the plot twist being that it's not that you can't play it because of the lack of an official translation but that the first chapter is so sad you won't be able to finish it 😔
In Queen Mary's Castle there is an NPC that tells you that Mary frequently wakes from a nightmare where she is punishing a child, and then cries out waking up in a cold sweat. Then he says that "something bad must have happened to her." I think the obvious explanation to this is that Giegue killed Maria by accident as a kid. A psychic temper tantrum that a human mind was not prepared to handle. This explains why George didn't take Maria with him during his escape. When you sing to him, you're reminding him of the worst trauma he can never forget, making him break down into tears, defeating his will to fight. Just like the advertisement said, "No crying until the end."
I don't know what this dialogue was localized to say by Sandhop and NoA but this is how it's said in the original Japanese and in Tomato's faithful fan translation which is what I played
In Mother Cognitive Dissonance, the reason why George didn't escape to Earth with Maria is because they had planned to escape together, with Giegue, but when the rest of Giegue's kind found out, they basically forced him to use his powers on Mary, turning her into one of those pink shells that transport you to Magicant. So that fits along with what you said, in a way.
@@whichcache2517 CogDis is a Masterpiece and I genuinely like it better than the 3 official games in my personal opinion. Also, those pink swirls have a name in the original japanese. They're called God's Tails. Remember that Japan is a polytheistic culture, so "Kami" the word for god doesn't mean big man upstairs god but rather a term for various deities. The name Magicant and how Maria's is a fantasy kingdom of magic indicate to me that, since she is a woman from the turn of the 20th century, she interpreted her abduction as like being thrown into the works of Lewis Carroll like Alice in Wonderland. The Alien Gyiyg-race like Gods and their PSI akin to magic spells. When she lost her memories upon death this emotional feeling stayed with her spirit as it was psychically absorbed into what she would name "Magicant" She is the divine feminine, an inverted virgin mary by circumstance who sees even the terrifying unknown as worth showing compassion for. Meanwhile George is the divine masculine, a Prometheus who gifts sacred fire to mankind while refusing to ever be caged. They're perfect. Notice how the God's Tails, many structures in Magicant, Niiue's tail, the Gravestone and Giegue's robot designed to guard it are all marked "XX." The two chromosomes in a human woman. Maybe the symbol was Giegue's creation based on her genetic data to memorialize her, or maybe it's an ancient Gyiyg-race symbol for love that prophetically aligned with her, but either way it makes this even more apparent. When she perishes before his eyes in CogDis I can only imagine George looks at "Googie" with the most horrified hateful expression, unable to think of him as anything other than hellspawn. A glare that would cement his hatred in his psyche for decades to come. And eventually, an accusation he would tragically prove correct. …but btw Severance is canon and I refuse to budge from that position.
Knowing the story of Mother 1, it makes the ending to Earthbound even sadder. We see Gygias deciding to get his revenge, give into the darker side of himself, and then possibly get manipulated by Porky into becoming a mindless monster.
Wow, i tought it was the absolute other way around, with Gyigas' power making Porky become twisted beyond repair. To be fair, i have never understood Porky as a character. He is such an enigma to me, but that makes the character way more interesting.
@@creisoldacc It is hard to get a handle on Porky as a character, especially since it's really unclear if the Mani-Mani statue is what starts corrupting him or if it's just the way he was brought up that messed him up. My interpretation is that Porky was back in time for a longer amount of time than Ness and the gang, and he ended up pushing Gyigas a bit harder to immerse himself in the Devil's Machine more and more by playing on his fear of dying to Ness and his hatred for humans.
@@creisoldacc I think its both, they made eachothers way worse. We can clearly see Porky is under Giygas' influence during the final fight but it also seem Porky manipulated him toward the end.
Possibly? It's 100% exactly that Porky outsmarts him and manipulates him into doing his bidding for him. Porky being more evil than Gyiyg is just a horrifying truth.
I've been waiting years for someone to analyze Giygas as a character. The indescribable force of evil in Earthbound always seems to overshadow his first incarnation. But I've always loved his story in Mother 1. He was used and betrayed by everyone in his life, except Maria. She was the only one who saw him as a person rather than an experiment or a tool. At the end of the day, Giygas was a hurt boy who misses his mom. Excellent work as always.
18:53. quick correction. Even though the actual game doesnt state why the mansion is haunted, the encyclopedia mother(that was the companion piece to the game much like the player guide in earthbound) states that the rosemarys, an afluent family in the region once had a girl that was very deformed, they were afraid that the girl would taint their reputation and power, so they buld in secret a mansion on the outskirts of the town and locked the girl in the basement, and in case she came out of the basement the house was deliberatly desing to be a maze so she could never get out. but in the basement they also put a piano in wich she would always play, and whoever came close to the mansion could still hear a faint piano melody coming from within the house.[
@@FzeroVaporeon yes, but it also fits with the spooky vibe that spookane and the rosemary mansion are going for. and iirc thats the only time the encyclopedia gets this dark with the lore.
the mother fandom is legitimately the one fandom i know that outdoes klonoa's in dedication and insanity without devolving into degeneracy and infighting they'll very literally develop an entire game just to satisfy their hunger for the emotions the series made them feel and as a matter of fact, there are two mother 4s being worked on at this exact moment
"i wouldnt trust him a butter knife". you know, Teddy was originally supposed to attack the gang with a military type knife, not fists. But as usual its only kept in the original japanese version
honestly even though its probably not faithful to how it was in the original, i much prefer the idea of teddy just beating the shit out of incomprehensible horrors lol he'd probably do that
This is actually the Best Review of the First game I have ever seen. I have seen reviews where people bash on all of its less polished aspects (Difficulty, map design, Mount itoi, Story and Dialogue, DUNGEON DESIGN HOW THE HECK DID YOU NOT MENTION THAT BS FACTORY DUNGEON) but spent more time actually trying to understand what it was going for. The game really was just way ahead of its time. You did it justice here. I think the reason why Mother 2 and 3 are talked about more is simply because they are Mother 1 executed in a much better way. Now do Mother 3 ;) (Emotionally prepare yourself…)
I expected a silly video, and now I'm in tears over Giygas and the song and Maria and George and Teddy and EVE and every single thing about this game I've never even looked at twice. Fucks sake, this is one of the best video essays I've watched, and now one of my favorite video essays of all time. Thank you.
