Encyclopedia MOTHER: The Swamplands

To Encyclopedia MOTHER contents

[1989: pp. 91–92]

[2003: pp. 95–96]

17. THE SWAMPLANDS

• Area: 44,100 m² (about 27.4 mi²)
• Pop.: 2
• Avg. Temp.: 10℃ (50℉)
• Avg. Humidity: 85%

[Photo: Wetlands. Caption below:]

▲A land with a climate exactly like that of Finland's marshes. There are a lot of precious animals here that, even in this country, are on the verge of extinction.

[Jump links coming soon.]

The Swamplands

Swamplands Map

Pippi's Vacation Home

The Road to Valentine

Thoughts from Kouichi Sugiyama

EVENT CHECK POINT

The Swamplands

These huge, Scandinavia-like wetlands

are an animal's paradise

The huge wetlands, surrounded by conifer forest on all sides, are what's called rare "glacial aftermath". This is because, during the Ice Age, large glaciers flowed down slowly from the surrounding mountains and piled up in this land, and ever so slowly scraped away at the ground, until they had formed huge wetlands at zero meters above sea level. The beautiful landscape calls Scandinavia to mind, but repels people owing to the high humidity at low temperatures. The only visitors are hunters at the start of the summer open season, turning it into hunting grounds for the scarce Buffalo and deer.

[Photo: Some real-life buffalo in a clearing.]

▲Even the gentle Buffalo will give you the stink horn.

SWAMPLANDS MAP

To Easter

Pippi's Vacation Home

Pippi's Vacation Home

An adventure life in the "Little House on the Scary"¹

A vacation home for Pippi's hunting-enthusiast father. The reason he chose a labyrinthine swampland, in which if you get lost just once you'll never come out again, is because it's the only place in the country where Buffalo hunting is allowed. It's a maze any first-time visitor will get lost in, but this family knows their way around it as if it were their own backyard. Her mother enjoys making necklaces and bracelets out of the amber dug up here, and Pippi never tires of making chitchat with the animals, above all else. For Pippi's family this is paradise on Earth.

[Photo: A small cabin on the edge of some woods.]

▲An adventure family's home.

The Road to Valentine

Heading north on a bad gut feeling

Even so, something has changed about this animal's paradise. The Buffalo, who normally never attack humans, will block your journey's road, and even seagulls from the ocean up north will swoop down on you with their sharp beaks. I imagine you're aware that the further north you head, the stronger this ominous shadow becomes. From here on, if you change your mind, remember that Lloyd's dad (who's been hiding in a plastic industrial bucket) and Pippi both came here thinking the shadow wouldn't get this far. You can't go back anymore. All there is to do is hurry along the road.

- Maji Kanto

真面完人

The Scary Hippie's Rock 'n' Roll Music Came Out Really Well

Kouichi Sugiyama

すぎやまこういち

Composer

Now that Dragon Quest IV is finally a wrap, I'm currently kicking back and enjoying MOTHER. Thank you, Mr. Itoi. There's so much inventiveness even in the sound design, it's just so fun. The scary Young Man's [read: Hippie's] rock 'n' roll music came out really well. I'm just out on a leisure stroll here, following the Breadcrumbs and the Itoi-ish dialogue. I feel like I want to hurry and see the ending. ... But I also feel like this is too good not to take my time through. ... What do I do?

Encyclopedia MOTHER: Easter

To Encyclopedia MOTHER contents

[1989: pp. 88–90]

[2003: pp. 92–94]

16. EASTER

• Area: 7,643 m² (about 4.75 mi²)
• Pop.: 20
• Avg. Temp.: 12℃ (53.6℉)
• Main Industry: Forestry

[Photo: A thick forest of conifer trees. Poking out of the treeline is the peak of Olallie Butte in Oregon's Cascade Range.¹ Caption below:]

▲As if it were hiding, Easter Town is within a dense conifer forest, giving off Scandinavian vibes.

[Jump links coming soon.]

Easter Town

Easter Map

The Drugstore (JACK Shop)

The Inn (JACK Shop)

The Garrickson Home

The Road to the Swamplands

EVENT CHECK POINT

Easter Town

A paradise of forest and nature is a town of

fear to children who have been left behind

Walk east out of Advent Desert along the railroad tracks, and proceed deep into a dense forest of conifer trees, and you'll come across Easter Town. After putting an end to your journey of hardship in the desert, you can feel something mysteriously refreshing and tranquil in this town. Maybe you're picking up on something from the name of the sacred holiday, which celebrates the Resurrection of Christ.

There's a fence of trees at the town entrance, where you'll be met by a little boy, quaking at the sight of you, as if he's on the verge of tears even as you stand there. After all, you're an unfamiliar person who's just appeared out of nowhere. But he still stands valiant and fixes you with a stare. He gave himself the duty of gatekeeper, and by gum he's going to give it his all.

"Y-you're suspishus! Waah!"

