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Copyright: mother: cognitive dissonance
Mother: Cognitive Dissonance (known as Cognitive Dissonance: Between Two Times before version 2.0 and commonly abbreviated as "CogDis") is a 2009 MOTHER/EarthBound series fangame developed by user handish2000/Otherhand of Starmen.net using RPG Maker 2003. Later, a reworked version of the game was created together with a team of people from the site's forums and released in 2014. This 2.0 revision made an overhaul to the graphics and parts of the script and added a significant amount of new content to the game, including several new areas, sidequests, more alternate endings and an original soundtrack.
The story takes place not long after the events of MOTHER 1/EarthBound Beginnings and centers around Giegue's descent into madness after being confronted with his repressed emotions by Ninten and his friends through the song of the 8 Melodies. His desperate search for the Apple of Enlightenment, an ancient artificial intelligence that can predict the future, takes Giegue to Saturn where he ends up killing a blue Mook named Alinivar. The Apple promptly revives Alinivar and, in return, tasks him with setting out on a journey around the solar system in order to collect its four pieces before they fall into the hands of Giegue. Soon after, the shy guitarist finds his fated friends in Colonel Saturn (a war veteran Mr. Saturn), Larice (a Starman that escaped Giegue's army) and Zarbol (an insectoid courier in a mini-UFO). Travelling from planet to planet in their spaceship, the "Applechasers" come across many different alien races, friends and enemies, as well as the mysterious Niiue, an alien of the same species as Giegue, with whom he seems to share a special connection, thus becoming the group's most important ally.
The game is mostly linear and chapter-based, with 8 chapters in total. Gameplay consists of navigating the party's ship through the overworld that is the solar system, exploring planets and dungeons and battling enemies with RM2K3's active-time default battle system using a variety of PSI-powers and other abilities. There is also an item-crafting system.
CogDis is also notable for featuring a version of Toby Fox's song Megalovania, namely, the remix titled Clash with a doctor by Namikin, that plays at a few select moments in the game.