I think videos like these are extremely important to maintaining interest in the Mother series, let alone older games in general, so I wanna heavily thank you for making an awesome video like this. Keep up the great work!
Oh, interesting note on the story, but the version that you go over here has a significant mistranslation on the subject of George that wildly changes the original context. While George did steal information from Giygas's people and flee from his captors, he didn't do so just for kicks. The information he stole was a vital part of their plans. As in, their (pre-existing) plans to conquer Earth. Earthbound's lore around the Scaraba pyramid also expands on this and tells us that Giygas's people have been trying on and off to take over the Earth every 1000 or so years for millennia. So them attacking in Mother 1 wasn't really revenge for anything George did, or if you think of it as such, it was vengeance for... trying to stop them from taking over the world. I think I give him a pass on that one. Also worth noting, PSI has existed on Earth for thousands (Magypsies) to millions (dinosaurs) of years, so it wasn't George who introduced PSI to Earth. It's entirely possible even that he began studying PSI before being abducted, or even after he returned. Either way, he did eventually somehow discover(?) the tails that lead to Magicant, and learn about Ninten and the Melodies. A final interesting note here is about EVE. If you leave Mt. Itoi or die, and then return, EVE will be lying there destroyed, and the R7038XX will be gone. In other words, it wasn't hunting the kids. It was meant for EVE. You were right to point out that it's similar looking to the other giant robots, even having similarly ridiculous stats. My theory is, that's because that's exactly what she is. I think EVE, or the technology to create her, was the vital information that George stole to thwart their plans. Beyond that, though, I think your take on Giygas does still get to the heart of it. He lets himself be consumed by the perceived betrayal of George, loses himself in the hurt he felt and the hate that his people held toward humanity. And when in the end he is met with and overwhelmed by the love that remained in his heart... he ran. Instead of letting himself rekindle that love, he swore to overcome it, and embraced the hatred in his heart, becoming a cosmic destroyer. And toward the end of Earthbound, it was that hate and fear (now aimed at Ness) that fueled and empowered him to become the very incarnation of Evil itself, at the cost of tearing his mind and body apart. And in the end, once again it was the very love he willfully chose to forsake that destroyed him. For some more in-depth information on this, I recommend this thread on Starmen.Net: forum.starmen.net/forum/Games/Mother1/Giygas-s-Motivations-and-the-Origins-of-PSI/page/1#post2288046 My friend goes over Giygas's motivations in pretty great detail here.
I find it really cool that Earthbound reuses the encounter jingle and battle theme from this game for the sanctuary guardians. It gives a strange sense of continuity at gravitas that those themes and encounters
okay crap i didn't expect the comedic essay to get deep at the ending but yknow what im not complaining bc philosophising on this silly little game from the 80s is also my favorite activity thank you for putting so much thought and love into this, m1s story is so compelling and not a lot of people really see it
If you haven't already, you should check out the soundtrack album that was released around the same time that the game came out. It's a total anomaly because it's full of vocal arrangements with lyrics that expand on the little half-ideas presented in the game. Wisdom of the World gets me choked up every time I listen to it.
The thing I always loved about Mother 1 was the fact that you could feel the heart behind it! Especially if you listen to the vocal album for the game, there's just so much behind the game itself that the technology of the time couldn't portray, and just so much potential behind all its ideas! Mother Encore has been an incredibly pleasant surprise for me ever since I first heard about it, and I am so excited to see what they're cooking!
I found this channel less than a day ago and I am already loving it and craving more. I’m BEGGING you to try and cover the fan-made kinda-prequel Mother: Cognitive Dissonance after Mother 3. It’s a great fangame and it explores Giygas’ origins and just what happened to him, George, and Maria, as well as connecting Mother 1 to Earthbound. There’s some flaws (slow overworld traversal, sluggish start, little handholding from chapter 5 onwards) and a guide is very recommended for certain things coughcoughalternate/bestendingscough but the story more than makes up for it. A word of caution, if you do try it, know that the first two or three chapters can be a bit sluggish but it DOES get better, much better. Also little tip #2: the game’s Your Sanctuary points or Points of Power are out of the way, some aren’t even told to you. They’re optional but they’re the ONLY way you get new PSI moves, so you SHOULD find them.
He was like "nobodys ever gonna bring this game back", and I was about to comment "you forgot about mother encore!", then I noticed there was a bit of video left and then I was like yeah thats what I thought.
We are taking a melody simple as it can be with this one 🗣🔥 (God i just finished watching the video, if the final battle part of this video was so emotional, i can't imagine how HARD will the finale of Mother 3 go... looking foward to that)
The segment from 50:55 onward really hits hard. I think it's genuinely good you did Earthbound before this, because most youtubers would care TOO MUCH about being "cringe" To put that amount of emotion into that speech. You didn't care, and that's awesome
I mean this as nothing but a compliment, but your squeaky, childesque voice is a breath of fresh air for a website filled with either Everymen or SigmaChadDeepVoice.
Dude, your reaction to Mother Encore was the same as mine. I held a smile all the way through the entire demo I couldn't believe what I was playing and that I was actually playing it. It is awesome.
Nintendo has the means and technology to express Mother 1 in the way that Itoi originally envisioned. They haven't done it yet, and probably won't. Which is actually very sad.
I’m pretty sure Nintendo has to get Itoi’s permission to green light a new Mother game- it’s why there hasn’t been anything game-wise aside from the obligatory Virtual Console release.
This video is so good charjie, you brought me in with the goofs and the gafs and then ended with the really compelling and sad story at the end of the day. The fan project looks so freaking cool I really hope I'll eventually get to play it
YOOOOO THAT REMAKE LOOKS GORGEUS, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!! I just need to play it oh my god. Mother Encore looks Gorgeous.
