Mother 3 (2006)

Developer: HAL Laboratory, Brownie Brown
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Wii U, Game Boy Advance
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Rating: 4.5 of 5, 177 player ratings
Where to get it: Nintendo eShop

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A charming, whimsical village setting masks a slowly unfolding family tragedy that turns the adventure bittersweet.

bittersweetcoming-of-agewhimsicalmelancholicstory-drivenquirkyemotionalslow-burn

About

A turn-based JRPG and sequel to EarthBound (1994) in which a tragedy surrounding a family in the primitive yet joyful village of Tazmily incites the coming-of-age story of Lucas, the family's younger son, who goes on perilous adventures along with his friends in order to find his missing brother and stop a group of masked men from bringing about the end of the world.

Screenshots

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This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.