Cairn: Mathair's Curse

I'm about halfway through cairn and I'm really enjoying it so far. Engaging story and lots of fun little things to find all over the chapters. The combat is challenging enough so that you are kept on your toes without being too difficult. Music is really great as well. Recommend!

After finishing the game last night and sitting with it for a while, I've gotta say Cairn is the best RPG I've played this year if not in the last few years. Nearly every spare moment I've had these last couple of weeks has gone into it and I don't regret a single second. Cairn wears its Mother/Earthbound influences on its sleeve, but it really is so much more than that. It's a labor of love where the deeper you go, the more it starts to establish its own identity. One steeped in, as it says on the tin, Scottish culture and folklore and government conspiracy. But there are also themes of love, friendship, and family that I think run even deeper than Mother's in some ways. I love how human the characters are and just how attached I got. And I have to say, a lot of tears were shed by the end. Combat was challenging. Where normally, I'd find myself conserving MP(or Spirit) for bosses, this game had me strategically using every tool at my disposal, even for ordinary enemies. This meant weighing risks. Should I fight or sneak by? Which enemies pose the least threat? Is it better to restore spirit with items(which you may need later), or leave the weakest foe in a group standing long enough to restore spirit by guarding(which will require some patience)? Either way, you generally won't be breezing through with ordinary attacks. Which might not be for everyone, but I like how it kept me on my toes. Also worth noting is just how worth it exploring is. As someone with a habit of going the "wrong way" in search of treasure, I appreciated just how many side paths there were. I uncovered a lot of secrets in my time with this game and if my achievements are anything to go by, there's even more that I missed. It's left me eager to play again and see what else I can find. Side note: I really appreciated a lot of the little references. I've lived in the US my whole life, so I can't pretend to have caught all of them, but I definitely spotted a fair few(Girder Brew my beloved). It'll be fun to see just how many more there are when I stream gameplay for a couple of friends in Scotland. Anyway, thank you, Ross McRitchie, for the experience. I will definitely be recommending your game to all of my RPG-loving friends.

Finally, an Earthbound-Like that actually released! I’ve only played about an hour so far, but it’s been a great experience! The pixel art is awesome, the music is excellent, and they come together to capture the charm of an Earthbound-inspired RPG while still feeling fresh with its Scottish setting (vs Americana of EB). The pacing is a tad slow early on, with some dialogue being a bit long winded and just two battles in the first hour, but it feels like deliberate world-building and a minor complaint overall. I'm intrigued to find out what's going on with the mysterious/unknowns in the beginning.

protag gets "Effectively PK Ground" and it is, like its precursor, beyond OP. Honestly surprised he didn't get anything I'd consider a Magic attack but his skillset is still ridiculous the entire time Final weapon: Stinger (The Venom was too good to trade for being Slightly Stronger lol) The game itself was beautiful but INCREDIBLY Mother 3. Like ridiculously so. Still beautiful overall even with how heavy the referencing was. Glad I waited for this game to come out.

If you are a Mother fan, you owe it to yourself to play this game. What a marvelous unique gem Ross made here. The game is extremely well paced and brimming with content, and the story is incredibly heartfelt. Please play this game!

im not finished and am probably not close to it. but this is clearly a very good game that was made with lots of love. great spritework and music. if you like the mother series you'll love this. its great to see a motherlike actually come out, too! edit: i was not close to finishing but somehow the game picked up and got even better. ill forever be telling people to play it

Six hours in at the time of review. Very much Mother 3 inspired. The humor is right on target for a Mother series spin-off, and the generous dollop of Scotsman gives it a real chance to stand out from the crowd. If that sounds like your type of game, give it a go!

Really enjoying this so far. Good sense of humour, interesting story and plays well on Steamdeck. I’d happily recommend.

I'm only 1-2 hours in, and the game starts slow (but definitely picks up!), but WOWWW is this ever a beautiful, inspired spiritual successor to Earthbound. From the map layout, music, silly and light-hearted dialogue, to many more details, this game brings me back to my childhood of infinite hours playing Earthbound and being lost in its beautiful world and story-telling. If you have any love for Earthbound, BUY THIS GAME. If you don't, you will probably still love this game, and I've really barely started! Well done, devs! This is a true love letter to one of the greatest games ever to exist, and I am so lucky to have stumbled upon it.

Great game, i'm enjoying every minute of it!