4:40 the fact that there’s a photo of toby fox wearing a homestuck shirt sitting next to shigesato itoi is just incredible

I was shocked when Magicant dissappeared. The sense of having a safe haven was just gone, especially with EVE turned into junk. There was this feeling of dread and uneasiness, fear even. It felt like THE ENDGAME.

I'm legally changing my name to buggerror

Me when I was a kid watching LPs of Mother: Wow, $60 to cure a cold, that's outrageous. Me as an adult: Wow, Itoi is spot on with American healthcare!

Thank you for covering mother 1, seems like a lot of people just skip right to earthbound! it’s worth it’s own playthrough

"Duncan's Factory was worse than Mt. Itoi." I've been saying this for years feels good knowing someone else understands.

I clicked the video expecting the hundredth review of Mother, but I got a video of an authentic experience. I just felt I was talking and chilling with a friend the whole time. The jokes, the ambience, the pace of the chat, everything was so good. I'm glad you made this video, and I'm glad I found it. Hopefully it gets to other people as well, and I hope to see more content from you. Good luck! And no crying until the end.

My favorite part of this game is that it gives you JUST enough story to get your imagination going to fill in the gaps. It's super vague with a lot of stuff, but you almost don't even notice because you kind of intuitively paint a picture of what's missing in your head. And that just makes me love the game all the more. Mother 1 best Mother.

*25:45* Probably because it's a fish and that the item is a hook, this making it an ironic situation.

Mother 1 is so under appreciated. I kinda like the novelization a lot for giving us the story through Ana's eyes. My theory for Pippi is that she heard about the zombies and tried to fight them herself. Pippi is actually incredibly strong; her stats are identical to Teddy's. She's just at a much lower level considering how early we meet her. Given her hair and her last name, shes based off of Pippi Longstocking, whose whole gimick was being freakishly strong. Also in the Book, Ninten (Ken) describes her as "a girl who can do anything". So I imagine this 7 year old probably was able to take down a zombie or two with her fists when she heard there was trouble in Podunk.

I think I like the idea more that Ninten and Teddy were just straight-up throwing hands rather than using weapons, that shit is just so funny yet so badass for some reason.

Its sad to see the great Catharine Warwick not have a big career after the mother songs

That explanation you had about the battles on the black background being uncomfortable...that really made me appreciate it a lot more. I really just perceived it as lazyness/hardware limitations but seeing that way is actually very cool. Makes me want a game with legit HD characters in a black void for an RPG, it would be so disturbing!

A good early game strategy is to keep Pippi, she has a really fast level up and damage curve, it can help you grind levels even though the experience is split because you can fight at the zoo way earlier. I've found this cuts down a lot on the early game pain, plus it thematically makes sense that friendship is helping to make the early game easier or something like that.

I legitimately cannot thank you enough for making this video. Mother 1 feels so unique compared to the others, and that's what I've always loved about it. I feel like there's so few people who share my love for it, so seeing this video put the biggest smile on my face. I really hope this video hits big with the algorithm, as I feel this game deserves the love and credit its younger siblings get. Thank you again for making this

The fact you put a picture of Contact for DS as an example warms my heart. I absolutely adore that game, and it seems like NO ONE talks about it, let alone even knows about it

your style is such a refreshing departure from most of "gaming retrospective" youtube that I otherwise put on to fall asleep to; you obviously put in a huge amount of work and the end result feels genuine and conversational while respecting the viewer's intelligence in a way few can actually manage. great stuff!

i really like the old internet style of editing you use, its really nostalgic while actually being good for this type of video

just binged your channel and ur content is literally so homey and easy to watch. I’m sad there’s no more 😢 but keep up the great work man

Mother 1 underrated af So charming and yet so painfully ignored.

So glad someone else is saying this. The game feels grindy only up to and including the factory, which requires some map-drawing, but after that it really is smooth sailing. Likewise, the minimal aesthetic fits the surreal tone of the series so much better. There's a quote from one of Queen Mary's castle attendants. It's enough to bring tears to my eyes when paired with the music "Wisdom of the World" which is playing at the time. The fan translation says, "Queen Mary often has nightmares. She talks like she's punishing a naughty child, and then cries out about being afraid. She starts to sing a song, but only a short bit of it. The fact she can't remember it seems to bring her pain. Then she wakes up covered in sweat. Something really sad must've happened to Queen Mary a long time ago..." Everything else is communicated through tone, music, and setting. You aren't told the story, you live inside of it, and it's a melancholy yet strangely home-like experience.