That's right, all of the adults in this town were taken away by a "big flying ship". The children they left behind are putting their efforts together to try and protect the town.

But they miss their mommies and daddies, and it's unfair to expect them to keep a stiff upper lip. You feel compelled to speak to them:

"Everything will be all right!"

Once you've said that, you'll have a kind of hunch that those words are true. There will be times you walk through the forest as if being led by something. That's when the children's voices will echo from time to time amidst the trees, awakening an unknown power from a place deep within your consciousness. I expect you'll find yourself in that place, with nothing left to fear.

[Photo: The Santa Fe depot in Santa Fe, New Mexico.²]

▲The train is out of operation, so the station is effectively closed.

[Photo: A young girl and an older woman decked out in colorful Easter-themed costumes.]

▲An Easter sight.

[Photo: Two young boys hamming it up for the camera.]

▲The kids strive to keep smiles on their faces.

EASTER MAP

To Thanksgiving

Easter Station

Lilywood [the cluster of forest northeast of town.]

JACK Shop (Inn)

JACK Shop (Drugstore)

Garrickson Home

Church

Swamplands

Eggwood [the cluster of forest southeast of town.]

The Drugstore (JACK Shop)

The franchise grocery chain

For the town's kids, who haven't been able to go out anywhere since the railroad was cut off, this is now the only place to go shopping. Of course, since the proprietor was among the kidnapped, it's now being tended by the oldest boy among the kids. The Air Gun is a good item. Go ahead and buy it.

------------------------------------------

Bread: $30.00

Ointment: $194.00

Good Frying Pan: $700.00

Air Gun: $1,400.00

-----------------------------------------

[Photo: The Wildwood General Store in Alaska.³]

▲A general store with an ambience.

The Inn (JACK Shop)

I don't unnerstan money, but...

Here, too, a kid is taking over from his parents in looking after the place. He doesn't "unnerstan" money, so you get to stay for free. The least you can do is let your heart go out to him.

---------------------------------------------------

Accommodation Expenses: $0.00

---------------------------------------------------

[Photo: A hotel sign with a treetop poking out from behind the building.]

▲A health walk through the woods by day, relaxing in a sauna by night.

The Garrickson Home

Tom Garrickson is Gary's older brother

As if drawn by a mysterious, unseen force, you decide to stop by this house. Something has been calling to you for a long time. You want to give relief to the children whose parents were stolen away, and that feeling gives power to a single baby, a power adults can't understand, and which will be passed on to you: Teleportation. The power to leap over time and space in the blink of an eye. This power is sure to be a huge help to you in your adventures from here on. Although nobody would blame you if the first thing you used it for was to leap back home to your dear old mom.

[Photo: A treeline and a small wooden fence.]

▲Deep within these woods lies Gary's place.

 

[Photo: An empty house interior.]

▲Perhaps because the parents are gone, the rooms feel a little lonely.

The Road to the Swamplands

If you're going to the Swamplands, you'll need to be ready

Heading east out of town and out of another forest will bring you to a river that runs north and south. There's another lovable guard standing there, his small frame atremble with the shivers. Throw him a kind smile and head for your next destination. Although, the way there will be pretty rough going. ...

- K. Arthur

Encyclopedia MOTHER: Desert Ruins

To Encyclopedia MOTHER contents

[1989: pp. 84–86]

[2003: pp. 88–90]

15. DESERT RUINS

• Total Area: 13,986 m² (about 8.7 mi²) (2 Basement Floors)
• Estimated Construction Era: Around AD 1000
• Animal Inhabitants: 15 Monkeys, 1 Penguin

[Photo: Monte Albán ruins in Oaxaca, Mexico. Caption below:]

▲Take those terraced walls (the kind that give off Mayan vibes) and make a few block-divisions out of them, and you have yourself a maze.

[Jump links coming soon.]

Desert Ruins

The Ruins: Underground

Desert Ruins Map

The Ruins: Underground (Exit)

Thoughts from Shuugorou Isaki

EVENT CHECK POINT

Desert Ruins

There is, of course, no need to worry about

a visitor admission fee at forgotten ruins

Not two years had passed after the discovery of the ruins by the Air Force pilots before some of them, fed up with nothing turning up they could loot, sold the existence of the ruins as top-secret information to the archeological research departments at famous universities around the world. Oxford, Yale, Moscow, Cairo: the results were that each school organized excavation teams and, one after another, set their sights on this land.

However, it's a strange thing, but there wasn't a single artifact to be dug out of the ruins, apart from the stone-built remnants that were already there. Because of this, the inquiry reports amounted to hazy, half-baked theories, the various countries conflicting each other. One theory said there had been a war between Mayan tribes, in which one tribe was defeated and escaped to the north, building up a kingdom in this land. Another theory stated that in AD 1000, there had been a faction of Christians who broke off as heretics and, believing that Christ's Second Coming was going to occur in this desert, migrated here and built up a sacred land for the kingdom that would be. The cherry on top was the sudden butting-in of an idea that the ruins were an Earth exploration base for aliens.

