As a seasoned gamer with over three decades of gaming under my belt, I must say that Mario & Luigi: Brothership left me feeling rather torn. On one hand, the game boasts a unique and captivating narrative about togetherness, human connection, and the dangers of screen addiction – themes that resonated deeply with me as someone who’s spent countless hours in front of screens.
The Mario and Luigi role-playing game series originated on the Game Boy Advance, and even with numerous updates over the years, it has consistently maintained a connection to its origins. Initially, the two-button layout of the Game Boy Advance was instrumental in shaping the series’ signature feature: one brother is assigned to each face button, allowing simultaneous control. Although later platforms have more face buttons, the fundamental idea has persisted, being shaped by its original constraints. With Mario & Luigi: Brothership now available on the Switch, it seems as though the developers are attempting to break free from these limitations, resulting in an extended RPG that struggles to carry its own heft.
In Brothership, various residents from the Mushroom Kingdom are mysteriously transported into a new environment called Concordia, which consists of numerous islands scattered across a vast sea that were once part of one large landmass. The Uni-Tree, functioning as a sort of world pillar, had kept all these islands connected, but it withered unexpectedly and the islands began to drift apart. With the assistance of a young researcher, you navigate a vessel that carries a sapling from the Uni-Tree, serving to reunite the islands and the Great Lighthouses that boost its power to achieve this goal. Consequently, your ship takes on the appearance of a tugboat, with several islands attached and following it as it moves.
It’s a concept that allows for lots of different kinds of environments and stories on self-contained little islands. One might be modeled like a desert, while another is a multi-story corporate headquarters. The Great Lighthouses serve as major dungeons, so each of the acts consists of the smaller stories on each island, the larger story arc of the region, and then the Great Lighthouse dungeon as its resolution.
Mario and Luigi are helpful wanderers who pitch in wherever they can due to their circumstances. Although they don’t have any spoken dialogue, the excellent animation quality provides plenty of character depth. The depiction of their brotherly bond is a remarkable example of art direction, presenting both new and familiar characters using a straightforward yet highly effective style that offers a cartoonish flexibility. I always looked forward to seeing Luigi’s face brighten up, as well as the diverse arrival animations on different islands. A recurring joke is that Mario always lands spot-on, while Luigi often doesn’t, with numerous amusing variations showcasing all the ways things can go awry.
If the islands are distinctly unique, nevertheless, navigating them is lackluster. The Mario & Luigi series isn’t renowned for its exceptional platforming skills, and Brothership certainly doesn’t give off the impression of a true Mario platformer. The controls can be a bit stiff, which sometimes makes the platforming challenges feel less fluid than they ought to. Strangely, it also discards the dual-hero concept of Mario & Luigi by making Mario the main character, while Luigi serves more as a sidekick who mostly follows along (mostly obediently). You can occasionally tap the L button to send him off to gather resources or help solve puzzles, which does ease some frustration I experienced in previous Mario & Luigi games, such as getting the timing for both brothers perfect while crossing a gap. However, it’s peculiar to see Luigi play such a supporting role, which seems to dilute its identity—more like Mario with a special guest appearance by Luigi, rather than a true Mario & Luigi game.
In battles, Luigi proves his worth as much more than just Mario’s sidekick. While both characters execute their own rhythmic attacks, it’s Luigi who can occasionally tap into “Luigi Intelligence,” a unique ability that allows him to perform stage-specific stunners on enemies, making them defenseless. This seems to be a way to give the character a distinct role and balance his limited involvement in exploration stages. The timing of these attacks remains effective, and players choose between Jump or Hammer based on the enemy’s characteristics, adding a rock-paper-scissors-like element. Counterattacks also return, with some instances even instantaneously ending battles due to their high damage output. However, with only two characters in the party, it can become quite challenging when dealing with tougher enemies, as you may find yourself constantly using revival items on each brother as you learn their attack patterns, potentially leading to a cycle of defeat and resurrection.
In the updated version of combat, there are some fresh twists to give it more complexity. One such twist is a consistent pattern of permanent enhancements that occur every eight levels. At these milestones, you can select one upgrade that will remain effective throughout your gameplay, such as receiving additional EXP from each fight or gaining extra power stats with each level-up. These enhancements are universal for both Mario and Luigi, but they excel in different areas – for instance, Luigi has faster leveling in Defense and the Stash stat, which resembles Luck.
In this game, one of the key battle components is called Plugs: these are significant power-ups that can be added to your arsenal via a strip-like interface as you progress and unlock more slots. They offer various characteristics such as expanding an explosion radius when you achieve an Excellent score on a time-limited attack, returning used items, or exhibiting resistance to specific status effects. Each Plug has a limited number of uses before needing to recharge, but other Plugs can influence the recharge duration. To me, they seem most similar to Materia from Final Fantasy 7, where nodes could be activated to enable abilities, and the fun came from experimenting with different combinations. However, unlike in Final Fantasy 7, you can swap out these Plugs during battle without losing a turn, making them even more versatile.
Despite the intriguing addition of Plugs in the game, Mario & Luigi: Brothership struggles with its pacing, much like its predecessors. While the Mario & Luigi series offers rich RPG content, these games are typically brief, averaging about 25 hours. The developers aimed for a longer playtime in Brothership, but the game’s length seems to stretch the enjoyable experience too thin.
As the game advances, pacing issues become more pronounced. Towards the end, there is a crucial story mission that leads to a choice which can render the entire quest pointless. Frequently, you’re asked to revisit islands you’ve previously explored. There are nearly consecutive boss battles that are strikingly similar. Navigating by sea can be tiresome, even with a speedier sailing option, and smaller isles lack fast-travel options and require manual navigation. Moreover, when a specific plot element is introduced, the humor in the writing escalates with numerous hilarious jokes and dialogue, but it takes around 30 hours to reach that point. All these factors give an impression of the game not valuing your time. To add insult to injury, the performance deteriorates as the game concludes, with frequent drops in frame rate, leaving a bitter taste at the end.
The experience is particularly aggravating as Brothership, at its essence, spins a heartwarming yet straightforward tale emphasizing unity and bonding among humans. The setting portrays islands torn asunder and cut off from each other, with the main danger being a sort of epidemic of loneliness. There’s an intriguing touch of symbolism in the visuals, hinting at screen addiction and its potential to hinder personal relationships formation. Overall, it’s a captivating narrative, but one that doesn’t necessarily require 50 hours to tell effectively.
The extended length might have stemmed from a wish to craft an expansive, substantial RPG, however, it primarily amplifies the simplicity across all elements. Sprawled over numerous hours, exploration loses its charm, combat grows monotonous, and the narrative fails to maintain interest. Mario & Luigi: Brothership showcases impressive craftsmanship and innovative concepts, but in transcending its portable boundaries, it strays into unnecessary ambition.
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2024-11-06 23:39