Itoi-san wasn’t present at the show, was he?

Miura: In addition to his main job as a copywriter, Itoi-san’s site “The Almost Daily Itoi News” has become an amazingly successful business, so he is very busy. But even when he’s working on other projects, he still gets asked “What’s going on with MOTHER 3?”  There was a lot of excitement when he visited a MOTHER fansite, “MOTHER Nippon” on the 10th anniversary, where Itoi wrote “Oh, so it’s the 10th anniversary today.” He went on to say, “Everyone is patiently waiting for us to finish the game, and their support is appreciated.” So Itoi wrote all the dialogue in this demo version of the game, because we knew that’s what people wanted to see.

How did you make this demo version?

Miura: An RPG is difficult to display in shows like these, aren’t they? You don’t have time to level up or adjust equipment given the time limit, which is the most enjoyable part of an RPG. However, I made sure to arrange a savory appetizer for the fans that balances the two.

In other words, you packaged together the best parts from various chapters.

Miura: That’s right. However, since I’m in charge of the scenario, I made sure not to show anything that I thought might be too revealing.

The scene where Lucas and Claus ride on the minecart was extremely impressive.

Miura: That’s a scene from the beginning of the game.

Do the two work together from the beginning? I’m not sure, but I recall the twins having opposite personalities, like yin and yang…

Miura: That’s right. I think they will eventually grow up to become opposite personalities.

I see, since they experience different things…is the scenario finished up to the ending?

Miura: It’s finished. The framework of the scenario itself was actually finished two years ago, but it was only about three months ago we managed to put it all in the game.

So since you have a clear idea of what the ending is, that’s how you decided on the subtitle “Fall of the Pig King”?

Miura: That’s correct.

It really makes me wonder about the ending.

Miura: Yes, it does. We wanted it to be easy to understand, since the previous subtitle was “Giygas Strikes Back!” as well.

Is Porky truly the Pig King?

Miura: Those who played MOTHER 2 might think so, but it’s still a secret.

We once heard there were 12 chapters…

Miura: So far, nothing has changed. But there is a possibility it might change eventually, however.

Was there anything you sacrificed by moving from the 64DD to cartridge?

Miura: I don’t know about sacrifices, but of course there were many ideas we had on the 64DD. However, there are good things about using ROM cartridges as well: We can create more dynamic pictures, since the area in which a ROM reads data is larger and more flexible than that of the 64DD. And since it’s not on the 64DD, I’m just happy to see it’s likely more people will play it!

(Laughs) The music is really good too. Did you want to parody the music of a blockbuster RPG?

Miura: I wouldn’t say “parody” is the right word, but I think Itoi-san has a certain way about him that thinks, “This is what I would do.” Shogo Sakai’s music was a good fit. There were many cases where the game was pulled along by the taste of the music.

MOTHER 3 was the only game which provided headphones at the event.

Miura: On our end, we asked Nintendo if we could let them hear the music. The game design team insisted it wouldn’t really be playable without sound, since battles require being able to listen to the music.

Could you elaborate on that?

Miura: Nothing is displayed on screen, but you can perform consecutive attacks by pressing the button to the beat of the music. Also, when an enemy approaches in a silent area where the only sound is from a flowing waterfall nearby, the enemy’s theme song starts to play. It’s really a series of songs that flow into each other, from the moment you make contact with the enemy, to when the battle finally begins, etc.

Please tell us about the main theme of MOTHER 3.

Miura: I was talking about that with Itoi-san before…let’s just say that we want to make people cry (laughs). He said he wanted MOTHER 3 to make people cry. In MOTHER 1, it was the world itself that was sad. Whereas in MOTHER 2, we wanted to break that up and create more fun scenarios. But now…we want to make it hard for people. We want it to be hard enough that they will break down and cry.

(Laugh) That’s terrible! (Laughs)

Miura: It really is. After all, MOTHER is always about betraying fans of the previous game. If you’re expecting the heartwarming world of MOTHER 2, you might suddenly be betrayed (laughs).

Source to original interview