What to Play After Finishing the MOTHER Series?

no no no, don’t bother with any of that trash. what you SHOULD play after finishing the MOTHER series is the MOTHER series again, if course

Where’s Pokemon Mystery Dungeon? I know gameplay wise it isn’t like Mother, but it has feels and great music, like the mother series.

I’d say throw Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime into the mix.

The game doesn’t have RPG elements so much but it’s got great sprite work, loads of charm and it is just gobs of fun to play.

One word: Pokemon

I would definitely recommend Chrono Trigger. I loved the DS version. It’s my favorite RPG that wasn’t developed by Nintendo. Also Final Fantasy 9. I wish more Final Fantasy games had a similar style and setting to FF9.

Live-A-Live…I think it gets forgotten sometimes.

I should check out Undertale, I’ve read a lot of good things about it. Fun fact: the game currently has a Metacritic score of 97, which puts it as the highest-rated PC game ever followed by other than Half-Life 2. Very impressive for a MOTHER-inspired RPG.

I second the suggestion of Live-A-Live. It’s a game that could very well be described as “strange, funny and heartrending”.

*by none other than Half-Life 2, argh

I know it’s on the flowchart, but DEFINITELY Mario & Luigi RPGs. The writing is very EarthBound-y at times, going from comic relief to minor doses of cosmic/body horror.

@Huks
I don’t want to come of as an overzealous fan gushing about an indie RPG, so I’ll just say this. Undertale is the best indie RPG I’ve ever played, and I’ve played a lot of indie RPGs.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen Contact recommended to anyone. It was definitely an interesting game; I see how it’s kinda similar to Earthbound.

Well, considering Contact features (basically) Dr. Andonuts…

Space Funeral.

I’ve heard that Boot Hill Hero’s, is pretty good.

Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy games are great games, but I can’t think of anything they have in common other than being well regarded JRPGs from that time period. If it wasn’t for those game’s universal acclaim I’d even say that they’re outright different demographics, being the games that focused on system-pushing graphics elaborate strategy and series stories, the games that American audiences rejected EarthBound in favor of.

I’ll toss in a recommendation for Opoona. One of the few RPGs for the Wii. It’s one of the only games whose world sucked me in like EarthBound’s did. Similar progression, a world with its own culture, and an underlying evil that few in the world ever seem to notice. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed EarthBound.

I can’t recommend Undertale highly enough. Or talk much more about it without spoilers. It’s a wonderful game, and perfect for EarthBound fans.

I’d also like to recommend The World Ends With You, which has a similar modern-day setting to EarthBound, a few overall thematic similarities, and a lot of small details and little pointless cool things, but is pretty much entirely different in terms of gameplay and aesthetic. It’s like EarthBound meets Kingdom Hearts, with a good deal of anime poured over it…wait, where are you going? It’s better than it sounds, I swear!

I love these cute flowcharts! I’m glad someone did this.

I’ve played just about every game on there, it’s super cool to see that Hyperdimension Neptunia is on there, although I’d recommend the sequels or the remake way over the first one.

What Opoona said, Opoona is a fantastic Wii game

I’ve been playing through Chrono Trigger recently… It’s really fun. I had tried it at least a couple of times in the past, but had never gotten too into it for whatever reason until now.

I need to recommend Phantom Brave. I played it on Wii, but I think it was also on PS2 and maybe PSP? It’s a strategy RPG kinda like Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem, except movement is in 3D, you can create your own characters and weapons, and if you play your cards right, you can sweep a boss with only the main character, which happens to be a really weak little girl who normally fights by summoning the spirits of the dead to fight for her. I’m trying to keep it short, so I’m not doing it any justice. Go play it!

I KNEW Undertale would be there. It was obvious.

…Dubloon?

Aw yeahhh i’m glad Megaman Battle Network is there too, the dialogue in this game especially NPC’s is clever and amazingly hillarious just like EarthBound!! And the game is very very unique I really reccommend to all EarthBound fan!!, also it’s not about robot, it’s all about program and network..aaa i love this series so much

Some others I’d personally reccommend:

Persona 3 + 4
Shadow Hearts Trilogy
Danganronpa 1 + 2
Ace Attorney series/Ghost Trick

Opoona reminds me of An American Tale… at least in basic premise.

I recommend Animal Crossing. Hear me out. That game really captures the “simple life” philosophy of Itoi pretty well. In fact, I believe he once more or less said he considered Animal Crossing a sequel to the Mother games. Happy Home Designer isn’t really a fully fledged Animal Crossing game, so I’d recommend starting with, say, New Leaf.

For that matter, try out a few games in the King’s Quest series. Not really in the same setting, and different genre, and not exactly a comedy (though with a good amount of comic relief) but I enjoy the positive feeling of those games. Very much a classic fairy tale series without trying to get too gritty like so many modern fairy tale reimaginings.

What, no Yokai Watch? (I mean, it’s not out yet BUT!)

Also seconding Space Funeral. It’s so weird and creepy and kinda silly in the most EarthBoundy way possible.

Xenoblade Chronicles

I’m so glad that OFF is on there. Such an interesting little indie RPG. It’s definitely got an EarthBound vibe with the guy in the baseball uniform using a bat, and the trippy, mindscape setting.

OFF was made by a friend of mine. It’s still weird to see it pop up here and there.

Not a lot of games in this list remind me of what I like in EarthBound (a kind of cartoony, trippy, 1960s-90s psychedelic vibe with a lot of humor, poking fun at american pop culture), I’ll instead go with watching a mix of 1960s japanese action flicks and early Simpsons episodes.

cave story is such a good game though

Undertale for feels, Citizens of Earth for similar-ish mechanics, Chrono Trigger for classics.