Mother 1 deserves so much more attention than it gets. For an 8-bit NES game it was very impressive. Especially the music! Also, really enjoyed the video! Had to rewind a few times from laughing too much 😂

I really do think "Running Shine inspired" videos are the true path forward with game reviews or at least I'd hope so. This kinda style isn't gonna get boring in a long time for me

Mother 1 is easily my favorite of the trilogy too, so thank you for this. I would cry if it got an official remake, whether it be 2d or 3d with the clay art style. I feel like way more people would appreciate it as a result. I also love the nonlinearity as soon as Merrysville.

God you’re such a good KZfaqr, so refreshing

The "Weaking Child" thing must be a coincidence. The album came out before the translation released. Unless Aphex Twin personally tracked down an unreleased prototype cartridge of an obscure NES game in the mid-90s, wrote a song about it, and then sold it and never told anyone. Which...isn't impossible, honestly

This is genuinely the best video on here covering Mother. Thank you. Edit: The part where Magicant disappeared legitimately hit me. Also, the Ana/Ninten dance warms the heart. God these games transcend the medium.

Lovely video. Mother is the most controversial entry in the Mother/Earthbound series and I think it might be my favorite in terms of ambition, style, and influences. It is a homage of Stand By Me, 50s sci-fi flicks, and contemporary Japanese literature that stood as its own as a story of love in an unrelenting world and its successors would carry on its torch while taking their own stands on this matter. Nothing was like it at the time. There was no Omori or Undertale back then. They are many other games like them that would not exist if it wasn't for Mr. Itoi wanting to create a Dragon Quest of his own and I thank the man for doing that. Once you get in the groove of its, as of now, old fashioned gameplay, you will find an experience unlike any other for console RPGs. That's why it kind of breaks my heart when people rag on the game, it started everything. I remember getting to the end of Mother and being amazed at the ending. It was simple but it made everything click. It binds the series together and showed me what these games were all about from the beginning. Love is the most powerful thing in the world and the lack of it can be as strong as the presence of love. It might sound sappy but you can go deeper by thinking of each characters background and by what they do after everything is said and done. Any Mother fan who hasn't played it should play it, even if you need to play it with the easy ring patch. It's accessible now more than ever. Thank you for covering this game. Keep the melody alive in your heart.

hey I made a cameo lol On my last playthrough I decided to grind for all the PSI abilities even if it's not necessary at all, and unleashing PK Fire Omega is the most wild thing ever in a NES JRPG.

These are the exact reasons I love it too! It has this poetic simplicity that’s really nice. I also like how it’s sort of an open-world game for the Famicom. Earthbound and Mother 3’s areas were mostly separate screens (which isn’t a bad thing), but I think it’s impressive how they made most of the world in Mother a seamless connected map. Really good video about a really good game!

I tried Mother back in 2013 immediately after finishing Earthbound. I think my expectations were set too high and I didnt really enjoy myself. I finished the zoo area and found the melody there before the first two, then couldnt figure out where else to go and dropped it entirely. This video has inspired me to go back and give it another try 10 years later.

bruh, your dry delivery makes this a million times better been laughing all the way through subbed!

I’m glad I’m not the only one that likes Lloyd, he’s awesome. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the other two games in the series. This video was great, brought me right back to middle school. I love all three Mother games, but I got my user name from this one!

Baller video, also that kingk draft had me in stitches

I love hearing ur opinions as someone who played Earthbound Beginnings before playing Earthbound. Everyone else played Earthbound first and just constantly compares it. You have a very unique perspective

I agree with a lot of people that Mother marked the beginning of the modern style of video game story telling and narrative devices and set the precedent for pretty much every rpg ever made since. I love that this thing's existence is even a possibility- a passion project envisioned by one man which would eventually inspire an entire generation of artwork and self expression. One day, when videogames are universally recognized by the public as a medium capable of producing transcendent art (I'm not even sure the term "videogame" will be relevant much longer), they will refer to the release of this title as a grand moment in history.

