Review – Mario & Luigi: Brothership

Broderagem has always been synonymous with friendship and partnership, but this term ends up taking on a meaning that goes much further, with the new game from the most famous gaming brothers delivering a beautiful, fun story with exciting messages. Developed by Acquire and released by the Switch at the end of its life, this new epic adventure arrives as a great tribute to the RPG franchise and manages to surprise positively with its fun and simplicity.

Maintaining the essence of the Mario & Luigi game series, fans can expect classic RPG elements, an all-new story, tons of hilarious moments, and simple gameplay. However, some choices can alienate the most demanding or long-time players, making it a good game and nothing more than an entry-level RPG, wasting the potential built by previous games.

A tribute with touches of innovation

At the beginning of the game, the pair of plumbers are transported to a new world, called Elétria. Upon meeting Tetê, an arboguard, they discover that Nauta Island was actually once a continent connected by its Arbolux, but which ended up splitting into several islands and spreading across the ocean. With the support of Mario and Luigi, you will need to reconnect all these territories by turning on the lighthouses on each island, making the Unilux flow again and unifying all the lands again.

Based on a plot that explores the theme of connections, including the brotherhood between Mario and Luigi, the game’s plot appears as something extremely fun and, even though it presents a simple story about helping to solve local problems to save the world , Mario & Luigi: Brothership manages to develop the game and narrative in a very interesting way. Because of this proposal, the two protagonists are shown not only as heroes, but as brothers too, who support each other in moments of danger, crisis and happiness. This dynamic of the narrative being represented in the gameplay and in the way the game develops opens up opportunities for us to have a very present humor, with jokes and funny situations that maintain the lightness of this Nintendo RPG franchise.

In Brothership, the gameplay mechanics follow this line of connection and partnership. In exploration, you need synergy between the plumber brothers to advance through the scenarios and complete tasks. In battles we have turn-based combat, which gains an extra touch of action and, unlike other more traditional RPGs focused on skills, here timing is essential for success. Attacks require precision in commands and synchronization between brothers, creating an addictive dynamic while minimizing, but not ignoring, each character’s base stats. For this new title, due to the narrative and message that the story carries, Nintendo preferred to make the complexity that JRPGs or turn-based RPGs can offer even greater lightness.

As much as it is an evolution of the previous games, initially released for GBA, Nintendo DS and 3DS, it was clear that Mario & Luigi: Brothership takes a lot of inspiration from Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, but at a lower difficulty level. Common battles can be extensive and require strategy, depending on the type of enemy and number, but the difficulty arises even against the bosses, which can require dozens of minutes to completely defeat them. To further increase strategic depth, the game offers Bros Attacks, such as special ones that require synchronization between Mario and Luigi, in addition to Battle Plugs, which offer limited and special conditions.

One of the coolest points of Mario & Luigi: Brothership is having Luigideia, whether in exploration or combat, with the character indicating solutions in the scenario to solve puzzles or how to cause more damage to the boss. This is also related to Bro Actions, which requires working together to solve a puzzle or task. The gameplay and mechanics, for combat or for the islands, are very connected and justify the developers’ choices, making even more sense with the story being told. As simple as it is, nothing is freely included in this game.

Let there be light!

Acquire’s work shines when we look at the world-building and immersion in Mario & Luigi: Brothership. As I said previously, everything has a justification and the creation of characters and islands follows this theme of connection, plugs and connection. From Elétria and Arbolux, with the plot revolving around Unilux, with Tetê and the other inhabitants of this world spread across small biomes in which the visuals “explain” their inspirations and the music accompanies each theme.

When citing this visual translation, the story’s great villain, Ampério, and the Extension Battalion, with generals Coné, Gui and Zão, are proof of this great creative work. Representing a pair of cutting pliers, a P2 headphone connector, another VGA plug and a coaxial cable, they seek the ruin of Electrical. On the heroes’ side, we have Pligue as a guide for this adventure, who looks like a plug and is always mistaken for a pig, and, in addition to Tetê, we have the Static, a group of messy young people who try to help, as well as fundamental NPCs to the history on each island.

All development of the story also happens around the maritime proposal, including the fact that it makes perfect sense to have Nauta Island as the main hub. You will have the Nautical Chart to move through currents and reach pieces of land in Elétria, in addition to investigating the Great Lighthouses that serve to move the narrative beyond exploration and inserting the villains, in addition to battles against bosses.

It’s impressive how Nintendo has been working more and more on the expressiveness of Mario, Luigi and their other characters, because in this game we have a level far above what we’ve been following since Super Mario Bros. Wonder and which uses the Nintendo Switch’s potential to the fullest, even causing longer loading times and brief drops in frame rate. Nothing that harms the experience, but quite the opposite. Mario & Luigi: Brothership delivers very fun and well-animated sequences.

The whole set makes this work something very unique and authorial, including the division of protagonism between the two brothers. With funny dialogues, cartoonish characters and even a good choice to “escape” from the Mushroom Kingdom, but still carrying well-known characters and traditional elements. Get ready to meet Princess Peach and Bowser, accompanied by their troupe, but everything is very well explained and part of this world.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a pleasant addition to the franchise’s legacy and an excellent entry-level RPG. With simple gameplay, strategy levels for those who want to get more involved, charming graphics, a fun story and a beautiful background message, not to mention the incredible localization for PT-BR, which is super well thought out, the game offers a fun experience for fans alike. long-standing and for those just starting out. The lightness and teamwork of brothers Mario and Luigi make every moment a celebration of cooperation and, of course, fun.