It would funny now to see Luigi in a Silent Hill game as that person who thinks he is helping you but is so utterly violent to your enemies you wonder if he is helping you or indulging in violence or is some hidden part of you that is merely frustrated or would, if not withheld by society, be that violent.
My biggest gripe has been Luigi’s battle menu selection not be ‘B’. The amount of times I’ve thought my controller died or some weird communication issue is absurd.
This so much, just give us the option. It’s not just us being used to the old system, it doesn’t make sense to have to use A to select, then immediately switch to B for the actual command that will follow. Makes it annoying to be ready for the first hit.
This is genuinely why I stopped playing. These things, along with Luigi autojump bother me so much. All the mechanics we loved about the previous games are completely watered down.
@@shiroihana4381 for some reason they're just allergic to options that appear in practically every game, you wanna turn up the music and turn down the sounds to have an immersive musical experience? too bad! wanna change some buttons around to a more comfortable controller? TOO BAD!
Personally I feel like any game trying to act as a successor to Alphadream's titles was always going to struggle critically. Also, from what I've heard the game's opening hours are even slower than Dream Team's, but apparently it does get faster and pick up over time. So it's good to hear that while critics are, as usual, rushing out reviews ... there are those taking their time with the game and getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.
Not rushing reviews, taking 8 hours for the game to pick up is a major flaw. Even after that point, it’s filled with padding and repetitive fetch quests
As someone who has replayed dream team a bit before brothership came out, brothership did have a slow start but not even close to as slow when compared to dream teams, and im saying this as someone whos fav mario and luigi game is dream team
I'm glad I decided to stick with it, but it shouldn't have taken 10 hours to "get good". I'm sure individual experiences will vary, but that's how long it took for me for the game to really pick up. My biggest issue ended up being the pacing and how padded out certain sections feel. It's basically a 30 hour game streched into 50 hours. Developers need to understand there's nothing wrong with having shorter RPGs.
I think your comment about its writing being more genuine is spot on. Like, the game is funny, but it's also trying to tell a heartfelt story about human connection and focusing more on that than constantly making jokes. I liked Origami King, but I feel like I'll ultimately remember so much more of what happens in this game because of that.
Yes! It may be a little cliched at times, but the sincerity is quite refreshing. Characters are relatable and speak genuinely most of the time instead of being mouthpieces for delivering jokes. It makes the occasional gag much funnier, and more often than not the humor comes from the situation itself being absurd rather than characters cracking jokes. The scene where Peach tries to buy medicine for Dorrie was probably one of the best in the entire game imo. It was able to be funny whilst also showcasing the personalities of Peach and the IDLE kids. Comedy without compromising on sincerity!
As I’ve played through this game, I definitely got vibes the story had to be influenced by events of 2020. It has such a huge focus on connection that it seems too coincidental not to be a direct response to that time.
we hate it because it feels incredibly safe and boring, not because it’s genuine, and not even because it has no good jokes and was clearly written for the 0-7 year old demographic
@@verygoodfreelancer No, you hate it because you’re not used to NPCs in a Mario RPG actually acting like real living people and not just constant joke machines.💀 Also who's “we”?
I think the big issue with pacing isn't a game being too slow or fast, it's that they never seem to let us go at our own pace. It's super rare for a game to relay information to the player and curate the game experience while letting them run through them at their own tempo.
Bugsnax is a really good example of a game you can play at your own tempo. The overworld is just small enough that running from place to place doing quests feels like speed is highly rewarded, and catching the individual snax rewards slow and patience gameplay
This looks like the kind of game where 10 years from now it has an audience that just loves the game to pieces who can't understand how the game had this drama at launch.
There's already lots of people like that, me among them. The story is nice, it has a lot of funny and emotional moments, a captivating villain, just enough fanservice while still not turning the entire game into another Toadfest, and the combat is fun and has some good tactical depth with the Plugs.
Its kinda crazy how that wasnt a problem at all for me up until i got to that point... Like i wonder what caused it to be that rough? That it wasnt like that earlier
...I love that bit at the end, with the "Luigi logic"! I don't exactly hate it when games don't let you pass obstacles like that even though you'd totally be able to in reality, but it's still refreshing when they show that hey, you CAN use real world solutions in this situation in this game.
@@Nyperold018 Waist high shrub from Pokemon was the first one I thought of, but I figured the bros would just jump over it considering that's kind of their thing.
13:03 "When I'm not playing, I wish I were playing." Yeah, that's been me with this game for the past few weeks. I've actually already finished two full playthroughs. It's not perfect, and does have some noticeable problems, but I think the good stuff it has to offer more than make up for it.
I avoided reviews once the game came out so I could form my own opinion, but once I was finished the game and took a look at the reviews, I was extremely shocked to see just how divisive it was. It was such a charming game. Sure, it’s not gonna be the new Bowsers Inside Story, but Brothership has such a unique identity that makes it stand out on its own. I really really enjoyed it, and thought it was a the perfect way to revive Mario and Luigi after so long
I get that, and I haven't played it yet and all I know is from this video so I'm not 100% aware of all the things that make this game great, but I definitely don't think it's a bad thing to have high expectations for games like this. As long as you don't EXPECT it to be a better game than the last, it's not necessarily unreasonable to hope it's as good or near as good as the last. I definitely feel like the negative and critical reviews are so important nowadays because most mainstream/tripple A developers are putting significantly less effort into creating new games that are good, and are just remastering old ones that were really good because they know they won't have to spend the time and resources to write and create a new game, just make better graphics for the exact same game. Don't get me wrong, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, and The Thousand year door are AMAZING game, I love them as remasters, and I'm so glad newer generations can play them on the switch. Plus they can be more easily revisited and enjoyed by long time fans with the new graphics on the newest system, but god... I really wish they would just make new games to add on to those series'... So honestly, I can't be upset about Brothership. Because even if it's not perfect, they tried. And that's what really matters and I am so happy and proud of Nintendo for that. I still definitely think the criticism isn't exactly harsh though. Especially with how amazing of a series this is.
I think nothing will be the new Bowser‘s Inside Story anytime soon, sadly. Haven‘t played this game yet, but i always avoid critics defining my own opinion, even if i haven‘t played the game yet and read a bunch of them. Can‘t judge the game until i‘ve played it myself. All I‘m saying is: 1. Was happy to see someone mention Bowser‘s Inside Story :D 2. Not letting reviews influence you is a very healthy attitude, proud of you.
I just finished it too while avoiding critics and I personally agree, the slow pacing made the adventure more immersive and I love how the final part reminds you of the moments and characters you’ve experienced. Was literally what I was looking for in a M&L game
Personally I think I prefer Brothership. Bowser's Inside Story is still a wonderful game, maybe even better than Brothership. But I feel... More connected to Brothership for lack of a better term.
@@okjohnnn1361 I personally disliked the slow pacing, it made it difficult to get *into* the game. I have a love for the series that I kept going because I'm going to give it the full play, you know?
I totally agree; however, how the game currently stands scares me. Media is a BIG part of the gaming industry and how it’s looking with all these negative reviews, I’m scared that Mario games won’t have any flavour anymore.
The game has a wonderful art style, really like seeing this cell shaded cartoony Mario as opposed to the New SMB style that we've seen everywhere for the past 10+ years outside of paper Mario and galaxy
I always kinda figured as a new studio is taking the reins of this series it was gonna be an uphill battle, but i do love what they were going for, hope they improve the next game based on the reception on this one, but man is the fights in this game the best in the series
The fights in this game are _terrible!_ Too many enemies per battle, with some attacks that take forever to end, you as the player only get two attack turns and sometimes all the enemies attack again in between your two turns, you only get the basic jump and hammer for single enemy attacks outside of bros moves, and bros moves are handed out so slowly that Mario spends a good chunk of the game being completely unable to attack more than one enemy at a time. Also the controls are bad and anyone who says "you get used to it" is lying, I never got used to it in 46 hours of playing.
I FAR prefer your positive reviews to negative reviews. Negative reviews are often popular because of conflict but also because of passion. People are usually more chill when praising games than criticizing them, but you are incredibly passionate about things you love and that’s what made me subscribe.
People have a weird complaint about the story following the connections of family members and friendship and stuff and I just don't understand why it's a problem to people, lol.
It definitely takes a _while_ to get going. I'm still having fun about 6 hours in, but I can definitely see how others would not have as much patience.
Ok but lets be real Mario fans are not known for their patience. The community for these games are not the type who could play actual long rpgs. These are the same people who will say a game like Final Fantasy or Xenoblade are bad.
