So, been hearing the news that an English translation hack for Mother 3 is out, now? I have. I downloaded it. As well as a ROM of M3.
"You bastard! You didn't actually buy a copy of M3! Software pirate!"
Oh, come on. I don't import videogames, and you can't stop me. You don't know where I'm operating, you can't trace my web activities. And it's not the first time I've done this. Us Westerners must resort to emulation to play Seiken Densetsu 3, remember?
"Yeah. Hey wait, I thought you didn't like Earthbound, AKA, M2. Why the fark are you playing M3!?"
It's true; M2 is a largely mediocre RPG, only memorable for its out-there sense of humor.
But not M3. Heh heh!
Let me make this clear; M3 is a lot, lot better than M2. A lot better. The clunky Dragon Quest interface is gone, you can run on the map (and past enemies if you're sneaky enough), the game itself is less challenging, and the story, oh mama.
M2 was too out there to be believable. M3 still has that trademark weirdness, but its setting is actually believable. It's a believable world, with believable characters, a believable plot, believable villains, and believable cutscenes. Word of warning for those who have played M1 and M2 but not M3; there are genuine scenes of pathos in M3. This is not a childish game. Don't play it if you're weak of heart. But, M3's story is so good, it may have the best story I've seen since Persona 3.
And another thing, the music. My gawd, the music! Not only does M3's soundtrack blow M2's out of the water, it has, by far, the best soundtrack I've ever heard in a GBA game. Although the sound quality still pales compared to that of, say, an SNES game, M3's music is still just a wonder to listen to. And the battle music is great also. When you fight a Mr. Batty for the first time, expect to laugh, trust me.
And the music is actually a part of the battle. When you attack, if you time your button presses to the music, you can hit your target more often for more damage. The timing is tricky, though. And much like in M2, if you take 'mortal damage', you don't die immediately, not until your HP rolls to 0. But in M3, your hp rolls more slowly, giving you a much-needed edge.
So, unless if you can read and understand the Japanese language, playing M3 like I have is the best way to go. If Nintendo has any common sense, it will eventually release M3 in English-speaking regions in some form. Until that happens, it looks like we'll have to go the same route we did for the SNES version of Final Fantasy 5.
But still, Mother 3; best game in the franchise. Crank that Yammonster theme up!