I love this games lowkey atmosphere, it's also the only one of the three games where you're not a chosen one. I didn't grind any on my last playthrough and it really gave me the feeling of being scared little kids not knowing what to do, getting curb stomped by everything. The shot of magicant turned into a barren wasteland is one of the most raw shots in all of fiction. Also the feeling of empty 8-bit music is one of my favorite sounds ever, gargoyle's quest's hell field is one of my favorite tracks ever.

hello luke its merrill again! i really loved this, here are some of my thoughts as i watched -your whole thing about misinfo abt games on the internet being way more common back then is so true. back then you could just say shit like sonic is in melee or luigi is in sm64 and people would just believe you. nobody knew wtf was going on with games back then -I think unnerving is really good way to describe this game. the black backgrounds, rough enemy sprites, dark colors, and really simple chiptunes really give this game a creepy atmosphere -you talking about the mayor reminded me of his assistant that hates his job. I dont know why, but that character always stuck out to me -i actually got the canary melody by accident, i just bought the canary bc i thought something good would happen, and then stumbled on the canary village trying to get to the zoo. I think this game is good about planting hints about the melodies, but is also linear enough that youre likely to stumble upon the melodies even if you miss the hints. it also helps that npc dialouge is interesting enough that youll wanna talk to everyone, making it likely youll encounter hints from the npcs. -your point about the games difficulty is interesting. the difficulty does sort of sell the idea that this a hostile world, adding to the creepy atmosphere -i never realized that you can see mt. itoi from lloyd's school : o -I like that the game just throws shit at you like the man you mentioned. i think more games should be weird for no reason. -that cps call made me laugh my ass off. was that real. -i never knew that eve could get wrecked outside of the scripted battle, thats a really neat little detail -ill admit the bit where queen mary remembers everything genuinely moved me. its simple but effective like you said. thinking about magicant, which is this place tailored to take care of ninten and friends, and the 8 melodies which are a non violent way of defeating giygas, its like she set all this up as a way to look out for both sides of her family, i think thats sweet. -following that chain of thought i sort of had this epiphany about the story and themes about this game. All four characters have some sort of troubled relationship with their parents (nintens absent father, lloyds literal garbage dad, ana's missing mom, and teddy's dead parents.) hell, george betrayed and abandoned giygas. all the people being abducted are parents (giygas's way of getting even maybe?) and the final boss is literally the two sides of maria's family duking it out (just like the end of mother 3). I really did not give the game and its storytelling as much credit as it deserves. its also interesting that as you said, a lot of plot beats get reused for earthbound, but they take on a different context without the george and maria thing to tie it all together (not a bad thing, earthbounds going for something kinda different in terms of its story) also interesting to think about how mother 3 is probably thematically closer to 1 than 2. -its worth mentioning that the epilouge was not originally in the japanese version (I cant remember if it was a sandhop original, or something the original devs decided to throw in) leaving things like teddy's fate vague. I remember reading somewhere that originally, there was debate over if EB zero was a legit nintendo product, which was then ended when the gba version (and future VC releases) added a lot of EB zero's changes (including some of the censorship!) back in. I think a lot of this games legacy is owed to the work sandhop did, i wonder what this games reputation in the west wouldve been had the rom never leaked all those years ago (also i think its one of the first instances of an unreleased game leaking online) this video was really funny and informative, I think you have a great eye for what makes a game special and presenting an argument based on that. I never finished my original playthrough, but i look forward to playing this game now with a new perspective : )

OH MY GOD, yeah, no, i completely agree with you on the levelling and random encounter battles. I'm the type of person that basically plays almost everything on easy mode... but i never had too much of an issue with Mother. It's pretty easy to keep leveling up after the first several hard battles. When I reached mt. itoi, i was really high leveled. yeah it was hard at times, ill never deny that, and i agree that the many RE battles are not really fun, BUT... at the end i was extremely grateful for them because of how quick it was to level up. Yeah.... Idk i've only seen a couple of people that also have this opinion, you included (and this one japanese guy on youtube i used to watch years ago. i forgot his name, but he was also a huge Mother defender haha) there's just... something somber and wistful present throughout this game that is so different from the other two imo. its sweet, and loving, and sad, and lonely, and hopeful... i love it

Hey Lute, really thrilled I got this video on my recommended. I’ve been a fan of these types of videos for over ten years. In that time they’ve all become overly produced and over intellectualized to the point of either boredom or annoyance. This video feels like classic KZfaq, and that’s a super high compliment from me. This feels like a video I’d go back to in a few years and go, wow I wish they still made stuff like this. Keep it up.

