Mario & Luigi: Brothership Preview

gamesreviews.com:

For almost a week now, I’ve been doing a deep dive into Mario & Luigi: Brothership as we head towards release day. I would never call myself a hardcore Mario & Luigi franchise fan, but I have dabbled in the 3DS releases and via Nintendo Switch Online, and quite enjoyed by time with the brothers. A Mario & Luigi game hits a bit different than other traditional RPG experiences, but the uniqueness of the two-person gameplay has intrigued me enough over the years that I was really excited for the release of Brothership. With the game (so far) feeling much easier than in the past, I wonder how it will land with longtime fans of the franchise.

At this point, I expect nothing less, but Brothership looks and sounds absolutely amazing, although there have been a few frame rate hiccups. The game itself is using a brand new, unique art style, likely due to a brand new development studio working on the game. The previous developer of the franchise, AlphaDream, filed for bankruptcy in October of 2019, leaving the franchise in limbo until 2024. The new art style, however, is phenomenal, and while I can see Nintendo detractors poking fun at a few of the graphical hiccups – i.e. Mario’s eyebrows constantly coming through the brim of his hat – I find the experience charming in all aspects. Can we get a bunch of shorts to go along with this game, Nintendo?

Mario and Luigi will be traveling the ocean currents of Concordia attempting to reunite the islands with the brand new Uni-Tree on your “ship”, Shipshape Island. Each Island is a small puzzle that you’ll need to complete in order to reach the lighthouse and reconnect the island to the ship. The islands don’t take a ton of time to complete the first time around (so far I’ve found about 30 – 45 minutes), but Nintendo gives you plenty of reasons to return to these islands in the form of side quests, items to find, and more. I can only speak to a handful of islands so far, but they have each had a unique twist that I’ve enjoyed, and