@@kayden2119 I'm someone that loves Xenoblade and Fire Emblem and even I would say that the pacing of this game is all over the place (only have the main villain left to do)
Glad to hear you're enjoying it; I LOVE the game myself as a LONG-TIME superfan of the series and trust me, it's ONLY going to get better (the finale is something you have to see to believe)!
Arlo: I don't like games that waste my time Also Arlo: my favourite game is Thousand Year Door. A game wherr you do nothing but walk back and forth over the same environments dozens of times, fighting enemies for 1 exp.
I think the problem is that they stuck with the classic "on-the-go" formula, when most people were expecting a huge, grand adventure like other switch games. As a Mario & Luigi veteran, I played the game in bursts, and when I found I played longer than I usually did, (around 5-8 hours per a longer play session), I found myself enjoying the game a lot less, rather than stopping after 3 or 4, leaving myself to feel refreshed instead of burnt-out.
To me, action RPGs are just kind of like this. I feel like the gameplay is more repetitive feeling and wears off after a couple hours and I just feel tired. I wouldn't want to play any other M&L game for 8 solid hours either LOL
@@leontriestoart Because I was having fun..? I enjoy playing RPGs and it was delightful to see one of my personal favorites revived, making me incredibly excited for its release.
I only have the stamina these days to play any game, whether I enjoy it or not, whether it's on handheld or home console/PC, for around one hour per day at most, so this doesn't feel like a problem for me personally, at least.
This game gets dark FAST. One thing I remember saying when a certain moment came was (Minor spoiler alert) "...did Zocket just come as close as spelling out a death threat you can in a PEGI 13 game?"
I feel somewhat the opposite. The beginning dragged, the middle was quite good, and the ending act really really dragged. I think it deserves a decent score but nothing more.
I couldn't agree more, the beginning was kind of a slog, so much so that I had to force myself to keep going but the second you get to the second sea things pick up a heck of a lot more and I started to love it... I'm on the third sea now and super excited to see where things go from here.
@@kittah4 Yeah, this is where I am. I got to like the 4th sea or something last week and just put the game down and have had no desire to pick it back up. The game drags a lot. I'm glad Arlo is into it, but I disagree with almost all of what he says he loves about it.
I'm glad you liked it. I was nervous you wouldn't give it a serious chance after your initial reaction to the reviews. I really think this game is quite good.
Why were you worried about him not liking it? What would it matter to you whether he likes it or not? Other people's opinions should not affect your enjoyment of a game at all, if you like it then that's all that should matter to you. There are plenty of games that I love that many people don't, yet that doesn't make me like those games any less because why would it? I don't understand why so many people get so hung up on other people's opinions.
@@tessaPMpro Exactly! Paper Mario: The Origami King was a game I had a great time playing with my kids, and I didn't let the constant comparison to previous Paper Mario games from other reviewers stop me and my kids from having a blast.
The fact that this game is treated the way it is and thousand year door is acclaimed as a 10/10 masterpiece is the funniest thing literally ever. It’s a bit slow for the first like 1% of the game. Cumulatively better paced than TTYD which struggles sporadically throughout. As for the complaint of “boring fetch quests”. This again tells me people either haven’t played past the first like 1-2 islands or just don’t like the concept of side quests in video games. The writing, characters, and story are just as good as the og paper Mario games people claim to love and honestly once you get through the tutorial and get the hammer it’s full speed ahead to the finish and the pacing doesn’t drop once. Unlike thousand year door which has multiple pitfalls in the middle. I don’t think the reception to this game would have turned out the way it did before the era of the internet where people can play 20 minutes of a 70 hour game and bless social media with their expert takes
Neat, Brothership video! I have played 7ish hours so far and I find it incredibly fun, I only played a bit of one other Mario&Luigi game so idk how it compares to others but I really like it
I think the other one I played a bit of was Superstar Saga. So Bowser’s Inside Story is a really good one then? I do want to play more of the games sometime of this series.
Bowsers inside story is considered the best in the series, but if you play it play the original ds version as the remake made certain changes that dont feel good
Just finished the game last night, and my god besides the slow start it's an absolutely amazing game. The story is fantastic, the characters and locales are fun and varied, and the final boss is definitely up there for one of the best in the series. Favorite part of the game by FAR is the sequence directly before the final boss (if you know, you know), as I've never seen anything like that before in a Mario game and it genuinely unnerved me. It definitely has its slow points (beginning of the game like I mentioned before and also the entire 3rd sea drags a bit), but the final act is REALLY good, trust me. I think I still like BIS a little bit more, but this is at LEAST in 3rd in the series for me, maybe higher as I personally think it's on par with Superstar Saga. Fantastic job Acquire, can't wait to see what they do with the series going forward!
@voltron77 Nah. I think it's below Superstar Saga & Bowser's Inside Story. But Partners in Time Story isn't that great and it's the worst game in the series.
I finished the game a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. It’s not my favourite of the games but as a return to form, I think it’s really good. The only real major issue I have is the game kind of dragging itself out towards the end.
Glad you had a very similar experience as I did. Not expecting a great game, finding out you’re enjoying it. Wait till you get to the end. I think the story hits HARD.
This game biggest problem is the lack of bosses, this game is over 30 hours long yet has like 13 bosses, like is there any good reason why we coudn't get at least solo Ecks and Solo Shun fight's?
The really long and drawn out filler parts of the game really could have benefited from boss fights sprinkled in between. It would've given the filler a reward to work towards.
They went the route of having less bosses, but having each boss be alot grander and memorable, which I see the point jn. However, I do miss those "Who tf are you" blindside bosses from older games like Chuckolator and Torkscrew.
@@theivoryguy2476eh, IN MY OPINION most of the bosses were just good, pipegunk, (glohm) Bowser, Extenction corps and Zokket were only great bosses, did you even remember big zaptor Bird?
@@theivoryguy2476 eh, IN MY OPINION only pipegunk, (glomh ) bowser, extenction corps and zokket were only real great bosses, most of them were just fine
I will say they definetly should have had a few more bosses like 3-4 more or so cuz man are the bosses very fun, and luigi logic moments are awesome and fun to
@@MrHomelessHobos That's also partially the problem. Their reviewers have such a variety of opinions that you really never know what will happen and can't really trust them.
I was really unsure about getting this game or Super Mario RPG for Christmas, as I've played and loved every M & L game so far. Thank you very much for this video Arlo, as i think I'll buy this one now, since it looks amazing. I'm so happy its good, since itll hopeful envourage Nintendo to do more of the series. I was worried the series was dead when Alphadream closed, so its great ro see it roaring back to life
Im so glad you're enjoying it arlo! Honestly imo the game only gets better as it goes on, so i don't think your opinion could get much worse as you continue
This is one of the only turn based series I actually enjoy because it’s not just choosing movements in a menu, you actually participate real time in the fight
Legend of dragoon, super Mario RPG, paper Mario, like...... There's a lot of other rpgs that do this. Also, turn based rpgs are more about strategies than anything. Especially shin megami tensei.
honestly i’m loving the color design of the battle screens, the warm ground against the cool sky and color relativity looks so clean and soft and pretty
trust me it gets better, when I fully played everything it had to offer, only isue I can relate is the frame issue, soon its noticable even more, but I love this soo much, avoided every yt vid abt this game to enjoy it blindly and it was worth it, 10/10 game of the year on my list :p
When I was young, I played Mario and dream team and later paper jam and I really liked the games. I was really excited when I heard this one was coming out, but then when it released I hear alot of negatives about and was afraid to try it. Definitely going to pick this up now though
Very cool to hear that Arlo likes the game, I wasn't expecting it and I've been around plenty of people that just don't really like it and I feel like an alien for loving it as much as I do. I felt it was escalating the story so well and slowly revealing a bigger picture and then the fourth act where you see some known faces. It was just really cool. Also it is interesting that it is the second "big(ish)" Nintendo Switch release after Echoes of Wisdom that sounds like it was made as a portable game. The issues I hear about framerate and graphic issues just aren't as noticeable undocked. As a matter of fact I was often quite mesmerized by the environments.
Finished it after around 50 hours and really wished by the end that it had been 10 hours shorter as it felt like it kept on being stretched at the end. Heck I didn't even mind the slower start all that much but god damn did I just want this game to end at some point
I’m in the same boat. A couple nights ago I got to the “filling the watering can with connections” part. And I groaned when I thought I had to find 3 connections-then found out it was 6! They really needed to trim some fat, not artificially add it.
