Does EarthBound Need a Remake?

[@JohneAwesome]

Ive watched all your videos but haven't commented but I really want to say thanks for sharing your deep enthusiasm for the mother series, it rekindled my love for the games I haven't played in over a decade. Really inspiring work 🏇🏇

[@MonkeyNess]

Thank you so much! This means the world, your Ocarina of Time LP was actually what I used to beat the game for the first time as a kid!

[@JohneAwesome]

@@MonkeyNess 👴

[@gwolft6996]

Not the person I ever expected to see in this channel lmao

[@cookylukeythe3rd49]

I’m watching this immediately after watching you P5 series (some of it) so it’s funny to see this as top comment

[@andrewkim9266]

IT'S THE PURSE OWNER GUY (I can't believe my two favorite creators involved with my two favorite series are finally interacting like this)

[@dsdom2]

"sound is incredibly important in shaping the experience for the audience" *discord sound* I have no words

[@coronadesert]

i had to make sure it wasnt me lmao

[@StarmenRock]

that jumpscared the shit out of me. I haven't used discord in 3 years.

[@Kamranotcamera]

I fr hate that discord ping

[@HOURHAK]

monkeyness this is the 4th time you asked this question this week

[@redactedinfo8557]

goes to show how starved we are 😔

[@MonkeyNess]

Feel like shorts shouldn't count :P

[@solarflare9078]

“THIS IS my ‘Should EarthBound be remade?’ video!” “MonkeyNess, this is the 7th time you made a video on that subject.”

[@konstralit2105]

He is secretly working on Earthbound 128 with Nintendo

[@Kowka_official]

Does "Does earthbound need a remake?" need a remake?

[@MonkeyNess]

In one sense, this is lol

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

Yes

[@SaguaroTheCactusCat]

Does kowka_official’s comment need a remake

[@StarLeo_]

I don't like people gatekeeping a potential remake. If the remake isn't as good, it's not like the original will disappear.

[@doctordice2doctordice210]

People often say this as a kneejerk response, and I don’t agree. An unnecessary remake, a contrived sequel, etc. don’t make the original "disappear,” but they change the original’s place in the cultural Zeitgeist. When a KZbinr talks about Shodow of the Colossus, chances are they're using the inferior-looking remake. Dark Souls was an obvious stand-alone game with a concise, digestible narrative that had a meaning, yet your average layman will view it as a part of a trilogy and not its own work. We live in a time where half the media we consume is just a botched rebrand of our nostalgia or someone else's; the fewer remakes we get, the better.

[@StarLeo_]

@doctordice2doctordice210 Earthbound/Mother doesn't really have a place in the cultural zeitgeist as is. With exceptions like great channels like this one (who will still always hold the original 3 games to high regard with attention heavily placed on them), nobody talks about earthbound unless they are complaining about ness players spamming pk fire in smash bros. We live in a post undertale world, which is a game that has heavy inspirations from earthbound and is insanely popular. The only way to capture even a small part of that culture is to have a modernised remake or a new game (unlikely). You can release a remake and it does a great job of modernising the franchise, or it might not, but either way it's not like it would damage any existing relevance or high regard the games have currently, it doesn't really exist.

[@doctordice2doctordice210]

@@StarLeo_ not everything needs for be “modernized” ESPECIALLY goddamn earth bound of all games “The game doesn’t hold a place in the cultural zeitgeist” he says before listing one of the THREE hyper popular games heavily inspired by it lmao, just because people don’t talk about the games as exhaustively as they do with Star Wars, doesn’t magically change the that fact I hate consumer culture so much

[@StarLeo_]

@@doctordice2doctordice210 This is what I mean by gatekeeping lmao. More people should have the opportunity to play these great games! And a remake is the best way to do it. Stick to the ogs if you want, let new players have an avenue to play.

[@doctordice2doctordice210]

@@StarLeo_ you know what’s the best way for new people to enjoy these games? *Ports* and a greater emphasis on the game conservation and availability! If saying no to the 10625th remake makes me some toxic gate keeper, then I am one, I’m so sick of people like you, of this soulless consumer culture, the nostalgia obsession, I’m so goddamn sick of it all

[@Vextipher]

I've always thought more slice of life moments and bonding between the chosen four would add a lot. Especially between Ness and Paula.

