History VideoGame / CognitiveDissonance

* UnitsNotToScale

* ForegoneConclusion: Due to ''[=EarthBound=]'''s main villain being Giygas, [[spoiler:even if you use PK Harmony to reunite Giegue and Niiue as one being in the Good end, Giegue admits that his insanity will continue to fester and Giygas will proceed to take form. He then helps the heroes escape his mind with Niiue's help]].

''MOTHER: Cognitive Dissonance'', formerly known as ''Cognitive Dissonance: Between Two Times'', is a completed FanSequel in the ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series, created in UsefulNotes/RPGMaker, taking place between ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', and using a chapter structure similar to ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}''. The story begins with Giegue overlooking the empty void of space from the bridge of his ship, haunted by his defeat at the hands of Ninten and his friends. It was developed by the fan handish2000, also known as otherhand, from the Starmen.net forum.

[[caption-width-right:350:I’m a ghost / Living in the shadows / Looking for a way out / Into the light...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Take a melody...]]

** Master Magnolia, found in [[spoiler: Giegue's old Mother Ship]]. Absolutely brutal, with a mountain of health and two fours, and the ability [[FlunkyBoss flood the battlefield with minions]]. While required to beat in order to get one of the other endings, they're not required for the normal endings. Beating them also nets you PSI Beam Omega for Larice before chapter 8.

** Master Magnolia, found in [[spoiler: Giegue's old Mother Ship]]. Absolutely brutal, with a mountain of health and two fours, and the ability [[FlunkyBoss flood the battlefield with minions]]. While required to beat in order to get one of the other endings, they're not required for the normal endings. Beating them also nets you PSI Fire Omega for Larice before chapter 8.

Since the game uses an older version of UsefulNotes/RPGMaker as it's engine, the game's battle system leans far more heavily into ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' style of combat than ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' or ''VideoGame/Mother3'''s. The PSI and abilities are recreated rather accurately from the ''VideoGame/Mother'' series and the battle backgrounds feature a lower grade style of that of ''[=EarthBound=]'s'' but ultimately it lacks the scrolling odometer mechanics the later ''Mother'' games are famous for. To compensate, the game instead uses an ATB gauge, not unlike that of the earlier ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games to help simulate the frantic nature the scrolling HP mechanics in the main series has.

** Getting the max tier PSI for Alinivar and Larice can be a pain, as they don't unlock them by beating all the points of power and instead require exploring the galaxy to find special items that allow them to learn them.

* GuideDangIt: It is possible to miss a few Points of Power on the first run if you don’t explore. Any that could be {{Permanently Missable|Content}} have been ironed out in the re-release, but returning to Points of Power in Chapter 7 makes those bosses much more powerful but reward you with an Apple of Clarity, an item that gives you a free stat boost to everything but PP.

* LovecraftLite: The setting is ''very'' close to a CosmicHorrorStory, but fortunately ThePowerOfLove can save one from even the worst horrors.

** Joke End, [[spoiler:Hammertime]]: Defeat Giygas without [[spoiler:unlocking Maria's room with the Reboot orbs (thus not using Nightmare Empower), without using Song, and without using PK Harmony]]. Its defense is astronomical, making this normally [[HopelessBossFight an overwhelmingly daunting task]], but the Ballpeen Hammer, an item you can receive by trading an item you get when escaping the Mothership as Larice with a Shambler on Uranus, [[ArmorPiercingAttack ignores defense]], toning the challenge down from "impossible" to "manageable". However, [[RealityBreakingParadox reality cannot handle Giygas being defeated by brute strength alone]], [[spoiler:causing everybody to spontaneously transmute into cows]]. You also get this ending by beating [[spoiler:Giegue in Chapter 3. It's impossible without cheating, though]].

''MOTHER: Cognitive Dissonance'', formerly known as ''Cognitive Dissonance: Between Two Times'', is a completed FanSequel in the ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series, created in VideoGame/RPGMaker, taking place between ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', and using a chapter structure similar to ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}''. The story begins with Giegue overlooking the empty void of space from the bridge of his ship, haunted by his defeat at the hands of Ninten and his friends. It was developed by the fan handish2000, also known as otherhand, from the Starmen.net forum.

* ContinuityNod: All sorts to all three ''MOTHER'' games. [[WordOfGod Handish]] even said that there was even a nod to ''MOTHER 4'' (Back before it was re-branded as ''VideoGame/{{Oddity}}'').