@@robotreptile Agreed, the watering can part was a slog, it didn't need to be 6 connections instead of 3, and it didn't need to pretend to be open ended but actually very scripted and linear. It tried to make it sound like I should go to people on my own, I even found Dyode and his assistant on my own, but when I thought of Bowser and Buddy they were nowhere to be found. Turns out that I had to wait until the game decided I was allowed to see them again. The part a few hours before that where a couple of connected islands get disconnected and you have to reconnect them, ugh, just more pointless padding in a game that didn't need it. It would have been long enough without it. I don't get people who say the game has a slow start but picks up later. The game has a fine start but then slows way down near the end.
I don’t understand how anyone can think this game starts slower than Dream Team. Dream Team didn’t let you fast forward cutscenes. Dream Team didn’t have tutorials that were just text boxes. I feel like people just don’t like that this game’s trying to have a story with more depth. That’s what draws out the game the most.
im glad you seemed to enjoy it, i really liked the game, i wish it had a bit less lag and loading times but its extremely charming and funny so im happy
I'm in the same boat as you, Arlo. I am really enjoying Brothership so far, not finished with the game yet. I do see where criticisms are coming from, but I think they are overexaggerated in how much they affect the overall game. I am enjoying the story and little character moments, even if the "humor" is missing from past games. Likely when I finish the game, I'll place Brothership definitely above Paper Jam, and likely nestled between Superstars and Bowser's Inside Story (above Brothership) and Partners in Time and Dream Team (below Brothership). But I'll have to wait and see.
One thing worth noting to anyone concerned about it, especially after Paper Jam: this game is ALL ABOUT completely original casts of characters and enemies. Beyond the Bros. themselves there's just about nothing from pre-existing Mario games for many hours into the game.
Just about nothing from the pre-existing games is an overstatement. You still meet Peach, Starlow, Yoshi, a few Toads, a glimpse of Bowser and Bowser Jr., and even Birdo within the first like 10 or 15 hours of the game. However, you're absolutely right about this game being all about original characters and having the story focus on them.
That's awesomee, I'm really glad you're enjoying it! ^^ Hearing this does really make me wanna play it now, I'm really glad, thanks for the info, Arlo! ^^ And I hope you got to play after the video XD
One issue that all games have is grinding, fighting the same god damn two type enemies over and over again,jesus Christ,this series is my childhood but god damn,this sucks and no one mentions it.
@@alexanderthegreat-mx5zu I will say, the M&L games are good about this issue since, even if you're a bit under leveled from a lack of grinding, you can theoretically dodge every attack, so it's never a hopeless fight against over leveled enemies
I absolutely loved this game. Spent 60 hours on it, 100%ed it, and I want more. The Battle Plug system and the charm kept me hooked. If you like old school JRPGs there’s a lot to love. Excellent music and animations. Challenging boss battles. Touching side stories. Epic final act. Loved it.
M&L brothership was the first game in a long time to make me feel bittersweet when it ended, and for all the right reasons. Sweet because it was an amazing finale more than befitting this long journey's end, and happy to see the 45+ hours of work finally hit their peak. Bitter because I'm sad I'll never be able to experience this journey for the first time ever again. With how long the game took to beat, I might never get the time to replay it, period. The game does have its share of problems. It took me a while to really get into it because sailing around the seas before you get the upgrade that lets you sail through currents like 5x faster felt HORRIBLE, and yeah it does take too long for you to get your hammers and your first bros attacks and all of that. The beginning is definitely the worst part of the game. Also, some of the level design can be rather... questionable, at times, and some of the enemies just straight up do not give you enough time to react to their attacks. But, man, even doing the side quests (or, most of them anyway) was fun. The overworld bros moves are all very well executed and makes level traversal very fun. The dungeons are (mostly) really fun, the story was great, the characters are quite possibly the best in the series... And best of all: The overall combat is the best in the series, with even the basic jump and hammer combos being as satisfying to pull off as bros attacks, and the coolest bros attacks in the entire SERIES. Luigi Logic for boss fights is executed so well, never once did it become dull or annoying and it made the boss fights much more action-packed and engaging. Not to mention the whole Battle Plugs system and just how much crazy insane things you can do with them. There's so many broken synergies with them that they look like they were ripped out of a roguelike. A more than worthy replacement for Badges. As long as you're able to keep an open mind about some of the changes between the old games and the new ones, like Luigi moving and jumping on his own in the overworld, and using the A button instead of B to select commands in battle, there is absolutely zero reason not to try Brothership if you enjoyed any of the previous M&L games. It was more than worth the wait.
Honestly, a lot (not all) of the problems that are stacked against Brothership are really only an issue if you're a diehard purist for the M&L games. And even then it's not super hard to get used to it. The only issue I would say that genuinely holds it back is its pacing, not helped that it's hands down the longest game in the series. Otherwise I think it's a solid (though not perfect) return of the series, and I'd love to see them iron out the kinks should the series manage to continue from here
As someone who absolutely adores the first 3 games (haven't played this one yet), I don't even know what a "diehard purist" would be. Each one is different in pretty fundamental ways (people ragged on Partners in Time for using Bros Items and being more linear...to think, there was a time when that beautiful game was considered the worst Mario RPG).
@@RodanguirusIt's mostly in how Luigi is handled. In all the other games, Luigi was just as much of a playable character as Mario. Whereas in Brothership, he felt a lot more automated than in other games.
My biggest problem with the game is that its 50 hours long, when I can beat Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door in 26 hours, & M&L Bowsers inside story in 15 hours, I think they went a bit overboard in terms of length
Unfortunately, that's just kind of how games are now. They have to sell for 60 bucks each and better deliver an appropriate amount of playtime, no one wants to spend that much money on a game that's just 20 hours.
@@rainpooper7088 Not true at all, I'd rather buy a game that's just 20 hours but good all the way through instead of a game that's 46 hours but has a ton of pointless padding and really would have been better as a 30 hour game.
What you said lines up perfectly with how I feel. While there are a lot of issues, nearly all of them are on the level of "It's annoying that Luigi uses the 'A' button to select his moves." Yes I wish it wasn't like that but in the grand scheme of things it's not going to affect my enjoyment of the game very much. It's annoying because so many reviews that I saw were like "Well they nailed the classic combat, they have amazing original character design and a story with meaningful interactions between the characters but because Luigi now jumps automatically I'm docing the game 3 points, 2/5 stars." I think you'll still like it as it goes on there is room for improvement for sure but the core gamplay is very solid and lands at a solid 8/10 for me.
Luigi jumping automatically is great QoL for me. One of the annoyances that pushed me away from my playthrough of the og M&L was having to platform with two separate characters. I've put 5 hours into this one, and I wanna keep going. I'm really excited to see how the story and character connections progress
You actually landed on the same beats as I did. I bought the game knowing there was controversy. However, I am very disappointed in the change of platforming regarding Luigi. However, I think the problem people are having is with people calling the game trash due to this and other changes. I don't think it's trash. I think it's good, but not great. I think it's important to distinguish that. Alot of people are saying "Oh, that's just a nitpick, it doesn't matter, therefore your voice doesn't matter!" They aren't literally saying that, but they are implying it. Anyway. I agree with you on the combat. I actually enjoy it. My major criticisms are the Luigi AI, and the slow pacing. The pacing made it difficult for me to get into the game. However, I too saw people mention "Hey, it gets better!" and I was happy to see that. I intend to give it the chance it deserves. I also did notice the humor was lacking. I haven't played since Mario and Luigi Superstar saga, so I haven't been burnt out from humor. Personally, I'm not enjoying the music as much as I would have wanted. Yet, you mentioning that the game was softer in terms of humor... made me realize, maybe it's good that Yoko wasn't working on this title so that there could be music that fit. However... I miss that type of music.
It's frustrating how that one IGN review poisoned the discourse around this game. It's not the reviewer's fault for having an opinion of course, but it ended up turning away a lot of people who would have otherwise enjoyed it. I was almost swayed from buying the game myself, but I ended up getting it and having a blast.
@@rainpooper7088 That's called negativity bias. People tend to zone in on one or two negative things, even if there's plenty of positive things that should outweigh them. To be fair, a 5/10 is an alarming score considering how many legitimately crappy games have scraped by with a 7.
The review being filled with objectively wrong statements didn't help, you can instantly recognize someone who hasn't played the game when they parrot them.