Disputes broke out over the jumble of theories, but not one landed a winning blow. Without a single explanation for the lack of artifacts — whether it was due to the pilots having ransacked the place, or due to ransackers who came before them, or an incident that occurred back when this civilization died out — the debates came to an unresolved end. 

Before long, the ruins were forgotten about, without even receiving a name. Of course, no record survives of any enormous reward the pilots may have received. But one thing does just barely survive in the records people made: the fact of a curious consistency. All of the report documents had claimed that the ruins were built around AD 1000.

The forgotten ruins only get a few tourists every year. Naturally, there's no visitor admission fee. But in recent years, reports have been presented in magazines, reports from UFO researchers who've heard rumors of mysterious, luminous objects being spotted around the ruins.

[Photo: A close-up on a wall in the Monte Albán ruins.¹]

▲The paintings and patterns divided by the outer wall have yet to be deciphered.

The Ruins: Underground

One step beneath the violent sandstorms,

it's still the year 1000

The ruins are enclosed by a mazelike outer wall about 60 meters [about 197 feet] in length on each of its four sides. Enduring the violent sand blizzards, and bearing the solemnity etched into it around the year 1000, the ruins will welcome you in. Follow the outer wall and go inside, and you'll be confronted with five block-divisions, separated by terraced stone walls. If you walk along the walls, which were left unrestored and half-buried in sand, you'll hit the north block, with its beautiful stone paving swept clean by the wind. In the dead center of this paving is a terraced altar, signifying the heart of the ruins. This is it — the entrance to the ruins' underground section.

Go down the decaying wooden ladder into the underground, and the first thing you'll probably do is gawk at the enormous space you've just entered. And, as if everything you'd known a few seconds earlier had been a lie, you get to have the experience, in the crystal-clear air that breathes comfortably on your clammy skin, of an instant time warp to another world.

And it hits you — these were enormous underground ruins. As if the crumbling outer walls back up on the surface have reverted in an instant to how they were in the year 1000, these picturesque stone walls go on forever. This is a giant maze. The size of the first basement floor is about equal to that of the ruins on the surface. And in the maze's furthest-in room is an altar leading down a passageway to the second basement floor. The size of that floor is nearly double that of the first.

The old academic research teams never reported on anything past this point. What could the original purpose have been in making a giant maze like this one underground? The disputes between all the schools' excavation teams had started with such a basic question. And yet, by the layered structure, in one theory they couldn't help but imagine the ruins widening out to a third basement floor and a fourth, and then on forever, in the form of an underground pyramid. Another theory stated that a giant pyramid had been buried by the sand, and that the tip of the iceberg was all that was now exposed above the surface.

They continued excavating patiently toward a third and fourth basement floor, but immediately below the second was a giant stone made up of a large rock deformation, and they had no choice but to give up digging any further. Whatever the case may be, these forgotten ruins are shrouded in a colossal mystery.

By the way, the monkeys who live in the underground ruins are said to be the descendants of the beloved pet of Professor Tompkin and his wife, from Oxford's research team. As a way of getting back at people for leaving them in this basement, they apparently have a habit of lying when they see a human.

As for the lone penguin that got mixed up in this crowd, it seems to be the lost luggage of a penguinist from Asia², who came here on a whim.

[Photo: More of the Monte Albán ruins.³]

▲There is an entrance to the underground on the altar in the north block of the surface-level ruins.

DESERT RUINS MAP

B1

B2

[Photo: Possibly Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortuga's National Park.⁴]

▲The corridors of the underground maze just stand there, nice and neat, as if you've gone through a time warp to the year 1000.

The Ruins: Underground (Exit)

Come out of the giant underground maze,

and there's an unexplored exit

In the second basement floor's maze, in the furthest-in room, is, as you might guess, an altar just like the one on the first floor. To this day, there is no documented evidence of anyone coming back after they've set foot beyond this point. If you happen to discover a third level down below, you may go down in the history books as the discoverer of the century. Nah... the way you are now, a desire for fame means nothing to you. ...

- Maji Kanto

真面完人

My Betting-Tickets Often Win when I've Played MOTHER the Day Before

Shuugorou Isaki

井崎脩五郎

Author,

Horse Race Commentator

My betting-tickets often win when I've tackled MOTHER the day before. It's a kind of pattern I've discovered. I'm watchful and attentive when I consider getting a ticket, telling myself I won't fall for this anymore, but it seems to work like a charm. Privately I call this the "MOTHER Effect".

