Mario & Luigi™: Brothership

I went in cautiously optimistic, and Brothership rewarded that caution with something genuinely worth your time - eventually. This is the first Mario & Luigi built for a home console rather than a handheld, and developer Acquire (the Octopath Traveler studio, quietly) has gone bigger in almost every direction. The world of Concordia is a shattered sea of disconnected islands, and the central loop has you piloting Shipshape Island like a nautical hub, firing Mario and Luigi out of a cannon toward each new landmass you discover. Each island has its own population, its own problem to solve, and its own lighthouse plug to reconnect to the main ship. It is goofy in the best possible way, and the visual shift to full 3D with a bright cel-shaded coat of paint makes every new shore feel like a postcard. Combat is where Brothership earns its keep. The series staple of assigning one brother to each face button is intact, and the active turn-based system demands real attention. Jumping to dodge incoming hits, hammering back with a well-timed counter, and pressing buttons at the precise moment to spike your damage output - it all holds up. The new Battle Plug system layers on top nicely, letting you slot in passive bonuses like guaranteed critical hits against airborne enemies or elemental advantages that can genuinely shift a tough fight. Bros. Attacks such as Zapperator add flashy co-op finishers to the mix. The upgrade path involves choosing permanent stat distributions at each rank-up with no respec option, which adds a little stakes to leveling without becoming punishing. Luigi Logic is the most divisive addition. In theory it gives Luigi independent agency - he scouts ahead, solves sub-puzzles, and can be sent to gather items autonomously. In practice, especially early on, it can make him feel less like a playable character and more like an AI companion you are babysitting. The mechanic improves meaningfully as the game opens up and the puzzles grow more complex, requiring genuine coordination between the brothers, but the opening hours do him no favors. The overworld puzzle design outside of Luigi Logic is a different story - environmental, platforming, logic, and even light word puzzles are scattered across islands, and the difficulty curve on them is well-judged. They push back without ever feeling random or unfair. The two complaints that appear in almost every serious review are both real. First: pacing. Brothership drip-feeds mechanics, story beats, and travel options at a rate that feels padded compared to earlier entries in the series. The opening stretch is the weakest part of the game, and players who bounce off the first few hours will never see the genuinely strong back half. Second: performance. Frame rate drops are present and noticeable, particularly on more populated islands. For a game that shipped as one of the final major Nintendo Switch exclusives, it shows the hardware straining. Neither issue is a dealbreaker, but both are worth knowing going in. Who is this for? RPG-comfortable players who have nostalgia for Superstar Saga or Bowser's Inside Story will get the most from it. Younger players can absolutely enjoy the writing and combat, though some of the puzzle difficulty skews older. If your tolerance for slow JRPG openings is low, front-load your patience for the first three or four hours and the game genuinely opens up into something with warmth and mechanical depth. It is not the tightest entry in the series, but it is the most ambitious, and the boss encounters alone justify the runtime.

Alex · Scout Team

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