I am very glad I stayed off reviews during the entire time that I played the game, and I'm glad that you gave the game a shot in spite of those reviews (even if it was mostly because of the review code). I bought it at launch and beat it a week later, 100%. If I had bought the game based n early reviews, I would not have found my new top 3 favorite M&L game. I absolutely understand most of the problems people have with it, but for the most part, I had fun the whole way through. As far as what I don't like, for me personally, it's these: - Luigi should NOT have his confirm button as 'A', ever. Period. - Luigi's AI specifically when he's platforming can be frusturating on occasion. - It does take a while to get Hammers and Bros Attacks, those bits specifically do feel like the primary pacing issue in the beginning. - the "last chapter" of the game lags pretty hard. I didn't have a single frame rate issue before then, or at least one that I noticed, but when that end game hit, boy could I feel it then. - Personally, I thought both of the villains were kinda poorly exectued. But most of those never stopped me from enjoying the game, and I was having a blast from the time in befween getting your first Bros Attack until thay last chapter, which was about 55~ hours of my playthrough. The combat is stellar, I really like the artstyle, I actually was fond of the side chadacters, I actually thought the side quests were pretty fun, I liked exploring the sea, the story was engaging me with is occasional mutliple choice path, I love this game even with its flaws.
one of my only complaints in the game is that there's no real way to refight bosses, like Bowser's Inside Story's challenge node, sure there's the quests for the glohmed lighthouse bosses but I think I'd rather have classic X bosses like the other games tbh
Fun fact: in Spain the game is titled "Brotherly Connection". It seemed kinda weird when the announcement first came out, but seeing the themes of connection in the story, I think it sounds cool
It's a travesty how some RUclipsrs are saying this is a bad game because of that stupid IGN review. I loved this entry because of the characters backstories and it's just really fun to play! By the end of the game, I was sad to leave everyone!
People are out here saying that this game is an abomination, but the reality is that though this is a flawed game, you can tell that the developers are out here trying their best, the game is generally well-made, and the game is often pretty fun with many moments of comedy and variety. This ain't no Pokemon Dimond or anything close to that.
defo feel like a postgame update is needed, like imagine being able to go between Mushroom Kingdom and Concordia (a new boss rush mode would be added, too, maybe more bros. attacks as rewards?)
If you want to talk about slow starts in rpgs... come back after touching Dragon Quest VII. Nevermind that it takes an hour or two before you engage in any combat, but getting to the fun part where the game opens up to you and you can mess around with vocations takes 20 hours, and that's about a 1/5 into the main game. I haven't gotten Mario & Luigi Brothership yet, but I may get it after going through more of my RPG backlog.
The problem is critics reviewing a game so quick instead of actually finishing a game. Brothership is a good successor to the series and it’s definitely worth to be played all the way through so you can see how Mario and Luigi’s presence influenced the people of Concordia. I enjoyed the game and didn’t even noticed how slow the pacing was in the beginning until I heard everyone else talk about it 😂
Critics: The game takes too long to get good and the first 5 to 10 hours are a slog! Me, having fun still being in the first sea doing all the side-quests after 6 hours: What’s all the commotion? OOOOOOH Battle Plugs!
0:47 I feel you, you are one of the few that i can say, your criteria kinda matches mine, and i was waiting on what you think about the game, but now what you have said, i think i will buy it! I know i may be wrong trusting someone else's "tastes", but its a good lead for me.
This feels like Pokemon Sun and Moon. I love those games, and they have very similar issues. But ultimately delivers a good story, unique Pokemon, and great music. So if this game does that but with Mario and Luigi, then I'll probably love it despite the slowness.
@@galvsparks6295 they are (7/10 vs a 6) s/m are slow too but have a much better ost, better overall visuals if I'm being real and an overall better story
I agree both have good stories (although I think Brothership has like 2/10 ratings higher than SM in character development) and slow start but Brothership at least isn't too linear and there a bit more game variety (although I feel there weren't enough unique enemies in Brothership compared to other M&L).
The game has a slow start and sluggish pacing, but IMO it's all worth it to get to the final stretch, because that was some of the coolest stuff I've seen out of a Mario game, RPG or otherwise. It also quite possibly has my new favorite Mario villain, though it's not who you might expect at first.
I’m glad some people love this game too, I’ve loved it from the start and have had almost no problems with it, unironically game of the year material for me
The loading screen after each battle is a deal breaker. Nintendo used to be all about quality and optimization. Especially with games involving their mascots.
@@jayo1212exactly. The battlefield scene and common monsters should always be loaded and the exploration scene should never be unloaded. If I were a manager of this game I would have made the team go back and fix this and would only tolerate loading screens going into (and maybe out of) boss battles
@@jamjam445 bro your statement is useless. You're saying "if i was the boss, i would command the team to do a better job" even though you seemingly have no clue about technical stuff regarding loading time. It's like a plane departed late and you said "huh, if i was in charge of the company i would FORCE the planes to be on time" That just makes you sound smug and stupid
The game is a lot longer than I expected. I think I'm finally in the endgame and it's pushing 50 hours! It does have a slow start but a lot of beefy JRPGs do. But I'm also coming at this as someone who only played Superstar Saga waaaay back on the GBA and have not touched the series since. If longtime fans are a bit underwhelmed I get that.
If you are interested in trying the other ones, I recommend Bowser's Inside Story since it is one of the best in the series and also has some connections to the first game.
It’s nice to see that you’re enjoying the game. Even if it isn’t perfect (and no game will ever be perfect, and that feels lost in hype cycles nowadays), the fact the good outweighs the bad is nice to hear.
What was the most unexpected thing for me so far with this game (and I'm almost done), you slowly but surely, begin having the crew grow, like yeah it feels like everyone is really putting in their fair share to accomplish the goal.
Been playing the game like crazy lately and I absolutely love it, does it have it's problems? Yeah, but overall I think some of it was far overblown, I've had a blast with it and I can confidently say it's probably my new favorite turn based rpg, I haven't played to many but this one has definitely been the most fun for me. I'm over 50 hours into this game and have been having a blast since the start, Connie is adorable and has captured my heart, the IDLE group is so dang cute, this is the best iteration of luigi that I've ever seen so far, may be another version I haven't seen that is better, the brothers seem more bonded and care for eachother more than ever, and it's super charming, I just love this game, it's flaws are very much overshadowed by what it does great imo, great addition into the m&l series
Luigi: "Leave it to me!"
(Several unspeakable acts ensue permanently scarring the boss's psyche)
Luigi's ideas for the bosses are Silent Hill worthy.
It would funny now to see Luigi in a Silent Hill game as that person who thinks he is helping you but is so utterly violent to your enemies you wonder if he is helping you or indulging in violence or is some hidden part of you that is merely frustrated or would, if not withheld by society, be that violent.
Aren't you proud of him though? You left it to him, and he did it!
@@iantaakalla8180 Oh, like body slamming souls and spectres using a vacuum cleaner like if he was a chimpanzee with some small monkey
that mechanic is so garbage
My biggest gripe has been Luigi’s battle menu selection not be ‘B’. The amount of times I’ve thought my controller died or some weird communication issue is absurd.
This so much, just give us the option. It’s not just us being used to the old system, it doesn’t make sense to have to use A to select, then immediately switch to B for the actual command that will follow. Makes it annoying to be ready for the first hit.
@@wil7173 nintendo? giving us OPTIONS? pfft HAHAHAHA what are you even talking about LMAO
This is genuinely why I stopped playing. These things, along with Luigi autojump bother me so much. All the mechanics we loved about the previous games are completely watered down.
@@shiroihana4381 for some reason they're just allergic to options that appear in practically every game, you wanna turn up the music and turn down the sounds to have an immersive musical experience? too bad! wanna change some buttons around to a more comfortable controller? TOO BAD!
@justinvzu01 that seems like a silly reason to stop playing. You do get used to it over time, it just takes a bit
Personally I feel like any game trying to act as a successor to Alphadream's titles was always going to struggle critically. Also, from what I've heard the game's opening hours are even slower than Dream Team's, but apparently it does get faster and pick up over time. So it's good to hear that while critics are, as usual, rushing out reviews ... there are those taking their time with the game and getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.
id say the opening hours are slower from a story pov, but the gameplay is actually really fun and isnt too outrageous in its tutorialization
Except ign is totally spitting
Not rushing reviews, taking 8 hours for the game to pick up is a major flaw. Even after that point, it’s filled with padding and repetitive fetch quests
As someone who has replayed dream team a bit before brothership came out, brothership did have a slow start but not even close to as slow when compared to dream teams, and im saying this as someone whos fav mario and luigi game is dream team
I'm glad I decided to stick with it, but it shouldn't have taken 10 hours to "get good". I'm sure individual experiences will vary, but that's how long it took for me for the game to really pick up. My biggest issue ended up being the pacing and how padded out certain sections feel. It's basically a 30 hour game streched into 50 hours. Developers need to understand there's nothing wrong with having shorter RPGs.