LISA

No game in 15 yeas for me cept Yume Nikki has given me a more Earthvound like experience.

I’m disgusted that Undertale is on there but LISA is not

The only JRPGs close to Earthbound that I’ve played are some of Nintendo’s other wacky rpgs, which I highly recommend. I’m not much of a JRPG fan but Earthbound just hits all the right marks for me, it has that Nintendo charm that can’t be replicated by anyone else.

For whatever reason, Nintendo’s RPGs are criminally neglected.

I always thought ‘Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden’ was somewhat similar, being an RPG with an off-the-chain humorus storyline that gets treated 100% serious within the game.

Thanks to all these recommendations I have a lot of games to play now. Not that I haven’t played a bunch of these great games. I wish I had played less of them just to replay all of them. Mother Cognitive dissonance was good, yumme nikki was good, cave story was amazing, citizens of earth was good (despite glitches), megaman battle network was good, and Chrono trigger was amazing and etc. Can’t wait to try out the games I haven’t played yet. I could go on forever about how much time I wasted playing them all. I wish I could erase my memory and re-experience them again.

Cool, now I have an excuse to play the Mario & Luigi series.

Undertale.

Holy cow, play Undertale. This game is WAY better than it’s getting credit for, absolutely phenomenal.

Contact was terrible. Sorry. I hate to be that guy. It’s more like survival kids than earthbound. It is weird and the story is actually kind of depressing (especially the ending). Emulate it if you absolutely need to play it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love weird RPGs, but contact is now really expensive and a chore to play. Get retro game challenge instead…if you’re hellbent on spending loads of cash. Fairune is weird/light and free on phone or $3 on eshop. Citizens of earth is a buggy mess, but really fun when it’s not busy crashing. Bowser’s inside story is insane and much more varied than anything in any Paper Mario game. A boy and his blob is so weird and worth 10 minutes of your time, especially the wii remake. Toe jam and earl is also not an rpg, but it’s great w/ another person and really strange. No mention of Earthworm Jim? That is a crime. Also, no wario land? For shame. Phantasy star 3 and 4? (Sci-fi rpg, not really quirky). Zombies ate my neighbors should be on everybody’s radar.

Finally, big sky trooper is about alien slugs that hate advertising. So you’re goal is to set up fast food franchises, one planet at a time and take back the Galaxy. It’s a criminally overlooked Snes game. (And it’s cheap!) It’s odd in every conceivable way and it’s by Lucas Arts. Emulate it. The graphics are fantastic and quirky. I can’t figure out why it doesn’t have an cult fan base.

Oof. That’s killing me. Your goal. Not you are goal. A winner is me. Good lord.

Holy Crap! I’m so glad everyone likes this!

Personally, I’d recommend the Touhou Mother games, if you’re a fan of both the Mother and Touhou series. It’s like a love letter to the two games with tons of references to each series. A good example of this is that there’s a song in the game that is a combination of Cirno’s theme from the sixth Touhou game and the Smashing Song of Praise from Mother 3. Plus, the game is entirely fanmade, which just goes to show how good some of the fanbase is for both the Mother and Touhou series.
Also, for those who like visual novels, I’ve heard really good things about the Danganronpa series (which plays like the Ace Attorney games) and Steins;Gate (which I know nothing about apart from what I’ve seen from the first episode of the anime).

Golden Sun 1 and 2 are the best RPGs of GBA, if you like RPGs you should play them.

Golden Sun 1 and 2 are the best RPGs of GBA, if you like RPGs you should play them.

There is only one reason you should ever play Awakening right after playing a Mother game, and that’s if you want to experience the sheer disappointment of going from a good game to a horrible one.

literally any other video game

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Snuph is right, waifus kill FE.

Not to sound like a crazy zealot fan or anything, but this list really should just be a bunch of lines all pointing at UnderTale. It’s pretty much Mother 4 in spirit, in my eyes. Kind of what Itoi meant when he said he wanted to see the fans live out Mother 4. Toby Fox has essentially done this, by being a huge EarthBound fan and creating his own tribute to it, but letting it be it’s own thing at the same time. It’s unique, original, extremely clever and utterly amazing.

Snuph True. FE is ruined because of all that inappropriate content in recent games. What’s worse is that a ton of people got a wrong impression of what the serie sis about, it’s terrible.

I just love the idea that the mild allusions to heteronormative sexuality are what’s inappropriate in a series that already entailed killing scores of enemy soldiers. Nothing morally questionable there!

On a completely unrelated note, yes, definitely play Undertale.

Can confirm what the others have said after finishing it. Yes, go play Undertale. It’s amazing and every EarthBound fan I know has been completely enamored with it, great characters, great gameplay, great soundtrack, and great story. One of the few games I genuinely consider a “must-buy.”

I’m surprised there’s no Ni No Kuni.

pokemon? legend of zelda?

Where is LISA?

It’s probably a little mature, but I’d put it right near “trippy/storyline.”

The Megami Tensei series generally uses modern day settings like the Mother series, though they’re a lot darker and mature.

strongly believe Sweet Home should be added to this list “if you really like the horror stuff in earthbound”

I would also highly recommend To The Moon. It has a very emotional story, that I quickly became attached to. plus great music!

Oh yeah, and it’s got some humor in there too.

EdgetheLucas is right…UnderTale is beautiful and as a fan of mother games I totally loved it.

I like this. It runs the gamut of your usual Mother-esque choices while also throwing in some more obscure games that are still very much good. The inclusion of Crystalis and Contact get my stamp of approval for sure.