>>12390169
It didn’t release in the west at all

>>12390175
Earthbound did

It released on wii u what do you expect? It was number 2 only to splatoon on release, which was a brand new game. It was high on the chart for a good while. Easily one of the most successful NES games on the platform.

>>12390178
but not the one that OP posted. How can you judge what a group of people think about a "series" if only one game got a proper release

>>12390169
>Does this prove that normies are retards who are unable to engage with something beyond a surface level?

No. People are stupid yes, but this doesn't prove that; it only weakly suggests it. People don't have to go out of their way to appreciate EVERY good thing in order to prove their enlightenment. It's allowed to skip some good things.

>>12390169
It proves that westerners in the 90s had a hard time reconciling the idea of something being mature and interesting but cartoony.

>>12390169
the most boring games ever made. even though I tried to force myself to like it basically my entire life, I always ended up dropping it because it's the most boring game ever made.

>>12390436
i don't finish 99% of games but i finished this one and liked it

>release game with little to poor marketing
>doesn't do well
>shocked
>"Fuck, I guess no one wants this..."
That's what happened, it's not normalfags being retarded again.
Also wrong fucking game, you mean Mother 2

I prefer mother 2 more

>>12390451
>little to poor marketing
not an excuse, a real good game will grow popular through word of mouth

>>12390613
not prior to the internet
also im pretty sure they bundled some playerguide shit alongside the base game which increased the price.

File: Mother 2 - Manual Page 19.jpg (1.4 MB)

1.4 MB JPG

In due time, the west fell in love with the series as well, to the point it's now impossible to not see it mentioned in lists of greatest games of all time

>>12390616
>not prior to the internet
zoom zoom moment
people learned about vidya back then from chatting with other people and hearsay
not everyone was reading gaming magazines and only select few games appeared on TV commercials

File: 1534307156603.jpg (989 KB)

989 KB JPG

*are the best party members in your path*
nothing personnel, kid

>>12390643
>marketing means nothing
>okay, actually it kinda does

>>12390175
That means 0 copies sold, which means a flop.

File: 17449554479271716061.jpg (68.1 KB)

68.1 KB JPG

>>12390776
>word of mouth is the same as paid marketing

>>12390406
no it doesn't

>>12390736
So you invest in this fucker and then you immediately lose him after one dungeon? What were they thinking?

Earthbound didn't make money in the West because they spent too much time and money localizing it and then charged way too much money for it.
Contrary to popular opinion, Earthbound is not some groundbreaking showcase of what the SNES or JRPGs can do/be. It is fundamentally not a Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 6. It's just a fun little quirky Japanese RPG, the kind that there are hundreds of, the kind that don't usually get translated because there would be no way to recoup the cost of translating them.

>>12391167
>the kind that there are hundreds of
Name 20

File: Screenshot_20250515-220408.png (571.6 KB)

571.6 KB PNG

>>12391161
skill issue

>>12391167
A shitty archaic RPG with a handful of novel concepts and sometimes a character says something mildly amusing, that's all it ever was.

>>12391183
Excuse me for playing blind and exploring thoroughly.

>>12391182
nta but there's a couple:
Hoshi wo Miru Hito
Momotarou Densetsu series
Ultraman Club series
Magic of Scheherazade
and I'm sure there's others that don't treat themselves too seriously.

>>12391203
I'm not playing any of that shit.

>>12390736
was teddy given a long nose because he's prideful? similar to 鼻が高い/long nosed being a metaphor for prideful?

>>12391167
the song "porky means business/cease to exist" is pretty impressive. not as impressive as "dancing mad" but it's up there.
giygas' fight is impressive.
the rolling hp meters are impressive.
insta killing weak enemies while on the map is impressive.
the sheer novelty of some mechanics like only poo having weird diet needs and condiments being used when eating is impressive.

>>12391203
g.o.d. too.