I think your comment about its writing being more genuine is spot on. Like, the game is funny, but it's also trying to tell a heartfelt story about human connection and focusing more on that than constantly making jokes.
I liked Origami King, but I feel like I'll ultimately remember so much more of what happens in this game because of that.
Yes! It may be a little cliched at times, but the sincerity is quite refreshing. Characters are relatable and speak genuinely most of the time instead of being mouthpieces for delivering jokes. It makes the occasional gag much funnier, and more often than not the humor comes from the situation itself being absurd rather than characters cracking jokes.
The scene where Peach tries to buy medicine for Dorrie was probably one of the best in the entire game imo. It was able to be funny whilst also showcasing the personalities of Peach and the IDLE kids. Comedy without compromising on sincerity!
This also helps explain why people remember Bobby's sacrifice arc more than any of his jokes (even though he is quite funny).
As I’ve played through this game, I definitely got vibes the story had to be influenced by events of 2020. It has such a huge focus on connection that it seems too coincidental not to be a direct response to that time.
we hate it because it feels incredibly safe and boring, not because it’s genuine, and not even because it has no good jokes and was clearly written for the 0-7 year old demographic
@@verygoodfreelancer No, you hate it because you’re not used to NPCs in a Mario RPG actually acting like real living people and not just constant joke machines.💀
Also who's “we”?
I think the big issue with pacing isn't a game being too slow or fast, it's that they never seem to let us go at our own pace. It's super rare for a game to relay information to the player and curate the game experience while letting them run through them at their own tempo.
Bugsnax is a really good example of a game you can play at your own tempo. The overworld is just small enough that running from place to place doing quests feels like speed is highly rewarded, and catching the individual snax rewards slow and patience gameplay
Dream Team is the worst because there more handholding & you can't even skip the tutorials & other padding stuff they game wanted you to do.
@@jaretco6423not even when you replay it. Or if yoy plaed all the other rpgs
This looks like the kind of game where 10 years from now it has an audience that just loves the game to pieces who can't understand how the game had this drama at launch.
I am that person, today. 🤣
Technical issues aside, the game has been exactly what I wanted out of a new M&L game
Well yeah, because everyone who hated it will have moved on and stopped thinking about it. I'm never going to replay it.
Dream Team went through the same thing.
There's already lots of people like that, me among them. The story is nice, it has a lot of funny and emotional moments, a captivating villain, just enough fanservice while still not turning the entire game into another Toadfest, and the combat is fun and has some good tactical depth with the Plugs.
So the Wind Waker of Mario and Luigi games
It's so refreshing to hear a positive outlook on this game. I just started playing it a couple days ago, and I'm loving it so far!
All bad products have some form of confirmation bias if you look hard enough
Tbh most people do like this game but it's just that the polarizing opinions fly under more peoples' radars
yeah IGN says it's bad so everyone else says it's bad. people are fucking dumb sheep.
the only positive thing is the graphics
I mean, Arlo did get a review copy, so... just take it with a grain of salt.
I like how the main villain of this game has the amazing ability to hurt your framerate.
Its kinda crazy how that wasnt a problem at all for me up until i got to that point... Like i wonder what caused it to be that rough? That it wasnt like that earlier
God once the world goes red it gets ROUGH
@@darcidious99
I think it's because the game is in a constant state of rendering that red haze, on top of all the new elements that the event adds in.
Thats why hes such a threat
Lol
...I love that bit at the end, with the "Luigi logic"! I don't exactly hate it when games don't let you pass obstacles like that even though you'd totally be able to in reality, but it's still refreshing when they show that hey, you CAN use real world solutions in this situation in this game.
I could totally see Luigi Logic becoming a meme. Luigi looks at obstacles from other game series and comes up with off the wall solutions for them.
@@spiritnova42 Luigi sees Mario confounded by a waist-high fence... and CLIMBS OVER IT as Mario looks on in astonishment.
@@Nyperold018 Waist high shrub from Pokemon was the first one I thought of, but I figured the bros would just jump over it considering that's kind of their thing.
Hehe, I adore Luigi Logic! Especially in boss fights. The look he gives the boss is fantastic!
I don't know why, they look so much more approachable with the black iris instead of blue eyes. Especially Luigi, he looks awesome in this!
13:03 "When I'm not playing, I wish I were playing."
Yeah, that's been me with this game for the past few weeks. I've actually already finished two full playthroughs.
It's not perfect, and does have some noticeable problems, but I think the good stuff it has to offer more than make up for it.
That line has summed up my experience with Brothership. When I'm at work, I look forward to going home to play it. I have so much fun.
I avoided reviews once the game came out so I could form my own opinion, but once I was finished the game and took a look at the reviews, I was extremely shocked to see just how divisive it was. It was such a charming game. Sure, it’s not gonna be the new Bowsers Inside Story, but Brothership has such a unique identity that makes it stand out on its own. I really really enjoyed it, and thought it was a the perfect way to revive Mario and Luigi after so long
I get that, and I haven't played it yet and all I know is from this video so I'm not 100% aware of all the things that make this game great, but I definitely don't think it's a bad thing to have high expectations for games like this. As long as you don't EXPECT it to be a better game than the last, it's not necessarily unreasonable to hope it's as good or near as good as the last. I definitely feel like the negative and critical reviews are so important nowadays because most mainstream/tripple A developers are putting significantly less effort into creating new games that are good, and are just remastering old ones that were really good because they know they won't have to spend the time and resources to write and create a new game, just make better graphics for the exact same game.
Don't get me wrong, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, and The Thousand year door are AMAZING game, I love them as remasters, and I'm so glad newer generations can play them on the switch. Plus they can be more easily revisited and enjoyed by long time fans with the new graphics on the newest system, but god... I really wish they would just make new games to add on to those series'...
So honestly, I can't be upset about Brothership. Because even if it's not perfect, they tried. And that's what really matters and I am so happy and proud of Nintendo for that. I still definitely think the criticism isn't exactly harsh though. Especially with how amazing of a series this is.
I think nothing will be the new Bowser‘s Inside Story anytime soon, sadly.
Haven‘t played this game yet, but i always avoid critics defining my own opinion, even if i haven‘t played the game yet and read a bunch of them.
Can‘t judge the game until i‘ve played it myself.
All I‘m saying is:
1. Was happy to see someone mention Bowser‘s Inside Story :D
2. Not letting reviews influence you is a very healthy attitude, proud of you.
I just finished it too while avoiding critics and I personally agree, the slow pacing made the adventure more immersive and I love how the final part reminds you of the moments and characters you’ve experienced. Was literally what I was looking for in a M&L game
Personally I think I prefer Brothership. Bowser's Inside Story is still a wonderful game, maybe even better than Brothership. But I feel... More connected to Brothership for lack of a better term.
@@okjohnnn1361 I personally disliked the slow pacing, it made it difficult to get *into* the game. I have a love for the series that I kept going because I'm going to give it the full play, you know?
Alright... here we go.
...Huh. Wasn't expecting that.
My thoughts exactly 😂
Fr tho🤣🤣
Why did I read that with Sonoc's voice lol
Forget what the internet likes to see
You enjoy this game and I applaud you for trying it yourself and having your own opinion.
It IS a really good game, so liking it shouldn't be that weird!
@@TyrantWesker It's like Dream Team. An amazing game that gets slept on a lot
I totally agree; however, how the game currently stands scares me. Media is a BIG part of the gaming industry and how it’s looking with all these negative reviews, I’m scared that Mario games won’t have any flavour anymore.
@@theretroboy7624 wdym by flavor?
You want to applause someone for making an opinion video...?
Nintendo are going crazy with their animations lately. They look so smooth !!
Smooth but also expressive and interesting
Legit I want them modded into other Mario games.
When you're not worried about the specs you can focus more an actual identity for your style.
The game has a wonderful art style, really like seeing this cell shaded cartoony Mario as opposed to the New SMB style that we've seen everywhere for the past 10+ years outside of paper Mario and galaxy
Acquire made this game, not Nintendo.
I always kinda figured as a new studio is taking the reins of this series it was gonna be an uphill battle, but i do love what they were going for, hope they improve the next game based on the reception on this one, but man is the fights in this game the best in the series
The visual style looks peak
@@YamadaDesigns yep, especially on the oled.
