REVIEW: Mario & Luigi: Brothership brings charisma, but not the impact it deserves

Nintendo has revived the iconic RPG series about the plumber brothers with a game that mixes nostalgia and new features. Despite offering fun gameplay and interesting mechanics, the title stumbles in the execution of its story and dialogue, leaving the feeling of an untapped potential. Will it Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood managed to honor the series' legacy? Check out the details in this review.

The Mario & Luigi franchise

Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood having been released in early November, shortly after Halloween, almost serves as a marketing technique by Nintendo because it is a series that was reborn from death. Practically a zombie series, of a body that we already considered buried, given what Nintendo did with the franchise at the end of the 3DS's life, with remakes out of time on a console that should already be retired, even causing the developer's bankruptcy. Alpha Dream, responsible for the series' games during the period.

Little was said or expected about a return of the Mario Brothers in RPG adventures, but Nintendo has a very peculiar character flaw that consists of not delivering what fans expect, and surprising with something that was literally not on the radar of any Nintendo Switch player.

But is Mario & Luigi a really bad series and nobody wanted it back? Quite the opposite. It is a very good series, where the worst of the games is still a very good game (yes, it's Paper Jam), but it was destined to fall into oblivion due to the actions taken by Nintendo itself.

The surprise was good and promised to come with full force in Brotherhood, a game that seemed to understand how the series works, that promised to rescue the playfulness of what was created over all these years on portable consoles, and that came with the greatest promise of fun of the entire series, as it contained jokes localized in our language. But not all the deliveries were made as promised, and it seems that much of this delivery was lost in the vast sea in which the Brothership ship sails today. A little even without direction.

Brotherhood is the sixth game in the series, which began on the GBA with Superstar Saga from 2003 (remade on the 3DS in 2017 under the name Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions), came to DS with the fun Partner's in Time from 2005 and the excellent Bowser's Inside Story from 2009 (also remade on the 3DS in 2018 under the name Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser's Jr. Journey), and had its last two episodes on the 3DS with the phenomenal Dream Team of 2013 and the median paper jam 2015 (a crossover of Mario & Luigi RPG e Paper Mario).

History

The game's story takes place on the continent of Elétria, where our Brothers ended up after being sucked into a sinister energy. In this strange place, they meet the lovely Tetê and the assistant Pligue (a character who will provide comic relief in the series, since he is constantly mistaken for a piggy bank).

These and other inhabitants of the place will tell our heroes the story of the legendary Arbolux tree, which connected and provided life to all the cities in that place, and which was mysteriously attacked and destroyed, causing each of these parts of the world to turn into islands and be lost in the immensity of the ocean.

An Arbolux sapling is grown on a ship-shaped island, and its small growth allows it to function as a sail, making the Brotherhood (from the title) can sail across the ocean. And now the goal of Mario, Luigi and their new companions is to go after the islands that have separated, connecting them again to the great tree. Connecting, literally, because the connections are made through socket plugs, which is the item that permeates the entire theme of the game, from the world to the characters, and even the battles.

It's up to our heroes to discover who is behind the destruction of Arbolux and restore light and peace to the residents of this lovely continent.

During this tour through all the islands that work almost on a phase system, the brothers will meet new characters that will give tone to the plot, but the surprise is in the appearance of familiar faces from the series, who bring an air of nostalgia to a game that, above all, needs to establish itself as a new episode, but does not want to miss the opportunity to be a gateway for new players, especially from the generation that for some reason did not live the GBA/DS/3DS era.

Gameplay

The new Mario & Luigi is a beautiful homage to the game that started the series, Superstar Saga. The way the story develops and the initial simplicity of the battles during much of the beginning of the game are a way to introduce the player to a franchise already full of titles, without them needing to understand pre-established mechanics, working as an excellent first game. Something that is common on the Nintendo Switch, which has also happened in other series in titles such as Pikmin 4, Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Animal Crossing New Horizons.

O The game takes time to develop its specific requirements, and present the heroes' abilities that will be inherent to this iteration and will set the tone for the game's theme.. This is beneficial when the goal is clearly to reintroduce the series to Nintendo platforms after a 9-year hiatus (not counting remakes).

As battles are frantic and respect what was created in the franchise, with individual attacks and some special ones that use both brothers to work. And everything gets a touch of novelty with the new mechanic of battle plugs, resources that enhance attacks and create special conditions that favor the heroes. They appear in different formats and can be combined for greater effectiveness. This is where the game shines and comes to life, and taking about 10 hours to get there is a risky strategy, but it works in a way.

Luigi is no longer just a name in the game's title and now has more independence as a helper to his most famous brother. Starting with the character's movement, which happens as in any other episode, with Mario's jumps being controlled by the A button and Luigi's with the B button, and in additional actions Mario uses X and Luigi uses Y.