* ContinuityNod: All sorts to all three ''MOTHER'' games. [[WordOfGod Handish]] even said that there was even a nod to ''VideoGame/MOTHER4''.

* EldritchAbomination: And ''how''. Unlike ''[=EarthBound=]'', you get to see Giegue’s in-between form as [[BodyHorror he tears himself apart]] to become Giygas.
** There is also Gargianthian, the Terror of Space; a [[EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods space squid]] (with {{Eyes Do Not Belong There}} and TooManyMouths who is known for eating spaceships. The [[RecurringBoss first time]] you fight him, you have Niiue and another spaceship backing you up. After that, you're on your own, and you have to drive his HP to zero many times before his corporeal form is destroyed.

->''"What happened after the storm?"''

** Likewise in Saturnae, a building set to be demolished has a sign warning anyone that standing in front of the bulldozer will not damage it.

* UpdatedRerelease: The game has been remade by the same maker along with some artistic help from someone else. It has been rebalanced, many sprites have been improved, the game itself was expanded, and original music and more endings were added.

** Normal End: Alinivar's group [[HoldTheLine manages to fight back Giygas long enough]] for [[spoiler:Zarbol]] to go back to the past to warn Ness about him, [[LastStand but they end up losing the final battle]], and [[spoiler:Niiue]] laments that [[BittersweetEnding this wasn't how he envisioned it would go]], and asks you, the player, [[TearJerker to see them again and to not let them die next time]].

** Secret End, [[spoiler:Severance]]: [[spoiler:If you manage to get all five Reboot Orbs into Giegue's ship, you discover the playroom where Giegue grew up, where Niiue thanks you for finding it and taking a solo mission to pick up some new skills. Both Niiues survive the initial encounter with Giegue in his mind, and you proceed to beat Giygas by casting Nightmare Empower to weaken him when he becomes the full-screen EldritchAbomination, causing his defenses to become unstable as Giegue's consciousness is extracted from him, then beating him down with sheer power. This causes a chapter 9 where Giegue flees, saving the gang from various spots in Magicant and escaping with Niiue, coming out as a child. Again, however, this does not destroy Giygas, so Zarbol must still go to the past to warn Ness about him.]]
** TimeParadox: [[spoiler:Use a Knowledge Stone to grant "Song" to Niiue, and use it against Giygas. This sinks you deeper into Giygas' psyche, and you fight his aspects. Winning this fight "should not have happened" and [[TimeCrash erases the future timeline]].]]
** Joke End, [[spoiler:Hammertime]]: Defeat Giygas without [[spoiler:unlocking Maria's room with the Reboot orbs (thus not using Nightmare Empower), without using Song, without using PK Harmony]]. Its defense is astronomical, making this normally [[HopelessBossFight an overwhelmingly daunting task]], but the ballpeen hammer, an item you can receive by trading an item you get when escaping the Mothership as Larice with a Shambler on Uranus, [[ArmorPiercingAttack ignores defense]], toning the challenge down from "impossible" to "manageable". However, [[RealityBreakingParadox reality cannot handle Giygas being defeated by brute strength alone]], [[spoiler:causing everybody to spontaneously transmute into cows]]. You also get this ending by beating [[spoiler:Giegue in Chapter 3. It's impossible without cheating, though]].

* TrueFinalBoss: Well, [[EarnYourBadEnding for certain values of "true"]], anyway. [[spoiler:If the player taught Niiue Sing and uses it during the final battle against Giygas, the battle immediately ends, and after a hallway, the party must fight G-Core, a significantly more difficult opponent. Defeating it grants the [[TimeCrash Paradox]] [[MindScrew Ending]].]]

* BittersweetEnding: This comes from the Normal and Good endings, where you do send the Messenger back where he needs to be, but in the former, the Applechasers can't hold off Giegue and die, and in the latter, [[spoiler:Giegue assists Niiue in getting the Applechasers out of his mind, but Niiue is implied to die]]. This is {{Averted}} in the [[spoiler:Severance]] ending, when [[spoiler:Giegue's core personality is pulled away as a child again, thus letting almost everyone survive while Giygas, the main force, is allowed to be destroyed by Ness and co. without taking Giegue with him. The only one who dies is Zarbol, AKA Buzz Buzz]].

** [[spoiler:Fobbyiyg, the Cosmic Destroyer]] of Jupiter is the Fobby version of Giygas. There was a joke ending if you could beat him in version 1.0, and an InfinityPlusOneSword if you do in 2.0.