This is legit one of the best review/essay vid ever. I first played mother 1 on Wii U virtual console smoothly tell it was special, but was blocked by the old tech to fully enjoy it. Mother encore looks crazy amazing
Holy cow! This is one of the best videos covering MOTHER 1 on this platform. MOTHER 1 was the first game that I played in the series, and it resides in a special place in my heart. While I prefer EarthBound/MOTHER 2, the story, themes, and music is what makes MOTHER 1 so special. How you describe the ending of the game - how you poured your emotions into it - it is phenomenal. Nearly made me tear up. Keep up the good work!
I love Mother 1 so much. Even despite being on limited hardware, it tells such cool and beautiful narrative. I cried so hard at the end the first time I played it. Even now I'm tearing up thinking about it. Just absolutely brilliant. Edit: Glad you mentioned Encore too. I'm so unbelievably excited for that!
I'm not gonna lie, the way you talked about the ending going very in depth. that was a beautiful way to talk about it. take that as you will but you did a great job.
I have never (and might never) played any of the mother games, but the story of every single game has been a fascination of mine for years. These videos you put out are amazing man, the way you really focus on those aspects rather than heavily criticizing their limitations is amazing. Mother treats such dark themes while simultaneously being just so wholesome and optimistic, and you have captured that so well so far. I'm excited to see a Mother 3 video if you're planning on doing it
I liked your last video a whole lot, but this one just takes the damn cake. This was genuinely one of the best together video game essays I have seen. You have beyond earned my subscription and future viewership.
i love mother 1 a lot, and i love giygas as a villian. i literally even wrote a whole essay about him for college lmao. idk, theres just something about his story thats super interesting and sad to me, more than any other game villian, even if almost none of it is ever directly said. I like to think about what could have possibly happened to him after mother 1 that lead to whatever tf we see him as at the end of earthbound with his big red screaming face and all. having to kill him while knowing his story in mother 1 just makes me sad. this is a very good video
god i wanna watch this so badly but i havent played mother yet and i wanna make sure i dont spoil a nything before i actually play it because like it seems so great from what ive heard i really hope its as good as ive heard it was and keep making these videos man ill come back when i finish mother fr
Your videos make me grin so hard, so much goofy personality and good editing! Also thank you for not cramming the video with memes, i greatly appreciate how spaced out they are :D
I can’t believe I felt the briefest amount of hope at the end of this video. I thought, though some miracle, that Encore was an official Nintendo game. I was but a fool.
If Nintendo’s ego wasn’t through the roof, then Nintendo could officially license MOTHER: Encore so it would be an official MOTHER 1 re-imagining. That’ll sadly never happen though, so for now and really since forever MOTHER fans will be stuck doing the heavy-lifting in terms of keeping the MOTHER franchise in the gaze for modern-day gamers to notice.
Your content about the Mother series genuinely makes me so happy. The amount of detail, humor and care that you put in these videos is priceless. As someone who has been a die hard fan of the franchise for 14 years, I appreciate so much what you've done with your videos. Thank you for making me laugh and cry with your essays about Mother 1 and Earthbound💕
I’m really glad that in between the grind and we ball nature of the journey, you saw the art in Mother. Your conveyance of the final encounter was straight up beautiful dude.
You know, it's wild. As you were doing that closer, talking about how great Mother 1 could be if it was brought to modern standards. I just so happen to think, "Oh hey, there's a fan game out there doing just that." Then, right before I was about to comment about it, it appeared on screen. What timing.
bro took a 3-year haitus, comes back and blows tf up with Mother/Earthbound retrospectives, I hope the rest of your content is locked tf in like this cuz I love it
This game feels so *esoteric*. It's weird how it's grounded/limited in early DragonQuest and FinalFantasy mechanics, but the oddity of future Mother games is definitely here. (It really is just DragonQuest reskinned into Shigesato's internal madness 100%)
Just wanted to say that your Earthbound and MOTHER videos popped up in my recommended and I'm so glad I watched them. They're funny and well explained. It's really refreshing to see a younger person's take on this series. If you thought this game got heavy, just wait till you play Mother 3, one of my favorite games of all time. So much so, that I made the Dutch translation for it! Just remember that its tagline is 'Strange. Funny. Heartrending.' for a reason.
I legit think you might name the final video in this trilogy something related to being emotionally damaged by Mother 3. I'M SUPER enjoying these videos and I hope Mother 3 is a life destroying emotional roller coaster like it was for me.
This is probably one of my favorite videos of all time. I was never really interested into Mother 1 even though I knew it had more personal story. This video brought a lot of light and im glad i watched it
Mother holds such a dear place in my heart, and I haven’t even beaten earthbound or mother 3. I get that it has flaws and is a grindfest but how it maximizes every part of the NES felt mind-blowing as far as storytelling and the soundtrack is concerned. Anyways just wanted to share my thoughts I haven’t even finished your video yet Charjie can’t wait to see you either love it or hate it or both ❤❤
Thank you for covering this game! I've played the whole Mother series - Albeit, only after learning most of the spoilers from Smash Bros and the like - And the arduous gauntlet that Mother 1 provided somehow worked in its favour for me, because it got me so dang invested. Like, I knew what happened to EVE in advance, but it still got me. Weirdly, Mother 1 resonated more with me than Earthbound did, because it wasn't all tied up in a grand-scale intergalactic armageddon and chosen one prophecies, it was a journey that felt personal.