File: 1761346198220311.jpg (239.2 KB)

239.2 KB JPG

porky is one of the best villains ever

>>12391768
Hate him

>>12390169
>generic soulless dragon quest ripoff with cringe ESL "le quirky" shit sprinkles on top
>unique, creative, adult or thought provoking
meds

>>12391768
not fat enough

>>12390178
Mother is unironically better than Earthbound

The kind of thing that happens when you take out full page ads in game magazines that say "THIS GAME IS SHIT!" and there's a little picture of a turd underneath that smells like shit when you scratch it.

>>12392863
gross out marketing works on the right demographic, its just not at all who was into cutesy jrpgs

>>12391750
I have no idea but now that you mention it Teddy's nose really reminds me of Tengu masks

>>12390169
they advertised earthbound in magazines by showing full page drawings of fart clouds that basically tell you "this game stinks"
it was destined to flop

>>12395408
tengus are also associated with pride and there's a saying involving them that means prideful. become a tengu/天狗になる。
i remember things in mother like teddy supposedly being able to take down the mcs with a pinky if he wanted. that along with his long nose just made me think "oh, maybe that's why they gave him a long nose".

>>12391750
long pointy noses is a white stereotype in east asia where everyone has a flatter, rounder noses.

>>12390169
It's gay af
Stop sucking it's overblown dick

>>12396729
fuck off, dave

>>12390169
>most unique, creative, adult and thought provoking rpg series
maybe if 3 didnt exist but thats heavily bringing it down

>>12392734
lmao no it isnt, its not even close. if mother 1 was some beloved cult classic and earthbound was the obscure japan only game youd be saying the opposite.

File: GaDV1YFXoAAdrzu.jpg (1.3 MB)

1.3 MB JPG

>>12390169
> Mother 1
Didn't even come out in the West to flop back then

> Mother 2 / Earthbound
Take your pick.

RPG at a time when Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were also struggling with the western market till FF7 came out 3 years later.

Coming out at a time when GRAPHICS = GOOD and it was not exactly high end pixel art, it's a vibe now but back in late 1994, NOPE.

Big ol box and price tag led to stores ordering less due to higher cost/risk and shelf space, the retail market not buying a big box abstract RPG (see point #1) and the PRICE.

> Mother 3
Didn't even come out in the West to flop and by now everyone that wanted to play Mother 3 has already done so via emulation that it would only be niche collectors and speculators

>>12397397
Final Fantasy was never struggling in the Western market, the first game was a best seller in America for years. Square even changed the titles of completely unrelated Game Boy games to include Final Fantasy overseas because the name had notoriety. It just wasn’t a blowout success, household name until VII.

>>12397397
>big ol box
your mother has a big ol box

>>12396760
elaborate

>>12390169
Here's the thing, the cover and blurb of a piece of media is supposed to be an elevator pitch.

>>12390184
And now it's unavailable. Legally at least. I've got a bootleg cart but idk, the translation seems iffy but that may be due to just playing a rom hack.

>>12390406
No, I don't think it does prove or even suggest that. I could point to all sorts of references but comic books and anime were popular then and much more niche than they are today. Or idk, Batman the animated series.

File: df.jpg (343.1 KB)

343.1 KB JPG

>>12390169
this shit with random encounters was unpleasant. i was fond of magicant and the overall atmosphere of the game. just playing it didn't feel as good as earthbound, and eb also has its own charm.

>>12398220
This place was the point at which my enjoyment of the game started to sour a bit. Not that it was really hard since I somehow managed to clear it all in one go, but I don't know why approximately half of all items you can find in the game are in this place specifically, and while you only have two characters. Not to mention having to heal after almost every Fireball encounter.

>>12398142
3 is shit. nothing about it is good except for boney.

File: 345235345345.png (19.1 KB)

19.1 KB PNG

I saw how people were talking about Mother 1 online

And I instantly had suspicions about what was going on. I figured that it would be a Metroid situation in which the first game is shit-on by moronic NPCs and sensationalist youtubers for being ""dated"" (meaningless criticism).

