Spoilers Off for Moments pages. You Have Been Warned.
No crying until the end.
He only wanted to see his mom one last time.
When a game series' taglines are "No crying until the end", and "Strange, Funny, Heartrending", one can't help but imagine that the series hasn't earned the reputation of one of the most emotional franchises of all time for no reason.
MOTHER/EarthBound Zero/EarthBound Beginnings
Has its own page.MOTHER 2/EarthBound
- Ness's Eight Melodies are also very touching, especially when you listen to it from the simple music of the Sound Stone.Grown-ups have done so much more stuff than me
There's many things that I still want to see
Now I take my backpack to the world
and fill it with memories - When Jeff meets his dad. Nothing really happens. Jeff meets his dad for the first time in ten years, his dad does nothing but offer him a donut and help him continue. He clearly wants to see his son, yet he knows he wouldn't really be able to keep him happy. Poor Jeff. Poor Dr. Andonuts.
- By the time you reach the Cave of the Past, absolutely everything, including the protagonists' bodies, has become distorted and nightmarish...but you still save the game by calling Ness's dad, who simply assumes his son has a bad cold, and otherwise says the exact same gentle, reassuring dialogue as at any other point in the game. As minor as this detail is, it's incredibly touching.
- Paula praying to friends and families during the final battle against Giygas.Paula prayed from the bottom of her heart."Please, give us strength... if it is possible... Please...""..........""Somebody help us..."Paula's call was absorbed by the darkness.
- Giygas's cries of pain from a mind so utterly broken, alone and lost in a void he doesn't even understand are heart wrenching. Hidden beneath his immense, maddening power, it becomes apparent that all he wanted was a friend, and all he felt was fear, though he had fallen so far that he is now seemingly unable to distinguish one emotion from another."I'm so sad, Ness..."
- Take his appearance and backstory from EarthBound Beginnings into account. The entire series happened because of the horrifying choice Giygas was forced to make: his race and species or his parental figures' race and family. Giygas's rational mind, which was perfectly seen in EarthBound Beginnings when he called off the attack because of the love and nostalgic sadness he felt for Maria, is completely gone because of the trauma he received and the evil power he absorbed.
- If you at least know the full backstory, destroying Giygas can almost feel like a Mercy Kill.
- Everyone bidding farewell to each other and going their separate ways.Poo: Our travels together end here. I must return to Dalaam, and use this experience for the good of my country. Ness... Paula... Jeff... Let me demonstrate a strange power before I go. I realized this power as a child. PSI Farewell! Now! I'll see you again someday!Jeff: Paula, Ness... It was great to hang out with you guys. It really was. I'm glad that I had the chance to use some of the theories that I have been studying so hard. It's remarkable. If... just maybe... Well, if you two get hitched someday, maybe I'll be the one that fixes your broken electronic appliances. I'm going to stay here for a while and see if I can learn more from Dr. Andonuts. I mean, from my Dad. ...So it looks like this is good-bye for now, my friends.Paula: I'll miss all of you, but I have to go back to being just a regular kid... Well, I gotta get going...
- The ending credits song "Smiles and Tears" from when you've beaten the game.
- Fridge Brilliance kicks in because the entire ending sequence is nothing but "Smiles and Tears" with the party disbanding, reading the letters from their loved ones, Ness (and possibly Paula) freely exploring a peaceful world, meeting with countless people who all have something new to say, and finally returning home to conclude their long journey. The tears come from being happy as much as sad.
- This is especially a tearjerker when you realize that you'll never see the four characters whom you've grown to love again.
- Hearing "I miss you" at the end credits.
- And now, with the real-life passing of Satoru Iwata, who was a major help in getting the game released, those three little words are made even sadder.
- The ending credits song "Smiles and Tears" from when you've beaten the game.
- All the zombies getting trapped in the circus tent in Threed is gut-wrenching when you talk to the people around the tent afterwards.Woman: I'd never thought I'd say it, but, poor zombies!Trapped Zombie: Can you help me? I guess not.Trapped Zombie: You've doomed our kind! You monster!
- When you first arrive in Saturn Valley, several Mr. Saturns have been enslaved by Master Belch. Given their childlike nature, their distress at the fate of their brethren can be heart-wrenching.Mr. Saturn: Lots of friends... Taken behind falls... Why? Why? Boing!