Just for your edification... Maria is pronounced Mah - ree - ah. (Or Muh ree ah, depending on how you read.) West Side Story has an entire song about Tony being in love just from hearing her name, I'd highly recommend it just for musical culture. :D
So glad I found your channel. I love these types of vids. The kind where you can put ‘em on, grab some pretzels(best snack food btw), and just chill out. Your editing is top notch and I can’t wait to see more
Kinda late to this review but, hey never mind that. Great video, it serves very well to show why we all love this series so much. I think that the end analysis is spot on, I’d add that, it ties very well to the general themes of the games, one way or the other, I think the games focus on the idea of love as humanity’s force of salvation. Although on the surface it may sound cliché, it’s so well executed on the games, that you can’t help but get this overwhelming feeling of warmth and vulnerability once you get to the end of them. This theme connects very well to the name of the series, inspired by the song “Mother” by John Lennon, I think that Itoi decided to express this same feeling of bitterness upon abandonment from your parents through giygas, yet, also presenting the other side of the coin which is the warm feeling of having other people who care about you in your life, which is shown through all the people willing to help ninten throughout his journey, that’s why I agree with your analysis. I think that the ending of mother dwelves upon the feeling of abandonment, conflict between those feelings of desperately craving for that parental love, yet feeling spiteful towards all of humanity because in a sense, it’s their own humanity which took that away from him. Giygas ends up defeated because he just can’t handle all those emotions at the moment, it’s kind of when you get angry with someone you love, only to realize that, well, you still love them (hence why he offers ninten to be saved, as a way to find a middle ground, let’s say) and since you still love them, you can’t just hurt them outright, it might feel good initially, but it just feels wrong by the time you become conscious about what you’ve done, that’s why Giygas just gives up, and tells them he’ll come back later, because although they made giygas remember what it’s like to be human, what it’s like to feel loved, that isn’t a definitive solution to his profound trauma, which in my opinion only makes the game more grounded and real. It’s why I think that Mother has such a passionate fanbase, in reality, it’s such a passionate game that deals with such fundamental themes about our own human existence, creating contrast through, well, giygas who’s an alien who feels alienated (pun intended), and the protagonists which tend to be down to earth, yet courageous kids who through their journey, make friends, and explore all the aspects of whats so awesome about being a kid, about being a human, it’s inspiring. The games just ooze with this warm feeling of love for life, love of just being and enjoying all that life has to offer, and that’s what makes a piece of art become truly great, it’s ability to inspire people to just live.
Mother 1's def my fav in the series, I know it's not the best but the style and story it tells just hits me. I saw your Earthbound video an hour after it came out and loved it, so this was a real treat!! Nice Ninten shirt btw, I just got one from Lacoste with the right pattern (took me years so i know the struggle), I need to seam rip the tiny gator patch off it but it's great!! Also you can go to Richardson custom fitted caps to get a custom ninten/ness hat w/o the adjuster on back like the models/commercial! (i have the hookups for mother 1 commercial cosplaying, i've been obsessing over this thing for years lol)
One thing I love about Mother 1 that 2 and 3 do differently is combat. Whereas in those games stat boosting moves are lackluster, in Mother 1 they are the bread and butter of combat. It gives such a different experience and approach to combat, and I think it’s pretty cool. Amazing Ninten cosplay by the way!
So pumped for Charjie's 3 hour video entitled "You cannot play Mother 3"
man, the first hour will knock you on your ass and make you cry.
the plot twist being that it's not that you can't play it because of the lack of an official translation but that the first chapter is so sad you won't be able to finish it 😔
Localization joke?
Actually I did
In Queen Mary's Castle there is an NPC that tells you that Mary frequently wakes from a nightmare where she is punishing a child, and then cries out waking up in a cold sweat. Then he says that "something bad must have happened to her."
I think the obvious explanation to this is that Giegue killed Maria by accident as a kid. A psychic temper tantrum that a human mind was not prepared to handle. This explains why George didn't take Maria with him during his escape.
When you sing to him, you're reminding him of the worst trauma he can never forget, making him break down into tears, defeating his will to fight. Just like the advertisement said, "No crying until the end."
I don't know what this dialogue was localized to say by Sandhop and NoA but this is how it's said in the original Japanese and in Tomato's faithful fan translation which is what I played
that puts it in a whole new perspective
wait why is this so interesting
In Mother Cognitive Dissonance, the reason why George didn't escape to Earth with Maria is because they had planned to escape together, with Giegue, but when the rest of Giegue's kind found out, they basically forced him to use his powers on Mary, turning her into one of those pink shells that transport you to Magicant.
So that fits along with what you said, in a way.
@@whichcache2517 CogDis is a Masterpiece and I genuinely like it better than the 3 official games in my personal opinion. Also, those pink swirls have a name in the original japanese. They're called God's Tails. Remember that Japan is a polytheistic culture, so "Kami" the word for god doesn't mean big man upstairs god but rather a term for various deities.
The name Magicant and how Maria's is a fantasy kingdom of magic indicate to me that, since she is a woman from the turn of the 20th century, she interpreted her abduction as like being thrown into the works of Lewis Carroll like Alice in Wonderland. The Alien Gyiyg-race like Gods and their PSI akin to magic spells. When she lost her memories upon death this emotional feeling stayed with her spirit as it was psychically absorbed into what she would name "Magicant"
She is the divine feminine, an inverted virgin mary by circumstance who sees even the terrifying unknown as worth showing compassion for. Meanwhile George is the divine masculine, a Prometheus who gifts sacred fire to mankind while refusing to ever be caged. They're perfect.
Notice how the God's Tails, many structures in Magicant, Niiue's tail, the Gravestone and Giegue's robot designed to guard it are all marked "XX." The two chromosomes in a human woman. Maybe the symbol was Giegue's creation based on her genetic data to memorialize her, or maybe it's an ancient Gyiyg-race symbol for love that prophetically aligned with her, but either way it makes this even more apparent.
When she perishes before his eyes in CogDis I can only imagine George looks at "Googie" with the most horrified hateful expression, unable to think of him as anything other than hellspawn. A glare that would cement his hatred in his psyche for decades to come. And eventually, an accusation he would tragically prove correct.
…but btw Severance is canon and I refuse to budge from that position.
