Mother 4 (SI)

Mother 4 is an upcoming Active-Time Role-Playing Game for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fourth entry in the Mother series and takes place after the events of Earthbound (Mother 2). The game's plot focuses around the journey of a young boy called Sonny and his rag-tag group of friends that he meets along his journey as they attempt to resolve the looming threat that is engulfing their homeland.
==Plot==
The plot of Mother 4 begins with Sonny waking up and going through his morning in a fairly mundane but peaceful manner. The player is introduced to overworld interactions (the TALK and INSPECT functions) as well as an introduction to battling through a fight with the Straw-strung Dummy. Although the day is initially quite calm it becomes apparent that something isn't quite right on Sonny's farmstead as the farm animals have been going missing over the past couple of days.
In the night, Sonny along with his siblings make their way out to investigate, eventually stumbling across strange alien-like creatures called Eeks! which are abducting his family's cattle by carrying them away with what appears as extremely strenuous effort. Sonny and his siblings confront the cattle-thieving aliens in the mysterious barn that had without reason appeared on the outskirts of his hometown of Haybale a few days prior. Upon confronting the aliens, the siblings find surprisingly that the Aliens are taking quite good care of the cattle, emulating some of the ways the siblings themselves and their parents were caring for the cattle the day prior, the strangeness however seems to stem from a large machine structure in the middle of the barn with long pipes harvesting the cow's milk and emitting a low humming signal.
Sonny and the siblings confront the device and manage to shut it down when Sonny's youngest sibling Peggy finds the off switch. Shutting down the machine causes it to sputter and amongst the remains Sonny finds a calling card labelled The Roadhogs. With the machine no longer affecting their minds, the aliens quickly disperse allowing the cattle to return to the farms, quickly taking to their flying saucer which had been up until that point mistaken for a strange car parked behind the town's entry sign.
After bringing back the cows and gaining praise from the townsfolk, Sonny decides to take it upon himself to investigate the root cause of the strange happenings, managing to use the goodwill of his fellow townsfolk to get a lift to the Last Pitstop. At The Last Pitstop, the player is properly introduced to rolling health and its mechanics, as the player encounters a unique enemy at the Pitstop, the Ticking Fuel Pump which has a very slow moving rolling health counter. During his time at the Last Pitstop, Sonny learns of the Roadhogs, even encountering a few and battling against one of their lieutenants Houndog who mistakes Sonny as someone interested in joining their gang.
Houndog after coming to his senses makes amends with Sonny and admits to not properly seeing eye-to-eye with his boss' motives. Seeing potential in Sonny being able to overcome the boss of the Roadhogs, Houndog teaches Sonny the ability PK Fire, the first offensive PSI ability the player. Offering the player a ride from the Last Pitstop, Sonny and Houndog engage in a dramatic motorbike sequence where the player attempts to avoid the road obstacles on the long desert highway up to the mining town of Copperhead.
Arriving in the town, Houndog runs off ahead, attempting to let Sonny through the town without getting harassed by the other members of the gang, however this doesn't stop all of them. Sonny however finds out that the boss of the Roadhogs, a man called Donnie is hiding out in the mines themselves, refusing to leave until a debt from the town is paid off. Unable to gain access to the mines, Sonny eventually learns about the other lieutenant of the Roadhogs, Bald Ebert who is looking for a special type of pomade. Sonny manages to find some of said pomade in the abandoned apartments of The King.
Using the hair product to gain access to Bald Ebert, Sonny manages to beat Bald Ebert, making use of PK Fire to burn away Bald Ebert's pompadour. Ashamed by his defeat, Bald Ebert changes his name to Truly Bald Ebert and gives Sonny an Eagle Print Seal which allows him access to the mines. Heading within, Sonny finds Houndog once again however having been beaten by the other members of the Roadhogs for betraying them. Sonny manages to save Houndog who warns Sonny of Donnie's power being even greater than his or Truly Bald Ebert's. Sonny continues on through the mines, needing to move around minecarts on rail tracks which the Roadhogs had set-up to try and stop Sonny.
Eventually Sonny confronts Donnie, finding him sitting atop a giant Gold Motorbike. During the battle, both Houndog and Truly Bald Ebert reappear, offering their assistance by distracting the other Roadhog members as well as kicking up dust that blinds Donnie. Managing to best Donnie, Sonny breaks the Golden Motorbike which seemed to have an influence over Donnie who after giving a rather drawn out congratulations to Sonny on his strength, quickly makes a run for it along with Houndog and Truly Bald Ebert, with many of the townsfolk of Copperhead confused but unable to do much about it as the Roadhogs had repurposed most of their vehicles for parts already.
