Part 2: There's A Run Button!

Update Two: There's A Run Button!

Welcome back! Last time, on Mother, our protagonist, Barry, defeated a pair of evil lamps and defeated a possessed doll. He also discovered his great grandfather's diary, and was told by his father it was time to adventure. But, Barry has been erased from existence. From here on out, we'll be following Leo, who had an experience that mirrors Barry's almost exactly, so let's get started.



We join up with Leo as he's leaving his house. He's kitted out the same as Barry was, but his offense is one point higher, so he's already better off than our first protagonist.




As mentioned in the title to this update, there is a run button in the GBA version of Mother. By holding down "R", Leo will sprint along at a pretty good clip.




We're on our way to the town of Mother's Day, and the scenery ain't much to look at.



I fight quite a few encounters along the way, though. I'm wearing the Easy Ring, by the way, and there is only one plan to remove it, but that's a ways off.




The first foe we encounter outside is a Redneck. They have 20 HP a pop, and nothing else noteworthy about them, except for one action.




Unfortunately, barring a SMAAAAAAASH attack, it'll still take Leo three rounds to drop these guys.



Aside from poking Leo with their pitchfork (for a measly 1 HP of damage), this is the only other thing I saw the Redneck do.



Unfortunately, he did it one hit away from being sent back to normal, so he didn't get to reap any sort of reward out of it.

With Leo's level here, he gained +3 fight, +3 speed, +3 wisdom, +2 strength, +2 force, and +5 PP.



The way PSI powers work in this game is a bit different from Earthbound; rather than learning them immediately when you hit the proper level, Starmen.net tells me that you have a 1/4th chance to learn the power, if your level is high enough, after winning or escaping from a battle.



Thankfully, I didn't need this before.



Ooh, a bridge! Man, we're crossing continents already!



My dear Pippi's gotten lost!

This lady appears to be having some issues. I hope Pippi is an actual person, as I hate it when RPG's make me go track down their beloved ferret or snail, or some shit like that.



I'm going to guess that Pippi is a real person, since I don't think the mayor of the city would give a fuck that your platypus ran off.



Dammit, I can't enter this house. I don't even get to knock. Leo just faceplants into it over and over again.



Let's continue south, following the path.



There's a little river here, with a side-path. I'm thinking back to Earthbound and when I found the Hard Hat in Peaceful Rest Valley. It's a tad early for an armor upgrade, but I won't complain if there is one.



Gah, fuck!



Centipedes are faster than Leo, but they only have 15 HP to their name, with low attack power.



I also got an entire 4 exp out of this fight.



Back on our treasure hunt--



Well, I guess we could consider exp treasure. It's valuable to me, at least.



The fight was pretty boring, except for this happening.



Healing Alpha cures Poison, my sources tell me.



Oh, what the hell, game.



Out of everything we've met so far, Hippies have the most health, with 27 HP.



Leo will be able to drop them in three rounds, but they've got an interesting attack. And it's not their prayer. At least, I hope it isn't. I'd be terribly discouraged if I saw Leo take 30,000 damage.



This is the interesting attack they have. They start talking shit to Leo about his mom.



And it drops his fight by one hell of a number.



Now, admittedly, I don't understand how the stats work exactly in Mother, but fight doesn't seem to have a huge effect on battle damage. It seems to be a sort of accuracy, as here's the formula for dodge rates:


That'd be more helpful if we knew the opponent's fight, but at least it's something.



And we learned another new PSI power?



Game, you're a fuckin' liar. I see no new powers here.



Let's mosey. I've got maybe-treasure to find.



Oh, for the love of FUCK!



But, hey, it's another level.

For this level, Leo gained +2 fight, +3 speed, +2 wisdom, +3 strength, +3 force, +10 HP and +4 PP.



Now that we're done with all of those encounters (seriously, I thought the Easy Ring was supposed to reduce that), let's go see what's beyond here.





...Oh, this is bullshit. I seriously thought there'd be something here.



Let's move on and forget about this.



But, let's never forget this. We've just been attacked by a cigarette smoking crow.



They have 23 HP to play with, and I'm not sure on their damage output, but they can still steal an item from you.



