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Earthbound Beginnings (Mother) Discussion (Nintendo NES) [game]
 
Earthbound Beginnings (Mother) on the NES
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Earthbound Beginnings (Mother) Review (Nintendo NES) (8.0)  by  
Finally, Mother 1 is released in North America.

I'm guessing most of us have never played this game before, but for those who have: any beginner's advice? For example, I'd tell someone playing Earthbound on SNES for the first time to keep the characters' default names. Are there any weird little tidbits we should know going into this one?

From what I hear, it's kinda like SNES Earthbound but not as good... but should still be worth playing! Personally, I'm really relieved that Nintendo localized this one before Mother 3, despite the demand being for Mother 3 first. Gotta play the first game before the third one!

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06/15/15, 05:11    Edited: 06/15/15, 05:14
 
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Well made some nice progress at least. Got the first four music notes and got Ana on my team so that definitely helps out with more PSI abilities and inventory space. Everyone is also equipped with the best gear from Magicant so it's not really difficult now.
06/29/15, 01:52   
@VofEscaflowne
That's good. There're a couple tough spots here and there but you should be fine for awhile. Did you manage to get the two Franklin Badges?
06/29/15, 06:04   
@TriforceBun

Yeah I have both now. Had to redo a few things due to reloading my file but hopefully it pays off
06/29/15, 06:11   
Hmm, I have four melodies, but I missed the third...maybe somewhere in the Monkey Maze in the desert? I wasn't too thorough in there.

Also, I got Teddy, but he benched Lloyd. Do I ever get Lloyd back? I think I've done everything else to this point (cleared the Ghost House in Spookane mainly).
06/29/15, 16:05   
@ludist210
The third melody can be found quite early on in the game, it's a sidequest related to the canary village west of Podunk.

As for Lloyd, you'll see him again later, don't worry.
06/29/15, 16:14   
Just saw the cottage scene on Mt. Itoi. That was pretty cute and memorable. And then dramatic.
06/29/15, 16:31   
@r_hjort

No, that's the second melody and I have that already.
06/29/15, 16:34   
@ludist210
The third melody is fairly close to that.

Hint: Check the zoo again.

Solution: The singing monkey gets back to his cage after you beat Starman Jr in the zoo.
06/29/15, 16:41   
@ludist210
Oh, is it? I always seem to get the second and third confused, sorry about that.
06/29/15, 16:45   
@TriforceBun

That simple? Huh...

And from there, I read that I wake up the dragon in Magicant, then I start the climb up Mt. Itoi, right? I tried that area last night (party was Ninten 28, Ana 21, Teddy 22) and got beaten pretty quickly.
06/29/15, 18:18   
Edited: 06/29/15, 18:25
@ludist210
Don't neglect PSI-Block from Ana! It makes that fight much, much easier.
06/29/15, 18:54   
@TriforceBun

She has it. I'll use it. Thanks for the heads up...probably going to attempt that fight tonight.
06/29/15, 19:05   
@ludist210

Damn, I don't even have Teddy and my Ninten is already higher level than you
06/29/15, 19:08   
@VofEscaflowne

I didn't really grind on purpose, just didn't really know where to go or what to do...plus whenever someone died, I would just Onyx Hook back to Magicant and get a free revival (and now I just teleport back to the nearest town from where I was instead of going through the dungeon to get out yet again).
06/29/15, 21:11   
So I got the first six melodies and began climbing Mt. Itoi last night. I made it through the caves (and found snazzy new weapons for Ninten, Ana, and Teddy) and got to the cliffs...and promptly got slaughtered. I guess I'll try again tonight.
06/30/15, 16:19   
@ludist210
I'm around the same spot, although a little further. Some tips--

-Make sure you have both Franklin Badges. If so, make sure Ana's holding one. Ana gets Super Healing at a fairly low/reasonable level, and that's the only way to revive people, so her safety is your utmost concern.

-H20 Pendants are the most useful ones since Fire spells (and explosions) are devastating.

-BREAD! Okay, so each party member can have their own Crumbs trail as it turns out. What you want to do is have Ninten (or whoever) USE Bread in town (Ellay, or maybe Podunk since the hospital is cheap there). If you reach the cliffs again, have someone use Bread there too. Once someone in your party gets KO'ed (like Ana), simply use the appropriate Crumbs to warp back to town and heal up. Then you can simply use the other Crumbs to instantly warp back to the cliffs! If you want to be extra safe, bring some extra Bread with you and restore the warp points you use so you can do it again next time you need instant healing. Makes the trek much simpler.

-Don't be afraid to run. Legend has it that this part of the game wasn't playtested, so the enemies are way stronger than they should be. They also leave kinda middling EXP for how difficult they are, so you aren't missing out on much if you duck out on a lot of the battles. Each party member has the option to Run, and each one has about a 50/50 chance of getting the whole team out of there, so it works pretty well. Ninten's 4th-D Slip PSI power is an automatic success in running, which is good insurance. Although it does use 16 PP, so keep that in mind.

-The caves only have two enemies, Blue Starman and Cerebrum. Blue Starmen don't have much HP but can use Beam Gamma (which OHKOs). If you have two Franklin Badges, this often means it'll reflect back into the caster and kill him, but it'll sometimes get your guy who doesn't have it. Cerebrums throw a ton of PSI at you and are hugely annoying, but Ana's PSI-Block makes them harmless. If you need to restore your resources, you can PSI-Block a Cerebrum and then just siphon PP out of him by using PSI Magnet each turn, and there ain't nothin' he can do about it.

-The cliff enemies are mostly all very tough. Stay healed and stay frosty. If you see a Grizzly Bear, RUN. DO NOT FIGHT IT. It can wipe out your entire party surprisingly quickly, and even deals over 200 damage as a dying attack after you kill it!

-If Ana has PSI Freeze Gamma by now, be sure to use it. It works all the time and instantly brings a creature down to below 20 HP. A rather nifty PSI power for sure.

-You'll reach a small house on Mt. Itoi soon. Make sure you leave Crumbs right outside of it before heading in! Trust me on this one.
06/30/15, 18:16   
@TriforceBun

I fought a Grizzly Bear last night and laughed when it died...or rather exhausted itself. Then Ninten got hammered. Oh well, I'll hike back up. The caves didn't bother me, but the cliffs were a nightmare.

I read Ninten learns SuperHealing at level 35, so I guess that's something to shoot for.
06/30/15, 18:55   
Oh hell yeah, I got Teleport
06/30/15, 19:17   
Managed to do quite a few things. Got Teddy now and also got the 6th musical note by defeating the dragon. I'm missing the 5th though... but there's a few places I have to explore. Teddy is a beast though! I found a weapon way before he even joined me and he's doing a lot of damage.
06/30/15, 22:03   
It looks like a lot of us are pretty close to the same area! Vof--you're coming up on a tough spot, so feel free to check out my Mt. Itoi tips a few posts back.

Speaking of which, I'm not sure who's here at this part yet, but the whole Itoi cottage sequence followed by the whole EVE sequence really pulled at the heartstrings...which is impressive for an NES game. Even though Mt. Itoi is a pain in the butt, this game quickly won me back with its charm and music.

Getting the seventh melody is pretty heavy stuff.
06/30/15, 22:21   
Edited: 06/30/15, 22:21
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