(N) C B (L) Rudolph (A) Tamami (T) Merry Nice (F) Carrots

Encyclopedia MOTHER: Advent Desert

To Encyclopedia MOTHER contents

[1989: pp. 80–83]

[2003: pp. 84–87]

14. ADVENT DESERT

• Area: 49,746 m² (about 31 mi²)
• Pop.: 1
• Avg. Temp.: 41℃ (105.8℉)

[Photo: A vast desert wasteland stretching as far as the eye can see. Caption below:]

▲The desert is a land of men's adventure and romance. That can be said even of Advent. One wonders how many men never returned home.

[Jump links coming soon.]

Advent Desert

The Singing Cactus

Sightseeing Flights

Advent Desert Map

The Tank

EVENT CHECK POINT

Advent Desert

A scorcher zone reaching temperatures

of 57℃ at midday

Before World War I, it was feared as unexplored territory. Little wonder, as the temperature difference in the span of a single day is intense, reaching 57℃ [134.6℉] at midday only to drop to 25℃ below zero [-13℉] at the gray of morning. At an annual rainfall of a mere 50 mm [about 2"] (Tokyo, by the way, ranges from 1000 to 1500 mm [about 39.4" to about 59.1"]), it's a desert zone that repels living things.

Perhaps because of the harsh climate conditions, there's an old tradition in the area that says this spot sees the return of Christ once every thousand years, where He then undergoes the trials of Resurrection¹. It's taught that this is how it came to be called, since time out of mind, the Advent (Earthly descent of a god) Desert. As there used to be a lot of Latter-day Saints in the area, there's also a theory that it's faith that has prevented the development of this land, faith that the desert shall not be sullied by human hands, until the Day of Resurrection when Christ shall turn this desert into sacred ground and come again.

But during World War I, there came the first murmurings among the Air Force pilots who had flown over this desert, murmurings of something that looked like archeological ruins. The very instant the war was over, the competition among the veterans to be the first to the ruins was taken to cutthroat, Gold Rush-like extremes. Some came in biplanes. It's even said that others came here having made off with tanks (never mind where they might have gotten their hands on them), tanks which saw victory in battle against General Rommel. There were even those who tried to prevent further raids by laying land mines in the area around the ruins, and that should tell you just how outrageous this competition got.

However, this Ransackers' Rush yielded them no returns, and in just under a year the desert was once again, well, deserted. There were ransackers who came along afterward, not knowing when to quit, but they disappeared by ones and twos into the sandstorms, and no one knows for sure how many came back out again. Nowadays, visitors to the desert amount to the occasional fanciful tourist with dreams of long-lost days of gilded adventure.

The Singing Cactus

There's a great big cactus area in the

northwest part of the desert

The railroad that passes to the south of the desert gets suspended from time to time. It takes time to restore operations, and I expect you'll understand why the moment you take your first step into this land. Walk for one hour during the day out here and your throat will get parched, and your vision will start to get blurry.

If you want things that come and go, all you'll get are the thorny tumbleweeds blown about by the sandstorms. If you want something to happen upon, you'll get no more than the stumps of the trees felled by the ransackers, with no shade to give. If you want plant life, all you'll get are the cacti that seem to mock visitors to this land.

Now, if you were to try to talk to these cacti, you may be picking up on the true spirit behind your journey.

[Photo: The stumps of chopped-down trees. This may be Kingston Plains, Michigan.²]

▲A thicket of tree stumps: where the warriors used to dream.³

[Photo: A group of cacti silhouetted against a twilit sky.]

▲There's no theory that says a cactus will sing a song. But if you listen carefully during a twilight like this one...

Sightseeing Flights

A yellow biplane and a tank are a

sight for sore adventurers' eyes

You'll want to be careful: in a world of sand, sand and more sand, your everyday senses of time and space are bound to go haywire. There are a lot of times where, just like getting caught in a mountain blizzard, you may think you're making a straight line eastward, but you're actually going in circles. I wouldn't exactly say you need to learn mapping the way sea navigators do it, but I want you to at least learn ways to pinpoint your location using a map and the placement of the sun. It won't be long before, worn out from all the hot sand and sandstorms (and following the theory that "every desert has an oasis"), you'll begin to see a mirage of green and blue. 

At the oasis, you'll be greeted by a worn-out biplane and a half-broken tank. Beside these is a tent, out of which the figure of an old World War I pilot will come dragging his feet. He is, of course, one of the surviving ruins-ransackers who didn't know when to quit. With an eye toward getting the occasional visitor to his oasis, he invites tourists on a sightseeing flight on his old clunker of a biplane. Rumor has it he spends all day every day secretly digging up buried articles from the ruins, on an income where he just barely scrapes by. But you can see, by how cheap his flight tickets are, and the way he's dressed, that the little thing we call time stopped moving for him the moment he set his foot in the desert.

But I want you to take him at his word and enjoy the flight. Not only will it prove a breath of fresh air on your hard journey, but it's also an ideal chance to get a glimpse of what's yet to come in your travels. Since the places you fly over will change depending on what course you pick, from familiar and beloved scenery to strange new lands, this is one ride that's sure to thrill you. "More haste, less speed" — I doubt there's any more need to tell you that this saying is the true essence of your journey. ...

