When I played a few sections of Mario & Luigi: Brotherly Connection a few weeks ago to share my first impressions, they couldn’t have been more promising. I was honestly surprised by the added depth of the combat, the freshness of the situations and the agility of the game, while these very funny cartoons caught my attention and, together with the script, seemed to honor the series’ characteristic sense of humor. In this case, I was just wondering about its long-term staying power: if it captivated and surprised from start to finish, we’d be talking about the third Mario RPG hit in just a year, which would be quite an achievement.
However, this is exactly where it fails. Mario & Luigi: Brotherly connection. Ironically, this otherwise fun and light-hearted RPG is about connecting a broken world, but fails to hold its own pieces together. And what’s even more ironic is that some of these pieces seem archaic compared to the other two Mario RPGs released for Nintendo Switch in the last few months, namely the remakes of Super Mario RPG from SNES and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door from Gamecube that are more than 20 years old.
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The premise itself is interesting as it is tied to the noble mission of reconnecting the world of ConcordiaNavigate the currents of a great ocean, exploring its various seas in search of the drifting islands that once made up the same continent, then connecting them back together. Just like in The Legend of Zelda: The wind alarm clockThis gave the designers the freedom to create significantly different islands and themes, as well as smaller challenges in the form of Islands. At the same time, the individuality Nao Island a moving ship, constitutes the typical activities of a central world hub be a little more strange.
However, running this gameplay loop isn’t all that fun. The title takes its time between the more compelling parts and can often become so monotonous that you risk being completely turned off and even giving up. It’s one of those cases where you really want him to get better, for him to suddenly wake up and give you the good thing, but that rarely happens.
At first I thought it was a question of my own playing style. That I should have skipped a lot of battles instead of sweeping all the areas like my RPG manual required, because that’s what it seemed like too simple and monotonous. My brothers left OPI didn’t lose a fight, I had items to give away, and my economy was very broken in abundance. But then, as the twenty hours approached, things got complicated on a particular lava-covered island, and the challenge made sense for my level at the time, so I started thinking about balance, rhythm, and the meaning of those twenty “introductory hours.” .
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And again, when things around a particular person seemed to get deeper and more attractive “Song of Ice and Fire”Mario & Luigi: Brotherly Connection always found a way to slow the pace and interest of things, send me on another boring walk or give me a boring section. The Side quests are particularly boring because they require you to run boring errands and get no worthwhile prizes in return. And some are temporary in nature, which should create some sense of urgency, but you’ll soon find that they serve as cheap substitutes that keep you returning to previous islands over and over again.
Going back to the vile comparisons to old games, the outdated nature of these missions permeates the main game, something I wasn’t expecting today. There are several very difficult segments for which the archaic game design. Some of the islands look straight out of the 2000s, with unclear directions, outdated camouflage, silly dialogue tasks, or points that prevent you from following the logical path.
However, there are also a good handful of highlights that kept me browsing despite the general feeling of monotony. The fightEven though encounters with common enemies are repeated, they gradually gain depth and strategy Combat needles. In one of the most well-balanced systems in the entire game, you create these sockets by spending the collectible Fulgas which you can find around the islands, and then equip them in battle to achieve various additional effects. They are imaginative, combinable and fun in themselves. They offer many alternative uses for attack, defense, bonuses, combos and more. Sometimes you just jump into battle to tinker with the tiles and test their combined effects, because that can be even more fun than fighting enemies.
Animation and visual refinement They are another good reason to continue opening new areas. Has some framerate issues When the screen fills up with people and it takes a while to get used to, Mario and Luigi only move in the eight main directions, but the look and movement of almost everything (with some random enemies) is much, much better as the random residents of Concordia) make it look like an interactive cartoon series.
And the last point shows how much You will love Luigi. It’s not that he has a more prominent supporting role this time, but rather that he is the star of the show. From the animation when he levels up to the fact that he finds solutions to various situations despite being so clumsy and sleepy, he is always hilarious and adorable, and the developers nailed his personality as if it were this a Luigi game.
Finally the Boss design It’s worth mentioning. Luigi also relates to it in unique ways that you will discover, and along with that Tandem attacksprovide some of the most spectacular moments.
So no, we’re not talking about a hat trick of must-have Mario RPGs in a single year. The remakes mentioned above are better games despite their age, with more exciting stories, more balanced combat and a smoother gameplay pace. “Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood Connection” lacks the magic, flair and mystery of those games, drags on considerably and becomes too boring too often. Still, kids love it, it’s nice to see the return of a series that many thought was dead, and it lays the foundation for a new branch that may feel different to the Paper games in the future. Combat pens, boss design, charming drawings and an outstanding Luigi lead the way.
