Mother 3 Chapter 4 Analysis

Let’s talk about game pacing. There’s multiple ways we can look at this topic. One way is generally- a slow hour of a game is important to note no matter what game we’re talking about. Another way of looking at it is on a game by game basis. For example, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive 50-60 hour behemoth. And if 3-4 hours of the main story are kinda slow, does it really impact the game overall?

I think a lot of people would get turned off by the first three chapters of Mother 3. At least with Chapters 2 and 3 specifically. Chapter 1 sets up a tragedy. Chapter 2 takes that tragedy away from the player and puts them in a peculiar role. Chapter 3 plants some final narrative seeds. Overall, it takes me on average five hours to finish the first three chapters of Mother 3. Five hours to finish what I consider the prologue.

Is that bad? Kingdom Hearts II has a massive prologue spanning almost three hours. Twilight Princess has a similarly slow intro. Persona 4 and 5 infamously don’t get really started until the seven or eight hour mark. I think it’s important to judge pacing on a game by game basis.

It’s also important to note that Mother 3 does allow the player to play with its core gameplay systems almost immediately. There are plenty of battles and abilities for the player to tinker with. Another thing to note is that in EarthBound, it takes roughly three hours for the player to get their first party member, Paula. To me, having more than one party member is when a JRPG really begins (unless of course its Dragon Quest I). When you have more than one party member to use, you have multiple skillsets and more gameplay to engage with per turn. Games usually get harder at this point as well. Mother 3 technically does this much faster than EarthBound, but because the POV keeps shifting, you go back to being alone many times.

I have a hard time gathering my feelings on these first three chapters of Mother 3. By no means are they bad. And on a first playthrough they can be pretty enthralling and mysterious in good ways. But for replays, they can be kind of a slog. Luckily for now, the prologue is over, and our POV stays in the role of protagonist Lucas.

We wake up still in our pajamas. When we attempt to go outside, we get a flashback of our mother Hinawa telling us to change our clothes. I love that somehow this little GBA game does such an excellent job at portraying grief. Sometimes the smallest things like pajamas can remind us of somebody long gone. And it hurts…

Thank you again to mother3tribute.com for allowing free use of your amazing pieces of art!

It has officially been three years since that hectic finale in the forest with Lucas, the dragos, Kumatora, Wess, Salsa and Fasaad. Sadly, we see it was all for naught.

Tazmily Village has become much less of a village and more of a miniature city. The small wooden Yado Inn is now a full on hotel. Shops now “sell” things for “money”. Yes, Fasaad has gotten his wish; there is now a currency system in Mother 3. Many of the villagers now take a train to work their jobs at a factory. Trains? Factory? Jobs? Yeah. Things are starting to seem a little more realistic than the cute little village we saw at the beginning of the game.

There’s a new gameplay mechanic called “DP” aka “Dragon Power”. This is the name of the currency now established in the Nowhere Islands. Our save points now act as ATMs like from Mother 1 and EarthBound. This means Mother 3 starts feeling like a normal JRPG with shops containing weapons and armor.

Everybody now own a “Happy Box” in their house. If you don’t remember, a Happy Box is essentially a computer. The only home that seemingly doesn’t have one is that of Lucas and Flint. Suspiciously, lightning keeps striking near their house. And only near their house.

We even get a sad glimpse of the worn down retirement home that houses Alec and Wess now. It’s dirty and suffering from leaks. We learn from Wess that somebody who looks like his son Duster is playing bass in a band near the factory where everyone now works. Wess begs Lucas to go investigate. And thus the main plot of this chapter.

Chapter 4 is when we can finally settle down and feel comfy in the shoes of our main character. No more POV shifts. We can get comfortable with using PSI abilities too. There’s a slightly tedious part where you have to do a part-time job in order to get tickets to the club where Duster is. It’s nothing crazy, but noteworthy nonetheless. When we get to the club we can look through some tourists binoculars. The land looks very different now. It’s developed and industrial. There’s a strange tower with a giant yellow sphere on top…

It’s a very fulfilling chapter because we link back up with Kumatora in a scene reminiscent of the coffee scene from EarthBound (but nowhere near as impactful). In case you haven’t guessed it yet, we’ll be getting our full JRPG party soon- Lucas, Duster, Kumatora and Boney.

There’s a particularly challenging boss at the end of this chapter much like in Chapter 1. It’s technically a trio of enemies that do two attacks to both of your party members. The main issue from this boss is that their attack animation is so slow that you don’t have time to eat food or cast PSI Lifeup. It’s a frustrating fight.

By the end of the chapter, we have a party of four members all with their own unique abilities. There’s a currency system, and even a storage system that’s easier to use than EarthBounds. We’re incentivized to grind for EXP and money. Things are starting to look like a true JRPG!