Cairn: Mathair's Curse

I've enjoyed what I've played so far, though that means my review is currently limited to the first chapter. Chapter 1 does a great job of pulling you into the game's world, and once the plot kicks off I was basically unable to stop playing until the chapter ended. All of the extra little details were fun to notice; this might have even been the first 2D RPG I've played where the characters' map sprites changed depending on what equipment you have on. It's also interesting to note that the balance of combat encounters to items came together just right to leave me feeling like each battle mattered, and each use of items and skills were deciding factors to the battle. I'm not always one to enjoy that sort of tension, but this game made me enjoy it by juxtaposing it with the urgency felt by the characters (and it doesn't hurt that it meant I didn't feel obligated to do any level-grinding in order to survive). I'm looking forward to seeing how the characters and story progress from here, especially with how chapter 2 starts.

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.

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!

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!

So I only ever played the SNES Earthbound, I never experienced the first NES one or the one on Gameboy Advance that was never released in the US. This game is nothing like the SNES game. The gameplay is slow and boring. partly this is the case because the combat is so awful that I wasn't able to enjoy the story because getting to the next part was awful. Monsters take 2-4 hits to kill with the skills barely doing anything more than a base attack. Equipment seems to have little effect on doing more damage or taking less damage. If you do use the skills which can do things like heal you or stun the enemies (which does nothing on multiple enemy combats) you have to basically use a (limited) amount of healing items to increase health and spirit (mana). A fight will take 1/3 to 1/2 of your health and then you have to use 3 sandwiches that heal 12 each to get back to max. The alternate to this is your healing skill which takes 10 spirit and heals for maybe 20 but the spirit healing item only gives you back 12 so you're almost always at a net negative from fighting. Enemies will drop roughly 2/3 of a new healing item so you're always at a limited gain doing combat. The combat is best avoided at all costs. The story seems interesting but by the time I got to any significance in it I was already bored beyond belief. I asked for a refund but I'm at nearly 5 hours played when I decided to give up. I'm hoping they will still refund it. I don't know what I am missing in this game but please think twice on purchasing this.

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

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

I’ve been much delayed in writing this review, but I absolutely loved my time with Cairn! I’d strongly recommend this game to fans of Earthbound/Mother or quirky JRPGs. The story remains compelling throughout, the combat is enjoyable, and the Scotland-inspired world feels fully realized with the right balance of humor, depth, and self-awareness. As someone who has been (im)patiently waiting for over a decade for the Mother 4 fan game (now Oddity), Cairn perfectly scratched that itch. I’ve tried several Mother/Earthbound-liked over the years, but this was the only game to feel like a proper extension of the series while establishing its own identity. PROs: [list] [*]Charming world, story, dialogue, and characters. One of the few games where I felt compelled to speak to every NPC. [*]Solid art and sound direction. The art style is well-implemented and cohesive with lots of little details to admire in each environment. Loved most of the bgm and am looking forward to listening to them regularly [*]Engaging plot that kept me hooked throughout my ~30 hour campaign. Chapter 1 had a decent number of parallels to Mother but the plot really started to come into its own with Chapters 2 & 3 and maintained that momentum for the rest of the game. [*]Fun exploration and solid level design. The areas you traverse are a lot of fun to explore, with dead ends always leading to a useful item or interesting place. Consumables are extra useful in this game as a key recovery method so finding a good one is a more exciting for me than in most JRPGs. The chapters that give you wide areas to explore and lots of NPCs to engage with were consitently my favorites. [/list] MIXED: [list] [*]Combat is good but could be even better. I like the combat overall and it’s got enough to keep me engaged, yet it all feels a bit “by the numbers” and I was hoping it’d have a more of a unique flair to it. I like that you can restore Life and Spirit by blocking which makes that a more useful action than most games, but it’s missing something like Mother 3’s rhythm-based extra hits to help it stand out. [*]Pacing is solid overall but best in the heavy exploration chapters (e.g. Chapter 3). There was never a point where I wasn’t enjoying myself, yet the times I enjoyed MOST were the chapters where there were lots of places to explore, people to talk to, and unique sidequests to complete. All of these help make the world feel more full, and create moments where Cairn’s Earthbound/Mother influence can be felt most in the scenarios or things NPCs say or do that feel a bit wacky yet relatable [*]The game can be challenging or unforgiving at points, but it’s never insurmountable or something that blocked me. The 1.1 patch that adds recovery options and tweaks exp gains has helped, but in my first playthrough there were a few times where I felt so dependent on consumables for recovery of Life and Spirit that I ran from most battles. Even with that being the case, I only felt compelled to farm exp in 2 parts of the game for 20-30 minutes each, and both were to make exploring a bit easier rather than feeling like I HAD to level up to progress. I still think progression could be improved a bit but it’s in a better place thanks to the dev listening to and quickly addressing feedback in their own way. [*] The polish of the game is pretty good but there were a couple rough edges (mostly minor, you can see reports on this game’s community board) that the dev has thankfully been quick to address with hotfixes (often fixed the same day they were reported). There may be other bugs I didn’t encounter in my playthrough, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing this wonderful game. If you do notice any bugs I’m sure the dev will address them swiftly once reported. [/list] I don’t have anything I’d consider a CON for this game. The things I feel mixed on could be improved but aren’t serious detractors as the dev has already made some updates to address (e.g. adding recovery points, tweaking exp gains, etc.). I was hooked when this game came out, beating it within the first 5 days of release, and was waiting to post a review until I got far enough in a second playthrough to see how the 1.1 update improved things. While there are still opportunities for improvement, the things I would have listed as CONs before (difficult early game and lack of recovery options) I’m more MIXED on now. All-in-all an excellent game and one I know I’ll be enjoying and revisiting for years to come. If I were to rate it I’d give it a 9/10 whereas Earthbound and Mother 3 are 10/10 for me. Excited to see what this dev cooks up next!