So I go and actually play Mother 1 and yep, just as I suspected. It's a maximumly soulful, intentionally designed, raw gaming experience. Same situation as metroid.

>>12390169
>quirk chungus game with the most utterly braindead, repetitive combat known to man and some of the most dull, tedious, and obtuse overworld progression
Genuinely one of the worst games I've ever played in my life, it's dogshit even by jarpig's already low standards

>>12398593
mother 1 is underappreciated but it is still archaeic and feels rough in comparison to other games of the era. we had final fantasy and dragon quest 3 by then.
but nowadays, it feels like people are speaking up more about mother 1 and sharing their love for it. so, sometime, it won't feel underrated anymore.
i see a lot of people prefer it over mother 2 these days.

>>12398598
>feels rough in comparison to other games of the era
Mother 1 feels more advanced than other RPGs to me, what witt being able to walk in 8 directions on the map, auto battle, and something that was even impressive when compared to 16 bit AND later RPGs: the map is gigantic and there's no submaps for towns, it's all in the same big interconnected map.

>>12398597
>quirk chungus
Care to translate to adult speak?

>>12400908
People he doesn't like, like the game

>>12399426
the balancing is really rough though, especially at mt itoi. and it's kinda a pain to grind up your new party members. they make you go back to magicant if you want to grind up your new people.

>>12402869
nah you just guard with them and they level up pretty quickly. magicant enemies don't give that much exp so you're just making it take longer by doing that. on the mountain you have an invincible robot that one-shots everything and a guaranteed escape move so that's also overblown

>>12404140
yeah unless you happen to walk into that one specific square near the lake where you're forced to battle the robot and Eve fuckin dies. She was with me for one fucking battle before that.

>>12404509
The funny thing is if that happens in the japanese version, it actually makes the game easier since you don't need to reach the XX stone for the last melody.

>>12404859
That whole area was blatantly unrefined in the Japanese version, and they admitted as much. If anything it was the prototype localization that finally rounded out the ending, beginning with that final stretch of overworld between healer's hut and the cave.

>>12402869
Going back to Magicant is easy, just be sure to get the Onyx Hook.
But as another anon said you don't need to grind much in Magicant for new party members, maybe a few levels but you can just continue the adventure and the new members will level up quickly since exp points are shared.
As for Mt itoi, use PSI Block and be sure to have both Franklin Badges. It's a challenging area but you have tools to overcome it. 4th d slip is also an option in heated situations

>>12391768
destined for the spit

>>12396762
Itoi said people liked 1 more than 2 back when 64 was cancelled.

mother

>>12412179
OOOOO MASSA

>>12390406
Earthbound was never marketed as such in the US. The most it got for advertising was a shitty Nintendo Power gag about the game "stinking". Nobody could have known the game was mature or interesting unless they had actually played it.

File: 1747000410377013.jpg (669 KB)

669 KB JPG

itoi is the goat in mature storytelling in childush games

>>12390169
Toby Fox unironically made this series popular

>>12412903
who?

>>12412903
i liked mother before undertale was made

so ness and lucas are both naughty, right?
ness followed a barely clothed woman into a hotel room and liked checking out the elevator attendant's ass.
lucas tried to go in the shower room while kumatora was showering.

File: mother1 .jpg (352 KB)

352 KB JPG

>>12412903
damn I guess Smash Bros no longer exists.
Imagine how sad the life must be that gets into mother via some jewish twerp.

>>12390169
Mother is a generic dragon quest clone and it wasn't released in the west.

Earthbound flopped because idiot american reviewers didn't get it and wrote it off.

>>12391182
>>12391203
Adventures of Hourai High School.

Cool as fuck game about a transfer student with outstanding music by Hitoshi Sakimoto.

File: hourai gakuen no bouken.jpg (727.1 KB)

727.1 KB JPG

>>12414283
*forgot pic

recs for games if you like the mother series?