If I'm not mistaken, pippi eventually becomes really REALLY strong if you grind her up for some godforsaken reason I mean guess that's what happens to anyone if you grind them up high enough, but it's funny that anyone wanted to invest that much time into a character who follows you for such a short time

I’ve always had a tough time giving this game its due, but I respect the hell out of those who could manage it, and this really breaks down a lot of the appeal. It really does have this melancholic feel that, as sublime and emotional as the series gets, its more popular installments arguably never match. Also thinking about how you can do stuff like skip Teddy until EVE is busted and take him to the end of the game, or just not get Ana at all and legit play to the very end with only Ninten and Lloyd.

This video was recommended to me few days ago and since I've watched this and your Paper Mario video. Both videos are great executions of essentially showing the viewer a game in it's entirety while also sharing your own love for the games. This reminds me of going to friends places and play games for an hour or two together with them and leaving thinking what ever we just played must be the game ever. Keep going brother. I secrectly hope now that you're a fan of DQ3. Would love to play that with you

If I remember correctly, there's a guy in Magicant that can give you an Ocarina to play the melody parts that you currently have at any point you want, which is super neat. Also this game series has been so formative to me that any time I hear 8 Melodies / 16 Melodies I start tearing a up a bit. ALSO, Cognitive Dissonance is a really cool Mother fan-game that explores Guiges story a lot too which is super sweet. ALSO ALSO Oddity was LITERALLY supposed to be Mother 4 until Nintnedo had a massive hissy fit, and the devs started veering off the Mother name to avoid a DMCA strike.

Hi Lute, just wanted to say the first 20 minutes or so of this video convinced me to try Mother, having already played Earthbound and loving that. I really enjoyed it, it is truly unique, so thanks for this video. :)

I've taken this message from somewhere else but this is how I played Earthbound Zero and it truly became one of the most amazing adventures I have experienced in a videogame: Imagine you're a kid in 1989. You have an 8-bit NES with a couple games. On a Friday afternoon on the way home from school, you stop by a video store and rent a random game called "MOTHER". Usually when you rented games back then it was always a very hit-or-miss thing, so whatever game you got, you were stuck with it for the whole weekend. Try playing this game with that mindset - that you're a kid in the late 80s with a weekend ahead of you to play this game. Do that, and you might start to appreciate it in new ways!

The story of mother 1 is great, the adventures of ninten and company got stuck in my heart. That part when Lloyd came to save us after that robot came to kill us, the funky dragon that is on magicant, queen mary's story line and the way we met teddy at that dance hall. All those moments are worth the hardships that this game presents. Edit: I forgot to mention how much I loved the way this game used telepathy

This video is amazing and kept me hooked from start to finish, which is rare for my attention span especially for an hour long video. I had a very similar experience playing through this game for the first time. I'm a sucker for vague mysterious stories, and kind of got immersed in the lore of the story reading through different wiki's and crap. And it's amazing the way the game is able to convey emotion with so little. It's nice to see so many people in the comments appreciating the original even though it's largely overshadowed by the sequels.

THANK you for actually talking about Mother's plot instead of just talking about the lore and jumping straight into earthbound

Really happy to see someone give this game a fair shake with a long form video like this. Stuff like that original commercial for the game as well as the general lack of understanding of localization when I was younger made it such oddity at the time that it always stuck with me.

This video feels like something I wanted to do for 12 years, glad you are able to get it out of your system, I also have memories related to this gem, but particulary love the track of the town of children

After I completed Mother 1 for the first time, I found myself thinking a lot more about what I liked then what I didn't. This video helped me appreciate that stuff even more.

