Mario & Luigi: Brothership Review

Here we have the return of the Mario & Luigi series, and this time, it is going to set sail for uncharted waters—literally. It would mark the much-awaited return of the ever-so-beloved RPG Mario & Luigi: Brothership, created by Acquire Corp. 

This would be their first fresh adventure on the Nintendo Switch. The last full Mario & Luigi title came in almost a decade ago, and with original developers AlphaDream now defunct, Brothership will have to bring back to life a series much loved for its humor, creative writing, and revolutionary gameplay.

But what is Brothership? And how does this tree-shaped-with-many-branches sit in the existence we know of Mario RPG Universe? Is it truly the next big installment in Mario & Luigi, or is it just sailing on very rough seas? Let's dive in and find out!

In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, everyone's beloved plumbers embark on a mission to reunite the fragmented land of Concordia, where the Mario crew and various other Mushroom Kingdom characters find themselves after a mysterious warping event—just another typical day for them. To take on the growing threat, Mario and Luigi willingly launch themselves from a giant yellow cannon aboard the game's charming, ship-shaped island hub.

The people of Concordia are plagued by a strange illness that makes them want to be alone and disconnect from everything and everyone around them. The illness has an electrical theme—get it? The idea is all about reconnecting in Concordia. Mario and Luigi must travel across the divided lands to restore the world while confronting the evil force behind the disaster.

We'll avoid giving away too many details to prevent spoilers, but the adventure that unfolds has genuinely impressed us with its expansive scale and challenge.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is fairly simple and doesn't offer much in terms of excitement or originality. One issue is the repetitive dialogue—there are even instances where characters ask if you'd like a plot point re-explained, and even if you decline, they continue talking.

For most RPG fans, there seems to be an unparalleled attraction from these games because of their interesting tales, elaborate lore, and charming life between party members. Unfortunately, Mario & Luigi: Brothership misses the mark in a way when it comes to these aspects.

A big part of the issue in Mario & Luigi: Brothership might be the lack of time spent developing these characters. For most of the adventure, it's just Mario and Luigi—two silent protagonists—so there's not much character development or interesting interactions. 

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door handled this better by giving Mario companions who spoke and brought their personalities, adding depth to the journey. In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, the game starts off with some intriguing foreshadowing and set-up, but the middle sections drag on, making the wait for the payoff feel tedious.

As in the previous RPG Mario games, the gameplay for Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a turn-based one; however, it is a bit different because it has Quick Time Events (QTE). QTEs allow you to press a button at the right time to deal damage or even dodge an attack from the enemy. 

In some situations, dodging a successful attack will result in counter damage to the offending enemy. Mario & Luigi: Brothership has different ways to deal damage, from simple stomp punches and hammer punches to some even more effectual combination moves to bring both Mario and Luigi into the game.

It keeps the player hooked as the engagement through the interaction is added to a turn-based battle. There are times, however, when it feels like some animations and battle flows go a little slow, especially in the large groups of enemies, thus rendering some battles tedious over time.

The combat is also symbolic of their brothership. Mario will first initiate, and then Luigi will act to follow through with the attack, with precision timing needed to maximize it. Jump and hammer moves are nothing new, as both brothers have to press the buttons rhythmically to give maximum damage. 

From the defense end, the player has to time dodges and counters to avoid taking incoming damage. The Bros Moves in the game has big, fancy, upgradeable special moves that have you work Mario and Luigi together to fire red and green shells and a bunch of other stuff.

The Battle Plug system injects even more strategic elements into the game. In the beginning, Battle Plugs offer elementary buffs like added defense or area-based damage but will be further complex as the game advances. 

Healing automation, immunity to elemental damage, or even trigger automatic effects like the 1-Up activate when a brother dies in action can be done with plugs as the game continues. Players will also later be able to mix and match different plugs to create different in-game effects, such as loot drop boosts and defense enhancements. 

This system really has so much flexibility in letting players have it their way in making things easier or tougher, respectively, in battles. The story mode can even be flipped, where some characters are rendered practically invincible, and it just focuses on the story.

Likewise, Luigi Logic provides extremely specific moments in both exploration and combat situations. Sometimes, Luigi has real inspirational ideas that help with puzzles or platform solving, occasionally even seeing weakness in a boss during battle. These moments of realization can be used strategically to create amazing damage nets in possible fights.

Although Mario & Luigi: Brothership does contain a lot of interesting gameplay features, it does have its downsides. It may be a bit much for the more seasoned players being constantly spoon-fed tutorials about simple things. 

This can be somewhat annoying. Besides this, Luigi's role has been muted a bit: the Luigi Logic mechanic effectively makes him an "automated" character rather than really having much interaction like the previous series. Still, the entire game's design somehow impels creativity and teamwork between Mario and Luigi, leading to an enjoyable and profound experience for anyone who decides to dedicate time to it.

Surprisingly, the world of Concordia is the best part of the game. Initially, after finishing the first area of the expansive ocean world, we were a bit concerned. The islands we explored were vibrant and enjoyable, but early on, they felt somewhat repetitive and safe. 

However, as we continued, the islands and islets—mini-challenge areas that you uncover while sailing—started to take on a Mario Galaxy-lite vibe. While there's no intense platforming, the variety of environments, unique gimmicks, and fun non-combat activities make the world captivating, encouraging you to explore further and see the full story unfold.

Moving on to the visuals, the art style of Mario & Luigi: Brothership is the most expressive we've ever seen from Mario and Luigi characters. These characters go through lively changes and react to some outstanding dodges and sweat droplets, and even show signs of pressure as they face oncoming challenges. Although all of these aspects are remarkable, the real dumb deal is how he has all his awkward landings that define a lot of nervous energy. 

From that standpoint, he becomes almost a needless source of amusement and audiovisual charm. Everything furthers points to tie into the connection between the game and the player. It allows people to become more intimately associated with Mario and Luigi while providing all these exaggerated, old-school expressions the developers put in there for good reasons.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership will be fun for fans of the Mario RPG series. It features great essentials such as humor, turn-based battles, and interesting character moments. The addition of new systems, such as Quick Time Events and Battle Plug, Bros Moves, provides some refreshing strategic depth, although it can be a bit tedious in some cases, such as during longer battles. However, while the age is charismatic and features rather expressive animations, the main downside is rather mediocre storytelling and character development.

Those familiar with the series might give Mario & Luigi: Brothership a solid addition to the franchise; for most of the general public, however, it really isn't a groundbreaking title. For dedicated RPG fans who tend to prefer more robust and immersive experiences, perhaps this won't quite cut it. 

Brothership's repetitive dialogue and lack of deeper character interactions make it all pretty dull, but at $60, one cannot help feeling that Nintendo might have done a bit more with a partnership. For more classic and better RPG-influenced adventures, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door might be a better fit.