I've never played a whole lotta video games or anything. I played a pretty normal amount of games and whatever growing up and honestly I was pretty bad at them. However, I do actually like JRPGs, specifically ones on the Game Boy Advance. Can't tell you what it is about them.

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Golden Sun

cover of Mother 3

Pt. 1

I accidentally deleted all my save data because I was playing with the sound off and this game takes a really long time to save. Unfortunately, the only way to tell if the game is saving after you've pressed the button is to see if any sound is playing. So I turned the game off while it was saving and was greeted by the option to name my character... :(. Funnily enough, I'd been playing, according to my last time saved, for about fourteen hours and fifty minutes. So this review really would have happened either way. Made it to about the desert level. It's fun and an enjoyable enough way to spend an afternoon, but it really is quite flawed in many ways. The writing is, at best, a really, really funny joke. The cutscenes drag on endlessly, and further, all of the dialog plays out more or less like this:


GARRET: Hey, what's that cobra doing here?

IVAN: Woah, is that a cobra?

MIA: That cobra is a god among these people... he's been that way since ancient times...

GARRET: Hey, Isaac, isn't it crazy that there's a cobra here?

answer=input()

if answer="yes":

print("GARRET: I know! It's so surprising that there's a cobra here!")

if answer="no":

print("GARRET: Haha, now's not the time for jokes. That's one big cobra!")


I don't even think you make a single "yes/no" choice that actually does anything in this game. I always dunk on games like these for having characters with no personalities, but gee, most of these characters really had no personalities. Ivan was so weak and useless that at some point, I stopped reviving him entirely and sold all of his belongings to get better weaponry for all of my other characters. But in this game's defense, the soundtrack is banging, the art is wonderful, and the puzzles are really fun. Really hard to put down, despite its ridiculously bland story and egregious writing.


Mother 3

cover of Mother 3

Pt. 1

Okay, it gets off to a slow start. It can get a little tiring what with playing not only as Lucas but also Lucas's dad, a semi-related thief, and naturally, of course, a mistreated primate, it can get a little tiring, especially with just how much "grinding until you're at level 20" this game requires. But, it's pretty funny, I can't lie, and the emotional stuff does get me.

Pt. 2

Mother 3 is pretty brilliant. Yea, it feeds into some tropes of JRPGs what with the dramatic tragedy that stages the story and the ending and all that but honestly it strikes me less as Mother forgetting what its all about and more as Mother, one of the most bitingly satirical video games of all time, finally taking itself a little seriously. Pretty excellent. I will say, there are far too many instances of "having to get the band back together," but the consumerist commentary and shocking emotional maturity makes this game a must-play. Plus, it has a great soundtrack.