Did you actually call CPS just to make a joke!!??? Great video btw, it's super cozy to watch! :)

Earthbound Beginning was my first mother game. It's too bad it's so overshadowed by it's successors

Great video. Cringed out of my skin at the Iwata tribute, aha..

i'm so glad i found such a recent video talking about mother 1 and talking about the game being good, it always makes me happy people recognizing this game. the funny thing about yume nikki is that this game acctually got inspiration in Earthbound Zero (Mother 1)

This video has genuinely been a perfect sleep aid for me for the past 7 months or so with sleep problems. Something about this video is really comfortable. Thanks for making it :D

You hit me with LotGH meme, and sprinkled with nods to Satoshi Kon within this vid on Mother... You sir, Are a man of culture. Mother 2 always has been with me ever since I can remember, playing and replaying as a kid who couldn't really read Japanese at the time. Watching my older brother play it and memorizing the game, until I could truly play it myself while somewhat understanding Japanese by then. But I knew the game by then and it's quirks to really experience them personally. But Mother was something I played blind without knowing anything about it not prior experience watching my siblings play it. Our household didn't own it on Famicom, but we loved Mother 2. So when Mother 1+2 released on the GBA, my family was on that especially my mother. We took our turns playing through it, but it seemed like I was the only one who gave Mother a chance. I was just about a teenager round that time I first played Mother, and I had several rpgs under my belt by then. So Mother wasn't anything truly new mechanic wise, and it did feel outdated even if I really do enjoy Dragon Quest style turn based rpgs. I really enjoyed how hands off the initial part of the game was, you had to figure out each individual flags and explore to progress, especially due to how hand holdy games were becoming by then. It really felt like I was a powerless kid circumnavigating through the world, but gradually gaining experience through it. As the scattered plot beats started to interlock and the narrative became more apparent. I realized that Mother 2 had less of a storyline compared to Mother. While Mother 2 is a superior game on the system side and other aspects except a true narrative. Before delivering the 8 melodies to Queen Mary, I just sat before her, and just listened to the theme of Queen Mary and the castle, because I had a hunch I'll never hear it ever again in that playthrough. Then as I hear to recall the lullaby and her memories, I truly felt that I was playing something special. That special something we had a bit of in Mother 2, but not as potent as Mother 3, just enough to make Mother a memorable experience that I recall fondly. Mother gave me the reasons of Mother 2, a perspective of Giygas you only could get playing it... It really leaves me in a melancholic mood seeing the decent of Giygas in Mother 2 and how Maria's love didn't reach him, seeing him become a literal cosmic horror of an entity, devoid of consciousness thought that we could understand... Just because of a simple melody.

Easily my favorite of the Mother series, even though I do love the sequel, as well. One thing it does incredibly well is that it looks how the '80s used to look; there's something about the palettes they used that almost perfectly simulate the way the light used to shine and how things used to look. It wasn't all hot pink spandex and "matching" chartreuse legwarmers, you know. I have no idea how they did it, but much of it (especially Magicant) hurl me back in time to sitting on that orange shag carpet in our living room, watching now-ancient sitcoms. I'm not terribly fond of the '80s; it's just impressive to me is all. Anyway, people hate on this game for things like being grindy, but they worship Dragon Warrior, which was nothing but grinding; I don't get it. I also love all of your smartass quips, and agree that Earthbound Beginnings is a stupid title, and still call it Earthbound Zero, same as you. I'm glad The Almighty Algorithm™ threw this video at me, and I'm really looking forward to checking out the rest of your content.

mother 1 is also my favorite and just the way you're explaining this makes me feel like we already sat down and complained about people complaining about mother . very cool

This video satisfied my lifelong curiosity to play mother. Like everybody else, earthbound changed my life and became a video game holy Grail that I sought out in every medium over the course of my video gaming life. I’d always meant to come back and play mother some day, but never got around to it. At this point in my life, I haven’t picked up a controller in four years. After your video, I feel like I have a pretty good sense of the game. Thank you for such a well-made and sincerely heartfelt video.

10 minutes in and your writing and editing style reminds me of running shines videos, which is great, it's also great to finally see someone appreciate earthbound zero/beginnings, I'm happy this showed up in my recommended Edit: finished the video it was fantastic, reminded me of just how successful the emotional scenes are, somehow they still manage to consistently get to me even after multiple playthroughs

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate your videos, especially this one. Watching these videos are really comforting for me and it always has such a relaxed vibe while still keeping it really funny. It’s hard to describe but it almost feels like a one-sided conversation with someone who shares similar interests and is comfortable being around you

This video does such a great job of showing lots of love for the game while adding just the right amount of spice. This along with your Mega Man X4 video got you another fan

