I'm almost positive that Mother 3 didn't originally have a post credits scene, and some people at Nintendo saw the final draft and went "oh fuck no, you can't end this series like that."

The ending is pretty beautiful to me and incredibly potent. The way that the world is so violently un-made in the ending sequence, when the game states that how things unfold after the last needle is pulled is shaped by the condition of the puller's heart, is a really powerful way to depict how badly the events of the game have cratered Lucas' emotions. It's a shame we'll never get a Mother 4; I'd have loved to see the the world after having been remade post-needles.