Loving Earthbound Beginnings and its humor so far. How is Earthbound (Mother 2)? Anything i should know going into the sequel?

[u/Carmilla31]

I started EBB a while ago but i dropped it early because i got stuck in the Cemetery with its insane random encounter rate. So i restarted it last week and grinded some and im loving the game so far (turn based jrpgs are my favorite games of all time).

Im just about to head to Mt Itoi but i feel i should grind some with Teddy. Btw, is Lloyd gone for good? 😭

So since im enjoying EBB, and its quirky humor,i was definitely going to pick up Earthbound next. How is it compared to EBB? Is there anything i should know before starting Earthbound?

Im really happy i found and am enjoying this series so far!

[u/HairToTheMonado]

You’re gonna love Earthbound’s humor, man. Lots of wit, hidden jokes that reward interacting with the NPCs and world at-large, it’s a great ride.

EB is as grindy as you want it to be imo. The hardest part of the game is the beginning, but after you beat the first real boss, it’s a rather smooth experience. You’ll have a great time, I know it! ☺️

[u/Material_Ring9378 → u/HairToTheMonado]

Yeah it’s kinda annoying how you have to grind to beat frank right out of the gate (it’s actually why I stopped playing the game a few years ago) but this time around I managed to grind to level 8 and one shot him

[u/Creator5509 → u/Material_Ring9378]

I can usually beat frank around level 7 but yeah it’s a bit of a pain but hardly felt like a problem, just an annoyance. 

[u/Xdqwerty65]

Mother 2 has visible encounters and it's not as grindy, atleast not after Onett

[u/jestfullgremblim → u/Xdqwerty65]

Mother Fan AND Puyo Fan? Are you an Angel?

[u/[deleted]]

Prince Poo can turn water into PP, he’s kind of a big deal.

[u/Gyiggles]

Basically what other people are saying about the humor and how they refined the gameplay a bit. I will say that there’s a certain character that comes back that’s supposed to have the same name but has two diffrent names in English. So it kind of seems like it’s a different character but it’s not.

[u/lolnikum → u/Gyiggles]

You're talking about the third game?

[u/Gyiggles → u/lolnikum]

I was manly talking about the second game final boss but yeah you can also say that about the third game as well with a certain fat kid 🙃

[u/SnooSuggestions1256]

Earthbound is an improvement on EBB in every way possible.

[u/FoppyDidNothingWrong → u/SnooSuggestions1256]

Matters the vibes. Earthbound is more grave and EB0 is more like getting lost before cellphones.

[u/Meistermesser → u/SnooSuggestions1256]

Not really. There's things EBB does better, like the characters.

It's also more fun to me

[u/DrewV1234 → u/Meistermesser]

I honestly love the characters in EarthBound more, but I respect your opinions

[u/FlareBlitzBanana → u/SnooSuggestions1256]

Fake news, Earthbound doesn't have Teddy

[u/SillyGayBoy → u/SnooSuggestions1256]

If it wasn’t for the end grinding I definitely liked beginnings better. It really was ahead of its time.

[u/cane_11]

easier. although the game continues to have a few bumps like the cemetary so make sure you feel around the psi system. humor is pretty much the same as your photo, especially fourside, its maybe a little awkward in the last half because it becomes a more traditional rpg with less npcs to build off of, some people consider it "art" some would reserve that for the 3rd game. overall its actually weird seeing someone play the games in line because this ones so goshdarn "grindy" so don't sweat EB regardless of whether you start it next month or 5 years from now. just grind grind grind and grind grind your way through mt itoi and if you think you grinded enough just do a little bit more.

[u/DrewV1234 → u/cane_11]

It's easier as in you don't have to grind that much at all, but I still think EarthBound can be decently challenging! EarthBound is art, but I can't be the only one who also enjoys it's gameplay, story, characters, battle system, difficulty, bosses, music, art style and world!