I think more TH-camrs should get into costume when making video essays
I agree I also,I saw a persona 5 royal one where they got into costume
The youtuber Majuular did a video on the Cdi zelda games and he was dressed as the king the whole time 😂
I mean, Up Is Not Jump does his video essays in costumes too!!! And he's pretty funny
The Jenny Nicholson effect
Absolutely
Knowing the story of Mother 1, it makes the ending to Earthbound even sadder. We see Gygias deciding to get his revenge, give into the darker side of himself, and then possibly get manipulated by Porky into becoming a mindless monster.
As powerful as he was, it was always the people around him that warped him into a monster.
Wow, i tought it was the absolute other way around, with Gyigas' power making Porky become twisted beyond repair. To be fair, i have never understood Porky as a character. He is such an enigma to me, but that makes the character way more interesting.
@@creisoldacc It is hard to get a handle on Porky as a character, especially since it's really unclear if the Mani-Mani statue is what starts corrupting him or if it's just the way he was brought up that messed him up.
My interpretation is that Porky was back in time for a longer amount of time than Ness and the gang, and he ended up pushing Gyigas a bit harder to immerse himself in the Devil's Machine more and more by playing on his fear of dying to Ness and his hatred for humans.
@@creisoldacc I think its both, they made eachothers way worse. We can clearly see Porky is under Giygas' influence during the final fight but it also seem Porky manipulated him toward the end.
Possibly? It's 100% exactly that Porky outsmarts him and manipulates him into doing his bidding for him. Porky being more evil than Gyiyg is just a horrifying truth.
I've been waiting years for someone to analyze Giygas as a character. The indescribable force of evil in Earthbound always seems to overshadow his first incarnation. But I've always loved his story in Mother 1. He was used and betrayed by everyone in his life, except Maria. She was the only one who saw him as a person rather than an experiment or a tool.
At the end of the day, Giygas was a hurt boy who misses his mom.
Excellent work as always.
18:53. quick correction. Even though the actual game doesnt state why the mansion is haunted, the encyclopedia mother(that was the companion piece to the game much like the player guide in earthbound) states that the rosemarys, an afluent family in the region once had a girl that was very deformed, they were afraid that the girl would taint their reputation and power, so they buld in secret a mansion on the outskirts of the town and locked the girl in the basement, and in case she came out of the basement the house was deliberatly desing to be a maze so she could never get out. but in the basement they also put a piano in wich she would always play, and whoever came close to the mansion could still hear a faint piano melody coming from within the house.[
Damn that's really fucked up
@@FzeroVaporeon yes, but it also fits with the spooky vibe that spookane and the rosemary mansion are going for. and iirc thats the only time the encyclopedia gets this dark with the lore.
Might be a reference to rosemary kennedy
I mean yeah, that’s basically what they did to kids with disabilities back in the day :(
Wow I had no idea I assumed it was mischievous Mooks hiding around trying to guard a source of PSI in the piano
Can’t believe the plot came down to S(he) be(lie)ve(d)
sbeve
sbeve
sbeve sbren
Truly a sbeve moment, cry if you cried
Sbeve is the best anime character
Holy shit, I'm so happy you ended with a shoutout to Mother Encore, it deserves every bit of love and attention it can get.
the mother fandom is legitimately the one fandom i know that outdoes klonoa's in dedication and insanity without devolving into degeneracy and infighting
they'll very literally develop an entire game just to satisfy their hunger for the emotions the series made them feel
and as a matter of fact, there are two mother 4s being worked on at this exact moment
Not really… Oddity I s Mother 4 now, and I don’t think that it’s even real anymore…
@@jamesonwhite167 there is actually another mother 4 being worked on, so let's hope this one goes well
@@jamesonwhite167Oddity was never a real game.
I thought the series was already finished since we got 3 mother games? Did I miss something?
@@bullwrinkle29studiosshow37 they're fangames
The fucking _counter_ that goes up every time you bump into a wall is _hysterical_
not
Expected Giegue mispronunciation, stayed for Maria mispronunciation
Geege
Why would you stay after that?
So you're saying I should quit 1:50 in? @@Flamsterette
@@CLOYO Yes.
guygee
"i wouldnt trust him a butter knife". you know, Teddy was originally supposed to attack the gang with a military type knife, not fists. But as usual its only kept in the original japanese version
they then proceeded to let franky use a knife in the next game
honestly even though its probably not faithful to how it was in the original, i much prefer the idea of teddy just beating the shit out of incomprehensible horrors lol he'd probably do that
I like how Gaigus is technically Ninten's adopted uncle
*Grunkle
"Its your Grunkle Giegue"
GAIGUS???? 😭
"its my brother, giegas"- grunkle giegue after freeing his long lost brother from a portal
59:57
Fun Fact:
Pippi indeed was originally a boss fight, Ninten would have to shake off "Pseudo-zombifying" from her
This is actually the Best Review of the First game I have ever seen. I have seen reviews where people bash on all of its less polished aspects (Difficulty, map design, Mount itoi, Story and Dialogue, DUNGEON DESIGN HOW THE HECK DID YOU NOT MENTION THAT BS FACTORY DUNGEON) but spent more time actually trying to understand what it was going for. The game really was just way ahead of its time. You did it justice here. I think the reason why Mother 2 and 3 are talked about more is simply because they are Mother 1 executed in a much better way.
Now do Mother 3 ;) (Emotionally prepare yourself…)
I expected a silly video, and now I'm in tears over Giygas and the song and Maria and George and Teddy and EVE and every single thing about this game I've never even looked at twice. Fucks sake, this is one of the best video essays I've watched, and now one of my favorite video essays of all time. Thank you.
I think videos like these are extremely important to maintaining interest in the Mother series, let alone older games in general, so I wanna heavily thank you for making an awesome video like this. Keep up the great work!
Oh, interesting note on the story, but the version that you go over here has a significant mistranslation on the subject of George that wildly changes the original context. While George did steal information from Giygas's people and flee from his captors, he didn't do so just for kicks. The information he stole was a vital part of their plans. As in, their (pre-existing) plans to conquer Earth. Earthbound's lore around the Scaraba pyramid also expands on this and tells us that Giygas's people have been trying on and off to take over the Earth every 1000 or so years for millennia. So them attacking in Mother 1 wasn't really revenge for anything George did, or if you think of it as such, it was vengeance for... trying to stop them from taking over the world. I think I give him a pass on that one.
