Mother 1 was first released in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, to become the first game in the well-known and loved Mother series. However, while the second and third games in the series (the latter not even having been localized yet) are hailed by many as being masterpieces, the original first game is often left to the wayside. Why is this?
The game follows our main character Ninten as he uncovers a world-wide apocalyptic alien phenomenon along with friends he meets on the way. It has themes very much tied to friendship and familial love, and throughout has a very positive tone despite the very almost horrific underlying tones of the game. It plays as a typical JRPG, where the player is playing as a party of characters and must level them up through random encounter battles and different boss battles to progress through the game.
These mechanics and themes are present throughout the sequels as well, but this is also where many critics compare Mother 1 in terms of gameplay to the sequels. Much of the critique surrounding the first game pertains to the very large number of random encounters that the player runs into even as they are just walking from place to place on pretty large maps, not to mention the actual amount of grinding the player must do in order to actually be strong enough to take on the bosses to progress the game. This is where the length of the game itself also comes into question, as many players are turned off by just how long it takes to get through it, much of which is spent in repetitive battles.
Except, here is where I would like to propose why I actually found this game enjoyable and relate it to the large success of the sequels–I think that the grinding and long gameplay time is actually integral to the experience of the game and of this series in general. It all comes down to if the player wants to put in the time to finish the game, however. Mother 1, according to howlongtobeat.com, has a leisurely completion time at around 40 hours, which for a game largely full of grinding levels is quite a lot. Yet, the payoff after completing the game, I posit, is what really makes this game and this series in general shine.
The type of grinding gameplay present in the game also lends itself to the narrative regarding friendship, growth, and change in oneself that is present throughout the game. One thing I find myself always loving about certain JRPGs is the growth that a character may go through along with the people they meet–they very often begin as just your average run-of-the-mill person, and this narrative type allows the player to both relate to and grow with such a character. This also comes with the very context of Mother 1 being about a young boy who is thrust into this apocalypse alien-invasion narrative–of course it would take a long time for him to grow into the role he is at the end of the game, in which he is able to defeat the final boss of the game not just even by sheer force, but by the idea of love and family that he has learned along the way.
It’s a really beautiful narrative about growth, and even though the player must go through countless battles to make the characters grow enough, it feels almost meditative to a degree, and the ending of the game is then much more satisfying. I would actually almost like to relate this type of gameplay to our discussion of “slow games” that we had over this past week, and how the experience of a game can change based on how a player is able to relate to the objectives of a game. I think that JRPGS almost have a tendency to allow the player to experience them as a slow game if they wish to, and Mother 1 does this especially well as there is no actual time limit to the character progressing through the story. When I first played this game at age 12 or 13, I vividly remember it took me months to beat, but at the same time I don’t think that this took away from the experience at all. Just taking out the game before and after classes in middle school to grind through a few battles became part of my life, and with this, the end of the game felt so utterly gutting and powerful to me. Even as I replayed it for this blog post, I found that I didn’t mind the in-betweens moments of the game, and the juxtaposition of the mundane versus the apocalyptic themes really serves to create a strong and compelling narrative.
Overall, I think that the grinding nature of JRPGs in general shouldn’t be discounted as frustrating (it can, of course, depending on the player), but with this we need to think about the usage of these mechanics when it actually comes to the game. These grinding-type mechanics were put into the game for a reason, and the game just wouldn’t be the same without them. I almost think more of modern games like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Breath of the Wild, whereas thee games may not rely on grinding mechanics, the in-between moments where the player is really allowed to reflect along with the characters is really what comes through to make these games truly special. I don’t know if Mother 1 is a game for everyone, but when it comes to cathartic experiences of video games, I think that this game is definitely not one to forget about.
Even if you want to play it without all the grinding, there are definitely emulators that you could use to speed up time in the game, and there are also versions of the game made by fans that make the game easier. As a closing thought, I think that within the highly-regarded Mother series, the first game shouldn’t be left out in discussions of the raw power and emotion throughout the series, and I highly recommend playing the first game first if you plan on playing through the Mother series someday.