[Photo: A yellow biplane. A reverse image search brings up a possible model: the Stolp-White WW-1 Der Jäger D.IX/69]

▲He didn't even sell it to a curator of aviation museums — at $150 grand!

 

---------Ticket Prices----------

Course A: $5.00

Course B: $10.00

Course C: $15.00

----------------------------------------

ADVENT DESERT MAP

To Thanksgiving

Cactus Cluster

Desert Oasis

Tree Stump Thicket

Desert Ruins

To Easter [this marker is mostly hidden by the book's crease.]

[Photo: A whole lot of desert sand. What looks like a weed pokes up out of the sand in the middle of the shot.]

▲In a world of sand, sand and more sand, even a corpse is a welcome sight. ...

The Tank

With ten flight Ticket Stubs,

you can ride the tank

Of course, a boy who loves adventures would know exactly how it feels to want to take the desert on foot. You're more suited to this journey than someone who'd consider taking the sightseeing plane to a forced landing near the ruins, at the east end of the desert.

But you're better off not ignoring the old man's goodwill in letting you ride the tank with ten hard-earned Ticket Stubs. At any rate there's no accounting for this guy — asking for ten stubs, when taking the plane four times with three people nets you twelve. If he were trying to pull a fast one on others, he wouldn't let that kind of flaw show through.

It's said he gained a number of victories in battle as an Air Force pilot in World War I, and postwar, embracing an unfulfilled dream, became what's now the desert's one and only resident. There's something to marvel at in the superiority of his technical skills, considering he took a broken, abandoned biplane and tank and has maintained them as living things down to this very day. Even if it's so you can see this specimen's rare talent for yourself, you can't deny the old man's invitation has charm.

Away from the oasis, right in the center of the desert, there remain traces of the biggest oasis, which in World War I became the ransackers' base of operations. The water there has long dried up, and only the stumps of the trees they felled remain to tell the tale of how merciless these men's dreams were.

Cross the desert northwardly and the sea will open up before you, beneath a precipice with a hundred-kilometer drop [about 62.1 miles]. With a length of several hundred kilometers, this cliff, as you'd imagine, is said to have been a protection for the desert against invasion by other races. "A lonely isle of the distant seas that floats upon land". Standing on this cliff, you'll see how this became the catchphrase of Advent Desert. "The End of the World". It was a place well-suited to be called that. Just as Los Angeles was once a land without angels, just as the Sinai Desert was the entryway to God after the crucifixion⁴, Advent Desert may now be the world's last remaining entryway to the Kingdom of God.

- Maji Kanto

真面完人

[Photo: A child poses atop a beat-up, rusty old tank.]

▲We can understand if you wouldn't feel like boarding a tank like this one, even if you were asked to.

 

[Photo: A seaside cliff.]

▲North of the desert is a several- hundred-kilometer-long cliff.

[Photo: More desert.]

▲There's a rumor that land mines are buried near the ruins.

Encyclopedia MOTHER: Snowman

To Encyclopedia MOTHER contents

[1989: pp. 76–78]

[2003: pp. 80–82]

13. SNOWMAN

• Area: 2,394 m² (about 1.5 mi²)
• Pop.: 15
• Avg. Temp.: 5℃ (41℉)
• Major Industries: Forestry & Agriculture

[Photo: A town street with snow covering the ground. A snowman is in the extreme foreground. Biozilla has managed to identify this as Amherst Town Common in Amherst, Massachusetts. Caption below:]

▲There's as much snow as you could want. You can build as big a snowman as you please. Go ahead, throw yourself down and make a big POOF! and then you can turn into snow yourself!

[Jump links coming soon.]

Snowman Town

The Inn (JACK Shop)

The Drugstore (JACK Shop)

The Townsfolk

Snowman Map

The Church

Thoughts from Yuukichi Amano

EVENT CHECK POINT

Snowman Town

A pair of lovers with a clean white

slate are born in this town

Maybe you've vaguely suspected that there'd be a winter wonderland waiting outside the tunnel. Well, when you think about it, it's only natural you'd have that notion, but when you place yourself in the midst of that snowscape, you'll find you do feel refreshed and inspired. You think maybe that's due to the purifying effect snow has on things...?

And what's more, not that there's anything surprising about this, but in this winter wonderland there exists a beautiful girl. Falling in love with a girl you meet during a stop is just as cliché, but there really will turn out to be a beautiful thing to be had among the snow. Take our word for it and take this opportunity to fall in love with this pure and honest state of mind.

But if that gets you all tickled pink and raring to go, hold your horses. You're surrounded by mountains, and as soon as you get a tiny bit separated from town, you'll come across savage animals like Polar Bears and Lone Wolves. All the same, you'll crunch the snow underfoot and force your way toward the mountain, won't you? From deep within its trail, you hear a faint but unmistakable hymn from an organ, and you can't help but be drawn to it.

