Mother – Cognitive Dissonance

MOTHER: Cognitive Dissonance (originally named Cognitive Dissonance: Between Two Times), also known as M: CD, Mother: CogDis or simply CogDis, is a game created by otherhand. Despite the name, Cognitive Dissonance is a fan-made game that is not part of the actual MOTHER series. It is meant to take place sometime between the first and second games. The game’s story is told in a chapter format similar to Mother 3. It follows the journey of the Applechasers, a group of four aliens searching for and protecting the Apple of Enlightenment that has prophesied the defeat of the alien army’s commander, Giegue, at the hands of four Earth children.

The story begins in 198X, shortly after Giegue’s defeat on Earth. On Saturn, a blue Mook named Alinivar is forced to flee from his cave after a huge crash shakes the ground, and his painting, as well as the suburbs’ flora, come to life. The cause of the phenomenon is revealed to be a meteor, from which Giegue emerges and kills both Alinivar and a neighboring Mr. Saturn. Alinivar winds up in a grayscale landscape where a voice (later revealed to be the Apple of Enlightenment) offers to bring him back to life if the Mook embarks on a journey to protect its pieces from Giegue, who it prophecies will lose control of his powers and become the universal cosmic destroyer Giygas.

The voice grants Alinivar the ability to use PSI and promises he’ll meet his three allies soon. Cognitive Dissonance has a turn-based battle system. Unlike the MOTHER series, the turns are dictated by a time-meter; once the meter is filled all the way, it’s the character’s turn. This system much more closely resembles that used by several games in the Final Fantasy series, primarily the SNES and PS1 era games. The attacks and other battle actions are named after and function similarly to corresponding attacks from the Mother series. When the player’s party uses an attack, an animation can be seen on screen. Enemy attacks only make a sound effect and flash a single color.