Thank you for the review. I beat this game recently after playing EB, and it didn't disappoint despite it's age and random battle encounters. Really hard to choose one or the other as each is so unique.. I feel like it's legacy lives on in indie games like undertale, yume nikki, lisa series. Spoilers for EB/Mother1- I got into the game after learning about the order of the series, and yume nikki. Magicant was so trippy- really intriguing location, gives you so many questions about the story. Theme absolutely slaps too like winters' theme. Earthbound's Magicant was interesting too, but i still prefer the first, felt bad about killing that dragon who loves me in the dungeon, and the bird men of course. It was crazy seeing Magicant dissolve and fade as Mary learned the song she sang for giygas. The village of children is cool, the robot ally was a true homie, your sacrifice will be remembered. I wish more buildings were accessible and maybe more useful dialogue but they were already pushing the nes to it's limits. Just really cool to know that there's a quirky nes game like this, that was popular in the 80's, albeit not outside of japan- nintendo.

Your channel is a blessing! Really like creators with videos like this. The implying that Issac from deadspace is a friendly and charming character when talking about character design is something I totally agree with.

I am so happy to find another Mother 1 lover! It's hard for me to choose a favorite between Mother 1 and Mother 2 since they're very similar yet quite different at the same time. I love them both in unique ways. Mother 1 gets nitpicked too much, I agree. I think a lot of the design was very intentional given you're a kid trying to fight a force you don't even fully comprehend. Of course it's going to be difficult, weird, and confusing at times.

Amazing vid! I love your editing and style of storytelling if you decide to do more vids like this Im here for it!

Honestly my dude, this video is so relaxing, playing an excellent game, your DIY approach really shows the endless passion you have for this game.

This is an amazing video. I found your commentary to have the same quaint but real feeling as the game itself. Mother is one of those things that you just have to experience to understand and even if it sounds a little pretentious to say I think it is a story that's like ”you either get it or you don't”. It is so clear that when Itoi made the mother games he wanted to make a personal art piece. Also ever since I saw the commercial of the game many years ago I've been obsessed with its quote ”no crying until the end”. I played this game so many times the past 15 years and without fail I cry when I collect all the melodies and see Magicant disappear before fighting Giegue.

Let me start out with this; video is pretty good, and I'm glad it blew up for you. Mother 1 deserves the love and you highlight what is so nice about it while explaining well enough why some of the complaints are overblown. There's also the fact Itoi literally said in the first televised interview for the game "take your time it's not meant to be rushed through", as an added bit of reasoning as to why the complaints tend to be off mark. You were supposed to be a kid playing this in the 80's, not rushing through it for the sake of getting to the sequel. Secondly; Mother 1 is actually the new Earthbound in how no one really knows about it but it is very much underappreciated, except it's always arguably been more so. Earthbound is my favorite game of all time, with Mother 3 being my second or third cause there's another game I give the exact same score; but Mother 1 is in the the top 5 at number 4, easily. So, of course I don't think it's AS good as Earthbound, but it's still a guaranteed masterpiece. Like comparing a diamond to a diamond that somehow has rubies inside of it. Of course the latter is way better, but the diamond is still a DIAMOND. Finally; while this makes me THAT guy, I'd like to comment on the perception people have of Itoi and certain elements in the games. This is in relation to stuff you brought up in the 15 minute mark of the video, but what bothers me is not that people think he has or doesn't have X or Y beliefs, but instead that they assume he would be so tactless and explicitly blunt about it. If you've seen or read interviews or truly FEEL the series, you just know the man doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's not the type to put a manifesto into a game or have an all or nothing attitude. What I'm trying to say is that he's not some guy pointing at something going "LOOK LOOK THIS IS WHAT I THINK". It feels like people desperately trying to tie someone to their own beliefs to validate them, like they're illegitimate if X person doesn't feel the same. Guess that's just part of being human, but still, it bothers me when people apply that to the truly strange and wonderful person that Shigesato Itoi is. That's the last of my nonsense. Thank you once again for giving Mother 1 some love and explaining what you like and enjoy about it. I hope I wasn't too much of an overly talkative sort with this. Have a nice day.

Craziest thing I learned in this video is that there’s someone out there that likes mother 1 more than me for once. Seriously love your style btw

Lute, I was mesmerized by your commentary and love for Earthbound Beginnings. Thanks you so much for such a fantastic hour! I hope you’ll cover the other games in the series ❤

When I was a kid, back during the early days of YT LPs, I remember watching a complete Let's Play of it and the tune of the Eight Melodies still hits me like a freight train despite the fact that I haven't played it. It makes me feel such an intense wave of nostalgia. Great video though! I subbed for more. Also bonus points for using Yume Nikki music in the vid. Kinda hope you'll make a video on it.

