuuuut it was kinda lodged in your wife's heart though...'
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Aug 10, 2014 21:51
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Man, this scene. Bronson's news is so wonderfully awkward.
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Aug 10, 2014 22:13
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kidcoelacanth posted:This game can tell a hell of a story with its spritework. Seriously, the spritework in this game is amazing and the way that scene was animated was so good. This scene was definitely a surprise when I first played, wasn't expecting the game to go that dark. Aside from the endgame of Earthbound, I don't believe the other two games in the series went into that sort of territory. I believe it was said somewhere that Itoi wanted people to name Hinawa after their own mother, probably so this scene had a bigger impact.
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Aug 10, 2014 22:40
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Mega64 posted:
As soon as I read this, I knew it would be  drat it Mother 3. If this is the beginning of the game, I might actually cry by the end.
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Aug 10, 2014 23:02
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I love how, as soon as things got a bit violent, Tessie runs to hold Lucas and Claus. That is an incredible touch. As for the silent protagonist thing, I'm guessing that we'll often be switching the point-of-view character we control, and when we're in their point of view we don't "hear" them?
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Aug 10, 2014 23:58
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No crying until the end B..but... this part... Even after playing through twice...it still gets to me...
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Aug 11, 2014 00:03
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a cat on an apple posted:I love how, as soon as things got a bit violent, Tessie runs to hold Lucas and Claus. That is an incredible touch. This is a fantastic, heartbreaking game. I played the Japanese version a few years back, and I can still make myself tear up, if not out-and-out cry, thinking of (something very near) the end.
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Aug 11, 2014 00:16
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This game is heart-breaking. Or should that be heart-piercing? Worse still, in my opinion, is that, as much of a gut punch with a burning-hot piece of wood as this is, everything that happens to the village from this point on is even sadder.
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Aug 11, 2014 00:22
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That animation of Flint just impotently punching the ground in grief and rage always gets me. a cat on an apple posted:I love how, as soon as things got a bit violent, Tessie runs to hold Lucas and Claus. That is an incredible touch. Hirayuki posted:And not just hold them--physically shield them from the violence, from seeing their father out of his mind. And it looks like she's closing her eyes, too, like you might in that situation, maybe telling the kids "It's okay, shh, close your eyes." Mother 3 really is a game all about the little touches. It's probably one of the most polished games I've ever played.
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Aug 11, 2014 01:09
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Started getting a bit of the sniffles from the music at the end of this section when I played it for the first time. For being a game that dips pretty often into nonsensical fantasy, Flint's reaction to the news was so...real.
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Aug 11, 2014 01:15
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I kind of had the understanding that Tazmily Village had never dealt with anything like this, which brings on Bronson's oblivious response. If so, then it's kind of the first upwelling of negative emotions in the town, as in they had never tapped into something this dark before. I played the game through before, and never really thought about it like that until this LP; Does somewhat make sense to me though. I've never cried playing a video game before, but this one would be the closest I'd ever come to it. Just one line did it (if you've played the game you know which one), but still, amazing game. Really can't wait to see it through again.
EllEssDee fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 01:56
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I remember naming Hinawa after my mom, thinking Hinawa didn't match with the rest of the family very well. My mom who had already died. Needless to say I bawled right around here.
Rabbi Raccoon fucked around with this message at 03:19 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 02:46
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So I'm curious - is "pitch black and covered in soot" some sort of pun or play on words on Japanese? It just seems a bit odd to say it with that sort of emphasis otherwise. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go back to preparing onions for a stew, which is clearly what I was doing prior to reading the end of the last update.