>>12412903
It was already glazed before the gay underground game, thanks to smash and the emulator scene gaining traction around that time. Most of the "I discovered earthbound through Undertale" niggas are literally the "I love earthbound but have yet to play it" crowd. You could say the same thing about a good bit of the smash crowd, but it's even more so with UTfags... and many smashlets don't play other franchises represented anyways

mom sucks. it's utterly average wiring that people pretend is epic because of its setting. it's also written specifically to be nostalgia bait.

mom is actually really good because of all the little details and the neat combat. but people do not care about this.

this is the society we live in. fuck it. death to forcing cult status. death to earthbound inspired games (cash grabs btw). i'd say death to toby but that guy also ripped off brandish

>>12415487
>wiring
writing. though i'm sure the wiring is also average

File: 1762083635390924.jpg (80.7 KB)

80.7 KB JPG

>>12395693
Cool it with the antitenguism.

>>12415487
>wiring that people pretend is epic because of its setting
no one thinks the writing is epic, it's a funny coming of age adventure that's sometimes heartfelt, with great music. I will agree with you on earthbound "inspired" games though

>>12415558
really good image

>>12415487
>mom sucks
>mom is actually really good
what did he mean by this?

>>12416197
are you a caveman, anon? a game can have some good qualities and some bad qualities.

>>12416230
he phrased it funny is all

>>12412953
what's funny is the chosen 4 all bathe together in hot springs and so does the main cast in m3 so they've all already seen each other naked.
lucas trying to go in the shower with kumatora isn't shocking in the context of the later game when everyone's freely bathing with each other.

another thing, people like to draw lucas as being shy in the hot springs with kumatora and paint it as an innuendo but he sees her naked on a daily basis. it doesn't affect him. he's seen it all before.
m3 cast is like family so they're allowed to bathe with each other and have it be normal. it's not sexual.

>>12415639
Save it my friend, it's yours!

The Magypsies are kind of meant to be marginal/outsiders, much like Tonkachi from Mother 2 (forgot his english localization name).
In fact, if you remember, there's a certain scene that's very similar between Tonkachi in Fourside and one of the Magypsies.
Anyway, I never thought the bath scene with the magypsie was meant to be sexual or awkward, just comedic.
The part that actually bothered me was the mermen oxygen machines, that was fucking evil, STAY AWAY FROM MY KUMATORA

>>12416896
>I never thought the bath scene with the magypsie was meant to be sexual or awkward, just comedic.
it's meant to be an adult joke. and ionia literally teaches lucas the power of love in that scene so...

>>12409723
i heard this is actually sort of true in japan where they have more fond memories of 1 than 2. it's shame about 1's gameplay because i really do prefer nearly everything about it to 2.

Most of the japanese fan art and official merchandise is Mother 2 from what I have seen.
Of course 1 is still a beloved cult classic too and I've seen it being referenced in japanese media but not sure if more popular than 2

3 is loved too but it's polarizing. you either love it or hate it in japan. a lot of people found it disturbing as kids.

>>12416896
>STAY AWAY FROM MY KUMATORA
how do you feel about duster, lucas, and boney bathing with her?

>>12413637
smash players don't play the original games

porky's the goat. he was told how he needed to be successful while ness was told he didn't need to be famous. ness took care of his younger sibling while porky cowardly left his on his own.
in m3 you play as the younger sibling who becomes brave while porky always remains a cowardly child.

>>12417523
Neither do the tourists coming from ut

>>12412903
I think you're thinking of MOON anon.

>>12390436
>>12391184
Basically this. The battle system and old school JRPG grinding never seemed to be worth the story payoff to me.

>>12419180
I’ve never understood why Japs never reduced the difficulty for western localized JRPGs to make them more appealing in the same way that the JP version of Resident Evil for example is easier than the original NA release.

>>12419187
It really wasn't up to them. Working Designs infamously made their localized games harder.

