History YMMV / CognitiveDissonance

%% ** The game is essentially one for Giegue. (ZeroContextExample)
** The Apple of Enlightenment likewise gets fleshed out from its "mysterious prophetic MacGuffin" portrayal in [[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} Earthbound]] to "slightly less mysterious MacGuffin that talks to you." [[spoiler:Pretty much, the Apple seems to be the game's closest analogue to a benevolent theistic deity, created by the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Sufficiently Advanced Aliens of Eris.]] It wants the cosmos to be saved from Giygas and will uplift ordinary people to heroic status in order to do so.]]
** The characterization of Buzz Buzz in ''[[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} Earthbound]]'' takes on a different tone if one accepts ''[=CogDis=]'' as [[Main/{{Fanon}} headcanon]]. [[spoiler:A scene in ''[=CogDis=]'' implies that Zarbol's (a.k.a. Buzz Buzz's) decision to call the Apple's prophecy "a well-known legend that has been handed down from ancient times" is a theatrical tactic, intended to help "win over the Earth children" to heed the CallToAdventure. He's putting his skills as a performer to use, both to inspire Ness and to cover up the fear and loss he no doubt feels at being sent back in time and away from his friends.]]

%%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGPJht_U9rs A Guitar for Tentacles]], Alinivar's theme.

* BrokenBase: Generally, opinions on this game tend to vary a lot from person to person. Either you think it's an interesting take to bridge the gap between ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' with unique mechanics, or a bad fanfic that plays like a bad UsefulNotes/RPGMaker game.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Niiue. Mostly in his character design. [[spoiler:He is the anthropomorphic personification of Giegues feelings of fondness for Earth and his adopted family that was forcefully ripped out of him. Depending on who you ask, his design is a brilliant way to foreshadow this, or goes way too overboard on trying to foreshadow this to the point he looks like a bad fan character of Giegue's species.]]

* GameBreaker: Step 1: Give Larice the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Borange Beam]]. Step 2: Use Knowledge Stone to have Larice learn berserker mode. Step 3: Watch as Larice proceeds to nuke all enemies with an average of ''2000'' damage each of his turns. Notably this one of the few strategies to get the joke ending if you miss the item needed to obtain it.

** The game is essentially one for Giegue.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Niiue. Mostly in his character design. [[spoiler:He is the anthropomorphic personification of Giegues feelings of fondness for Earth and his adopted family that was forcefully ripped out of him. Depending on who you ask, his design is a brilliant way to foreshadow this, or goes way too overboard on trying to foreshadow this to the point he looks like a SturgeonsLaw fan character of Giegue's species.]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Niiue. Mostly in his character design. [[spoiler:He is the anthropomorphic personification of Giegues feelings of fondness for Earth and his adopted family that his forcefully ripped out of himself. Depending on who you ask, his design is a brilliant way to foreshadow this, or goes way too overboard on trying to foreshadow this to the point he looks like a SturgeonsLaw fan character of Giegue's species.]]

** Towards the end of the game, the protagonists get to fight Giegue once more and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G68kq-hpk this]] starts to play making it a kickass battle [[spoiler: and fitting for the sudden appereance of two Niiues!!]].

* BrokenBase: Generally, opinions on this game tend to vary a lot from person to person. Either you think it's an interesting take to bridge the gap between ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' with unique mechanics, or a bad fanfic that plays like a SturgeonsLaw UsefulNotes/RPGMaker game.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/{{MOTHER}} All MOTHER games have it, and this is no exception]].

* HilariousinHindsight: A RagtagBunchofMisfits going on a SuicideMission that ultimately paves the way for another group of heroes? Maybe this is where they got the idea for ''Film/RogueOne''.

** The Apple of Enlightenment likewise gets fleshed out from its "mysterious prophetic MacGuffin" portrayal in [[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} Earthbound]] to "slightly less mysterious MacGuffin that talks to you." [[spoiler: Pretty much, the Apple seems to be the game's closest analogue to a benevolent theistic deity, created by the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Sufficiently Advanced Aliens of Eris.]] It wants the cosmos to be saved from Giygas and will uplift ordinary people to heroic status in order to do so.]]
** The characterization of Buzz Buzz in [[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} Earthbound]] takes on a different tone if one accepts [=CogDis=] as [[Main/{{Fanon}} headcanon]]. [[spoiler: A scene in [=CogDis=] implies that Zarbol's (a.k.a. Buzz Buzz's) decision to call the Apple's prophecy "a well-known legend that has been handed down from ancient times" is a theatrical tactic, intended to help "win over the Earth children" to heed the CallToAdventure. He's putting his skills as a performer to use, both to inspire Ness and to cover up the fear and loss he no doubt feels at being sent back in time and away from his friends.]]

* DemonicSpiders: If [[spoiler: playing on Hard Mode]], a single-character interlude between chapters 4 and 5 will feature [[spoiler: encounters with monsters from Chapter 8 that are tuned to be faced by a party of four]]. Granted, the character facing this predicament is [[spoiler: Niiue]], but it's still quite possible to get a few jarring Game Overs while wandering through.