But this time, Luigi can jump on his own, without the player having to perform the A+B command across the entire stage, which was a clever and creative mechanic that began in Superstar Saga, but was costly. This adds quality of life to the gameplay, an important feature as games evolve in mechanics.

Additionally, the following was added: Luigideia, a help that the brother in green offers in exploring the maps and that proves useful in battles, especially against the bosses, which are technical and costly for those who are not yet used to the series' system. With it you solve puzzles, collect items and coins and make the fights easier, which is really a good (Luig) idea.

O game world is a vast ocean, and the movement of your island/ship is done through automatic currents, which need to be navigated to find the missing islands. A mechanic that initially seems tedious and not as inventive as it was in Phantom Hourglass e SpiritTracks, for example, but which gets a very welcome upgrade and a fun and curious backstory, becoming one of the most interesting points of the game. The map is huge, a pattern already established in the series, but this time with a more organized aspect, and which refers to more classic 2D adventures of our mustachioed hero.

There is a linearity to the game's progression that can be followed by more methodical players, and for those who don't have time to spend 50+ hours in a JRPG. At the same time, the game offers a range of side quests and things to do in previously visited places, which undergo important changes as the story progresses, and in collectibles scattered throughout the ocean that can increase the scope of exploration.

Performance and graphics

Brotherhood is first game in the series in HD, and it uses and abuses visual styles that bring life to the console, without ever losing the essence of the series, using the same truncated scenarios of its predecessors. A nostalgia that is often welcome and well-received, but at the same time limits the adventure in some aspects. Acceptable for being a return of the franchise after a long time, but a greater evolution in future episodes must be considered, maintaining the aesthetics presented in this game, and expanding the scope of what can be explored.

O game hardly ever stutters in performance in handheld mode, and its beauty is obvious when played docked on a good TV. The loading screens between scenarios within the same map can tire the player, but they don't break the rhythm of the adventure. There is still a lot to be done so that a game of this scope can flow more organically on the Switch, especially when it is a project that was not developed by Nintendo itself, and the secrets of performance and performance are still kept under lock and key, not revealed even to developers who are working on the Big N's own IPs.

And that's where the difference lies, for example, between a Zelda made by Grezzo and a Zelda made by Nintendo. And here, in this case, a Mario made by Nintendo, like Wonder, and a Mario made by a third party, like Mario & Luigi. The balance is positive in this aspect. The game knows its limitations and works in favor of the player.

Location

The great advantage of this episode was based on a moment of rise of Nintendo Brazil, in which the company is committed to localizing almost all new games. Other games, such as Pikmin 4, Super Mario Bros. Wonder (this one in particular with the magnificent dubbing of Flor Tagarela), and the most recent The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom brought exquisite localizations with jokes, memes and all the peculiarities that make our language so rich and alive. And being able to experience these projects in this way is something that increases the interest of any player, even with Nintendo arriving almost 20 years late.

Unfortunately, PT-BR came in one of the least inventive episodes of the series. The dialogues, which were previously acidic and punctual throughout the game, seem boring most of the time. And it's not a translation or localization problem, they just lack inspiration in any language.

There are points here and there that are very funny, most of them involving Luigi, which is a constant in the series. But it has also always been constant that all the games were acidic and accurate from beginning to end. And this is not the case here. Many of the conversations are boring and tiring, and players more accustomed to the series will be waiting for the moment to “gear up”, but it will not really happen. Pligue, the helper, is responsible for 90% of the most creative dialogues, but ends up not being able to carry all the charisma of the game on his back.

Price and availability

Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood is available for the console line Nintendo Switch na eShop BR for $ 299,00 and also on national physical media that can be found in official Nintendo Brazil stores such as Amazon for $ 339,99.

Conclusion

The legacy that the game carries is extensive and diverse, but it has a weight in quality that would make any developer anxious about getting involved in something so rich and complex. And the one who accepted the challenge was Acquire, responsible for the Tenchu ​​series and Octopath Traveler.

Unfortunately, they seem to have failed to create their own identity for their versions of the game, relying mostly on already established aspects, while at the same time leaving an impression that the Alpha Dream knew his material better, and everything ended up getting stuck in a paradox of not being new and inventive and not supporting or referring to what exists in the right way. And Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood got stuck in this middle ground. It's not the worst game in the series, this role is still very well played by paper jam, but it also failed to make it into the Top 3, and leaves a residual taste of a missed opportunity.

Throughout the game there is a strange feeling that something is missing, something is not there. And that something has not yet been found, not in this episode. But it is still an adventure full of nuances and with addictive gameplay that, in a very positive way, ends before it becomes boring or repetitive, adding points in the final scale.

So, did you like our Mario & Luigi review? What did you think of the game? Tell us in the comments!

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reviewed by Tiago Rodrigues in 25 / 11 / 2024