The final couple of years of the Nintendo Switch's expected lifecycle are interesting, to say the least, for the RPG titles based on the Mario universe. Fans recently enjoyed their two most requested remakes/remasters in the shape of SNES's Super Mario RPG at the tail end of last year, and Gamecube's Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door earlier this year already. But the "third leg" was missing, and those fans then celebrated that Mario & Luigi would complete the hat trick this very year after almost a decade of absence, and that they would do it with a brand-new adventure.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is thus about to become the first new entry into the series since 2015, and the very first one conceived for the big (TV) screen. After Nintendo and Square parted ways, Intelligent Systems brought life to the paper-themed branch, mostly aimed at home consoles, while AlphaDream gave birth to the coupled proposal, mostly aimed at handhelds. And with the latter long gone, a big part of those fans weren't even expecting a new entry. Could it feel redundant with so many releases? What does it have to add here if at all? Well, from what I've played, (around 70 minutes in two different sections/islands) not only will it mean a fresher approach to the formula, but perhaps even a deeper RPG experience.
The first difference is more than obvious. The (admittedly beautiful) hand-crafted worlds and characters of the Paper series give way to a pure cartoon style. A colourful, full-HD approach that feels remotely based on the old 2D sprites and animations, but with an added emphasis on 90s TV and anime flare. I'll have to check about framerate when exploring the world with the final version, but for now it's full of charm and personality, precisely setting this one apart from the two aforementioned recent games.
In my time with the game I enjoyed the natural, greener environments of the Twistee Island, and then the sun-kissed twilight tones around the urban parks of Merrygo Island.
You see, instead of exploring a big, wide world, the pun comes with the title as you navigate the map on board the Shipshape, a portion of land in the new world of Concordia that will allow the brothers to find other islands adrift and to connect them together to the Unitree.
I have to make two The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker mentions here. Firstly, there's an actual nautical chart for you to explore, where you unlock new areas, currents, and paths in order to have new islands at sight. Secondly, because the way you reach those new drifting islands is by cannon-shooting the siblings their way, and you know the reference if you did the same with Link (or Mario!) back in the day.
Coming from Super Mario RPG and TTYD, and other than the graphics, the two main differences I noticed had to do with those smaller, interconnected worlds, which will apparently allow for more tempting backtracking as new areas and abilities unlock later in the adventure, and of course with the combat, which was a clear highlight during my time with the game.
I naturally understand that those games were 20 years old or more, but it's also true that they were trying a bit too hard to make combat fresh and innovative with every Paper Mario as of late, to the point of straying from its RPG roots. Mario & Luigi: Brothership is both classic, in the sense that it's turn-based, jump/hammer/item action, with the trademark twist of having to control both brothers at the same time, but so far it also feels modern, dynamic, full of nuances and possibilities.
Enemies look more complex and retro-styled, with different patterns and some trickier behaviors, but Mario and Luigi show a wide range of resources, from counter-attacking some of the incoming blows, to syncing up co-op Bros. Move combos.
The Bros. Attacks, which use their specific magic points, are finally the more powerful and spectacular moves. In my case I only got to see how they tiki-taka'ed a koopa shell only to then kick it to the enemy's face as if it were a Mario Strikers charged shot, but I realised that, if you start the move with Mario, they will pass the 'ball' between the siblings before the finisher hits a single foe, whereas if it's the younger brother who calls the move, every single kick will hit a single enemy from the bunch at a time, becoming a slightly different, strategically-interesting group attack.
But there's something more to the combat, something special that RPG fans will love. Talking about depth and nuances, there are electric battle plug modifiers that you can equip as buffs or additional effects, and this system seems to offer a lot of playstyle freedom and tactical possibilities. You can access the plug menu in-combat already (without losing your turn), in case you feel that a different build suits your current encounter better. It goes deeper, as you can create your own plugs yourself from the pause menu off-combat, by investing a light-honey currency you collect by exploring the world. The modifiers will last for a few turns only before they burn out, they can gain further effect with specific combinations, and so on, and so forth. In my game, one allowed for easier counters, another one could cause dizziness on enemies, another one dealt area damage...
One last change I noticed had to do with Luigi, it's called Luigi Logic, and it impacts both world exploration and progress. Before, in platforming sections, you had to press say B (Mario) then A (Luigi) if you wanted to jump consecutively on the same platform. This is still possible, and of course needed in combat, when attack and defence get better when you nail timing, but has been toned down when it comes to platforming in the world. Again, you can do it, same as with the hammers (X/Y), but for the more straight-forward platforming you can see the taller plumber automatically following suit.
The other addition related to Luigi is that he now comes up with ideas. It's not that he wasn't dumb before, but that he takes a more active role when it comes to solving puzzles, or in the game's narrative itself. You can call for those tips with L button (but of course), but there are other parts where he'll intervene. A nice touch if you ask me if this is a game about both Mario, Luigi, and their Brothership.
I played towards level 4-5, and then around level 14, and I enjoyed tweaking stats with each level I earned, something also missing in some games. By the way, you don't get your health replenished by levelling up, which adds to the game's difficulty.
But I've been talking about changes and differences a bit too much. If there's something all Mario RPG titles have in common no matter the branch is their hilarity, and it looks like this one won't fall behind. I laughed out loud with some of the banter, with the pig-like assistant character Snoutlet who hates being called a pig, or with a mission where I had to find some hair gel to then cause a ritual dance. Oh and with a great Nintendo character joke I can't tell you about for now.
The truth is I came out from my first time with Mario & Luigi: Brothership quite surprised, as I wasn't expecting that interesting depth added to combat, nor the dynamism of the overall experience or some of the laughable jokes and puns. If it can keep that sense of humour, evolve the combat, and introduce interesting characters and storylines, it will become yet another great Mario-based RPG come November 7.