** [[spoiler: Giegue's]] character arc is a very literal example. [[spoiler: Giegue turns his Magicant into his own personal hell, and then shares that ruin with the universe outside thanks to his immense psychic powers. Yet, in the process of descending into this madness, he forks his Self in two and creates the redemptive alter-ego Niiue, who does everything in his power to save not only the universe but also his tormented other half. How successful this effort is depends on the player's thoroughness and choices, but in the arguable "best" ending, the childlike core of Giegue's personality is pulled out of the insanity and saved, along with Niiue.]]
** Tail imagery and references are sprinkled in all over the place, [[spoiler: even in the cute wall lamps in the playroom the aliens set up for Maria to raise Giegue. "Who has lost his tail?"]]
** There are various possible instances of eye symbolism, [[spoiler: from the natures of the 4th and 5th points of power, to the disembodied eye enemies from MOTHER who reprise their appearance in Magicant.]]
** The roles of [[spoiler: Maria and George aboard the alien Mothership]] can easily be analyzed into mythological territory. As in MOTHER, [[spoiler: Maria's]] role in [[spoiler: raising Giegue]] can be interpreted both literally as [[spoiler: a human woman giving love to her child]] and symbolically as [[spoiler: the nurturing love of the entire Earth, our "mother of all," showing compassion to a stranger in the cosmos. Thinking about it this way adds some extra layers to the scenes of Maria raising the little guy while being observed closely by the aliens.]] Meanwhile, [[spoiler: George]] is totally [[spoiler: a Prometheus figure, though it ends up being his wife who gets most of the punishment on his behalf.]] It's easy to draw parallels to [[spoiler: the Garden of Eden]] here too.

* {{Moe}}: [[spoiler: Giegue in Ninten/Ness' baseball cap is oddly adorable.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Even notwithstanding [[spoiler: Porky's]] actions in the canon games, the Greyface crosses it when he [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashes]] Larice into fighting you on Mars. This is ''after'' Larice has already suffered through [[spoiler: remembering he was once a Martian and was forcibly turned into a Starman.]]
* NightmareFuel: Chapters 7 and 8 somehow make MOTHER 2 look like a chump, with creepy enemies, Giygas' Lair BUT AS A WHOLE DUNGEON, and the obvious case of the final boss him/itself. As if Giygas wasn't creepy enough, you're forced to [[BodyHorror watch Giegue TURN INTO Giygas]], which invokes even more horror tropes than the fight against him/it in MOTHER 2. Imagine being torn apart mentally by your own psychic powers, turning you into an unspeakable horror resulting in your old self possibly being lost forever. Sounds like hell, huh?
* PlayerPunch: The [[spoiler: twist on Mars in which your pieces of the Apple are stolen, Porky reprograms Larice to turn him against the team, and you're forced to fight your friend until his systems break down]]. It's bad enough that you just learned [[spoiler: the Starmen are conscripted, forcibly chimerized Martians]], it's bad enough that you just suffered the annoyance of [[spoiler: having your pieces of the MacGuffin stolen]]... but when the story brings [[spoiler: poor Larice]] into it too? Once that happens, the player is likely to want some revenge for personal reasons.

* ScrappyMechanic: The lack of a run button, next to the opening chapters, is one of the most criticized aspects of the game, as the default walking speed for everyone is incredibly slow. This was another case of technical limitations hampering the game, as the creator ''wanted'' to add a run feature and diagonal movement but RPG Maker had so much trouble simply getting four characters to move together in four directions that any attempt at adding either feature in caused massive unresolvable pathing issues.

* ThatOneLevel: The first visit to [[spoiler: Earth]]. Enemies are stronger than expected, and previous areas can't be revisited until you're done.

** [[spoiler: The Moon base]]. Accessing it requires finding four gems which are hidden very carefully on various planets, which are often difficult to find without a guide. The level itself contains many difficult enemies, and the boss at the end is the aforementioned [[ThatOneBoss Dr. Destructo]].
** [[spoiler: Revisiting Giegue's spaceship]]. A [[MarathonLevel very long]] dungeon with a confusing layout, difficult enemies, and a difficult boss. Fully completing it involves finding Reboot Orbs which are scattered throughout the cosmos, often as rewards for smaller sidequests in themselves. Like the above example, it can be hard to find all of them without already knowing where to look. Then, after using all the Reboot Orbs and beating the boss, [[spoiler: it's possible to unlock a sequence where the player plays as Niiue alone and fights even ''tougher'' enemies]].
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Niiue is sometimes mistaken for a female [[spoiler: until TheReveal of who he is.]]
* TheWoobie: Niiue and Giegue; [[spoiler: being two sides of the same coin]]. Giegue just desperately wants to forget all the pain his conflicting feelings to Earth and his adopted parents have caused, so much so [[spoiler: he forcefully extracted all the love he had for Maria out of himself with his PSI and made an AnthropomorphicPersonification of it; a process that's clearly caused him to become [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope even more unhinged as the game goes on]].]] Niiue, [[spoiler: said personification, desperately wants Giegue to return back to how he was before the event that tore him apart happened and remember how much he loved Maria and humanity.]] Depending on which ending you get they both could potentially get a happy, bittersweet, or downright depressing ending to their arcs.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The main reservations people have about ''[=CogDis=]'' is the fact that it lacks the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series iconic scrolling HP odometer mechanics, instead replacing it with an active time battle system, not unlike that of earlier ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. While this was because of [[RealLifeWritesThePlot the limitations of RPG Maker XP]], most people who don't want to give the game a chance cite that the lack of that mechanic makes it just not feel like a ''Mother'' game.

* ScrappyMechanic: The lack of a run button, next to the opening chapters, is one of the most criticised aspects of the game, as the default walking speed for everyone is incredibly slow.