[@shadokwastaken]

that was a reaaally interesting video. personally when it comes to mother 1 remakes, i'm more looking foward to "EarthBound Beginnings Remake Hack" which aims to be mother 1 in the style of mother 2 which (in my opinion) find more fitting than the artstyle in mother encore

[@soosboi]

Omg hello shadok!!

[@planeta3059]

I was a bit skeptical of mother encore, largely because of how the art style looked almost copy-pasted from other mother fangames and motherlikes, which themselves basically copy-paste the style of Mother 3. But playing the demo made me really look forward to it. It's very clear that there's a lot of heart going into it they have a very good vision on what to make of Mother 1. I think they're really going the extra mile with it

[@MasIndie]

Same

[@onion_mu]

9:25 discord agrees lmao

[@MonkeyNess]

i've been waiting to do this bit for like 2 years lol

[@Kamranotcamera]

​@@MonkeyNessI hate you for that

[@watchandlearnLboard]

the discord notif noise was so brilliant, honestly one of the most masterful things I've seen in a KZbin video in years congrats

[@Lute01]

They should remake earthbound but they should add extremely prevalent random encounters and make it harder to tell where you're supposed to go or what you're supposed to do

[@kwisowofer9872]

So basically make every area Moonside

[@AnAverageGoblin]

maybe double the size of every dungeon while they're at it.

[@planeta3059]

they should also add an ambiguous main character death moment right towards the ending. And then a big robot companion. who also dies. but less ambiguously

[@Goatythemeow]

And get rid of the hint man as well as he was kind of unnecessary and not helpful or anything

[@MasIndie]

@@kwisowofer9872 Moonside bound If I ever get rom hacking equipment I’m making that

[@JezElectro13]

9:20 That Discord ding was perfect

[@johnpett1955]

I'll say this: if any game in the series needs a remake, it's Mother 1.

[@FireyTheAlienDragon]

That is a game that REALLY needs one. The story is there but it's game play does not represent on what the series is

[@Shrewdilus]

I feel like Mother 3 is what needs a remake. It’s desperately lack accessibility, and it’s message is one that I thing the world really needs today. I also think they could expand on the story in ways they couldn’t at the time because of the time period and hardware it was made for.

[@johnpett1955]

@@Shrewdilus Don't get me wrong, I love Mother 3 and would love to see it get an official release outside Japan as much as the next guy, however I think that almost everyone who wanted to play Mother 3 at this point, already has through downloading the rom on the internet and emulating it. With Mother 1, it's got the heart and soul of a great game, but it is very dated, and the gameplay suffers from it.

[@2_leaf_clover]

Check out mother ENCORE!

[@iamewp]

no shot

[@NotStoop]

What a well timed Discord ping.

[@10yearsinthejointguyreal]

If Famicom Detective Club can not only remakes but a full new game then we can 100% get remakes of the Mother trilogy. After The Smiling Man released it became clear that mature themes is something Nintendo isn't to worried about making so the content of Mother 3 is pretty much deconfirmed on why it hasn't released in the west.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

There was zero fucking people asking for FDC, yet Nintendo was fine doing that but "needs" an excuse to bring back games with real followings.

[@RattyFairy]

​@@AnAverageGoblin It definitely feels cruel and unfair to eternally be the bridesmaid, but ya don't have to take it out on the FDC fans.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

@@RattyFairy I'm not taking it out on the fans, i'm pointing out how shitty Nintendo is with excuses

[@RattyFairy]

@@AnAverageGoblin It's kinda hard to tell when you say that there was "zero fucking people" asking for a remake and imply that FDC doesn't have a real following.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

@@RattyFairy Yeah i'm just mad and let it bleed through. sorry.

[@s0urp0wer5]

I think the original is magnificent in its own way and tbh is pretty timeless but a 3D rich animated remake would be excellent!

