Analysis of Mario & Luigi: Brotherly Bond

The first Mario and Luigi after AlphaDream closed perfectly understands why we liked the series, but it falls one step short of perfection.

One of the most beautiful, colorful and charismatic aspects of the original Mario & Luigi on the Game Boy Advance is how much they enjoy playing the game with two characters. The design and mechanics pay special attention to the fact that this time we’re not just Mario: we’re Mario and Luigi at the same time, and that opens up a lot of new ideas and possibilities. Conexión Fraternal, the first new installment in the saga in about a decade, has noticeable differences from the first AlphaDream games, but they are united by an obsessive desire to remind us that in this world everything is shared. Attacks, guards, skills, puzzles and progress. “You can’t do this alone; with friends, yes” is at the center of the saga, and in Conexión Fraternal, the deep affection and support that Mario and Luigi constantly show each other makes the devotion shine with its own light.

Although this affection is not his only advantage, of course. Let’s start with the fact that, as I mentioned in the preview I wrote a few days ago, the structure of the adventure is striking and enjoyable from the very beginning. In the Concordia Archipelago, various islands were literally connected to the Connecttree Tree, the energy of which the inhabitants used for various purposes, but, above all, for movement. When the obligatory operetta villains of this type of RPG attack and destroy the tree, the entire population of Concordia finds itself isolated, and it’s up to poor Mario and Luigi to fix the mess. To do this, we will go aboard the island of Nao: the central hub of the game, half an island – with its own secondary content, hidden corners and even the occasional enemy – a half-ship that moves through the five seas that the game offers us. . Thus, on board this peculiar sailing ship we will discover different islands, large and small, and gradually connect them to the central boat.

Once we connect all these islands, we can use fast travel to move around them instantly. But until then we will have to go through them in the traditional way. Within this concept, the game postulates a rather interesting idea of ​​exploration: we can choose which currents our ship moves along, but navigating them will require a real period of time. Getting from one side of each subsection of the map to the other usually only takes a couple of minutes, maybe a little more once we’ve already unlocked all the currents; Either way, the fun part is that this time is used to complete side missions, upgrade equipment, or revisit locations we’ve already visited before to gain access to new areas with our newly unlocked abilities.

It’s true that the game suffers from a slightly slow start that doesn’t leave us much freedom to explore, but after we’ve played for six or seven hours we’ll have more than enough freedom to use this idea as much as we want. Slow Start essentially applies to combat as well: the concept has strong roots, but can get a little repetitive in the beginning, at least until the title allows itself to go a little crazy and add a couple of mechanics that sprinkle in and add just a little bit of difference from traditional systems Mario saga.

As you probably already know if you’ve played Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario or any of the original games in the Mario and Luigi saga, the Italian Plumber RPG is usually built around turn-based battles in which we can choose between melee attacks with using a hammer (effective against enemies on the ground or with spikes), or jumping, more intended for flying. In addition, a series of commands will prompt us to press action buttons at the exact moment when our attack hits the enemy or when we are hit by a blow or projectile, in order to strengthen it in the first place. case, or protect yourself, in the second case. In Conexión Fraternal, the aspect of attacks is quite simple, which gives us the opportunity in almost all attacks for a brother we do not control at the moment to finish our strike with a second strike. In addition, there are “tandem” skills, which will also depend on our ability to press buttons at the right moment, and which Mario and Luigi will perform together. However, the blocks require a lot of attention and some management skills from us.

The enemies are well thought out and use different skills with different patterns, which will require us to pay close attention to what is happening on the screen, to visual or auditory cues and even to control two brothers at the same time to make them jump. at different rates, for example. Also, because the battles are balanced – unless you’ve completed many side missions and don’t always have the best equipment in the game – good blocking will almost always be the difference between victory and defeat. Sure: it occurs to me that more novice users might struggle a bit with certain enemy types, and it wouldn’t hurt to add some difficulty options to make the system easier in the early hours.

After these first hours, the game opens up to what for me is the high point of combat. “Forks” are combo abilities in the form of a fork that we connect to an extension cord during combat so that they add special effects to our every move. We unlock the pegs through a series of points we find as we explore, and part of the trick is that they activate automatically in combat, but they also have limited uses: in general, ten or five activations will be enough for the candle to run out and you you will have to wait a few turns to use it again. Luckily, both Mario and Luigi can switch pegs at any point during their turns during battle. So the idea is that these skills are constantly changing and we are developing a strategy to combine them. There are bindings that add area damage to our attacks, others that make it easier to counterattack, deal extra damage to flying enemies, or automatically heal us when our hit points drop below half. Thus, fights on the same level or in the same area with the same enemies can have different dynamics depending on the anchors we choose. A really good idea that doesn’t complicate the whole thing but makes it a lot more enjoyable.

I can’t end this analysis without devoting a few lines to the game’s aesthetics. A couple more musical themes would not be superfluous, so as not to hate the existing ones, to be honest, but otherwise the result is quite noticeable. The art style chosen – 3D with some hints of cel-shading and very vibrant colors – is particularly evident in the Mario and Luigi models themselves, and perhaps not so much in the settings. Even so, this is more than enough to keep the entire title alive, because the charming and playful way in which Conexión Fraternal moves through different concepts, through different concepts, is very infectious. I’m not sure what other game besides this one can implement a theme revolving solely around the concept of a “plug”: it’s fun to see enemies in the form of HDMI or VGA connectors, mini-jacks, pliers following each other, exposed wires or electrical clamps .

The only downside is one you may have already imagined. For a game whose combat system relies heavily on rhythm, pacing, and storytelling, this is Mario & Luigi: Brotherly Connection’s main Achilles heel. The aforementioned slow start and overly long middle and final sections dampen the experience a bit; It’s a thirty hour game, but it could easily have lasted twenty hours and would have left us with a sweeter taste. This clumsiness of development makes it difficult for us to consider it one of the best parts of the saga. But at least it has everything we’ve always loved about it: love, charisma, very pure fun, relatable humor, and a desire to make the RPG genre accessible and enjoyable, but no less challenging.