Mario & Luigi: Brothership - Switch Review

After what seemed like an uncertainty, Mario and Luigi are back at it again in another tag-team RPG adventure, dubbed Mario & Luigi: Brothership. When the titular duo are mysteriously transported to an alternative world known as Concordia, they learn of its recent perils where the Uni-Tree, the tree that connected all its lands and people, has been destroyed. With its people separated and a looming darkness approaching, the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom set out to save Concordia and do their best to return home.

The Good

The best thing about RPGs based around the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom is that the stories always go in wild directions that the mainline titles don’t. Super Mario RPG was the first time this occurred and it did the unthinkable and had the titular Mario team up with the likes of Bowser and other characters new to the franchise. When Square Enix decided to not work on the sequel, Intelligent Systems grabbed that torch with both hands and continued to run wild with the Paper Mario series, and then we had AlphaDream give it a go with Mario & Luigi. Since then, the characters, whilst still being mute to us players, have been taken on some wild adventures far beyond the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario & Luigi: Brothership is no exception. Each main character is memorable with their own quirks, providing new angles to most of them that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. We also get to meet new characters, such as Snoutlet, the Navi-like voice to Mario and Luigi who insists he’s not a pig; Connie, who is handed the monumental task of growing a new Uni-Tree since her mentor has gone missing and thus is plagued with imposter syndrome; Team IDLE who wish to save the world but have their own doubts about their abilities; and the evil villain Zokket and his lack of ability to remember others’ names, including his henchmen, The Extension Corps. There’s so many characters to fall in love with, both new and old, and each one offers so much personality to the game’s overall story presentation.

Where Mario & Luigi: Brothership differs from previous entries is largely in the seafaring approach. In Concordia, as the Uni-Tree was destroyed, Mario and Luigi must reconnect all of the islands while getting to the bottom of Zokket and his lackeys’ evil plans. As you progress from one island to the next, it provides a wonderful sense of grandeur while keeping levels contained. You’ll often find yourself revisiting islands, whether that’s by the plot’s design or just for further exploration as you unlock new abilities, and this adds a whole new layer of depth that most previous entries haven’t been able to offer. 

The combat in Mario & Luigi titles has always been fantastic, and Brothership is no exception. It features all of the classic Mario & Luigi roles that you know and love, but cranks it up to 11 with more Bros. Attacks, and Plugs. What are Plugs, you might ask? Well, Plugs are a new addition where you can create and set them to electrical outlets either before or during battle, and each one provides its own bonus. These bonuses can be anything from elemental attacks, improved defence, the ability to always get Excellent on your Bros. Attacks and more. Sounds too good to be true, right? However, you can only set a certain amount depending on the number of outlets you unlock, which you can do as you progress through the game. Each Plug also has a certain amount of charges, so once you run out, it’ll get taken out automatically and begin recharging. This allows the player to approach battles more strategically, adding another layer of depth that is surprisingly intuitive and satisfying.

TL;DR

• A colourful cast of characters
• Fun exploration
• Great combat as expected

The Bad

I’ve played almost every Mario & Luigi game, and while I loved every one I played (that’s right, even Paper Jam), I did find that they also suffered from one thing: they all dragged on for just a bit too long. This is also the case with Mario & Luigi: Brothership; the game lasts for roughly 30-40 hours depending on your willingness to complete side content, but as you get to halfway through the main plot, you begin to feel as though we’re just going through the motions. I love me a good RPG, but I’ve also always been of the opinion that they can often be unnecessary long thanks to needless padding, and this entry fits right into that category to a T.

Furthermore on the previous point, the game often fails to respect the player's time. What I mean by this is that Mario & Luigi: Brothership could have easily been 10 hours shorter if you removed all of the long and drawn-out fetch questing, back and forth questing and overall, just mindless and monotonous tasks. The story is great, but much like many Shonen anime, when you're stuck mindlessly going through filler content, it simply feels like a slog most of the time.

And now, the elephant in the room. We’re either days, weeks or months away from the Switch successor being shown off, and it becomes increasingly obvious that the current model has past its prime where first-party titles tend to struggle. I don’t feel it’s as bad as people have made it out to be; the frame rate is mostly consistent, and its art style is nice and pleasant, albeit somewhat crunchy at times, but where it likely struggles the most is in the load times. Entering each and every battle encounter can take 10 seconds to load up, and travelling to other islands takes even longer. This all just doesn’t help with the pacing issues, where I was ready to see the credits role after 20ish hours.

TL;DR

• Drags on a bit
• Fails to respect the player's time
• Suffers a tad on dated hardware

Final Score: 7/10

When a dormant series returns after almost a decade of silence, it's understandable to be nervous, especially after some wide-ranging review scores. While it may not stand up to the series’ peaks, it sets a wonderful framework for what we fans can hope to be the long-term resurrection of the franchise. I also wish that the game was 5-10 hours longer, but perhaps that's a consequence of entering my 30s; I just don't have the spare time that I once had.

Thank you for checking out our Mario & Luigi: Brothership Switch review, thank you to Nintendo AU/NZ for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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