MOTHER 3
- We could flood the page with links, but instead, we'll just put it simply: This game's utterly magnificent soundtrack is a huge reason as to why it's so sad.
- The first Chapter doesn't pull any punches — midway through, you learn of Hinawa's offscreen death. The music cuts out to add weight to the grim situation, and Flint doesn't take the news well at all. Although he has no dialogue for this part, his body language and actions, even for a small GBA sprite, effectively communicates his anguish. He literally goes insane with grief, pulling a flaming branch from a nearby fire and randomly attacking anyone who gets close to him, before furiously slamming it into the ground while taking on a truly enraged, yet equally broken stance.
- What makes Hinawa's death all the more heartrending is that at the start of the game you can rename her. Shigesato Itoi employed this mechanic figuring that players unaware of the oncoming tragedy would name her after their own mothers, which a lot of them probably did. That is emotional manipulation of the best kind.
- A small one; Flint can take the stick Boney hides in his doghouse but Boney will whimper and slump in sadness.
- The fight with Mecha Drago. Yes, it did kill Hinawa but taking into consideration the fact that the Drago has been made mechanic against its will, it's really more like a Mercy Kill than a true boss battle. Even the music accompanying the combat
is somewhat sad if you give it a good listen. There's also the aftermath of the fight which is basically a parallel of what happened to Hinawa - the Drago dies in front of its little child after shedding one last tear. It's even been pierced with the same fang that caused Hinawa's death. The parallel is made all the more obvious by Alec's words as Flint goes for the final blow:Alec: Flint! Don't do it! That won't solve anything! You'll only make its child go through what Claus and Lucas had to!- Flint's feelings are also to be considered here; he's facing the creature that killed his wife, willingly or not, and he wants revenge.
- The abuse Salsa endures can be very tear-jerking to animal lovers. To the extent that the player can have him examine a mirror, and the flavor text prompted will be "What does a smile look like again?".
- The game in general can be tear-jerking if you're an animal lover, especially if you have a habit of noticing Fridge Horror.
- The end of Chapter 4, in which DCMC bid farewell to Lucky, aka Duster. Bon voyage, amigo...
- The following excerpt during the Mushroom Samba scene:Claus Hallucination: Everyone's waiting for you. Everyone's waiting to throw rocks at you, spit on you, and make your life hell. Who's "everyone"...? Everyone you love.
- One of the Claus hallucinations asks Lucas to switch places with him. Remember at this point in the story, Claus is believed to be dead. Lucas wishes he had died instead of Claus.
- Mixolydia explains the hallucinations “...tear at your weaknesses and the scars in your heart.” Now considering the dialogue from Lucas’s hallucinations of Claus and Flint, it seems he blames himself for his family’s misfortunes and feels deserving of punishment.
Flint Hallucination: I’m gonna beat you. I’m gonna beat you, boy. Daddy’s gonna beat you. - A small one that's quite overlooked, but once Ionia disappears, Kumatora walks over to where she was standing and looks around for a moment before looking down, visibly upset. Considering that she was raised by the Magypsies after losing her real parents when she was a baby, Kumatora ends up losing her parental figures once more. It sticks out as the one moment where we see Kumatora sad, brief as it was.
- There is a long, straight hallway towards the end of the game, featuring nothing but a tile floor, a red carpet, and this music.
- The return to Tazmily near the end of Chapter 7. Seeing the little village where Lucas grew up nearly empty and everybody talking about going to New Pork City, as well as the music playing in the background give off the feeling that this is the end of Tazmily.
- Leder's Info Dump. When you come upon the realization that you're essentially on untouched utopia, created so the lives on it were to be the happiest, truly perfect ones- and it was all corrupted in a moment by Porky and his happy boxes? Bring on the crippling depression and a virtually nonexistent will to go on. Until you realize you do have something to fight for- a reset button. Or, at least, what might be a reset button, if Masked Man isn't truly corrupt.
- Reggie's quote- "We can forget happy things. We can probably forget sad things too. People have the power to forget." The people of Tazmily had all forgotten their previous lives, driven to destruction by society and technology. They exist on a perfect place of harmony and happiness. Claus had forgotten who he was, forced or not. Porky has forgotten kindness and love, and Flint refused to accept his wife's sacrifice. Lucas seemed to be stuck in this stagnant form of grieving for the entire game, never dwindling on his happy memories. It's especially apparent when he looks into the mirror later in the game, the one he looked into in the beginning. Hinawa's reminders to Lucas become all the more powerful, along with the Magypsies' messages. Tazmily Village quickly forgot their peaceful ways to usher in a newer, modern age, completely accepting it and transforming Tazmily, even going so far as to shove the elderly into a decrepit home and abandon their hometown for the city. People have the power to forget. To move on. And it's not always, necessarily, for the better.