[@Handlebared]

If nintendo didn't hate its fans I would love to see one of the various mother remakes approved and be sold official like valve and black messa

[@NeededCell978]

fr idk why they make fun of the mother community :(

[@PorkyMinch]

I want a remake to be realistic styled so everyone can see my beautiful face

[@cookylukeythe3rd49]

Think about it: while you’re walking through the trees to Twoson, a version of Paula’s theme playes called, “In Twoson, There is a Psychic”. Would be a cool addition with more consistency with thee other three party members

[@PolybiusArcadia]

At first I didn't think EB needed to be remade, but after the mario RPG remake and how good it was, I'm open to it

[@kagley]

Nintendo, hire this man

[@sinistarman]

8:54 that was a straight shot of depression.

[@RandomDudeCollection]

Excellent video MonkeyNess, I love it, very high quality and probably one of my personal favorite videos from you. I just hope your 7 hour analysis on why Porky Minch is the best character in anything ever is just as high quality as this video!!!

[@umyum3858]

It's funny that the Discord notif got me even though I keep Discord perpetually muted.

[@starmatterr]

9:26 genius joke

[@jackatk]

5:53 “Art is an extension of life itself, and is the pursuit of truth.” YES!! BANGER LINE 🔥🔥🔥 Truth, goodness, and beauty are what make up good art, and Earthbound and MonkeyNess understand that

[@oootoogool]

babe. babe! MonkeyNess uploaded!

[@unison_moody]

The Mother Trilogy could need a bundled release with nice quality of life adjustments and slight changes to make the experience more seamless. The pixel art and sound is beautiful as is, so there really is no real need to make a classical Remake. On the other hand... ...a Reimagination? I'd sign up for that. Switch the genre, change the perspective. Maybe add puzzles, jump& run and introduce some ideas which Paper Mario had. I like what Earthbound Dimensions does.

[@Unfunnyjestr]

Short answer:yes Long answer:YES PLEASE MORE MOTHER CONTENT

[@ProgressivePoliticsNetwork]

I feel like SNES era games have aged VERY well, and don't need them as much as N64/PS1 era games. Look at the original FF7's graphics; or Goldeneye. They look awful now Whereas games on the SNES have a certain timeless quality

[@TehDude]

nyrusin's style of earthbound in 3d is absolutely beautiful and i would pay anything for a remake to look like it

[@Existant_one]

with so many recent remakes of a bunch of games I certainly hope that a mother series game can get one. seeing how ace attorney got their game localised officially through a remake, I would love to see mother 3 getting a similar treatment.

[@MtnSmithy]

I saw some of the Earthbound Dimensions' footage and couldn't help but think it'd be cool to run around EarthBound's areas in full 3D. I'm of the mindset that, since the original is now (finally) easily available (officially), I'd be cool with them making fairly major changes with the remake to give it a different experience... Just don't want them to touch the music.

[@somechupacabrawithinternet8866]

had dream where baby ness was sent to adult Paula in the future and was raised by paula and changed the future. ness went back in time and toke his baby self to adult paula and paula became his mother. he went back in time and stop the whole alien evasion his mother and and made Georgie (giygas' father) not get spotted by the aliens when he was studying psy... so this ness who was raised by his mother paula still had psi but giygas never became an issue

[@fizzicleyoutube]

0:27 So true, pixel smoothing is so mid

[@dirkd.2024]

you made me cry. what beautiful words about love

[@JezElectro13]

0:48 I recognize that screaming voice :)

[@TotPocket]

I swear Brett lost his voice for a week after that Nintendo Direct 😂

[@Metahunt638]

*monkey noises*

[@JezElectro13]

Out of curiosity, when will you do the next Earthbound Analysis part?

[@Louis_Varga]

I finished Earthbound Beginnings earlier this year and am playing Earthbound for the first time ever right now. I would be very interesting in paying through both of them again if they remake them.

[@jackychangreal]

new thumbnail is super cool

[@veggiequeen77]

Waiting for you to post is like waiting for Christmas. lol So worth the wait. ❤

[@JustenHarper]

Shoutout to Nerrel for some of the inspiration for this video, im sure

[@LogicDuel]

Zero/Beginnings definitely needs a remake first

[@jammycooks]

I think the points are moot. Nothing but support for all the teams involved, but I don't see these ever getting done. The undertaking is so ambitious.