>>12419201
True, although you’d think Nintendo would’ve considered doing this. EarthBound doesn’t make the best first impression with its initial sharp learning curve.

>>12419187
The North American release of Final Fantasy IV was infamously made a lot easier in North America, and then there was Mystic Quest, an entire baby’s first RPG specifically made for Westerners. I’m sure there are other examples.

>JP version of Resident Evil for example is easier than the original NA release.

Other way around, the Jap release was the original release, it was made harder for Americans (based).

>>12419201
Working Designs did not have a monopoly on Jarpig localizations, practically all their notable work came after FF VII already made the genre more widely accepted in the West. Before that, they only translated some Turbografx CD/Sega CD/Saturn games who only a handful of non-Japs played at the time, and pretty much all of the Westerners who did but them then would have already had a strong interest in the genre.

File: 1765542026855744.png (432.5 KB)

432.5 KB PNG

>>12419221
>EarthBound
>learning curve

>>12419226
Maybe not nowadays with guides, save states and rewind features, but I can absolutely understand a kid in 1994 being turned off by the early parts of the game when it’s just Ness. If I were Nintendo localizing it for a western audience, I would’ve definitely reduced the amount of grinding.

>>12419229
Oh dear, it's retarded.

>>12419232
You say that from a modern perspective, not someone viewing it from 1994 when JRPGs weren’t that popular in the west yet.

>>12419236
I had no problem with it as a preteen. You're just a retard.

>>12419238
That’s great, but it’s not hard to see why EarthBound didn’t find a wide audience at the time. Chances are you were already into JRPGs back in 1994. Try looking at it from the perspective of a kid who had never played one before. The early parts of the game aren’t very user friendly.

>>12419240
Just grind, bro. Even dumb children who can't strategize know how brute force works.

>>12419249
Hence my suggestion to make the early parts less grindy to appeal to a broader western audience. It’s not hard to see why kids unfamiliar with JRPGs would be turned off by tedious grinding right up front.

>>12419252
But you're a retard, and you probably have brown skin. Children have the option to grind because they aren't developed enough to strategize. Your grown ass having 75 IQ isn't a good reason to make games dumber for White and Japanese children.

>>12419262
Your line of thinking is why EarthBound flopped in North America. It was silly of Nintendo not to tone down the frustrating JRPG grinding for their western kid audience if they wanted the game to succeed.

EarthBound’s downright archaic feeling battle system certainly didn’t do it any favors in 1994 when compared to much flashier stuff like FFVI or Chrono Trigger.

>>12419321
>archaic
Dragon Quest keeps doing it

>>12419267
I don't think grinding had anything to do with why it flopped. That's never really brought up as an issue. Poor marketing, simpler graphics, and I think the big box with extras it came in made it more expensive, those are bigger reasons why it flopped.

I don't remember having to grind much anyway. Early on you might have to return home a few times when you run out of healing options, but that seems more like almost a tutorial aspect where the battles slowly get a bit harder and more complicated. Plus probably some story thing about wanting to stay close to home and being reluctant to really leave. You get sustainability pretty quickly and once Frank is defeated I don't really remember ever having to go through areas multiple times unless everyone happened to die or too many were diamondized or something.

The game seems pretty anti-grind with things like weak enemies running away, instant wins against enemies, the caterpillar enemies, etc. M1 was definitely more grindy but it seemed like they mostly tried to tone that down for EB. I hate grinding but never really felt like I was being forced to do it in EB. Some people just don't like EB's gameplay though which might be more of your issue.

>>12419321
I played Chrono Trigger and tried FF but didn't really enjoy playing them as much. I was a fan of the rolling HP, even it doesn't become more important until a bit later in the game it gave it a unique feeling compared to a lot of other turn based games.

>>12419428
>I played Chrono Trigger and tried FF but didn't really enjoy playing them as much.

