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| The bros' long-awaited return. |
It's a regular day in the Mushroom Kingdom until a giant wormhole appears and mysteriously transports Mario and Luigi to Concordia, a fragmented land has been split into many islands after its "Uni-Tree" has been weakened by the evil Zokket and his Extension Corps. The pair will need to restore the Uni-Tree back to its former glory with the help of Connie, the trainee in charge of watching over the tree. They're also joined by Snountlet, a spunky flying pig who acts a guide for the brothers. Together, the gang must defeated the bad guys and save Concordia one island at a time. The story was ambitious with some dark moments and branching choices to keep things interesting. It told a grand tale of the importance of bonds between people, which was pretty nice.
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| The iconic bros are on a quest to reconnect the world! |
Characters like Connie and Bowser Jr. also get some neat development with their own story arcs. That said, the pacing was horrendous. Just as things would pick up pace in one island, it quickly comes to a stop on the next one for the party to do a filler quest or menial tasks. It went on like this for every new region the bros unlock, which bloated the story. The worst offender was the final dungeon with its dragged-out puzzles and platforming segments. That's also not forgetting how boring and long-winded many story conversations where that I found myself fast-forwarding them as they went on for too long.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is an action-RPG where you control the brothers as they explore islands while battling enemies and levelling up. The timing-based combat returns with Mario taking the "A" button and Luigi getting the "B" button as they attack enemies using their trusty jump and hammer attacks. Special attacks that consume Bro Points (BP) offer more punchier damage as the bros can use the likes of throwing a bundle of bombs onto enemies, conjuring a storm that zaps multiple targets, and slamming an egg onto enemies that hatches into Yoshi, that were pretty cool to see. They require both quick memorization skills and snappy timing to get an excellent-grade attack, which is most damaging.
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| The gameplay is just as fun and fast-paced as you remember. |
Enemies have health bars now so you can finally see how much health is left. Strangely, Luigi's menu actions are mapped to the A button, which if you're a longtime fan of the series, will be confusing as he was regulated to the B button. While minor, I did find myself accidentally cancelling Luigi's actions at times.
A handy mechanic are the boost-granting, Battle Plugs. They function like badges from previous games that grant the duo minor perks like equipping a plug that deals splash damage, automatically consuming a mushroom whenever a bro's health is low, and reducing enemy damage by 20%. Up to five plugs can be equipped, though upon overusing them, they'll need to be briefly recharged. You can craft new ones by collecting Sprite Bulbs that are scattered across levels. They were a great help when I was in a bind as the late-game fights proved to be difficult.
The much-touted feature is "Luigi Logic", where Luigi independently solves seemingly impossible obstacles by coming up with a clever solution like unlocking a new ability for the bros to clear them. Luigi can also perform minor actions like automatically plucking turnips that house coins or smashing crates by fittingly pressing the "L" shoulder button. His wisdom is handy during boss fights, as he often comes up with clever ways to turn the tides in your favor by performing certain actions. It was a neat idea that gives Luigi some purpose but it mostly felt under-baked as it regulates him to being an NPC instead of a major character. In non-combat instances, allowing the player to choose a method of progressing or playing a mini-game to unlock a solution would've made Luigi Logic a much more involving feature.
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| While mostly lacking, seeing Luigi come up with clever solutions to unique problems was pretty fun. |
Shipshape Island serves as the hub area, connecting you to all islands and offering shops to buy items and gears from. You can chat with characters for quests, review story objectives, and briefly explore around, all of which made the ship feel lively. You can chart a course and the ship will automatically head while you tackle other activities like fishing or optional side-quests that devolve into mostly fetching or delivering items to NPCs, which were mostly decent.
Island designs were neat and varied as you have the likes of a sunken desert, a business center, giant merry-go, and nightclub that are all brimming with secrets, quests, and wacky characters to meet. As you explore these islands, you'll be making use of the brothers' traversal moves like the UFO Bros. that will let you reach faraway platforms and the Flower Bros. that lets you destroy giant boulders in your path. All of which will lead you to the island's lighthouse so that you'll connect it to the Uni-Tree.
The ship traversal was nice as islands are laid-out in currents that you'll sail and fortunately, you can speed up Shipshape to reach your destinations faster early on. There are a few side-activities to delve in such as tougher enemy encounters, optional islands, and timed character-driven quests. All in all, the adventure was a lengthy one, taking me 43 hours to complete.
At first, I didn't like the new visual design of Brothership as I still preferred the old charming sprites, but it gradually grew on me as characters were just as expressive and lively. I liked the electrical-outlet designs of Concordia's inhabitants, however, they can come across as lazy given that you'll see the same-looking characters in every island. There are a few exceptions like the upbeat dancer Dyode and the adorable Connie, but more variety in general would've been nice. Thankfully, the villains stood-out with their cartoony-but-menacing looks.
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| Some tech issues aside, I grew to like the change in art-style. |
I also enjoyed the animations as they were flashy and fluid, especially during the Bros. Attacks. On trend with the Switch's latest releases, the performance was unfortunately middling across both modes with fluctuating frame-rates and constant load times before battles. The soundtrack was all right, though it's forgettable. Some notable tracks were Shipshape, the battle theme, Lottacoins and Bulbfish islands themes.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a good game that's seriously held back by sluggish pacing and excessively long dialogue. After putting through with both, I ended up enjoying my time. The gameplay was obviously fun and the rest of the game was also captivating. The game met my expectations of being a great time, but it's far from being my favorite in the series. Fans will feel mixed, but newcomers will surely enjoy Mario & Luigi's latest adventure. Here's hoping Brothership marks a new beginning for the beloved series.
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