Sonny is thanked by the townsfolk and offered accommodation for the night. During the night while Sonny sleeps he is contacted telepathically, initially only as a voice seeking to meet him asking him to head south. Sonny's dream persists however and he finds himself within his own dream albeit fully conscious, exploring this strange dream like environment he sees both the past in Haybale, the present in Copperhead and things in the future which appear as unknowns within his mind. Waking up the following day and without much in the way of answers towards the Roadhogs actions and no indication of an ability to have constructed the strange machine back in Haybale, Sonny follows the directions to head southwards.
More TBA
==Gameplay==
The Gameplay of Mother 4 is largely similar to previous entries, combining elements of overworld exploration as well as an RPG-style battle system.
===Overworld Exploration===
The player is able to explore the overworld on foot and in some sections on particular vehicles. Exploration is quite important as the player will need to interact with NPCs in the overworld to help determine what their next goal should be. Newly present in Mother 4 is the Journal a key item that allows the player to check notes that were stated by NPCs throughout the game, these can provide flavour text for a location as well as hints on how to progress the main story and are compiled into categories like; Locations, Factions, Creatures, Items, etc. In addition, Key Items no longer take up inventory space like they had in prior games with the player's inventory space being allocated for consumables and equippable items.
Like prior games in the series the player is able to interact with the overworld in several ways those being TALK, INSPECT and TELEPATHY. The interaction can be done automatically by pressing "A" on the target which will choose Talk for humans, Inspect for objects and Telepathy for non-hostile animals. The player is also able to use the other interactions can also be selected in the menu which can provide additional information such as the inner thoughts of NPCs through the use of Telepathy.
===Combat===
Battling has seen some significant changes from prior games, the most notable being the shift from turn-based to active-time which results in the appearance of Readiness bars for each character and enemy indicating when they're able to next perform an action. Rolling Health from Earthbound and Mother 3 also returns and has been expanded upon with rolling health being more useful in conjunction with healing and even the rate of the health roll being able to be affected by status effects during battle. The player is able to select from one of several actions during battle including;
*FIGHT - Performs a physical attack where damage is calculated based on Strength and Weapon Power against the target's Defence.
*PSI - Allows the user to choose one of their PK or PSI abilities to use.
*GUARD - The character blocks oncoming attacks until their next turn, reducing damage and potentially redirecting damage as well.
*ITEM - Allows the user to choose one of the items in that character's inventory to use, items that do not have an effect in battle to provide flavour text which informs the player of this.
*FLEE - The character attempts to flee the battle, the success rate is based off the Speed and Evasion of the character fleeing against the Speed of the enemy/ies.
A major addition in Mother 4 is the added utility of PSI Telepathy providing non-combat solutions to battles in which the player is able to peacefully resolve some fights. Although the player does not receive EXP from resolving battles through this method it is useful in receiving rare and useful items from enemies as a result if the player is successful.
====Statistics====
Mother 4 features a variety of stats which can affect a character's abilities during a battle, these stats develop as they level up although the rate at which they increases differs from character to character. Equippable items as well as some rare consumables are also able to affect these stats which can alter how a character may be utilized during a battle;
* Vitality - Affects the Total HP of the Character
* Strength - Affects the damage the Character inflicts with Physical Attacks
* Defence - Affects the damage the Character takes from Physical Attacks
* Intelligence - Affects the damage the Character inflicts with PSI Attacks and some Items and Actions
* Fortitude - Affects the damage the Character takes from PSI Attacks
* Speed - Affects the rate of the Readiness Bar builds
* Evasion - Affects the probability to avoid attacks and the base FLEE success rate
* Guts - Affects the probability of Critical Hits as well as the speed of the Rolling Health counter
==Characters==
Mother 4 features a wide cast of characters across its setting, ranging in importance and their role within the story.
Character 	Description
Sonny 	The main protagonist of Mother 4, Sonny is the middle child of seven living in the rural town of Haybale. He has a reserved personality although is fiercely protective of his family and friends alike. Prior to the events of Mother 4, Sonny was one of many to awaken PSI abilities within himself which manifested when he was protecting his siblings from a pack of wolves that were attacking the farm.
Peggy 	Sonny's youngest sibling, Peggy has the most outgoing personality of all of Sonny's siblings and often pushes Sonny to be more outgoing and adventurous. Peggy is a bit snarky, being well aware that others underestimate her due to her young age, however she is also aware of her limitations and avoids getting into confrontations without one of her older siblings there to protect her.