I meant to comment this every time I rewatch this video but I always forget it because I listen to this more as background noise rather than full attention rewatch it every time. 1:02:48 I agree. It's one of the main reasons I far prefer the story in Mother 1 over 2 or 3. Earthbound and Mother 3 have great stories and its not a knock on either of their narratives, but the simple premise and execution just hit really strongly for me. I think its because the concept is very intimate and compelling because of it. Just a simple albeit quite reserved story about the nuclear family and their adopted alien child. All of them are effectively save the world narratives, but I quite like the way Mother 1 goes about it and I think it's in large part due to the intro. The simple text sprawl about a man named George and a woman named Maria and then the narrator telling us that 80 years have passed since then manages to get across the atmosphere of the story far more than it has any right to. I think Giegue is interesting and far more of an allure when he's a character as opposed to the concept that he eventually became known as Giygas and unfortunately Claus kind of is. Lucas and Claus' story is a heartbreaker, but there's not much in the way of dialogue and is all about the heartache of the single moment whereas Giegue recontextualises everything that has led up until now. I also think that the prayer moment is far better utilised in Mother 1 since Giegue is more understandable and human like. Pokey is interesting, and so are the more meta aspects of Earthbound's final battle, but I think ultimately Giegue gets more accomplished for his story in the final boss battle than either Giygas or Claus do, though I bet my opinion on Mother 3 is unpopular. There's also something to be said about just how weird a final boss battle it actually is. In Earthbound, the battle to save the Earth is to go back in time and defeat the very concept of evil brewing in the prehistory of prehistory. At the end of the day, you do defeat the big bad and Giygas' influence is erased from the aether. In Mother 3, its revealed that the rival character that has been keeping up with you, swindling you, outmaneuvering you, and just barely matching your pace is actually Lucas' twin brother who is alive after all this time. The moment is devastating especially since he passes away at the end, but in essence the bad guy is thwarted and then the needle is pulled in kind of a 'What now?' I think both are very interesting endings but I was always more partial to the image of a literal alien from another planet battling it out on the world's tallest mountain and completely incapable of losing in a physical sense only to be reduced to tears and forced to flee. You don't really win, the enemy just runs away, and that's always stuck with me on a visceral level, and I know that I'll remember it for a long time. Thanks for the excellent videos as always, Lute.

It's like if someone was like what's Nirvana and just randomly listened to Bleach and it was instantly there favorite album (coincidentally that actually happened to me lol see what i did that there ;P ) but seriously I gotta say I love your perspective on it... it's gritty, honest and refreshing!

You didn't always sound confident about your points, but you articulated a lot about what I personally love about the first Mother and why it's not only my fave Mother entry, but one of my favorite games ever. The tone, story, and feeling this game has are just right to me. A little cold and weird, but also really earnest, curious, and compassionate. Heck, that's a lot like what being a kid in this world felt like to me, too.

This video is getting recommended, good work

I love your review style, it's so nice to revisit games like this. I would really enjoy some more reviews of classic JRPGs, including Earthbound. Your style reminds me a bit of Running Shine and you still have your own touches on these videos. This was legit comfy and I hope to see more from you!

I think I really like Mother 1 because it feels the most like it's part of a child's imagination, at least from the image I paint in my head. It feels very whimsical, grounded in like a childlike fantasy kind of way, especially if you name the characters after some childhood friends. It has aliens, zombies, fighting crazy....cars? I think Mother 3 is no doubt better, and I think Earthbound seems like it leans too much into being weird which affects the whimsy the first game had but I'll also say it's also a better game. Mother 1 is an old school rpg after all, but I have more tolerance for this kind of game than most, and I must say I definitely prefer it to at least Earthbound.

This was a great video. I can feel the passion and I like how you’re just straight up with your emotions.

I love this video so much I had to share it with my family. They love it, too. Please make more. This was insightful, funny, and entertaining.

I just love the experience of finding a game you think is what you are looking for and it ending up being totally different. I had a similar thing happen from a similar experience even. Roy was my favorite character to play in Smash Bros Melee so I tried to find the game he was from. The trophy description said "Fire Emblem", so an 8 year old me convinced my dad to take me to GameStop and buy the game called Fire Emblem. It even had what looked like an older Roy on the cover of the box. I now know that the Blazing Blade is a prequel to Roy's actual game, but I still fell in love with the FE series from that first game.