@@YamadaDesigns for sure
The fights in this game are _terrible!_ Too many enemies per battle, with some attacks that take forever to end, you as the player only get two attack turns and sometimes all the enemies attack again in between your two turns, you only get the basic jump and hammer for single enemy attacks outside of bros moves, and bros moves are handed out so slowly that Mario spends a good chunk of the game being completely unable to attack more than one enemy at a time.
Also the controls are bad and anyone who says "you get used to it" is lying, I never got used to it in 46 hours of playing.
@@mjc0961 skill issue
I FAR prefer your positive reviews to negative reviews. Negative reviews are often popular because of conflict but also because of passion. People are usually more chill when praising games than criticizing them, but you are incredibly passionate about things you love and that’s what made me subscribe.
People have a weird complaint about the story following the connections of family members and friendship and stuff and I just don't understand why it's a problem to people, lol.
That's literally the point of the story, so people must be skipping the dialogue lol
@@KoalaTulip47 i think some people just think its cheesy, but i personally think its really sweet
I think they people who dislike the story got infected with Glohm 😔
Because people are too cynical and have literal fucking brain worms and think that anything being sincere is "forced" something or other
Because its boring and i dont play mario for speeches. Go to church for that, i just wanted fun stories like the originals.
It definitely takes a _while_ to get going. I'm still having fun about 6 hours in, but I can definitely see how others would not have as much patience.
A while is an understatement
Ok but lets be real Mario fans are not known for their patience. The community for these games are not the type who could play actual long rpgs. These are the same people who will say a game like Final Fantasy or Xenoblade are bad.
@@kayden2119 not at all. Ff and xenoblade (1) are peak. But those make sense to be as long as they are. M&L does not make sense
@@kayden2119 I'm someone that loves Xenoblade and Fire Emblem and even I would say that the pacing of this game is all over the place (only have the main villain left to do)
@@toooydoeur All xenoblades are peak but right on
Been waiting for this one. Thanks Arlo :)
Glad to hear you're enjoying it; I LOVE the game myself as a LONG-TIME superfan of the series and trust me, it's ONLY going to get better (the finale is something you have to see to believe)!
Arlo: I don't like games that waste my time
Also Arlo: my favourite game is Thousand Year Door. A game wherr you do nothing but walk back and forth over the same environments dozens of times, fighting enemies for 1 exp.
I think the problem is that they stuck with the classic "on-the-go" formula, when most people were expecting a huge, grand adventure like other switch games. As a Mario & Luigi veteran, I played the game in bursts, and when I found I played longer than I usually did, (around 5-8 hours per a longer play session), I found myself enjoying the game a lot less, rather than stopping after 3 or 4, leaving myself to feel refreshed instead of burnt-out.
To me, action RPGs are just kind of like this. I feel like the gameplay is more repetitive feeling and wears off after a couple hours and I just feel tired. I wouldn't want to play any other M&L game for 8 solid hours either LOL
Why would you play a game for 8 HOURS 😭😭😭
@@leontriestoart Because I was having fun..? I enjoy playing RPGs and it was delightful to see one of my personal favorites revived, making me incredibly excited for its release.
I only have the stamina these days to play any game, whether I enjoy it or not, whether it's on handheld or home console/PC, for around one hour per day at most, so this doesn't feel like a problem for me personally, at least.
@@thegoldify I mean yeah, but like, I don't see how getting tired after 8 whole hours is a criticism here
The beginning to Chapter 4/Gulchrock Sea caught me SO off-guard and had me SO hyped
Should’ve happened at the beginning of the game
it's also crazy that that's nowhere near the end of the game lol
That should have come into the game so much earlier. I can't believe I had to spend almost 30 hours before those characters showed up.
This game gets dark FAST. One thing I remember saying when a certain moment came was (Minor spoiler alert)
"...did Zocket just come as close as spelling out a death threat you can in a PEGI 13 game?"
@@plooper14 You'll be ight
The game gets consistently better as you play it I find, one of those games, maybe thats why some reviews were below 7's
I feel somewhat the opposite. The beginning dragged, the middle was quite good, and the ending act really really dragged. I think it deserves a decent score but nothing more.
Its just way too long lol
I couldn't agree more, the beginning was kind of a slog, so much so that I had to force myself to keep going but the second you get to the second sea things pick up a heck of a lot more and I started to love it... I'm on the third sea now and super excited to see where things go from here.
@@kittah4 Yeah, this is where I am. I got to like the 4th sea or something last week and just put the game down and have had no desire to pick it back up. The game drags a lot. I'm glad Arlo is into it, but I disagree with almost all of what he says he loves about it.
@@zestycrouton PLEASE get back into it, i promise the 5th sea and the final act in general are incredible and worth the time to get there
I'm glad you liked it. I was nervous you wouldn't give it a serious chance after your initial reaction to the reviews. I really think this game is quite good.
Why were you worried about him not liking it? What would it matter to you whether he likes it or not? Other people's opinions should not affect your enjoyment of a game at all, if you like it then that's all that should matter to you. There are plenty of games that I love that many people don't, yet that doesn't make me like those games any less because why would it? I don't understand why so many people get so hung up on other people's opinions.
@@tessaPMpro What you said. Sonic Advance 3 would be my least favorite game if I listened to what most fans say about it.
@@tessaPMpro Exactly! Paper Mario: The Origami King was a game I had a great time playing with my kids, and I didn't let the constant comparison to previous Paper Mario games from other reviewers stop me and my kids from having a blast.
@@tessaPMproYou seem very concerned about this person's opinion, so it seems you get the concept quite well
@NamekianG how? This just seems like a "no u" response, real mature. I swear people on the internet just try to start arguments over everything now.
I love the peeks behind a curtain Arlo! It makes your reviews feel far more genuine. Makes me very excited to play Brothership!
The fact that this game is treated the way it is and thousand year door is acclaimed as a 10/10 masterpiece is the funniest thing literally ever. It’s a bit slow for the first like 1% of the game. Cumulatively better paced than TTYD which struggles sporadically throughout. As for the complaint of “boring fetch quests”. This again tells me people either haven’t played past the first like 1-2 islands or just don’t like the concept of side quests in video games. The writing, characters, and story are just as good as the og paper Mario games people claim to love and honestly once you get through the tutorial and get the hammer it’s full speed ahead to the finish and the pacing doesn’t drop once. Unlike thousand year door which has multiple pitfalls in the middle. I don’t think the reception to this game would have turned out the way it did before the era of the internet where people can play 20 minutes of a 70 hour game and bless social media with their expert takes
Neat, Brothership video! I have played 7ish hours so far and I find it incredibly fun, I only played a bit of one other Mario&Luigi game so idk how it compares to others but I really like it
Ir youve played bowsers inside story all the other ones are harder to like lol
I think the other one I played a bit of was Superstar Saga. So Bowser’s Inside Story is a really good one then? I do want to play more of the games sometime of this series.
Bowsers inside story is considered the best in the series, but if you play it play the original ds version as the remake made certain changes that dont feel good
I see, ty!
Just finished the game last night, and my god besides the slow start it's an absolutely amazing game. The story is fantastic, the characters and locales are fun and varied, and the final boss is definitely up there for one of the best in the series. Favorite part of the game by FAR is the sequence directly before the final boss (if you know, you know), as I've never seen anything like that before in a Mario game and it genuinely unnerved me. It definitely has its slow points (beginning of the game like I mentioned before and also the entire 3rd sea drags a bit), but the final act is REALLY good, trust me. I think I still like BIS a little bit more, but this is at LEAST in 3rd in the series for me, maybe higher as I personally think it's on par with Superstar Saga.
Fantastic job Acquire, can't wait to see what they do with the series going forward!
bowsers inside story is best in slot
Hopefully, the Playstation accisition won't affect them working on future games.
I’d say that it’s on par with superstar saga, but partners in time and bowser’s inside story are still better.
Yeah, same!
@voltron77 Nah. I think it's below Superstar Saga & Bowser's Inside Story. But Partners in Time Story isn't that great and it's the worst game in the series.
I finished the game a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. It’s not my favourite of the games but as a return to form, I think it’s really good. The only real major issue I have is the game kind of dragging itself out towards the end.
unironically this review made me buy the game
2:50 similar thing happened to me with Blade Runner 2049. Heard nothing but bad things, then I watched it for myself and really loved it.
Glad you had a very similar experience as I did. Not expecting a great game, finding out you’re enjoying it. Wait till you get to the end. I think the story hits HARD.
This is definitely a game that gets better as it goes on, the ending is honestly the best part of the whole game
I’m glad you’re enjoying it too Arlo :) your video about it not living up to the hype convinced me to try it myself and I’ve loved it so far!