[@MonkeyNess]

Why are they moot? I don’t see the correlation between them and the teams of the fangames, who I vocally support(?)

[@jammycooks]

@@MonkeyNess no no no the points are great! Sorry for being imprecise it’s just that any sort of convos about “should” or “need” feels silly when the real question is if any of these projects will ever come to fruition. I’ve been following Mother fan projects since the late 00s and they almost always fizzle out.

[@MasIndie]

Dude did I sleep during the mother direct or somethin’? What game (or animation) is that, it looks fantastic!

[@pkdotts]

18:45 thanks lol

[@Teeeeee_J]

0:48 Is that THE King of Skill on the MonkeyNess KZbin channel

[@AlphTVWCKA]

1:43 Erm... spoiler alert!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[@alohwasd]

Great video! now, I'll watch it

[@madmikefollower6939]

Please do a vid on whether Earthbound wouldn’t suck if it has a jump button

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

If there ever was a remake of Earthbound, I agree a paper clay art style would fit perfectly. Also, loved the 3D land joke. That was hilarious!

[@westdproductions7]

I think that they should add a “run” button

[@crankylink13]

Honey come quick, monkeyness made a new video!

[@kkb_7267]

THE FUCKING ENDING JESUS CHRIST I WENT THROUGH THE EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE

[@thegreypilgrim2849]

I have this hope that you can stack items in your inventory in the remake (if there ever is one of course).

[@MonkeyNess]

@@thegreypilgrim2849 I feel like having the scrolling HP meter and 99 of every healing item is too overpowered.

[@thegreypilgrim2849]

@@MonkeyNess That's not exactly how I thought of it... But yeah, now I can see why that would be a problem... Maybe limit the amount of items to like, 10?

[@AnAverageGoblin]

@@MonkeyNess if the item cap was 9 like DQ it would probably be fine, but overall yeah op

[@maximcaleb]

7:30 Damn, that was some genuine heat right there!

[@theguywhoasked770]

I feel like earthbound could really use with more character moments like mother 3 has, but overall mother 3 could use the remake more. It is somewhat limited by the hardware it was made for (resolution, audio fidelity) and I think that simply putting it into a stronger engine would be good for its presentation. Mother 1 has a lot of gameplay issues, but tbh aside from the insane difficulty I didn’t think it had much wrong with it. Maybe a graphics update too

[@thelonechallenger]

17:20 From when I first met him, he seemed totally okay with Nintendo making a Mother 4 without his involvement. It sounded like if that were to happen, Nintendo would ask him for permission, he'd say yes, then wouldn't have any more involvement. I imagine the same would be the case for a 2 remake as well. So long as Itoi doesn't have to do any work besides saying yes, he'll let Nintendo do what they want.

[@MonkeyNess]

@@thelonechallenger Not going to lie, making such an assumption of his psyche seems dangerous. He’s on record before said making a Mother 4 would be “impossible.” I wouldn’t consider how he seemed conclusive without it being made expressly clear.

[@thelonechallenger]

@@MonkeyNess I guess for context, this was in the meet-and-greet session before mine (I came extra early in case of train delays), and he was talking to the fans about how "if Nintendo decided to make Mother 4" and added on "but I won't have any involvement". So throwing away the assumptions, from what he directly said, 'Nintendo would make the Mother 4' 'Itoi wouldn't be involved' can be taken as fact for now.

[@MonkeyNess]

And he was enthusiastic or amicable about this? Perhaps he meant it was impossible for him to make Mother 4? I’d still need more context for the whole conversation.

[@thelonechallenger]

@@MonkeyNess Yeah, he seemed pretty enthusiastic about the idea. It's a while ago, so I can't recall the details...

[@MonkeyNess]

@@thelonechallenger Interesting! We should talk more about this sometime!

