• Add Review
  • Subscribe
  • Nominate
  • Submit Media
  • RSS

I am now Earthbound!

  • pianotm
  • 02/20/2016 07:30 AM
  • 3683 views
Name: Mother: Cognitive Dissonance

Developer: otherhand

Story: I open this review by saying that I have never played Earthbound and know nothing about it, but if it's anything like this game, I will have to remedy that situation post haste. The game page reads “It tells a story of Giegue's descent into madness.” So I guess that means Giegue used to be an alright fellow until, I don't know, having never played any of the Earthbound games. Anyhoo, you start out playing as Giegue for a few minutes, gather a little intel from your ship, during which you learn that the overall mission is to save Earth from general stupidity (at least the information was saying that they were trying to give humanity the ability for intelligence).


Wait? That's the blue screen of death. Does that mean Giegue's spaceship is running windows? Dammit, Microsoft!


Buddy, I know your struggle.


So, without going into detail, you play an alien named Alinivar (or whatever you choose to name him. Yep, a bit of sophisticated eventing going on in 2k3, here). This is a little sketchy; it seems Giegue has recruited you to help him stop...Giegue. It doesn't help that he says he's Giegue, refers to himself in first person, then says the person you have to stop is Giegue and refers to him in the third person. Maybe I'm misreading it. It's the Tsukuru 2k3, and since changing computers and the Steam release of the official versions, I haven't downloaded the old Don Miguel stuff, so I don't have any updated fonts. Anyway, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you have to stop this guy and you have to find three other people, who have also been recruited, to help you, otherwise he will rain death, destruction, and chaos; nothing too serious, but probably worth putting a stop to. You also have the option to name your characters...except Mr. Saturn. Mr. Saturn is Mr. Saturn is Mr. Saturn...unless he's a colonel.


You play as this guy! How cool is that? You just don't get do that in most games! You play a cat, or a hedgehog, but never a space octopus!


Gameplay: This game makes imaginative use of the base 2k3 combat engine. The gameplay isn't the real draw here, but with enemies like abstract paintings, ninja flowers, and demented noses, we really aren't very focused on the gameplay, now are we? Tilesets give us such things as bluegrass, and I don't mean the Kentucky variety, and bow gardens (literal bows made of ribbon like on Christmas gifts). Once the novelty wears off, the game is actually pretty average as far as gameplay goes. It's not bad gameplay. Fights are well-balanced. Encounters are touch based. Nevertheless, don't let that run you off.


Yeah, I went with strawberry. It went nicely with the demented robot.


Graphics: It's like Douglas Adams did a collaboration with Andy Warhol and Salvidor Dali while they were all tripping on LSD (At least in Warhol's case, that may not be such a stretch: I couldn't say for sure about the other two)! If I graded on graphics alone, this game would score an easy 5. Cognitive Dissonance makes maximum use of 2k3's graphics capabilities with bizarre vistas, nearly seamless (if extremely short) cutscene animations and parallax backgrounds (no, the maps themselves aren't parallax). Play this game in short intervals though, because the imagery can cause a bit of a headache. Actually, I'll be honest about this. The game should probably come with a seizure warning.

Music: I'm sure it all comes from the Earthbound series. Whatever it is from, it fits this game perfectly.

Glitches: I came across a rather minor one. When you lose the game, you're given another chance. All the enemies you previously fought are back on the screen, but if you run into them, they'll disappear and sometimes leave gifts, but you'll skip the fight. This also happens if you leave and return to a screen enough times. It's all I found.

Conclusion: I really wanted to give this a 5 so bad, but I had to get myself under control, here. The gameplay in general really isn't worth a top rating. The story and imagery make the game well worth it though, and the game is very well assembled. In fact, with the exception of the aforementioned glitch, I could find no fault with it.

Posts

Pages: 1
Punkitt
notorious rpgmaker 2k3 shill
3341
it seems Giegue has recruited you to help him stop...Giegue. It doesn't help that he says he's Giegue, refers to himself in first person, then says the person you have to stop is Giegue and refers to him in the third person.

Think you might be referring to Niiue, the guy with the cool hat and the funky tail. He looks a lot like Giegue, but he's not the same person.

Anyhow, I'm super glad you liked it! I'm a big fan of the game myself. The music is actually specially-made for this game by a whole buncha different composers, which is why it all sounds so different and weird. Some tracks were lifted from Earthbound, but a lot was custom. (I actually did a few tracks for it, too! (Not the big reason I like this game, I swear!))

It really helps if you've played Earthbound, or any MOTHER game in general before you played this, but you seemed to have gotten through it just fine. The story itself will become much clearer if you go into it having played Earthbound or Earthbound Beginnings, since this is meant to be an in-between game for the two. (Like Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel for example.)

I came across a rather minor one. When you lose the game, you're given another chance. All the enemies you previously fought are back on the screen, but if you run into them, they'll disappear and sometimes leave gifts, but you'll skip the fight. This also happens if you leave and return to a screen enough times. It's all I found.

Quick thing, but I think you're talking about the way leveling works. Once you're a high enough level, you won't even have to fight enemies you could normally crush in one hit. They simply disappear. It's meant to mimic the way Earthbound did it, but I can see where it would get confusing.

Phew! Haven't written a long comment in a while. Anywho, like I said, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Did you ever get through the game all the way?

pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Punkitt
Did you ever get through the game all the way?


No, I haven't. It's one of the games I stumbled upon looking for something to review for the Review Fantasy IX event. I kind of took a break from reviewing games, but I just really didn't think about it, especially considering this is one of three really good games I chanced upon that the typical game player isn't going to finish in a single sitting. You know how things just get away from you when you're thinking about something else?
Pages: 1