I agree- I often find my own opinions to pretty much entirely differ from like everyone else's when it comes to these games
@@anhilo9716 Oh hey bro :)
This game biggest problem is the lack of bosses, this game is over 30 hours long yet has like 13 bosses, like is there any good reason why we coudn't get at least solo Ecks and Solo Shun fight's?
The really long and drawn out filler parts of the game really could have benefited from boss fights sprinkled in between. It would've given the filler a reward to work towards.
They went the route of having less bosses, but having each boss be alot grander and memorable, which I see the point jn. However, I do miss those "Who tf are you" blindside bosses from older games like Chuckolator and Torkscrew.
@@theivoryguy2476eh, IN MY OPINION most of the bosses were just good, pipegunk, (glohm) Bowser, Extenction corps and Zokket were only great bosses, did you even remember big zaptor Bird?
@@theivoryguy2476 eh, IN MY OPINION only pipegunk, (glomh ) bowser, extenction corps and zokket were only real great bosses, most of them were just fine
I will say they definetly should have had a few more bosses like 3-4 more or so cuz man are the bosses very fun, and luigi logic moments are awesome and fun to
People don't like 'drama', they like hating things. There's a difference...
Anyone acting like IGN's score for this game is legit, remember they gave Sticker Star an 8.3/10.
Not sure how that’s relevant, two different people reviewed those games.
Yeah😂 Unfortunately, they have a lot of pull in the industry though, so a bad review from them can genuinely have a negative impact on sales figures!
@@MrHomelessHobos That's also partially the problem. Their reviewers have such a variety of opinions that you really never know what will happen and can't really trust them.
@@MrHomelessHobos Inconsistency doesn't merit approval
Its obvious why they dont like the game, i mean, what are you constantly travelling through
I was really unsure about getting this game or Super Mario RPG for Christmas, as I've played and loved every M & L game so far. Thank you very much for this video Arlo, as i think I'll buy this one now, since it looks amazing. I'm so happy its good, since itll hopeful envourage Nintendo to do more of the series. I was worried the series was dead when Alphadream closed, so its great ro see it roaring back to life
Im so glad you're enjoying it arlo! Honestly imo the game only gets better as it goes on, so i don't think your opinion could get much worse as you continue
So glad you came around, Arlo! I think the islands are so colorful and charming and growing the community on Shipshape Island is a true joy.
This is one of the only turn based series I actually enjoy because it’s not just choosing movements in a menu, you actually participate real time in the fight
That's what this series is all about, also the same reason why I love it
I take it you're not a fan of strategy based games. That's fine, but that might be why you don't care for regular turn based.
You might like Legend of Dragoon.
Legend of dragoon, super Mario RPG, paper Mario, like...... There's a lot of other rpgs that do this.
Also, turn based rpgs are more about strategies than anything. Especially shin megami tensei.
M&L might be the only RPG series where you can evade and counter attacks. Not even Mario RPG and Paper Mario do that
honestly i’m loving the color design of the battle screens, the warm ground against the cool sky and color relativity looks so clean and soft and pretty
His opinion starts at 3:30
trust me it gets better, when I fully played everything it had to offer, only isue I can relate is the frame issue, soon its noticable even more, but I love this soo much, avoided every yt vid abt this game to enjoy it blindly and it was worth it, 10/10 game of the year on my list :p
When I was young, I played Mario and dream team and later paper jam and I really liked the games. I was really excited when I heard this one was coming out, but then when it released I hear alot of negatives about and was afraid to try it. Definitely going to pick this up now though
Very cool to hear that Arlo likes the game, I wasn't expecting it and I've been around plenty of people that just don't really like it and I feel like an alien for loving it as much as I do.
I felt it was escalating the story so well and slowly revealing a bigger picture and then the fourth act where you see some known faces. It was just really cool.
Also it is interesting that it is the second "big(ish)" Nintendo Switch release after Echoes of Wisdom that sounds like it was made as a portable game. The issues I hear about framerate and graphic issues just aren't as noticeable undocked. As a matter of fact I was often quite mesmerized by the environments.
Finished it after around 50 hours and really wished by the end that it had been 10 hours shorter as it felt like it kept on being stretched at the end.
Heck I didn't even mind the slower start all that much but god damn did I just want this game to end at some point
I’m in the same boat. A couple nights ago I got to the “filling the watering can with connections” part. And I groaned when I thought I had to find 3 connections-then found out it was 6!
They really needed to trim some fat, not artificially add it.
@@robotreptile Agreed, the watering can part was a slog, it didn't need to be 6 connections instead of 3, and it didn't need to pretend to be open ended but actually very scripted and linear. It tried to make it sound like I should go to people on my own, I even found Dyode and his assistant on my own, but when I thought of Bowser and Buddy they were nowhere to be found. Turns out that I had to wait until the game decided I was allowed to see them again.
The part a few hours before that where a couple of connected islands get disconnected and you have to reconnect them, ugh, just more pointless padding in a game that didn't need it. It would have been long enough without it.
I don't get people who say the game has a slow start but picks up later. The game has a fine start but then slows way down near the end.
So many great games drag a bit in the beginning.
It's-a no big-a deal! Yahoo!
I don’t understand how anyone can think this game starts slower than Dream Team. Dream Team didn’t let you fast forward cutscenes. Dream Team didn’t have tutorials that were just text boxes.
I feel like people just don’t like that this game’s trying to have a story with more depth. That’s what draws out the game the most.
Dream Team is more handholding than Brothership.
im glad you seemed to enjoy it, i really liked the game, i wish it had a bit less lag and loading times but its extremely charming and funny so im happy
most people: the game is waping and waping too much
Me, who spoke to *every NPC* : idc, actualy, im digging it
Wth is waping?
I'm in the same boat as you, Arlo. I am really enjoying Brothership so far, not finished with the game yet. I do see where criticisms are coming from, but I think they are overexaggerated in how much they affect the overall game. I am enjoying the story and little character moments, even if the "humor" is missing from past games.
Likely when I finish the game, I'll place Brothership definitely above Paper Jam, and likely nestled between Superstars and Bowser's Inside Story (above Brothership) and Partners in Time and Dream Team (below Brothership). But I'll have to wait and see.
One thing worth noting to anyone concerned about it, especially after Paper Jam: this game is ALL ABOUT completely original casts of characters and enemies. Beyond the Bros. themselves there's just about nothing from pre-existing Mario games for many hours into the game.
With two major exceptions, Peach’s Faction(Toads, Starlow, a Dorrie.) and the Koopa Troop.
@@aidanhammans9337 And Birdo, gotta have her cameo. And Yoshi joins in for one of the Bros Attacks, that's pretty much all.
Besides the villains every npc feels the same. No variation
That's simply not true.
Just about nothing from the pre-existing games is an overstatement. You still meet Peach, Starlow, Yoshi, a few Toads, a glimpse of Bowser and Bowser Jr., and even Birdo within the first like 10 or 15 hours of the game. However, you're absolutely right about this game being all about original characters and having the story focus on them.
That's awesomee, I'm really glad you're enjoying it! ^^ Hearing this does really make me wanna play it now, I'm really glad, thanks for the info, Arlo! ^^
And I hope you got to play after the video XD
3:50 Anyone that says that Brothership doesn’t fit with the other games, you’re wrong. Even the complaints are completely in M & L style
It fits with dream team and paper jam that’s for sure
One issue that all games have is grinding, fighting the same god damn two type enemies over and over again,jesus Christ,this series is my childhood but god damn,this sucks and no one mentions it.
@@alexanderthegreat-mx5zu My man speaks the truth
@@plooper14 Paper Jam ??? That game has absolutely no common points aside from combat, tf are you talking about ?
@@alexanderthegreat-mx5zu I will say, the M&L games are good about this issue since, even if you're a bit under leveled from a lack of grinding, you can theoretically dodge every attack, so it's never a hopeless fight against over leveled enemies
I have been loving my time with it so far, my favorite part being the writing. It feels very much in line with the first Paper Mario.
I absolutely loved this game. Spent 60 hours on it, 100%ed it, and I want more. The Battle Plug system and the charm kept me hooked. If you like old school JRPGs there’s a lot to love. Excellent music and animations. Challenging boss battles. Touching side stories. Epic final act. Loved it.
IDLE sacrificing themselves on the cannon ball caught me off guard
@@paulgilbert5278Cannonball? You mean the rocket?
Same!
Happy to hear that Arlo's enjoying it!
Now I feel like playing some more haha
M&L brothership was the first game in a long time to make me feel bittersweet when it ended, and for all the right reasons.