There is a legend about why it snows so much in this town. It used to be this was a region that never got much snow, but when a girl made a wish to Santa Claus, saying, "I wanna wake up to a white Christmas!" it was granted — and there you have it.

Even in the nippy air, this town can heat you up on the inside pretty fast.

[Photo: A mile marker (MILE POST 115) in the Arctic Circle.¹]

▲First we CHECK our current location.

The Inn (JACK Shop)

Wouldn't you like to warm your numb feet?

This is one of the shops in a small chain of grocery stores. The name JACK is on the sign, though that's not to say you'll find Jack there: a middle-aged widow who lost her husband in the war runs it alone.

----------------------------------------------

Per Person Per Night: $125.00

----------------------------------------------

The Drugstore (JACK Shop)

A small store with big bargains

In this indeed chilly town, there's a cold going around all year. It isn't very malignant, so it'll rarely knock you flat, and if you make sure to gargle, it'll go away nice and easy.

You should probably also buy the girl a Frying Pan and get her to make you something nutritious.

------------------------------------

Bread: $30.00

Mouthwash: $175.00

Ointment: $194.00

Frying Pan: $300.00

ATM

------------------------------------

[Photo: A store lineup of drinks, some in picnic baskets.]

▲Let's size them all up as we consult our wallets. Now, which one should we buy?

[Photo: A fenced-in barn surrounded by snow.]

▲Ahh, it's so clear today! Y'know, apart from the snow on the ground.

The Townsfolk

Lots of people with stories to warm you up

This town is cold all year, but during the season where it gets especially cold, many townsfolk temporarily set out for warmer climes. That's how you get so many people here well-versed in other regions. Gossip about the neighboring towns is to be expected, but here in the snow, tales of the desert have a mysterious quality to them, hitting both hot and cold.

When you hear tales of all these varying regions, you'll feel mighty different about them one day when you've visited them. Don't be afraid of the colds you'll catch from people, because you should talk to everyone you see.

SNOWMAN MAP

To Halloween

Snowman Station

Healer's House

JACK Shop: Drugstore

JACK Shop: Inn

Church

[Photo: A snowy wasteland.]

▲It's a pretty long, rugged snowy mountain trail. Don't get cold feet!

The Church

The source of the sound you've been

hearing in town is right here

I'm guessing it was the very first thing you noticed when you came into town, but the sound on the air here is clearly distinct from in other towns. As you'd guess, it's because of the snow. The snow quietly cancels out the various hustle and bustle noises, and in their place, breathes out the echoes of this church's organ, carrying it into every nook and cranny in town.

It's a beautiful young girl who's playing that organ, the only daughter of the clergyman. Ever since her mother was kidnapped in a faraway town, she's been a pillar to her father, who's completely lost his spirit; and in addition to helping with church duties, she never fails to work hard doing the chores around the house. Considering she isn't the kind of daughter who troubles her father, if she were to tell him "this is how it is", he wouldn't put up a fight. She knows what day she'll be leaving on her own journey. You should take her by the hand in that moment.

- MaruPo

[Photo: The head of a wild boar, mounted on the wall as a hunter's trophy.]

▲Proof of victory. Way to go!

[Photo: The windows of the St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in Barkerville, Canada.²]

▲Even the daily stained-glass polishing is a routine Ana enjoys.

This is the First Time Love has been Expressed through a Video Game

Yuukichi Amano

天野祐吉

Publisher of

Kokoku Hihyo

[Advertisement Criticism]

magazine

I didn't know you could express love through a video game. Not only that, but instead of just watching that love while seated in the audience, we get to be right there onstage and put it into practice firsthand. When the game is over, I'll let my mom and dad play it. I think my dad will be moved to tears, and I think my mom will gasp.

(N) Amano (L) Masaya (A) Eiko (T) Yuukichi (F) Curried Rice

Encyclopedia MOTHER: Halloween

To Encyclopedia MOTHER contents

[1989: pp. 72–75]

[2003: pp. 76–79]

12. HALLOWEEN

• Area: 7,097 m² (about 4.41 mi²)
• Pop.: 15
• Avg. Temp.: 18℃ (64.4℉)
• Major Industries: Mining & Commerce

[Photo: Bisbee, Arizona, a historic mining town (that white blotch on the hill is actually a big letter "B"). Caption below:]

▲Once a town that knew the best of the Gold Rush glory days, now turning into a ghost town under something's control.

[Jump links coming soon.]

