Review: MOTHER 1

I finished MOTHER for the first time last night. It's not a simple game, so reviewing it is going to take some time. I'll try to break it down into its component parts: exploration mechanics, battle mechanics, game flow, scenarios, story/writing, music, graphics, and how all of those elements fit together to make this game what it is.

As a courtesy to Jon Magram, though, first I'll attempt to sum the game up briefly:

MOTHER is a charming RPG despite frustrating mechanics. Patches mitigate some of those flaws. Starts slow, but ends beautifully. Awesome music. Recommended.

Game Design Status Update #1

Today was the first time I've sat down to continue my game development education since leaving for MAGfest, and the enormity of what I don't understand about developing a game hit me like a brick. I won't be scared away, though. There's a lot to learn, and I know for a fact that this is learnable. I've squandered many years of my life failing to learn to program games, but I'm not going to allow that to be the case anymore.