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Aug 11, 2014 03:05
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Welp now it's pretty obvious Brownie Brown had something to do with this. Not pulling any punches either. I'll cry whenever the hell I feel like it dammit 
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Aug 11, 2014 03:25
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EllEssDee posted:I kind of had the understanding that Tazmily Village had never dealt with anything like this, which brings on Bronson's oblivious response. If so, then it's kind of the first upwelling of negative emotions in the town, as in they had never tapped into something this dark before. I played the game through before, and never really thought about it like that until this LP; Does somewhat make sense to me though. I've never cried playing a video game before, but this one would be the closest I'd ever come to it. Just one line did it (if you've played the game you know which one), but still, amazing game. Really can't wait to see it through again. I don't know if we are think of the same line but...
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Aug 11, 2014 03:30
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EllEssDee fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 04:48
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Mega64 posted:
I feel I should point this out.
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Aug 11, 2014 04:59
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NO SPOILERS WHATSOEVER. NO TAGS, NOTHING.
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When I played this section the first time, I couldn't figure out why the characters seem to be building up to it so much. I mean, They wouldn't kill of a character like Hinawa, especially so soon. Then the news is delivered in such a blunt way it can't be anything but true. I didn't cry, but I was blown back and had to quit as soon as I could save. I just couldn't process things happening that way.
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Aug 11, 2014 05:46
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Mind blowing. I've never been able to play this game. Aren't Dragos peaceful? I'm confused and sad, and the sprite work during that pivotal scene is masterful. When the screen started flashing right after the news broke, when Flint was approaching Bronson, I almost thought it was going to be a battle.
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Aug 11, 2014 05:56
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The Mother series are excellent games but goddamn they are dark. There will be a mostly happy ending but there is going to be some serious depression before we get there if the prior games are to judge.
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Aug 11, 2014 06:47
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Neruz posted:The Mother series are excellent games but goddamn they are dark. There will be a mostly happy ending but there is going to be some serious depression before we get there if the prior games are to judge. Mother's darkness is mostly in 3. Earthbound's the most cheerful by a long shot, and Mother/Earthbound Zero's kinda in-between.
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Aug 11, 2014 08:11
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I only ever played Earthbound, but never finished it. (I burnt out trying to get the sword of kings) It's a nice touch of realism for someone to just swing a log blindly in rage at the loss of someone dear. So his Drago tooth is now supercharged by the love of the wife/mother? Anyway, considering the cariborg I expect to see mom back at some point. It would be a nice sucker punch for a game like this.
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Aug 11, 2014 08:27
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I like the difference to Lucas and Claus. Lucas seems shock of his mom dying. Claus seems angry about her death. They got really difference personalities.
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Aug 11, 2014 10:57
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Neruz posted:The Mother series are excellent games but goddamn they are dark. There will be a mostly happy ending but there is going to be some serious depression before we get there if the prior games are to judge. Not really. Mother 1 didn't really do anything like this, and it was mostly wacky throughout the game. Earthbound only got dark at the endgame, but it was a different kind of dark. Which is why this moment is a shocker, the other 2 games never did that kind of thing at all, it was completely unexpected.
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Aug 11, 2014 14:54
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I find it odd that a small, tight-knit community somehow has a place in it for a master thief and his lazybones apprentice/son. Why do they even call him a thief? Has he stolen a bunch of poo poo in the past? If so, why the hell is everyone so cheerful about having him around?
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Aug 11, 2014 20:40
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Hirayuki posted:And not just hold them--physically shield them from the violence, from seeing their father out of his mind. And it looks like she's closing her eyes, too, like you might in that situation, maybe telling the kids "It's okay, shh, close your eyes." I can't believe I missed this in my own play through. Too busy watching Flint completely lose his poo poo. Bravo, mother 3 team.
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Aug 11, 2014 20:57
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When I played the game this reveal made me laugh more than it made me sad. I am a terrible person.  Also since this is a fan made game it only makes sense that there is a fan made guide. It was made in the same vein as the strategy guide for Earthbound, right down to the clay model artwork.  You can buy a physical and/or digital copy and the walthrough sections are available for free. I'd post a link but even just going to the homepage has some very minor spoilers so I don't want to give anything away. It's made by Fangamer though, if anyone is interested in taking a peek.
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Aug 12, 2014 00:22
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