Also worth noting, PSI has existed on Earth for thousands (Magypsies) to millions (dinosaurs) of years, so it wasn't George who introduced PSI to Earth. It's entirely possible even that he began studying PSI before being abducted, or even after he returned. Either way, he did eventually somehow discover(?) the tails that lead to Magicant, and learn about Ninten and the Melodies. A final interesting note here is about EVE. If you leave Mt. Itoi or die, and then return, EVE will be lying there destroyed, and the R7038XX will be gone. In other words, it wasn't hunting the kids. It was meant for EVE. You were right to point out that it's similar looking to the other giant robots, even having similarly ridiculous stats. My theory is, that's because that's exactly what she is. I think EVE, or the technology to create her, was the vital information that George stole to thwart their plans.
Beyond that, though, I think your take on Giygas does still get to the heart of it. He lets himself be consumed by the perceived betrayal of George, loses himself in the hurt he felt and the hate that his people held toward humanity. And when in the end he is met with and overwhelmed by the love that remained in his heart... he ran. Instead of letting himself rekindle that love, he swore to overcome it, and embraced the hatred in his heart, becoming a cosmic destroyer. And toward the end of Earthbound, it was that hate and fear (now aimed at Ness) that fueled and empowered him to become the very incarnation of Evil itself, at the cost of tearing his mind and body apart. And in the end, once again it was the very love he willfully chose to forsake that destroyed him.
For some more in-depth information on this, I recommend this thread on Starmen.Net:
forum.starmen.net/forum/Games/Mother1/Giygas-s-Motivations-and-the-Origins-of-PSI/page/1#post2288046
My friend goes over Giygas's motivations in pretty great detail here.
WE BACK!!!!
YESSS
@@Crono-1000ADSO MANY MOTHER VIDEOS POSTING TODAY SO MORE FOOD FOR ME HUZZAH!!
It is I, Ninten.
Oh my god this video is absolutely fantastic. The pacing is just insane and the emotion is there. Genuinely unbelievable work dude. Seriously.
God the mother games feel like both such a fever dream but also the most wholesome well made story of all time.
I find it really cool that Earthbound reuses the encounter jingle and battle theme from this game for the sanctuary guardians. It gives a strange sense of continuity at gravitas that those themes and encounters
okay crap i didn't expect the comedic essay to get deep at the ending but yknow what im not complaining bc philosophising on this silly little game from the 80s is also my favorite activity thank you for putting so much thought and love into this, m1s story is so compelling and not a lot of people really see it
If you haven't already, you should check out the soundtrack album that was released around the same time that the game came out. It's a total anomaly because it's full of vocal arrangements with lyrics that expand on the little half-ideas presented in the game. Wisdom of the World gets me choked up every time I listen to it.
The thing I always loved about Mother 1 was the fact that you could feel the heart behind it! Especially if you listen to the vocal album for the game, there's just so much behind the game itself that the technology of the time couldn't portray, and just so much potential behind all its ideas! Mother Encore has been an incredibly pleasant surprise for me ever since I first heard about it, and I am so excited to see what they're cooking!
I found this channel less than a day ago and I am already loving it and craving more. I’m BEGGING you to try and cover the fan-made kinda-prequel Mother: Cognitive Dissonance after Mother 3. It’s a great fangame and it explores Giygas’ origins and just what happened to him, George, and Maria, as well as connecting Mother 1 to Earthbound. There’s some flaws (slow overworld traversal, sluggish start, little handholding from chapter 5 onwards) and a guide is very recommended for certain things
coughcoughalternate/bestendingscough
but the story more than makes up for it.
A word of caution, if you do try it, know that the first two or three chapters can be a bit sluggish but it DOES get better, much better.
Also little tip #2: the game’s Your Sanctuary points or Points of Power are out of the way, some aren’t even told to you. They’re optional but they’re the ONLY way you get new PSI moves, so you SHOULD find them.
I only heard about horror fangames of Mother/Earthbound....is this new?
@@m.l.7558it’s been out for years
@m.l.7558 Cognitive Dissonance is like 15 years old
He was like "nobodys ever gonna bring this game back", and I was about to comment "you forgot about mother encore!", then I noticed there was a bit of video left and then I was like yeah thats what I thought.
Mother Encore looks so impressive, it’s insane how much effort they’re putting into something they can’t even profit off of
We are taking a melody simple as it can be with this one 🗣🔥
(God i just finished watching the video, if the final battle part of this video was so emotional, i can't imagine how HARD will the finale of Mother 3 go... looking foward to that)
The segment from 50:55 onward really hits hard. I think it's genuinely good you did Earthbound before this, because most youtubers would care TOO MUCH about being "cringe" To put that amount of emotion into that speech. You didn't care, and that's awesome
I mean this as nothing but a compliment, but your squeaky, childesque voice is a breath of fresh air for a website filled with either Everymen or SigmaChadDeepVoice.
true
yeah i think its stupid and adorable i love him
It's almost a PeanutButterGamer vibe except this guy says the fuck word
Well i think he's only like 16
Dude, your reaction to Mother Encore was the same as mine. I held a smile all the way through the entire demo I couldn't believe what I was playing and that I was actually playing it. It is awesome.
Mother Encore mentioned, all I can say is _SHHHHHHH!_ We want to keep this under Nintendo's nose. You know how they are with fan projects.
16:30 The foreshadowing ☠️
jeff
I loved the bump counter bit, just so you know. It made me chuckle every time those yellow numbers came on screen.
Nintendo has the means and technology to express Mother 1 in the way that Itoi originally envisioned. They haven't done it yet, and probably won't. Which is actually very sad.
I’m pretty sure Nintendo has to get Itoi’s permission to green light a new Mother game- it’s why there hasn’t been anything game-wise aside from the obligatory Virtual Console release.
