Mario & Luigi: Brothership Reviews
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a game geared towards youngsters, but that doesn't mean that hardcore RPG lovers should necessarily ignore it: with a volcanic dose of gimmickry that will get more than a few laughs and an enchanting art direction, the game is the ideal bedtime story to end the Switch's extraordinary career with a bang.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mario & Luigi: Brothership brings back one of the plumbers’ more underappreciated series, offering plenty of visual pizazz, an impressive array of inventive maps, and a solid amount of RPG depth. It’s not a perfect relaunch, as Brothership’s writing lacks the snap of the best entries in the series and some unfortunate padding results in a game that arguably overstays its welcome, but overall, those still on board the aging Good Ship Switch ought to find this a charming-enough twilight cruise.
Mario and Luigi: Brothership is an utterly charming reinvention of the brotherly RPG series that, up until now, had previously been left adrift for too long. By offering even more ways to traverse and do battle through the introduction of new Bros. Moves and Battle Plug modifiers, Nintendo has found a way to keep Mario and Luigi’s turn-based escapades fresh, while the new sea-faring structure offers a great means to explore various types of locations jam-packed with several micro-stories and mysteries to resolve.
This game suffers when subjected to a reviewer’s brutal pacing. Maybe if I hadn’t been racing towards the finish line, the endless tiny loading screens wouldn’t have bothered me as much. I was also forced to discard a lot of the side content. It’s not super compelling stuff, but the act of completing it can be pretty relaxing. Searching for Sprite Bulbs scratches that completionist itch in a big way. Plus, the game is beautiful and the battles are a lot of fun. I still wish the puzzles weren’t so frustrating for me. But again, they benefit from more patience than I could spare. My momentum while playing felt wobbly and uneven, but this is still a well-crafted game. Perhaps your time (if you can offer more of it than me) will be well-spent playing Mario & Luigi: Brothership.
Mario & Luigi Brothership has made it to the top of my favorite Mario RPGs, a feat that I never thought would be achieved. Everything is constantly entertaining throughout the experience, from the creative animations to the energetic sound effects and wonderful roulette of activities; the game provides a revolving door of engaging fun at every step.
This sequence is surprising, creative, and, most importantly, unambiguously hilarious. And someone on the Acquire development team clearly knew that they were on to something with it, as the game heroically stretches the joke out for about 10 minutes. It’s a shame, then, that the bit doesn’t last even longer. Certainly that would have given Brotherhood a chance to say something interesting about, well, brothership. It would’ve been funnier too.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is such a great return for the beloved series. Acquire understood what makes this king of games so special and also, found elementos to make them better. Nintendo having another extraordinary year.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a surprise on Nintendo Switch.
Review in French | Read full review
Mario & Luigi: Charged Brothers enriches the already rich Nintendo Switch offering with an adventure that has its roots in the brand's role-playing tradition, but manages to modernize it in practically every aspect. Despite some uncertainties on the technical side and an unbalanced level of challenge, this is a great event for all Mario Brothers fans that could also be a great surprise for those simply looking for a role-playing game to spend a few dozen hours of lighthearted fun.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mario & Luigi Brothership is definitely ambitious, but the structure of the game is not well suited to the sluggish feeling everything has. Despite being about half the length of some other modern RPGs, it doesn't have the depth to match. A few good gags and some touching character moments doesn't make the entire experience fulfilling. What's here is solid enough but it's death by a thousand cuts. Every cool or fascinating thing has some kind of asterisk to go with it. Battles are fun but they take forever to finish, characters are unique but dialogue is often belabored, Battle Plugs are interesting but take way too long to recharge. There's a lot to like here, but just as many things if not more to dislike, leaving the game okay but frustrating.
Mario & Luigi Brothership is the biggest and boldest the series has ever been, with some novel battle mechanics and colorful presentation. However, an overstuffed runtime and exhausting pacing severely dilute the experience in both narrative and gameplay. Had Brothership been a snappier, more compact entry, it could have been one of the best in the series, but as it is, we're left with an enjoyable game that overstays its welcome once again.
Mario & Luigi Brothership is a welcome return, and succeeds far more than it fails. Its heartwarming story mixed with solid battle mechanics will keep you engaged for some time…even if it goes a bit long in the tooth near the end.
Mario and Luigi: Brothership delivers yet another solid Mario RPG outing. Riding high on waves of clever writing, charming humour, engaging exploration, and addictive combat, this is an odyssey well worth undertaking.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is the classic Mario & Luigi experience that fans have been clamouring for since Bowser's Inside Story. While there are significant pacing issues that means the game takes a while to get going, a simple but engaging battle system and incredibly intriguing second half of the story helps to keep Brothership on course.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is like a perfect representation of the Bros themselves: even though one might trip up here and there, everything works so well together that it makes it an unforgettable experience.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is undeniably endearing, learning from other media forms to present an uplifting adventure with lovable protagonists. With too much dialogue and backtracking implemented within the game's design, it can run at a pace that feels slow, ballooning what should be a fun jaunt into an overly long adventure. There's room for further fine-tuning of ideas, meaning Brothership isn't the flawless seafaring journey we wanted. Though it's also far from a shipwreck with incredible charm and gameplay offerings carrying this title across picturesque waters.
Not everything works here, but the spirit of Maio & Luigi series is strong. Brothership is a successful return, and – in case we don’t get any more installments – a much better finale than Paper Jam. Despite a weak beginning I’m happy with my time with this game, and fans should be as well.
Review in Polish | Read full review
With so many bespoke moments for each little mini-story, complete with unique minigames and interesting character arcs, Brothership is bursting at the seams with fun things to do.
As awkward as a game that Mario & Luigi: Brothership can be, you can't beat the entertainment you will have with it. The turtle-paced progression, quick gameplay gimmicks, and unwieldy concise worldbuilding can be disheartening, but when a game is fun…a game is fun! The extremely rewarding combat and layers of strategy is a blast. The graphics are impressive, the soundtrack is outstanding, and the moments where Luigi gets to shine are indubitably adorable. Anchors aweigh and cast off into the grand voyages of high-spirited and loquacious antics in Mario & Luigi: Brothership!
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a delightful return for the beloved series, with deep gameplay and vibrant worlds that make it a must-have on Nintendo Switch, despite a few minor design shortcomings.
Review in Italian | Read full review