Halloween Town

The Hotel and the Hospital

The Townsfolk

Halloween Map

The Game Assistant

The Haunted Mansion

Haunted Mansion Map

Thoughts from Saori Kumi

EVENT CHECK POINT

Halloween Town

The old district, under the sway of some

unseen madness, is a ghost town

On the night of October 31, every town in the country carves out huge pumpkins and lights candles, and decorates the windows with them. In schools and assembly halls costume parties are held, and children, now taking on the forms of monsters, witches and pirates, go knocking on door after door petitioning for chocolate and candy with shouts of "Trick or Treat!!" Because the Halloween festival is equivalent to Japan's Bon festival, it's believed that for that one night, the spirits of the dead return to their homes.

Roughly 100 years ago, a vein of gold was discovered in the nearby rocky mountains. In the blink of an eye, here in the barren wasteland where the very rock face is harsh, a gold mining town appeared, flooded with men dreaming of striking it rich. Singing the praises of the gold they'd obtained, the townsfolk would let loose and whoop it up like crazy every night. It's said that the state of things, where practically every night was Halloween, was what gave the town its name. Even now, copper and tin aside from the gold have been dug up, and an apartment complex for miners stretches north of the station.

However, most recently, something strange and dreadful has taken place in this town. The children who were rehearsing, as usual, for the Halloween festival, all fainted due to some unknown force. The people wasted no time in taking refuge in the mountains to the east, and now the old district has become a literal ghost town, overrun by an unseen madness.

[Photo: Kids with their faces painted, carrying pumpkins.]

▲With a name like Halloween, the town was just asking for unusually sinister incidents.

The Hotel and the Hospital

What are two lights doing on in an abandoned town...?

Even in the old district, as cut off as it is from human activity, there are still lights on at the hotel and the hospital. If you're about to hit the floor from exhaustion, you have the option of enduring the hotel manager and the ugly look in his eyes, and staying the night. Even the lone, flustered doctor, whose nurse flew the coop on him, will at least heal your injuries.

[Photo: A building at night with a soft neon sign saying, WATSON LAKE HOTEL.]

▲The eerie glow from the hotel's neon sign is the only one the abandoned town has to offer.

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Hotel (Per Person Per Night): $125.00

Hospital Examination Fee: $78.00

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The Townsfolk

You'll want to listen carefully to what

these shaken people have to say

Follow the steep mountain path that lies east of the old district until it opens up on the residential area, where the people of Halloween have taken refuge. By improving mountain cottages, making use of the old elementary schoolhouse, or recycling old vacation homes, the people are devising different ways to earn a living.

However, they're all still bearing the same shadow of anxiety over their faces. In response to your questions, they'll moan at you like they're having a nightmare: "I can hear the sounds of a piano from the empty mansion..." or "My house is haunted too, but it's too cramped in there for that!" At least the postman will give kind answers to your inquiries.

HALLOWEEN MAP

Mining Apartment Complex [The buildings northwest of Halloween Station.]

Haunted Mansion

Halloween Station

To Snowman

To Reindeer

Hospital

Hotel

Mr. Rosemary's House

[Photo: The dormer window of a house surrounded by trees.]

▲The people also dwell in old mountain cottages.

The Game Assistant

The key word in this town is Rosemary Manor

The key to travel is, when you're puzzled as to where to go next, you muster up courage and ask the locals. "I'll exchange your dollars at an under-the-counter rate", or "How about I show you an inn where you can stay cheap?" People who peg you as a traveler and call out to you, saying unsolicited things like that, are dubious in any town, so make sure not to approach them.

But every now and again, if you do the asking, there are times you'll happen to meet someone who has nothing to hide, someone who says, "I've got really good news for you; would you like to buy it?" It's true that the people we might call Assistants often earn a pretty penny from their side job, but I can't in good conscience call them dubious. Perhaps if anyone is a master at reading the dark side of a person's heart, it's them.

But despite all I've said, what's weighing most on your mind are the rumors all around town about the haunted Rosemary Manor, and your first priority is asking the Mr. Rosemary in question. He's living in a temporary home in the east of this residential district.

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1 Hint (Up to 3): $1,000

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The Haunted Mansion

From the very back of the intricately warped

basement comes the sound of a piano

A traveler is always a stranger. Sure, you could go straight on ahead with your hopes, but take a moment to breathe in. You'll want to take the time and listen carefully to what the townsfolk have to say. Do this and you'll find a clue to your hopes in an unexpected place. That's why you should take this opportunity to give a thorough listen to Mr. Rosemary's confession.

The House of Rosemary is a family line handed down from a man who, when this town was boiling hot with the Gold Rush, struck a high-quality vein. That man served as the first mayor of Halloween Town, and from then on until Mr. Rosemary's father's generation, the family carried on the tradition of mayor in succession.

But Mr. Rosemary's older sister — that is, the first girl born of his mother — was, they say, so deformed at birth she didn't appear human. For this girl, Mr. Rosemary's father built a villa in the mountain recesses where she would go unnoticed. And, so that she would never set foot outside the house, he built a labyrinthine basement, keeping her away even from family, and apparently shutting her up underground her entire life. They say her only enjoyment came from playing the grand piano there in that backmost room.

