Music: Pollyanna, Twinkle Elementary, Snowman, Bein' Friends, and Yucca Desert are all from MOTHER. By Nintendo and Shigesato Itoi. MINOR SPOILERS BELOW I specifically played the MOTHER 1+2 GBA Fan Translation by Tomato. This game MIGHT seem easy because right at the beginning you get the Easy Ring, which makes getting XP faster (only through the patch.) But, as the professional RPG person that I am, I threw it away. (that's why the title says TRUE retrospective) Thus began a painful journey to save the world from Giegue. The game looks old. I mean, it DID release in 1989 but the graphics aren't the best. The NES color palette wasn't really used to its full potential. I even drew Dice in this project using the original NES palette! Back to the game. You star as a young child named Ninten (wow, very original) on a quest to obtain eight melodies to save Queen Mary, but this is explained much further in the game. The random encounters feature is PAINFUL. Especially without the Easy Ring. I died MULTPLE times before reaching the starting town of Podunk. At least the multiple deaths let me reach the shop with enough cash to buy out the entire store. Once you at least reach Magicant after collecting three out of the eight melodies (doll, bird, and the monkey) the game slightly improves with Ninten learning multiple powerful PSI attacks by then. Getting out of Magicant is an entirely different story though. Then, we meet Lloyd! (not "Loid"). The smart kid who really likes rockets and missiles. After we get him as a party member we reach...Duncan's Factory. The worst, most miserable dungeon ever. Mother's dungeons are already very miserable, but Duncan's...oh boy. It took me about 40 MINUTES to reach the end of the dungeon...and you have to go back. And I forgot to lay down Bread crumbs. They enemies here are brutal. With Lloyd at a low level, he's bound to die quickly. Luckily, thanks to the awesome people at starmen.net, I had a map of Duncan's. Same thing with the Mansion after getting Ana, too. Although those enemies weren't as tough. After heading through the swamp (highly recommended: use the starmen net guide), I got Teddy as my party member. he's already at level 12, so I just grinded some more then headed to Mt. Itoi. Mt. Itoi isn't as hard as other places, but the top where Lloyd saves you has some very brutal enemies, often killing me in one single turn. I mostly just ran away, though. At last, the final fight with Giegue. He's very easy, actually. All I did was use PSI Shield Omega on everyone and Defense up Omega on everyone for protection. Ninten healed while Ana and Lloyd sang. Then...the end! I won't spoil major story points because I want you guys to play it! WIth the easy ring. Please. Don't suffer like I did. Gameplay: 5/10 Music: 7/10 Story: 7/10 Overall: 6.3/10 Fun Fact: Pollyanna, Snowman, and the Shop theme are the only songs that appear in the trilogy ^^
