Chapter System:
Mother 3 was broken into chapters, and in each one would have different main characters. But they weren't indepedent of each other; sometimes you might run across characters from other chapters or see some events from different people's perspectives.
There were supposedly 12 chapters, and there were apparently twice as many main characters as in the last game. The first chapter was to take place in Tatsumairi (sometimes spelled Tatsumari, official spelling currently unknown) Village, with a fellow named "
Flint" as the main character.
In the May 2000 issue of "64 Dream", Itoi says:
"I really might need to cut back on Chapter 12."
"(About the main character) If you asked me which I should call the main character, I suppose there
is one 'main' one."
Incidentally, this character is "Lucas".
Spanning 10 Years:
According to the same issue of 64 Dream, Mother 3's story was originally intended to span a 10-year period. The main characters would grow and mature, too, of course. This info came out early on when it was still a 64DD game, though, and it was never repeated afterwards, so there's a chance it could have changed.
The Setting:
Mother games take place in locations inspired by the image of America, but supposedly Mother 3 was pretty different. It had more of a medieval setting with its forest and
castles, though it also had a some "Wild West"-like elements too. Itoi supposedly doesn't have any qualms with using different time periods as backdrops.
The Key Word is "Pig":
One of the game's subtitle is "Fall of the Pig King", and
all kinds of pigs show up in the game. The "
dragon (
pic 2)" creature seems to play an even more important role, though...
An Unpleasant Story:
In many of Mother 3 interviews, Shigesatoi Itoi likes to call the story "unpleasant" and "mean".
"(About the ending) You asked if the ending is tearjerking, but I'd say the real tearjerking probably happens during the game itself. And the game might end with you being like, 'Huh?!' It's really an unpleasant game (laugh)." (From 64 Dream, Dec. 1997)
"(About the story) This time, I do terrible things. Very unpleasant. (snip) It's almost like, 'No, not characters like that!'" (From Famitsu, June 27, 1997)
Itoi: "I think the ending will go above tearjerking and turn your mind into a complete blank."
64 Dream: "(snip) So it's like, 'How horrible!'?"
Itoi: It's horrible (laugh). People might say I took the easy way out, but I'm a convinced criminal."
(From 64 Dream, May 2000)
There are many other interviews in which Itoi says the player's feelings will most definitely be betrayed (in a good sense, of course).
Tatsumairi Village:
This is the village we know the most about. The game starts here The first main character, Flint, appears to be one of many residents here. There is a creek, a jungle, and other things nearby. It's also somewhat likely that the Chimera Forest, the Unlost Cave, and Oouroko Village aren't very far away either. In the village itself there seems to be a hotel, a bar named "YADO", and some small shops.At the top of a hill is a mansion where the
village's big shots live. Apparently, this town's name is supposed to be spelled "TAZMILY", but that's probably due to bad English skills more than anything.
Chimera Forest:
This was the original subtitle for Mother 3. It was written using Japanese katakana, but later changed to Japanese kanji to make it look more marketable. That eventually got the axe too, and the new subtitle was "Fall of the Pig King". Since the forest was in the original subtitle, Chimera Forest is probably a pretty big place in the game.
There are supposedly some villagers who pick mushrooms in the forest, and it definitely looks like this is the case from some of the screenshots. There's also
a giant pipeline going through the forest, meaning people have gone deep into the forest before.
There are scenes in the Spaceworld trailer and the screenshots that show a large beast running through the forest. Could this be the Chimera? This chimera looks more like a dragon than a crazy animal hybrid, though.
Unlost Cave:
Much like the gold mine cave known as "Spectacular Cave" that Itoi once reported from, this cave really fits its name. Supposedly this is the first cave the player winds up going to, and just as its name implies, it's practically impossible to get lost in it. But the cave is supposedly dark and full of violent bats. All this information was really old, though, so it could have changed.
Tropical Jungle:
A jungle near Tatsumairi Village. It's full of baobab trees,just as colorful as its name implies, and feels much like an Indonesian or other southern country. Apparently Lucas, resident of Tatsumairi, visits this place often.
Creek:
In the Sep. 3, 1999 edition of Weekly Famitsu, it says that the main characters live in a village by a creek, and that after an unknown object appears, strange phenomena begin to happen. Supposedly mysterious yells or sounds can be heard from the forest afterward. The village's semi-leader Flint sets off into the forest to solve this mystery. Anyways, it appears this creek plays an important part at the beginning of the game.
Oouroko Vilage (Big Scale Village):
Supposedly a Kraken has suddenly appeared at this village. There's such a big uproar that rumors about it have even made their way to other villages. A long time ago, Nintendo of America posted a
rough sketch of this Kraken. However, unlike the Mother 2/EarthBound Kraken, this one has two heads. Here is a
screenshot of it.
And another.
Club Chichibu:
It's not exactly known
where this club is, but it has live concerts and the band known as
Desperado Crash Mambo Combo (D.C.M.C. for short) plays there. There's also supposedly a waitress at this club who will give you secret information if you give her a generous tip.
Here's a rough sketch.
Crossroad:
A
picture of a crossroad named "Crossroad" was released a long time ago. There's nothing much to say about it, but supposedly if you go straight down one of the roads you'll reach a rocky mountain known as "Great Rock".
Honolele Summer Resort:
This location wasn't actually shown for 100% sure in any screenshots (though
this one fits the bill),
but in one of the screenshots, its name appears on a sign a pig is holding in a snowy country. It could be much like how in Threed in EarthBound, there was a sign advertising the resort town of Summers. And in Mother 1's "Snowman" there was talk about a desert.
Rough Sketches:
There were some rare sketches located on Nintendo of America's site for a while. They also found their way into a really old 64 Dreams (Oct. 1997), but they never got too much attention. There appears to be a "Pirate Village Store" and a "Pirate Village Souvenir Shop", so it looks like a pirate village was one of the places the game takes you to. There was also a "Blacksmith Shop". There are other sketches of a castle and such, but who knows what exactly made it into the game and what didn't.
Saturn Valley:
Benimaru "Ashura" Itoh mentioned this very quickly in an interview. Supposedly
Mr. Saturns also appear in this third game, and just like last time, they live in a "Mr. Saturn Village" in a valley. What's more, there were supposedly other "touching characters" besides Mr. Saturn in the game.