Bro I'm falling in love with this series cause of you. That ending got me misty eyed
This video is so good charjie, you brought me in with the goofs and the gafs and then ended with the really compelling and sad story at the end of the day. The fan project looks so freaking cool I really hope I'll eventually get to play it
0:59 dude you could make a video on anything and i would watch thru the whole thing im not kidding im hooked
Bro is giving me that feeling where you finish a game and feel empty and wish you could replay it
Love your mother recaps! Can’t wait for mother 3
As soon as i saw the announcement video you made on tiktok I RAN
YOOOOO THAT REMAKE LOOKS GORGEUS, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!
I just need to play it oh my god. Mother Encore looks Gorgeous.
This is legit one of the best review/essay vid ever.
I first played mother 1 on Wii U virtual console smoothly tell it was special, but was blocked by the old tech to fully enjoy it.
Mother encore looks crazy amazing
"Nobody Talks About Mother"
->talks about it
Holy cow! This is one of the best videos covering MOTHER 1 on this platform. MOTHER 1 was the first game that I played in the series, and it resides in a special place in my heart. While I prefer EarthBound/MOTHER 2, the story, themes, and music is what makes MOTHER 1 so special. How you describe the ending of the game - how you poured your emotions into it - it is phenomenal. Nearly made me tear up.
Keep up the good work!
I love Mother 1 so much. Even despite being on limited hardware, it tells such cool and beautiful narrative. I cried so hard at the end the first time I played it. Even now I'm tearing up thinking about it. Just absolutely brilliant.
Edit: Glad you mentioned Encore too. I'm so unbelievably excited for that!
18:02
Also a play on Spokane, Washington.
This has been another "I only know this city because of American Truck Simulator" moment.
I'm not gonna lie, the way you talked about the ending going very in depth. that was a beautiful way to talk about it. take that as you will but you did a great job.
Can't wait for Charlie to play Mother 3 and cry at the ending.
I have never (and might never) played any of the mother games, but the story of every single game has been a fascination of mine for years. These videos you put out are amazing man, the way you really focus on those aspects rather than heavily criticizing their limitations is amazing. Mother treats such dark themes while simultaneously being just so wholesome and optimistic, and you have captured that so well so far. I'm excited to see a Mother 3 video if you're planning on doing it
we are so PK back.
I really enjoy your long video formats. They are super well made essays with the perfect dose of humor.
33:32 little Caesar's 5.99$ crazy puffs
say whaaaaaaaaa
I liked your last video a whole lot, but this one just takes the damn cake. This was genuinely one of the best together video game essays I have seen. You have beyond earned my subscription and future viewership.
i love mother 1 a lot, and i love giygas as a villian. i literally even wrote a whole essay about him for college lmao. idk, theres just something about his story thats super interesting and sad to me, more than any other game villian, even if almost none of it is ever directly said. I like to think about what could have possibly happened to him after mother 1 that lead to whatever tf we see him as at the end of earthbound with his big red screaming face and all. having to kill him while knowing his story in mother 1 just makes me sad. this is a very good video
god i wanna watch this so badly but i havent played mother yet and i wanna make sure i dont spoil a nything before i actually play it because like it seems so great from what ive heard i really hope its as good as ive heard it was and keep making these videos man ill come back when i finish mother fr
Your videos make me grin so hard, so much goofy personality and good editing! Also thank you for not cramming the video with memes, i greatly appreciate how spaced out they are :D
I like how Gygas goes down the same way as The Grinch. Persistent singing
this is a cool video, but i hate my parents
Damn, did they send you on a little adventure and you ended up saving the world from an Alien too?
Miiverse ahh comment
Okay 🙂
"Yeah!"
that's pretty cool
I can’t believe I felt the briefest amount of hope at the end of this video. I thought, though some miracle, that Encore was an official Nintendo game.
I was but a fool.
If Nintendo’s ego wasn’t through the roof, then Nintendo could officially license MOTHER: Encore so it would be an official MOTHER 1 re-imagining. That’ll sadly never happen though, so for now and really since forever MOTHER fans will be stuck doing the heavy-lifting in terms of keeping the MOTHER franchise in the gaze for modern-day gamers to notice.
26:42 it was censored, originally called the blue bloods gang
a LOT of mother 1 was censored sadly
Oh my god the editing style and humor of this video is fucking amazing
Great video my man. 😊 it's great to see similar art used in Earthbound
Your content about the Mother series genuinely makes me so happy. The amount of detail, humor and care that you put in these videos is priceless.
As someone who has been a die hard fan of the franchise for 14 years, I appreciate so much what you've done with your videos.
Thank you for making me laugh and cry with your essays about Mother 1 and Earthbound💕
are we rlly gonna ignore how godly this man's editing is
I’m really glad that in between the grind and we ball nature of the journey, you saw the art in Mother. Your conveyance of the final encounter was straight up beautiful dude.
Original title: Nobody talks about mother
This video introduced me to the Mother and Earthbound series. Thank you, they are beautiful games.
You know, it's wild. As you were doing that closer, talking about how great Mother 1 could be if it was brought to modern standards. I just so happen to think, "Oh hey, there's a fan game out there doing just that." Then, right before I was about to comment about it, it appeared on screen.
What timing.
I hope the encore proyect will finish soon! Great video.
bro took a 3-year haitus, comes back and blows tf up with Mother/Earthbound retrospectives, I hope the rest of your content is locked tf in like this cuz I love it
Can’t wait for the Mother 3 video. Prepare to cry bro. Also thanks for bringing up Mother Encore. They’re doing God’s work
41:51
*_CHARJIE NOOOO! YOU CAN'T SAY THAT WITH THE HARD R!_*
He can say podunkas tho
This game feels so *esoteric*. It's weird how it's grounded/limited in early DragonQuest and FinalFantasy mechanics, but the oddity of future Mother games is definitely here.