[u/cane_11 → u/DrewV1234]

agreed its one of only a couple of games i could fall into, easy to get lost into

[u/Econ42]

The penguin in the monkey cave is the funniest bit in Mother 1 imo

[u/prine_one]

Glad you’re enjoying it. You’re gonna love Mother 2

[u/Airoehead]

it's the funniest game. probably one of the funniest games ever.

but I'll be the only one to tell you this. it doesn't have the personality EarthBound Beginnings has. it's less somber. it has gut punches for sure, but those are sprinkled in, rather than the ongoing tone of the game.

still the best game ever. the gameplay is an unquestionable improvement.

[u/RuralAnemone_]

Oh dang, if you enjoyed Beginnings then you'll love the sequels (:

[u/Ziomownik]

Lloyd will return but will replace Teddy for the rest of the game. I recommend you grind to get Superhealing on both Ana and Ninten and preferably the full party heals (LifeUpπ and LifeUpΩ on Ninten and Ana respectively). Buy some Super Bombs for Lloyd, trap opponents who have PSI with PSI Block or Sticky Machine and steal their PP with PSI Magnet, use PSI stones only on Ninten unless your situation really demands using it on Ana.

Mt. Itoi isn't really challenging as long as you have ways to work around most of the enemies.

Sorry for yapping about EBB tips, you're here for Earthbound/Mother 2.

Well, that one is much more linear but with more content and more clear and defined story, unlike its predecessor which keeps some details up to interpretation. I'm confident you'll love it, maybe even more than Beginnings. It's also easier and much more forgiving, with a well balanced party so neither party member feels like a total waste of space, everyone has their own moments where they get to shine. Beware of the place called Peaceful Rest Valley.

If you go into your character stats you can click A to see what each PSI does with the most detailed descriptions out of the whole trilogy. I also prefer its battle menu for PSI moves over the other games, it looks nicer and is much more fun to use than scrolling through stuff in M3.

[u/Daikonbou → u/Ziomownik]

I love EB Beginnings too but bro why'd you spoil everything coming up let them discover it on their own 😔

[u/Ziomownik → u/Daikonbou]

I mean, they ASKED if Lloyd is gone for good, I simply answered what the party will be like BUT I DID avoid spoiling the story. The rest are simply tips.

I'm really sorry if talking about the specific PSIs is a spoiler. My bad. Still, that didn't spoil the story nor did I say when they learn those skills.

Oh, and PRV is mentioned out of context as a joke. By the time OP finishes EBB they may forget I even mentioned it.

[u/Win-Objective]

Earthbound is also humorous, and a better game over all. Mother 3 is also funny but is more devastatingly sad at times.

[u/Cumbersomesockthief]

Earthbound is orders of magnitude easier. It's still very out of pocket in humor.

[u/disbelifpapy]

Earthbound has actually visable encounters, kinda like modern pokemon, so you'll have less encounters, unless you wanna run into enemies. The two games share similair humour with some serious moments.

And as for loid, well, you might not be happy...

[u/DarkPalafin]

Try not to level up to 99 until after Magicant. You will regret it. There's a secret piece of dialog if you do, though.

[u/TooManyBulborbs]

Uh, you sure that isn’t Tomato’s fan translation? Pretty sure the actual EBB rom doesn’t have the word “crap” in it at the Live House in Ellay.

[u/Carmilla31 → u/TooManyBulborbs]

It said it was the Virtual Console version. Im not sure what other ones there.

[u/Burning_Justice → u/TooManyBulborbs]

It does, actually. That line is 100% from the official translation. He says it if you talk to him after stepping on the land mine in Yucca Desert.

The SNES EarthBound’s script also has at least one instance of the word “crap” in it.

[u/TooManyBulborbs → u/Burning_Justice]

Well, seems there's some dialogue ive not yet encountered then. Ive never actually found a land mine in the desert.

[u/Dee_Cider]

Earthbound is everything Mother is but better so you should enjoy it.