I finally got around to playing Mother 3, using the fan translation patch. Took about six months of periodic sessions. An excellent and commendable game, not quite what I expected but very enjoyable. It was refreshing to not have to grind out levels, like in Earthbound. It has also been interesting to read about the game's development hell, something that increases my respect for the developers and producers for their efforts. Additional praise to the fan translation community, and Shogo Sakai for producing a ridiculously varied/fitting soundtrack for the meek lil' Game Boy Advance. C'mon, listen to this:

This actually took me a bit to reflect on and describe. I believe "it's less mysterious" is the answer in a nutshell, but if you want that in multi-paragraph form...

So, Earthbound has a very barebones plot, which barely drives the game. You're essentially thrown in with little structured direction. You're never meant to be completely lost (the game's NPCs clue you in, or the bundled player's guide helps too, though I only eBay'd the cartridge as a kid). But, the environments (and your immediate objective in them) change very rapidly/dramatically, to the point that it kept me guessing, and consistently intrigued. It feels like something that's stretched too thin too work (and it probably violates several modern game design sensibilities), but I really enjoyed the trip, blind as it was.

Now it's two decades later, and this means I'm (maybe) an adult who interprets, scrutinizes and deals with information completely differently (and if it's a good day, that means "better"). Funny thing is, that's maybe not so important here. Mother 3 still hits the right buttons, and feels like another quality experience with the same author's (Shigesato Itoi's) painstaking writing (lovingly translated by a fan crew). I intuitively understand this a few moments into the game, and can take ease and just enjoy it with some intentional naivete. In a personal sense, this no small praise - I more often find myself holding nostalgia at arm's length.

Going into Mother 3, I knew it would be increasingly plot driven, and that it would reuse some environments more frequently. Neither of these are inherently bad, and the game does use them to good effect. Still, those design choices were a bit heavier than I anticipated. So, I guess compared to Earthbound, a greater chunk of the game felt teleprompted, with fewer unpredictable deviations.

In Earthbound, the Moonside sequence is one of my favorites. It comes off as especially unexpected (in essence, you check a mundane object and suddenly reappear in an extremely erratic environment, with zero warning, or way to reverse it without reloading a save). Very memorable to me as a kid. I was stupefied the whole time, in the best way possible. Mother 3 has a similar sequence, and while it's somewhat equally randomly timed, it's also partially given away; you trigger it by eating some jungle 'shrooms.

Rambling aside, at the end of the day, I enjoyed/would recommend both games!

Edit: I'm sittin' here laughing at the irony that "it wasn't unexpected" is my answer to how it was not like I expected. Sheesh!!

(Long exhale sound) I'll play it someday, but it's pretty low on the backlog. I've read a Let's Play and understand the overall experience is pretty minimal/grindy. Still, the challenge is admittedly appealing.

There's the rub. I'm aware of the romhack/Easy Ring option...but would prefer to play the O.G. experience, lumps and all...but don't have that O.G. free time anymore.