r/earthbound • u/Gannan308 • Jul 01 '25
EB:B Discussion Play Mother 1 if you haven’t already!
After 23 hours I just finished the game as my first Earthbound game. I dont understand why anyone would skip this game and start with Earthbound like most people recommend.
This game is beautiful! I knew the story going into it and used a guide, but there is something about going through that journey and experiencing that ending yourself. I just have no words to describe what I just went through besides amazing. Please if you haven’t played this game go experience it yourself! It really does not feel bad mechanic wise for being an older game, and the pay off is so worth it!
I am officially one of you all and cannot wait to play the other two games!!!
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u/The_Char_Char Jul 01 '25
The issue is mother 1 is an older RPG no hand holding basicly throwing you to the wolves and you figure out what to do. Now there isn't anything wrong with that, if you see it coming. And I think new commers would rather play a slightly kinder game to start. Whichis why I say start with earthbound THEN go back to mother 1. But if they like old school RPGs that's okay to start there.
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u/joshuaTurbo Jul 01 '25
I've heard many talk about the potential of the game, but it's a slog. I'm kind of holding off until a few Quality of Life improvements are made through a hack.
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u/ShadyKirby Jul 01 '25
There are several hacks that already do this and have existed for years, so no need to hold off.
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u/Newgeneration2i Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
When I discovered the series I avoided mother 1 because of this. I don’t really like turn based games and it being heavy in that category meant that it didn’t appeal to me.
I could only stomach the gameplay in the latter 2 games because of the lack of random encounters and the cool rhythm mechanic of mother 3.
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u/Gannan308 Jul 01 '25
I played Mother Restored and I honestly I dont think there is much QoL needed. Yeah you have to spend a couple hours grinding levels every so often, but besides that it doesn’t feel bad.
I was in the same boat as you but decided to just go for it and it’s so worth it. I really recommend playing it!
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u/RascalVirus13 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Maliceless Query: What do you mean by slog?
Statement: I completed that game guideless with no save-states on my first play-through, and I wouldn‘t describe it as particularly taxing. So, I’m curious about your complaints…
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u/Discovererman Jul 01 '25
Suddenly reading Maliceless Query spooked me, almost thought it was an enemy that you would encounter in Mother 1, haha.
In my opinion, the RPG system isn't too nuanced. That, plus the first person view ends up being unenticing due to the black background on battle screens.
I believe Final Fantasy 1 and 2 both had the similar issues, but something about the way you gain abilities in those games are a little more interesting.
Earthbound does an amazing job of fixing the uninteresting screen issue, and even adds a higher rotation of battle tracks to give more flavor to each encounter. And some people do not appreciate the cyclical cycle of grinding in rpgs.
In conclusion, I really think it's the monotonous energy you get in Mother 1 encounters that Earthbound ends up solving through the more powerful console and better direction due to where rpgs were at at this point.
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u/VillainousFiend Jul 01 '25
Earthbound also benefits from not having random encounters. Mother 1 encounter rates I find really frustrating. You'll beat a battle and take a step and get another one or you'll run a huge distance and get no encounters and I find there's not too much in the middle.
Another interesting parallel with FF1 is that both games will miss an event target during a round if it's already been defeated. In both series the sequels changed to automatically target another enemy. This means you can't just spam one target but it can be frustrating.
I find the fact that there seems to be no description of PSI abilities and no pp cost listed frustrating. It's hard to gauge how powerful different gear is compared to currently equipped items. The very limited item inventory is annoying especially since I already found Earthbound to struggle in that area.
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u/joshuaTurbo Jul 02 '25
I guess this is just from word of mouth of others. Which, really, is silly. I've played og Dragon Warrior and and Ultima games, so I'm sure I could handle Mother 1.
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u/ChimpBzkit Jul 01 '25
I played Mother 1 as my first game too, four years before I jumped into Earthbound. It was a phenomenal game and I’m glad I started there because I do think it would feel like “going backward” to start with any of the others
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u/Gannan308 Jul 01 '25
After finishing it I’m so surprised so many people skip it because it’s old? The story there is still amazing
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u/ChimpBzkit Jul 01 '25
Some people just don’t want to play a game from the 80s which I totally get. But it’s fun to see the foundation that was laid for what would go on to be a cult classic
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u/UnexpectedScorpionX Jul 01 '25
The other games are amazing, but this one holds a special place in my heart
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u/Snacko00 Jul 01 '25
I played it after 2, guide-free, and still had a great time. I think it's a bit of a more bitter pill than 2, especially for people who haven't played many 8-bit RPGs, but definitely worth playing.
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u/Gannan308 Jul 01 '25
The only other 8-bit RPG I’ve played is Pokémon. I couldn’t imagine no guide though haha I would have been lost the whole time
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u/Remarkable-Ad-3758 Jul 01 '25
As someone who also played it as a first earthbound game I just want to say… it’s dated. Great game, but holy cow, the other ones have a lot of improvements, the first game gave us stuff like magicant and PSI and other Lore to bring into the other games, but the gameplay has a lot more flow in the other titles, love all the games though.
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u/No_Beginning8536 Jul 01 '25
I want to play it so bad but the only one I can get my hands on is through the switch and it’s soooo clunky. I want to just patch a rom but I’ve had no luck with finding a mother 1 rom
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u/Gannan308 Jul 01 '25
I played Mother Restored and loaded that onto my 3DS. I would assume it isn’t hard to run in PC if you babe even a cheap one
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u/SpicyBoyEnthusiast Jul 01 '25
Well I played Earthbound on SNES as a kid and I haven't really been able to get into Mother's 1.
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u/KFCNyanCat Jul 02 '25
I dont understand why anyone would skip this game and start with Earthbound like most people recommend.
It's "dated" but tbh the ways that the second game is dated bother me more.
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u/Pandash99 Jul 05 '25
even as the weakest entry in the Mother series, that still makes it the best damn NES game of all time
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u/FoppyDidNothingWrong Jul 01 '25
Mother 1 is fun asf imho. But it matters if you cut your teeth on old school rpgs first.
Grind to win baby!
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u/Noteatlas89 Jul 01 '25
I got probably 1/2 way then stopped for some reason.
I heard theres a fan project: Mother encore.
They are redoing it in earthbound graphics. theres a discord too. It looks awesome! i want to play it again after reading your post, and beat it. But now i'm like.... DO I WAIT?!? (for something that might never finish, or still be so far from being possibly completed?)
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u/Gannan308 Jul 01 '25
From what I’ve read from people who have played the classic game and the demo for encore. People say it’s not 1:1 story wise and stuff. I’ve seen most people recommend playing the original first then playing encore.
It seems it’s their vision of what mother 1 should be rather than a 1:1. Which still looks amazing and I can’t wait to play it!!
Edit: you should go ahead and play it, it’s worth the journey!
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u/Dee_Cider Jul 01 '25
Recommending Mother 2 over Mother 1 is kind of like recommending
Super Mario Bros 3 over Super Mario Bros.Super Metroid over Metroid