[@ethejumper6568]

Im kinda interested what a Remake of Mother 1 & 2 would look like

[@roachdoggjr7020]

wow bubbletea in the wild

[@panziicake]

My only noticeable main problem I had when playing mother 2 was that I just don’t know who I’m talking to. There’s like a gazillion npcs and most of the time I wouldn’t even realize if one was a recurring one or not it would been nice to at least have a name box like in mother 3 lol 😭

[@GlitchDoesStuff248]

7:09 0h my god that was really good

[@cabbage426]

9:25 actually really clever great job

[@ShyGuyXXL]

The lesson Nintendo needs to internatize the most is that options are good. Nintendo HATES giving players settings of any kind. They didn't even have an option to invert the camera controls in the Pikmin 1+2 remasters. I don't know why they are so averse to settings, but it needs to change before they can truly make any definitive remake.

[@RustyChickn]

Justice for Kayley.

[@BahuschBahusch]

The game has held up enough to the point a remake isn't necessary but I sure as hell would love to see it. And something the Mario RPG remake also made me think of is that a remake would be the perfect opportunity to put the game into more languages as the only two official versions of EarthBound that exists are Japanese and English.

[@bigchungus7870]

I personally think there needs to be a remake to better preserve earthbound in a modern fashion if nothing else. The only way any modern Nintendo fan has legally to play earthbound is a subscription service that in due time will disappear so I am of that opinion.

[@elyogito5621]

This game does deserve a remake. It has some very strong and dark themes that are overlooked because of how innocent and kinder it looks. Like in the first EB Zero, Loids parents are separated but it’s never made clear, you first save a Girl named Pipi and bring her home to her mother who’s the only one in her house. Until near the end of the game you find out your partner Loid is related to the Girl Pipi because she went the long distance too to go see her father who never reveals his face and hides in the dumpster 😅😅😅😅😅 ps. Loid wasn’t a weakling, he was one of the main heroes 🔥💯 Edit: also I can see them remaking BOTH games with newer graphics like they used for the SSB animations but more high definition for sure 🔥

[@AvatarNeo]

While I think we should wait until it releases, I would honestly say that Mother 2 Deluxe (version 3.0) will basically be the EarthBound remake you've described. Development is going pretty well and it's looking to fix most of the problems listed here, and expand EarthBound into something new but familiar. I don't think it should be everyone's first EB experience, but I hope it reaches a wide enough audience and doesn't remain obscure.

[@King4Mammoth]

It is confirmed, Monkeyness is a King of Skill Fan

[@CameronForrester]

I would love to see a remake with some modern creature comforts and maybe some added features, but the game has aged so incredibly well.

[@UntangledKnots]

Why don’t these companies ever hire the fan remakers and help them flesh out the games, make them as good as possible and put the official stamp on it? Just bureaucracy?

[@kylemason2836]

Because most fans suck, unlike sonichads, they’re made of sturdier stuff

[@fishdubx]

11:22 less clunky menus auto save rebalancing uh idk i dont remember that last vid can you raad this?

[@planeta3059]

I think earthbound does need a remake, for the sole reason that even if the game can be accessed fairly easily now, its gameplay can be a little off putting to newer generations of players. That's not really a problem in itself, but i think there's value in readapting the game to smooth out a few of its jagged edges (such as the menu and storage system which is widely complained about) and maybe even providing some versatility and replay value to long-time fans with maybe a hard mode, new areas, new items and rewards and stuff like that. Tbh, the only aspect of remaking i'm still skeptic about is the graphics. Even though the original graphics do look really outdated even for their time, i think the simplified pixel art is part of why the atmosphere build up works so well, it leaves a lot to the player's imagination to fill out the details. The clay visuals would work and they'd be faithful, but i also think they'd rob the game of some of its more serious tones, as it would make it seem a lot more playful

[@2dflash]

I knew you reminded me of bubbletea just a little bit! Also 4:34 my bday :)

[@Prehistoricninten]

I completed mother 1,2, and 3 on the same ds lite for the first time a while back, and while the go ost’s are amazing and truly are the most honest experience, I still really like the gba renditions, some songs more than the original

[@Tamar-t7k]

love your content

[@xdcksgmd37]

Would love to see a remake with clay graphics

[@amongus-rj7lh]

if they remake it, i think it would be cool if it still had a pixel art style

[@Shrewdilus]

I agree that Mother 3 could really benefit from a remake. There are many challenges that keep Nintendo from making an official English release of Mother 3, but if they remade the game, they wouldn’t have to worry about stepping on the toes of the fan translation. Plus, I fully believe that the message of Mother 3 is especially important today. Not to mention they’d be able to recreate the original vision with the technology we have today.