It gives out 12 exp, too.





The Easy Ring is supposed to reduce random encounters. Maybe it's just me, but I think I fought a lot of battles going back and forth there.



They have 18 HP, and I don't give a shit. They can drop a "Magic Herb", whatever the hell that is.



Oh, Godfuckingdammit!



These guys are actually weaker than the Snakes, with 17 HP.



They bit Leo for one damage, and rapidly become one of the most dangerous things he's fought, due to that.



After gaining the 16 exp from the Stray Dog, Leo continues south.



We come along this sign, letting us know we're out of the danger zone.



Another house we can't enter, and look at that fat guy.



Oh, I feel bad for calling him fat now, though, presumably, that house there belongs to the fat guy.



To the west of the house we can't enter, there's another path.





Well, I'm sure we'll be coming back here soon. Or maybe this is where we're supposed to go first, but hell, I don't know.



So, let's continue on into Mother's Day.



Oohh, shrubbery!



And a house to go with it!



We can actually get into this house, too.



Leo, battle mode! Activate!



Oh. Leo, stand down! Cancel that last order!



For claiming to be meddlesome, this mouse is actually pretty helpful.



Thanks, mouse! Now I won't go slamming Leo's face into every door I see!



Heading back outside and to the east, we encounter this man. He's either concerned that we're zombies, or maybe that we're the creepy caretaker who lives in the cemetery.







Taking the roundabout way to go south from that guy, we encounter three big buildings and two people.



What are we supposed to do? I'm so scared I can hardly breathe... (gasp gasp)

This lady is the only one with any interesting information. Maybe we should have kept our name as Barry, so as to be better prepared for the zombies.



Here's the hotel for Mother's Day. I can only think of one reason to stay here and not go get some fresh, piping hot Butter from Mom, which you should always do, unless you're one hit from death.



We have no cash, and no need to stay, so we skedaddle.



South of the hotel, there's a department store.



But, before we head in there, we find out who this woman's hero is. Now I'm even more certain we're going there.



But, before we go anywhere, let's see if we can snag any new equipment.



This first floor is where you can sell your items. Like in Earthbound's department stores, it's under the guise of returning items.



However, we have nothing to sell, so let's just get some money to maybe buy stuff. I snag $340, just in case.



First floor is drugs, and there's one thing I'd like to pick up here.



The Asthma Spray, as indicated by the name, cures Asthma. It's a unique status effect that affects only Leo, and it can be pretty nasty. Thankfully, this is an infinite use item, so this is the only one we'll ever have to buy.



The next floor is sporting goods, which is Leo's comfort zone for weapons.



Yeesh, these things are expensive. I'd rather not grind the $500 it costs to buy a Teeball Bat, since it'd probably make me overlevelled.



The next floor is this shop, which sells healing items. For now, I should be A-OK with Lifeup Alpha.



Interested in buying it?

No, no I'm not. Unless we're going into a coal mine. Which wouldn't be all that odd, considering, I s'pose.



No, I don't want your Goddamned canary! I'm buying a slingshot when I get back down there!



...Well, then, if we have no choice, I suppose we'll take it. Maybe it's crunchy and will gain me some evil points.



Hmm, how very of you.



Oh, my God, now I feel terrible I considered eating you!



Back downstairs, I buy a slingshot. I haven't seen anything about it having a worse hit rate than a bat, so I hope this isn't a terrible move. If it is, at least I can get $60 back for it, as items sell for half their price in this game.



It boosts our attack by a little bit, which I'll take. Hippies and Rednecks beware!



Back on the first floor, I sell the Cracked Bat.



And toss a majority of my money back into the bank. We only have $2 on us now, but that's okay.



It's enough to call Dad with; these phones cost $1 to use, like their counterparts in Earthbound.



And I pissed most of that away already, Dad.



I wonder where Dad works in this one. I'm still sticking with my theory of Hamburger factory.



That won't be too hard to get, I imagine. As I said before, I think this is the only spot to check the exp requirement for the next level.



And with that done, we're going to take a break. Tune in next time, on Mother, as we continue this whirlwind adventure!