Donnie 	The leader of the Roadhogs a biker gang in the North-West of Gelaeland, Donnie hails from Copperhead and the player can find his parents who describe confusion over Donnie's actions during the events of Mother 4. Prior to the events, Donnie is described as being a rough but well meaning leader, sharing his interest with the rest of the gang and guarding the long roads of the arid lands from wild animals and alike. Something caused Donnie's personality to change however, although never one to turn down a reward, Donnie began to obsess over his wheels more and more, taking over the mines in Copperhead and forcing the townsfolk to focus exclusively on mining oil and gold, the former to fuel the gang's motorbikes and the latter to exchange for parts with an unknown individual.
Houndog 	One of the lieutenants of the Roadhogs, Houndog seems to solely follow power, although does possess some sense of right and wrong but lacks the confidence to act on it. Initially following Donnie and his gang due to the safety it brought, Houndog was the first to begin noticing the changes in Donnie and quickly found himself forced to operate on the fringes to avoid drawing the ire of Donnie's suspicion. Houndog isn't as interested in motorbikes as the others in the gang and prefers to just hang out and relax, being seen not attending to his duties of protecting the arid roads at the Last Pitstop.
Bald EbertTruly Bald Ebert	One of the lieutenants of the Roadhogs, Bald Ebert is a bit egotistical, having a belief in style being extremely important, after Donnie, he has the most lavish looking motorbike in the gang and is constantly stopping to check the condition of his hair, even affecting his ability to fight. During the events of Mother 4, Sonny manages to burn off Bald Ebert's pompadour resulting in him changing his name to Truly Bald Ebert, this doesn't seem to affect him as much as would be assumed with Truly Bald Ebert taking great pride in the shininess of his head afterwards.
The Eek!s 	The Eek!s are a race of small aliens that ended up in the town of Haybale, although their original purpose for being in the town is unknown, they do not appear aggressive, however were affected by the powers of the Machine Structure which caused them to begin abducting cattle from the farm. The Eek!s are shown to be quite timid when not affected by the Machine Structure, quickly fleeing from Sonny and his siblings and even being afraid of the cows which were quite comfortable around them. They're shown to be extremely technologically advanced, possessing an operational spacecraft and a number of Psionic powers.
The King 	The King is an unseen character who is described by the citizens of Copperhead, he is said to be a legendary musician who once lived in Copperhead long ago. Many in the town revere the man and he is the only individual prior to the events of Mother 4 who the townsfolk believe could set things right with Donnie. It is suggested that Donnie and The King grew up together as Donnie during his personality change expresses "being more than a King". The King also rents out an apartment room in the town despite very rarely visiting, memorabilia throughout the room includes various rather vibrant costumes, a number of guitars as well as various hair products.
==Enemies==
Mother 4 features a wide variety of enemies which range in appearance and attributes. The player will often find several unique enemies in each location of the game, some functioning with distinct and unique gimmicks that differ them from other enemies.
Enemy Name 	Type 	Location	HP	EXP	Actions
Docile Cow 	Animal 	Haybale 	15	5 	Moo! (N)Wild Kick (A)Chew some Grass (N)Stare off into space (N)
Mad Cow 	Animal 	Haybale 	15	6 	Bull Charge (A)Wild Kick (A)Stomp angrily (N)Piercing stare (S)
Little Piggy 	Animal 	Haybale 	5 	1 	Roll in the Mud (N)Spit the Slop (S)Piggy Charge (A)
Straw Piggy 	Hybrid 	Haybale 	8 	2 	Loosen Up (S)Spit the Slop (S)Piggy Charge (A)Bundle & Roll (A)
Scarecrow 	Animate	Haybale 	10	5 	Sway in the Wind (N)Scare the Crows (N)Sharp Poke (A)Bundle & Roll (A)
Little Rat 	Animal 	Haybale 	2 	1 	Squeak! (S)Gnaw (A)
Pesky Rat 	Animal 	Haybale 	4 	1 	Squeak! (S)Gnaw (A)Scratch (A)
Rowdy Farmhand 	Human 	Haybale 	10	4 	Yardwork (N)Pitch the Hay (N)Sharp Poke (A)
Pitchfork Farmer	Human 	Haybale 	10	4 	Pitch the Hay (N)Sharp Poke (A)Hurl the Grain (A)
Category:Games
Category:Fan Games
Category:Mother (series)
Category:Mother Games
Category:Role-Playing Games
Category:Nintendo Switch Games
Category:TRI Games