(It really is just DragonQuest reskinned into Shigesato's internal madness 100%)
I never knew where Ness’s victory theme comes from in smash, I guess it was the last two melodies
Just wanted to say that your Earthbound and MOTHER videos popped up in my recommended and I'm so glad I watched them. They're funny and well explained. It's really refreshing to see a younger person's take on this series.
If you thought this game got heavy, just wait till you play Mother 3, one of my favorite games of all time. So much so, that I made the Dutch translation for it! Just remember that its tagline is 'Strange. Funny. Heartrending.' for a reason.
That's so cool!! I'm studying Translation, was it difficult?
Dude, this game has one of the best soundtracks _and_ the best trailer of all.
This was one of the best videos i've seen in youtube.
You're my hero
Super Mario Bros 7 is actually Grand Dad
10:17 did anyone else notice that Ninten gave the monkey the gold star
Ye
I legit think you might name the final video in this trilogy something related to being emotionally damaged by Mother 3. I'M SUPER enjoying these videos and I hope Mother 3 is a life destroying emotional roller coaster like it was for me.
9:05 I can’t stop laughing at this bit
This is probably one of my favorite videos of all time. I was never really interested into Mother 1 even though I knew it had more personal story. This video brought a lot of light and im glad i watched it
Mother holds such a dear place in my heart, and I haven’t even beaten earthbound or mother 3. I get that it has flaws and is a grindfest but how it maximizes every part of the NES felt mind-blowing as far as storytelling and the soundtrack is concerned.
Anyways just wanted to share my thoughts I haven’t even finished your video yet Charjie can’t wait to see you either love it or hate it or both ❤❤
Finished the video. Gonna donate my life savings to Mother Encore AHHHHH!!
Cool story - now go finish EB and especially MOTHER 3 for all the feels.
Thank you for covering this game! I've played the whole Mother series - Albeit, only after learning most of the spoilers from Smash Bros and the like - And the arduous gauntlet that Mother 1 provided somehow worked in its favour for me, because it got me so dang invested. Like, I knew what happened to EVE in advance, but it still got me. Weirdly, Mother 1 resonated more with me than Earthbound did, because it wasn't all tied up in a grand-scale intergalactic armageddon and chosen one prophecies, it was a journey that felt personal.
Just for your edification... Maria is pronounced Mah - ree - ah. (Or Muh ree ah, depending on how you read.) West Side Story has an entire song about Tony being in love just from hearing her name, I'd highly recommend it just for musical culture. :D
So glad I found your channel. I love these types of vids. The kind where you can put ‘em on, grab some pretzels(best snack food btw), and just chill out. Your editing is top notch and I can’t wait to see more
Cannot wait for mother 3, one of my favorite games ever for sure
I love this goofy series. I love earthbound, but mother 1 is a good introduction for the series and i appreciate it.
54:05 made me laugh so hard 😭😭😭
i was gonna say the exact same lol
Kinda late to this review but, hey never mind that. Great video, it serves very well to show why we all love this series so much. I think that the end analysis is spot on, I’d add that, it ties very well to the general themes of the games, one way or the other, I think the games focus on the idea of love as humanity’s force of salvation. Although on the surface it may sound cliché, it’s so well executed on the games, that you can’t help but get this overwhelming feeling of warmth and vulnerability once you get to the end of them. This theme connects very well to the name of the series, inspired by the song “Mother” by John Lennon, I think that Itoi decided to express this same feeling of bitterness upon abandonment from your parents through giygas, yet, also presenting the other side of the coin which is the warm feeling of having other people who care about you in your life, which is shown through all the people willing to help ninten throughout his journey, that’s why I agree with your analysis. I think that the ending of mother dwelves upon the feeling of abandonment, conflict between those feelings of desperately craving for that parental love, yet feeling spiteful towards all of humanity because in a sense, it’s their own humanity which took that away from him. Giygas ends up defeated because he just can’t handle all those emotions at the moment, it’s kind of when you get angry with someone you love, only to realize that, well, you still love them (hence why he offers ninten to be saved, as a way to find a middle ground, let’s say) and since you still love them, you can’t just hurt them outright, it might feel good initially, but it just feels wrong by the time you become conscious about what you’ve done, that’s why Giygas just gives up, and tells them he’ll come back later, because although they made giygas remember what it’s like to be human, what it’s like to feel loved, that isn’t a definitive solution to his profound trauma, which in my opinion only makes the game more grounded and real. It’s why I think that Mother has such a passionate fanbase, in reality, it’s such a passionate game that deals with such fundamental themes about our own human existence, creating contrast through, well, giygas who’s an alien who feels alienated (pun intended), and the protagonists which tend to be down to earth, yet courageous kids who through their journey, make friends, and explore all the aspects of whats so awesome about being a kid, about being a human, it’s inspiring. The games just ooze with this warm feeling of love for life, love of just being and enjoying all that life has to offer, and that’s what makes a piece of art become truly great, it’s ability to inspire people to just live.
5:36 chazington moment
Mother 1's def my fav in the series, I know it's not the best but the style and story it tells just hits me. I saw your Earthbound video an hour after it came out and loved it, so this was a real treat!! Nice Ninten shirt btw, I just got one from Lacoste with the right pattern (took me years so i know the struggle), I need to seam rip the tiny gator patch off it but it's great!! Also you can go to Richardson custom fitted caps to get a custom ninten/ness hat w/o the adjuster on back like the models/commercial!
(i have the hookups for mother 1 commercial cosplaying, i've been obsessing over this thing for years lol)
I like that he dresses as the characters hope he keeps doing it
The One Existing Official George Art should not be especially funny, but for some reason every time I saw it, I smirked.
One thing I love about Mother 1 that 2 and 3 do differently is combat. Whereas in those games stat boosting moves are lackluster, in Mother 1 they are the bread and butter of combat. It gives such a different experience and approach to combat, and I think it’s pretty cool.
Amazing Ninten cosplay by the way!
HE'S TWO FOR TWO!!!! Another incredible video brother. Excited for Mother 3!!!!
Nintendo Online Family membership after this video dropped: 📈📈📈📈📈📈
Another great video Charlie, well done!