Well, I was more saying that those games would’ve been seen as a lot more visually dynamic and next gen looking to a kid in 1994 compared to EB, which looked dated and had a less visually exciting battle system.

>>12419528
>EB, which looked dated
Yeah that was said to be part of the reason for its poor sales, even if now more people find its look endearing and enjoy it.

>>12390406
>It proves that westerners in the 90s had a hard time reconciling the idea of something being mature and interesting but cartoony.
Like The Simpsons and Futurama?

File: IMG_6813.jpg (81.4 KB)

81.4 KB JPG

>>12390169
I honestly think a remake of Earthbound using the visual style from the Link’s Awakening remake and Echoes of Wisdom would be quite nice looking.

>>12419951
you're not alone in that thinking. many others want that but i personally hate that artstyle. i wouldn't care for it.

>>12419321
People say this shit as of Pokémon and Dragon Quest aren't 90% the same thing as the Mother games.

>>12420501
Well yeah, EB’s influence on Pokemon is pretty obvious, but the mostly static combat in Pokemon was more excusable since they were Game Boy games. DQ also remains primarily popular in Japan.

>>12420501
>>12420537
Neither DQ nor Pokemon have 8-way movement on the map, not visible enemies on the map, or the ability to sneak behind them, or auto-wun when it's low level enemies.
Mother 2 did a lot right, even compared to RPGs today.

>>12420574
It’s an interesting system but I’m still of the mind that players want to actually see their characters pulling off attacks.

>>12390169
>total flop in the West
Never fucking post again you utter miserable zoomer trash

>>12420591
What are you talking about? EarthBound sold terribly in the west.

>>12390613
That's not how it works, you fucking underage retard.

>>12420583
that's the real reason, autists with aphantasia who can't get over the first person perspective

>>12420621
Something like Chrono Trigger or Super Mario RPG is undeniably more visually dynamic and exciting to look at. That seems like the opposite of autistic to me.

>>12418641
>tourists

File: Sean as Twoflower.jpg (91.2 KB)

91.2 KB JPG

>>12421024
>Hello Earfbound fans, than you for welcoming me into your fandom. I will now draw Ness brown and ambiguously gendered just like Kris from Undertale
Yes. Tourists

File: scenarios.png (6.5 KB)

6.5 KB PNG

>>12421051
Are these "tourists" in the room with us right now?

>>12421094
This image is antisemitic.

>>12390169
> The quirky rip-off of Spielberg's nostalgia-laden film.
> Gameplay is less boring than JRPG fare.
> Supposedly innovative.
How? In what way does this game innovate anything? The non-retro rip-off is much better than Earthbound and is unique.

>>12419951
I've thought that since I first saw footage of the LA remake. A claymation-esque artstyle in the vein of the EB manual models would be very charming. To this day I don't understand why they made the LA remake

File: 1769020275033079.gif (591.2 KB)

591.2 KB GIF

is giygas the best final boss?

>>12421841
Yes, but his M1 fight had more of an impact on me.

File: 1766582435495464.png (111.9 KB)

111.9 KB PNG

>>12421857
i think it was more emotional in m1. he's just an all powerful being. he's too strong to beat.
but you sing his mother's lullaby to him and he remembers her. and it's stronger than any attack you could do to him. his parent's love is stronger than all else.
mary's whole plotline is pretty emotional too.
whereas in m2 you just pray to your friends to help you. the emotional ties to giygas aren't there. he's just a scary eldritch being your friends save you from.

File: 1765832631017981.jpg (21.1 KB)

21.1 KB JPG

then m3 has the final fight be more emotional again. claus doesn't even really feel all powerful and unbeatable because you beat him prior. but the power of love does still have to come in and save the day because lucas won't fight him.

>>12421841
>>12421857
not much of a boss either time, tho

ken > ninten

>>12421692
It's the only 8bit JRPG with a big actual gigantic map instead of overworld + submaps for towns

>>12423631
also 8 direction movement

porky

teddy