And ever since an ominous day last year, possibly because of the child's curse, Mr. Rosemary's villa became a haunted mansion that lets no human being near it. But it goes without saying that this unhappy incident is the doing of some yet unknown enemy.

- Maji Kanto

真面完人

[Photo: A front porch with Jack o'Lanterns.]

▲Don't be caught off guard, even during a familiar annual event. Enemies lie in wait for any sort of opening from you.

 

[Photo: A building for sale, with a sign saying DELTA PROFESSIONAL BUILDING.]

▲The sounds of a piano come from the haunted mansion. ...

 

HAUNTED MANSION MAP

START

GOAL

Door

Staircase

The Touch of Realism is a Novel Thing

Saori Kumi

久美沙織

Author

I played a test version, so I didn't have a manual, or of course a guidebook, you know? What puzzled me the most was how to earn money (laughs). No matter how many battles I fought, my cash on hand never increased even the tiniest bit. I got impatient. To reveal the secret, if you don't use your ATM Card, you can't withdraw money. What's more, it takes the form of Dad giving you an allowance in proportion to your experience. That kind of touch of realism is, I think, what makes MOTHER a novel thing.

(N) Ken (L) Lloyd (A) Ana (T) Teddy (F) Boiled Barley and Rice

Encyclopedia MOTHER: Reindeer

To Encyclopedia MOTHER contents

[1989: pp. 70–71]

[2003: pp. 74–75]

11. REINDEER

• Area: 19,974 m² (about 12.4 mi²)
• Pop.: 42
• Avg. Temp.: 17℃ (62.6℉)
• Major Industries: Commerce & Agriculture

 

[Photo: A boarding-house. Caption below:]

▲In the northern section there's a long stretch of affluent neighborhood. But it isn't just affluent people in town. ...

Reindeer Town

Where money is there gather misdeeds also

This was originally a wealthy, peaceful town where the elite, now retired from the job scene, could take it easy and live out their twilight years, but their wealth attracted scoundrels like thieves, dine-and-dashers and con men. Once you've left the high-end neighborhood after the station and taken your first step into a town overrun with crime, you're sure to smell on the air how intense the wealth disparity is.

The Reclusive Old Sage's House

You get what you get, and that's a whole lot of get

If you become a conversation partner to the Old Sage living northwest of town, he'll give you all the Mouthwash you can carry. Receive his generosity gladly, however excessive it is. Off to the side of this house is a place infamous for mislaid items. If you pick something up, you'll be sitting pretty.

The Townsfolk

A class distinction you can't ignore no matter

how hard you try. Out of sight, out of mind.

With the classy old lady who gives you something at, well, the drop of a hat, there also come freeloading beggars. With the people who give you colds come those who will heal your injuries for you. Enjoy the variety!

- MaruPo

"Is it Fun?"

According to My Son: ".....Uh-huh."

Yousui Inoue

井上陽水

Singer

I graciously received a copy of MOTHER from Mr. Itoi. So this write-up will be my thank-you to him. Since I don't lead the kind of life where I'd have the time to push through this kind of game, I had a mind to have my son play it while I watched from behind and jotted down my impressions, but nothing was even close to hitting the mark. Out of options, I asked my son: "Is it fun?" and without even lifting his eyes from the screen, he answered impatiently, ".....Uh-huh", annoyed by my question.

---------- Dept. Store Shopping List ----------
 
ITEM PRICES

4F Food Court
Orange Juice: $5.00
Bread: $30.00
Sports Drink: $75.00
Strawberry Tofu: $975.00

3F Sporting Goods Store
Good Bat: $1,000.00
Boomerang: $1,100.00

2F Drugstore
Antidote: $20.00
Asthma Spray: $148.00
Ointment: $194.00
Bug Spray: $300.00

1F Customer Service

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REINDEER TOWN MAP

[Names not featured in game are in bold.]

Healer's House

To Santa Claus Station

To Reclusive Old Sage's House [the word used here is 仙人, even though he's known as the 預言者 ("prophet") in the game.]

Reindeer Station

To Halloween

Bellwood [for the forest on the north side of the affluent neighborhood and west of the farms.]

Reindeer Farms [for the fenced-in farms just south of the train station.]

Hospital

Caribou Woods [for the forest east of the downtown area. The word used is トナカイ, which is simply the Japanese word for "reindeer" (whereas the town's name is レインディア, the English word). To distinguish the two, I'm going with the translation "caribou".]

Hotel

Dept. Store

Hamburger Shop

Caribou (Main) Street [for the road in front of the Hotel, Dept. Store and Hamburger Shop. Again, the word used here in Japanese is トナカイ, pronounced TOE-NA-kigh.]

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■ Hamburger Shop

Orange Juice: $5.00

French Fries: $15.00

Hamburger: $25.00

■ Hotel

Accommodation Expenses (Per Person): $100.00

■ Hospital

Examination (Cold): $60.00

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