[@ggjcggg]

9:27 he got pinged XD

[@jeltajink]

Are you telling me that, not only were we denied a remake of Mother 1 once, but TWICE?

[@SamTRC]

I guess to throw my thoughts out there, I think EarthBound should be remade like the Classic Sonic Retro Engine Remakes; Keep the sprite work, but develop it from the ground up in a new engine to fix its shortcomings

[@HatKidPeck]

I would like to say no, no it doesn’t. Maybe some quality of life changes like a key items menu?? But it doesn’t even really need it. I’d say either remake Mother 3 ORRRR finally localize it to the west.

[@emperorscarlet8876]

I think they should add more sesame seeds to Dusty Dunes Desert.

[@theblarneystone1023]

17:25 Didn't Itoi say that fans should ask Nintendo for a localized Mother 3 and not him? The same would probably apply for remakes of games.

[@MonkeyNess]

Highly disagree. A localization and a full remake are totally different things.

[@danielmartinez3994]

I just think Earthbound Beginnings needs the remake more. Or even Mother 3 to just give them a reason to localize it.

[@SlicedHammm]

the discord ping got me 😭

[@PiftKitty]

before finishing the vid I say maybeeeee? after the vid: maybeeeee?

[@Sedoor]

NOOO, the Thumbnail was so damn charming without the font 😔

[@MonkeyNess]

Running a test with three atm, one with no text, one with an image, and one with nothing.

[@WilliamAbel-x7j]

It doesn't NEED a remake, but a remake would be so cool. I'd buy it.

[@TonyTheTiger-i6h]

Same.

[@nathan_2009]

if earthbound were to ever get remade, i would DEFINITELY want fiverent back over twin pig's village

[@foursidekm]

We haven't seen anything of fiverent but I believe it was probably supposed to play a role with entering outer space and since that never happens, it might be harder to incoperate. At least in the story

[@nathan_2009]

@@foursidekm true

[@TenkoBerry]

This is quite Good 👍

[@JezElectro13]

I don't get why you apologize for Pixel Smoothing to be honest. I mean, I don't see what's wrong with it personally

[@AiLoveAidoruVT]

If you want to do a remake, I say you would only have to do a few tweaks under the hood. OR... Give players the option to play in legacy mode where only a few bits of text are slightly altered at most and everything else is the exact same, or "Brand new world" mode where the music is remastered, some mechanics are improved upon, and a few bugs are fixed. Maybe give the player the option to have remastered sound as its own separate thing.

[@ELIJAHANDREWS-r9e]

11:25 "Less clunky menus, auto save, rebalancing, uh idk I don't remember. That last vid was over ago. Can you read this?" I always loved reading things like this! Also, this was a great video, and I can say I want an official Mother 3 remake, not really Earthbound. I also thought, what if Square Enix made a Chrono Trigger remake but Octopath style?

[@FailureGamin]

I thought that said "Breaking Bound" and now i REALLY want EB with breaking bad characters

[@Dacstunes]

A quirky earthbound inspired RPG about jackass criminals actually sounds fun

[@Quantris]

nope (IMHO) I'd be down for something like what they did with FFIV the after years though

[@TonyTheTiger-i6h]

This pretty much. As long as nothing is changed.

[@optimalradish]

An EarthBound remake would be cool but an official mother 1 remake or mother 3 being released outside of Japan would make me lose my marbles

[@Kev-O33]

yes we need it

[@Super_ATI]

@MonkeyNess: The reason why In Mother 1 for Mother 1+2 sucks Is because It used the Gameboy Sound Chip for it which is diffrent in having a Wave Channel compared to the triangle channel on the NES and I have no idea why they LITERALLY JUST COULD HAVE MADE A TRIANGLE WAVE WHY. and also the drums are played through the GBA's DMA