Colour us ex-PSI-ted. Mother 4 is a fan project created by a group of intrepid Mother-lovers who, like all of us cultish fans of Mother 2 or what is known as Earthbound in the West, were frustrated that Mother 3 never had an official release outside of Japan, and that series creator Shigesato Itoi has repeatedly stated that an official sequel to Mother 3 would be “Impossible.” Almost five years in the making, Mother 4 is being crafted from the ground up, with a completely original story and characters, and will be completely free upon release.
For those unfamiliar with Mother, it is a series of JRPG set in a version of a small-town USA where the heroes are normal people, many of whom have psychic powers, who go on an adventure to save the world. Mother 2’s protagonist Ness is well known from the Smash Bros series, as is the funny and oddball Mr. Saturn.
Chock with bizarre enemies, hilarious circumstances, and surprisingly rich philosophy, the Mother series is known to lighten the hearts of those who play it. Mother 4 looks poised to carry on this tradition based on what has been shown so far; here is the story direct from the project’s website:
Mother 4 follows the journey of three kids and the leader of a biker gang. With dark rumors of “Modern Men” running wild, these unassuming heroes set out to uncover the truth, no matter how dangerous. From bustling urban streets to secret volcano bases, all kinds of oddball thugs and impossible monsters stand in their way… but everything should be okay if they don’t forget to write home!
Just one look at the promotional clay models of the characters created for Mother 4 puts one on a nostalgia trip for Mother 2 or Earthbound, which released way back in 1994:
The creators also recently updated their website with new screenshots from Mother 4, which show off some of the world and enemies of the game:
This is not the first major Mother project to come from a group of fans frustrated by the lack of support here in the West. A group of translators took it upon themselves to create an English-language patch for Mother 3 ROMs, which is currently the only way for Western fans who don’t understand Japanese to enjoy the GBA game. Mother 3 was praised for the series’ trademark silliness, while also crafting an emotionally resonant story with complex themes related to nature versus technology.
The Mother 4 Project will be available for PC, Mac, and Linux, and the project’s website has an e-mail list which you can sign up for to be immediately informed of the game’s release. Meanwhile, you can also follow the status of the game on the team’s dev blog, Facebook page, or Twitter.
Are you as excited to play the Mother 4 fan project as we are? Watch the teaser trailer below and let us know in the comments if you’ll be playing this labour of love when it arrives in 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fNbJIl_Mkg
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