Bro how the absolute fuck do you only have 600 subs. This is easily one of the best and most comprehensive reviews of Mother 1 on KZfaq. Sure, M1 isn't my personal favorite game in the series, that title easily goes to Mother 3, but I've never liked how much people loved to shit on this game. Of course it's archaic and sometimes downright unfair. It's a NES game for crying out loud. I see it as a masterpiece of its time and a massive influence even to this day. I still love this game for what it is, what it was, and what it will continue to be even if it's not my favorite. Phenomenal video

Thank you for all your videos, I love them all. I listen to them in the background while drawing, and they put a smile on my face and have given me a newfound appreciation of the games you've covered. You and idiotpro seem like chill guys, I wish you the best in life. And props to idiotpro, automaticpause and avery for their help. You have a big fan in me

Yo, I looove this game, it's also my favorite in the series. So open-ended, great story. Definitely gonna give this a watch when I have the time

Fuck I missed the singing monkey. And here I was poking and prodding the one in Magicant hoping something would happen. Thanks for this non-walkthrough! Here's something fun: in the Japanese version, your map is also an item that occupies a slot that you have to use. And it's not marked as a key item. So the first random crow you meet can steal it and it's gone forever.

I love how down to earth and chill you are in your vids man. Creates a really nice atmosphere that I don't get with other youtubers. Is nice

You're seriously starting to be my favorite vg reviews. you go straight to the points while you give this vibe in your reviews where you are explaining things thoroughly in a rather calm yet exciting pace. The way you make your representation to your videos is comforting to say the least unlike most creators where they mundanely either sit on a chair and explain things to you and show few edits while your edits depict your emotions by showing anime clips and humorous clips ad such. You can't be this low on subscribers. Also thanks for giving me motivation to finally start playing Mother 1 for once

Mother 1 is something special to me. It's not only my favorite mother game but my favorite game ever. Genuinely awesome to see people love this game and share their stories with it

This video is absolutely amazing my god!!! You have such a great comedic style in your videos while also being great at recapping the game, great stuff. I always love when people talk about this game as well, it’s mad underrated

binged your whole channel love how laid-back your style is

Radiohead anology really explained your feelings to me about this game trilogy. I do like the sequels better, by quite a bit. Mother 3 is a work of art. That being said, I’ll always have a soft spot for mother

Great video and format. This video is going to blow up I can tell. Great video man.

Man the algorithm has blessed me with your videos, i watched your paper mario video and now this. Love your vibe and style, can’t wait to see your future videos

Hi Lute! I recently discovered you through my KZfaq feed and I can honestly say that you are one of my favorite KZfaqrs currently in my rotation, hell of all time. Mainly because of the general vibe and authenticity you have for all of your videos. They are really creative and I can never really expect what you’ll do next honestly and I love that. So far you have talked about a lot of games from my childhood and I find that really relatable. Seeing as how you seemed to really enjoy it, it would be great if you talked about Kirby 64, as it is really underrated by a lot of people. Another good choice might be Bug Fables, as I am interested to see your thoughts on it. Keep up the great work, you keep me invested and interested with every video you make.

This is great. It’s like in the same genre of content that channels like ssethtzeentch, Running Shine or DDMOOGGGZ. I have no name for it. It just makes me laugh Edit: Lloyds the mvp

This video is an absolute masterpiece

I got sidetracked from looking up Pollyanna by your video title and stayed for the whole hour. I knew everything about this series was gold, but the deeper I dive the more radiant the rabbit hole sparkles. Specifically, my Turkish dad referenced reading Pollyanna the book as a kid in Türkiye, which I never heard of but for the Mother soundtrack. Turns out it was a super-touching 1913 children's book originally written here in the States, and it's as gut-wrenchingly uplifting as this game. Great video, I'm going to give myself a few years to forget every spoiler and play it!

The almighty algorithm knows I'm a diehard fan of the mother series so it showed me the video. Lute, lemme tell you, the moment I saw Deakin pop up here while dying on the hill that this is your favorite Mother, I knew you would be one of my favorite youtubers ever. Not sure if you're gonna do this for the rest of the series, but I would love it. Consider me subscribed.