- The DCMC concert at the Empire Porky Building. Knowing that the world might end, they decide to hold one last concert to rally everyone's hopes.
- Realizing Fassad was Locria, the seventh Magypsy. On one of the floors in the Empire Porky Building, there is a Magypsy's shell house. Inside there are crates and presents of bananas, banana peels litter the floor, a Magypsy's memento (a Razor and Lipstick), familiar looking horns on the table, and a Magypsy's bed, where laid out on it is Fassad's clothing. Finally, when you reach the entrance of the next elevator, there is a lone mouse. What he says will make you can't help but feel sympathy for Porky's first lackey throughout half the game."I don't think Locria is coming back anymore. Oh, me? I'm a mouse Locria liked to dote over. He had a creepy "Nwehehehehe" laugh, so he might've seemed like a mean person in most people's eyes, but he was very nice to me at least. Do you think he'll be coming home soon? I'm so lonely."
- The movie theater. It's not just that Porky wants to show off Ness's adventures in his movie theater. It's that he had to have actually taken the time and effort to have them properly filmed.
- Back in EarthBound (1994), two sesame seeds- one white, one black- can be found in desert. They're each only one pixel big, and if you talk to them, they'll ask you to help them find each-other, because they're in love. The sesame seeds cannot be interacted with beyond this, and they're on completely opposite sides of the desert. Twelve years later, MOTHER 3 came out. In the last chapter of the game, you can find a single black pixel and a single white pixel sitting on a stand, side-by-side.
- The final boss fight was probably the biggest example here. You find out that the Masked Man is Claus, your brother who you haven't seen in three years. Then when he tries to use PK Love Omega, Flint jumps in front of Lucas to save him. Then when Lucas is about to give up, Hinawa's spirit comes back and convinces them to stop fighting. We see a flashback to when Lucas and Claus were newborns and Hinawa was still alive. After realizing who he is, Claus kills himself to be with his mother. It also doesn't help the Love Theme is playing the whole time, which is a sad song on its own."Claus... Claus... Claus... Come to your mother... You must be so exhausted... Come here, Claus."
- The more you think the worse this fight gets. Anyone else realize that "Claus" and "Lucas" are anagrams?
- At the beginning of the fight Lucas faces the Masked Man alone, and can only heal to keep himself alive, unable to bring himself to attack Claus. After Flint is struck down, however...
- Once you persevere and reach the end of the fight, the theme changes to It's Over. Initially sounding like a horrifyingly-mechanized version of the Love Theme, it eventually dissolves into a quiet and somber rendition of the same piece played by a full orchestra as the theme proceeds, before eventually quietening again, leaving just an electric piano left. The theme is perfectly designed to represent Masked Man's realization of who he really is, and it's almost guaranteed to turn on the waterworks for those who listen to it.
- The ending after the Dragon is raised and we watch the world destroyed.
- During the destruction of the Nowhere Islands, it's hard not to feel bad for the Chimeras - despite their modified nature, they're just like any other animal in terms of mentality, and you get to see them panic as the whole world goes to hell around them.
- During the destruction sequence, a lone Clayman can be seen carrying a rock, walking towards his inevitable death in a raging fire. As the world burns, he knows nothing else but to follow the instructions given to him, even though his commanders are long-dead, and he shall soon be joining them.
- After everything comes to an end, the player gets to walk around as, presumably, themselves, listening to the people of the MOTHER 3 world thanking YOU, the player, for all your help, and asking you how you are doing in your world, or if the world you are in is treating you well."Hey other world, be good to our friend!"
- If you've played both previous games, the credits really hit home. It starts out with the Love theme before playing the starts of two familiar songs. They're the Eight Melodies from the first two games, and both soon play in succession. After both are done, a triumphant rendition of the Love Theme plays. The series is over, and as a reward for sticking around, you get all three main themes in one beautiful package as a farewell, dubbed 16 Melodies.
Alright, you can cry now.
