YMMV / Touhou Mother

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Plenty:
  • Alice is presented as a Tsundere/borderline Yandere for Marisa; in fact, many Les Yay pairings are hinted at.
  • Kanako is willing to betray and backstab none other than her devoted priestess Sanae, becoming one of the game's Quislings and a Smug Snake.
  • Similiarly, Eirin is a cold-hearted monster who forcibly turns poor Reisen into another victim of Unwilling Roboticisation and engages in Cold-Blooded Torture.
• Awesome Music: Seamlessly integrating the soundtracks of Mother, Touhou, Metroid, and many more games into one qualifies the entire score.
• Crack Pairing: Mima gets a quick Les Yay moment with Yuugi...
  Yuugi: Wow, you guys were really reckless. Good thing I like 'em reckless!
  Mima: Shut up and kiss me, you fool.
  • ... and then is outright propositioned by Satori Komeiji. Yes, that Satori Komeiji. Hilarity Ensues.
• Game-Breaker:
  • PK PSI Shield in Touhou Mother, it reduces every PSI attack to 1. Even better, your PSI Shield cannot be broken, even with PK Starstorm. Using it effectively neuters 50% of enemy attacks.
  • Offense Up PSI in the sequel, since the attack gain increases each time it is used instead of decreasing like in the Mother games. Even your Squishy Wizard can kill bosses on their own after four or five boosts.
• Iron Woobie: Sanae.
• Nightmare Fuel: Don't think about why Yuka has to leave the party near the end of the game for very long.
  • Ellie is left alone to guard Yuka's Mansion for a decade awaiting for her master to return, despite the fact that she never intended to return. Mind that she's living in the PC-98 Gensokyo where the sun no longer exists and almost everybody is gone.
    • In the sequel, it seems to be completely gone until it's mentioned that the PC-98 Gensokyo and the Windows Gensokyo fused. Meaning it got better.
    • Tenshi's punishment, even a JerkAss like her doean't deserve THAT kind of punishment.
• Player Punch: The ending of Sanae's first chapter, as well as pretty much any time the party runs into a victim of Unwilling Roboticisation. Each of these moments will likely increase your resolve to kill the monsters responsible.
  • Don't forget losing half the party before the final dungeon.
• Tear Jerker: A LOT!
  • Reading Mima's final message wherein she says good-bye to the old Gensokyo before going to sleep.
  • Fighting Mima. There's a reason why she's an Anticlimax Boss with only 41 HP.
  • Most notably is the final battle wherein Reimu and Marisa (and guest member Tenshi) have been planted inside robot bodies and EVERYONE in Gensokyo attacks them, thinking they're the enemy. They do NOT fight back and their allies slowly begin to realize what they're doing, one-by-one. All it takes is thinking of the attack line, "Alice... suddenly began crying!" to bring the tears back.
• That One Boss: Fighting Cirno with Sanae.
  • Porky in the sequel, which is saying something considering he was already a beast in Mother 3; all of his attacks now roll a chance to deal mortal damage.
  • Yuyuko in Return of Touhou Mother. First of all, she's got far more HP than anything you faced so far. second, she attacks three times and her arsenal includes PK Starstorm, and all-target physical attack. Third, after you reduces her HP to 25% she absorb ALL your PP. The good news is: She is susceptible to PSI Block and, during that second phase she only uses attack. The bad news: you can't heal anymore, making the battle a damage race. Even more bad news: Ness must venture Magicant and fights a Boss shortly after that fight with almost no chance to heal. Granted, the boss is pathetically easy, but if Ness happens to get KO during that fight...
• That One Dungeon:
  • Muenzuka, lack of heal point? Check, annoyingly strong foe? Check, poison field that have to be crossed? Check, confusing layout? Check.
  • Deep Darkness in Mother 2/Earthbound has a similar dungeon in this game.
  • The path to and completing the dungeon for the final melody is even worse since it's at least twice as long.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The appearance of the Absolutely Safe Capsule in the sequel has been disliked by some Mother 3 fans, for what's perceived as cheapening the ending of that game for the sake of the Touhou cast getting to beat Porky themselves.