Sweet because it was an amazing finale more than befitting this long journey's end, and happy to see the 45+ hours of work finally hit their peak.
Bitter because I'm sad I'll never be able to experience this journey for the first time ever again. With how long the game took to beat, I might never get the time to replay it, period.
The game does have its share of problems. It took me a while to really get into it because sailing around the seas before you get the upgrade that lets you sail through currents like 5x faster felt HORRIBLE, and yeah it does take too long for you to get your hammers and your first bros attacks and all of that. The beginning is definitely the worst part of the game.
Also, some of the level design can be rather... questionable, at times, and some of the enemies just straight up do not give you enough time to react to their attacks.
But, man, even doing the side quests (or, most of them anyway) was fun. The overworld bros moves are all very well executed and makes level traversal very fun. The dungeons are (mostly) really fun, the story was great, the characters are quite possibly the best in the series...
And best of all:
The overall combat is the best in the series, with even the basic jump and hammer combos being as satisfying to pull off as bros attacks, and the coolest bros attacks in the entire SERIES.
Luigi Logic for boss fights is executed so well, never once did it become dull or annoying and it made the boss fights much more action-packed and engaging.
Not to mention the whole Battle Plugs system and just how much crazy insane things you can do with them. There's so many broken synergies with them that they look like they were ripped out of a roguelike. A more than worthy replacement for Badges.
As long as you're able to keep an open mind about some of the changes between the old games and the new ones, like Luigi moving and jumping on his own in the overworld, and using the A button instead of B to select commands in battle, there is absolutely zero reason not to try Brothership if you enjoyed any of the previous M&L games. It was more than worth the wait.
Thank you! I pre-ordered it but I've been afraid to start it. Nice to hear it might not be a waste of a voucher. 😅
One thing i was disappointed by is the lack of post game content, i wanted a boss rush and secret boss so bad...and there is none
TBF The Designs of Mario and Luigi come from the Giant Battles in Dream Team and were also used for the Papercraft Battles in Paper Jam.
Honestly, a lot (not all) of the problems that are stacked against Brothership are really only an issue if you're a diehard purist for the M&L games. And even then it's not super hard to get used to it.
The only issue I would say that genuinely holds it back is its pacing, not helped that it's hands down the longest game in the series. Otherwise I think it's a solid (though not perfect) return of the series, and I'd love to see them iron out the kinks should the series manage to continue from here
As someone who absolutely adores the first 3 games (haven't played this one yet), I don't even know what a "diehard purist" would be. Each one is different in pretty fundamental ways (people ragged on Partners in Time for using Bros Items and being more linear...to think, there was a time when that beautiful game was considered the worst Mario RPG).
@@Rodanguirus Partners in Time is more "forgotten middle-child" than hated these days I think
@@RodanguirusBy diehard purist people usually mean Bowser's Inside Story, since that's the near-universal favorite.
@@RodanguirusIt's mostly in how Luigi is handled. In all the other games, Luigi was just as much of a playable character as Mario. Whereas in Brothership, he felt a lot more automated than in other games.
I’m so pleased you’re enjoying it! 😊❤
My biggest problem with the game is that its 50 hours long, when I can beat Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door in 26 hours, & M&L Bowsers inside story in 15 hours, I think they went a bit overboard in terms of length
Unfortunately, that's just kind of how games are now. They have to sell for 60 bucks each and better deliver an appropriate amount of playtime, no one wants to spend that much money on a game that's just 20 hours.
It took me 52 hours to beat thousand year door
@@rainpooper7088 I do, I know a lot of people who are fine with games that are 20 hour or less. as long as those games are satisfying to play & beat
@@rainpooper7088 Not true at all, I'd rather buy a game that's just 20 hours but good all the way through instead of a game that's 46 hours but has a ton of pointless padding and really would have been better as a 30 hour game.
@murderman8578 Get good I suppose. I beat The Thousand Year Door in about 26 hrs and that includes all the post game stuff.
If Arlo can have fun and enjoy a game, despite it’s problems, then it’s a good game
What you said lines up perfectly with how I feel. While there are a lot of issues, nearly all of them are on the level of "It's annoying that Luigi uses the 'A' button to select his moves." Yes I wish it wasn't like that but in the grand scheme of things it's not going to affect my enjoyment of the game very much. It's annoying because so many reviews that I saw were like "Well they nailed the classic combat, they have amazing original character design and a story with meaningful interactions between the characters but because Luigi now jumps automatically I'm docing the game 3 points, 2/5 stars." I think you'll still like it as it goes on there is room for improvement for sure but the core gamplay is very solid and lands at a solid 8/10 for me.
Luigi jumping automatically is great QoL for me. One of the annoyances that pushed me away from my playthrough of the og M&L was having to platform with two separate characters. I've put 5 hours into this one, and I wanna keep going. I'm really excited to see how the story and character connections progress
You actually landed on the same beats as I did. I bought the game knowing there was controversy. However, I am very disappointed in the change of platforming regarding Luigi. However, I think the problem people are having is with people calling the game trash due to this and other changes. I don't think it's trash. I think it's good, but not great. I think it's important to distinguish that. Alot of people are saying "Oh, that's just a nitpick, it doesn't matter, therefore your voice doesn't matter!" They aren't literally saying that, but they are implying it. Anyway.
I agree with you on the combat. I actually enjoy it. My major criticisms are the Luigi AI, and the slow pacing. The pacing made it difficult for me to get into the game. However, I too saw people mention "Hey, it gets better!" and I was happy to see that. I intend to give it the chance it deserves. I also did notice the humor was lacking. I haven't played since Mario and Luigi Superstar saga, so I haven't been burnt out from humor. Personally, I'm not enjoying the music as much as I would have wanted. Yet, you mentioning that the game was softer in terms of humor... made me realize, maybe it's good that Yoko wasn't working on this title so that there could be music that fit. However... I miss that type of music.
It's frustrating how that one IGN review poisoned the discourse around this game. It's not the reviewer's fault for having an opinion of course, but it ended up turning away a lot of people who would have otherwise enjoyed it. I was almost swayed from buying the game myself, but I ended up getting it and having a blast.
Weird how everyone jumped on the one review that didn't like it while completely ignoring the dozens of other reviews that did.
@@rainpooper7088 That's called negativity bias. People tend to zone in on one or two negative things, even if there's plenty of positive things that should outweigh them. To be fair, a 5/10 is an alarming score considering how many legitimately crappy games have scraped by with a 7.
you were almost swayed from buying the game due to... one single negative review? seriously?
@@jclkaytwo You'd be surprised how one review can sway public opinion this drastically. See also: Alien Isolation
The review being filled with objectively wrong statements didn't help, you can instantly recognize someone who hasn't played the game when they parrot them.
I am very glad I stayed off reviews during the entire time that I played the game, and I'm glad that you gave the game a shot in spite of those reviews (even if it was mostly because of the review code). I bought it at launch and beat it a week later, 100%. If I had bought the game based n early reviews, I would not have found my new top 3 favorite M&L game. I absolutely understand most of the problems people have with it, but for the most part, I had fun the whole way through.
As far as what I don't like, for me personally, it's these:
- Luigi should NOT have his confirm button as 'A', ever. Period.
- Luigi's AI specifically when he's platforming can be frusturating on occasion.
- It does take a while to get Hammers and Bros Attacks, those bits specifically do feel like the primary pacing issue in the beginning.
- the "last chapter" of the game lags pretty hard. I didn't have a single frame rate issue before then, or at least one that I noticed, but when that end game hit, boy could I feel it then.
- Personally, I thought both of the villains were kinda poorly exectued.
But most of those never stopped me from enjoying the game, and I was having a blast from the time in befween getting your first Bros Attack until thay last chapter, which was about 55~ hours of my playthrough. The combat is stellar, I really like the artstyle, I actually was fond of the side chadacters, I actually thought the side quests were pretty fun, I liked exploring the sea, the story was engaging me with is occasional mutliple choice path, I love this game even with its flaws.
one of my only complaints in the game is that there's no real way to refight bosses, like Bowser's Inside Story's challenge node, sure there's the quests for the glohmed lighthouse bosses but I think I'd rather have classic X bosses like the other games tbh
Fun fact: in Spain the game is titled "Brotherly Connection". It seemed kinda weird when the announcement first came out, but seeing the themes of connection in the story, I think it sounds cool
Super Mario RPG is actually a very short and sweet game. It really excels in it.
It's also really easy.
It's a travesty how some RUclipsrs are saying this is a bad game because of that stupid IGN review. I loved this entry because of the characters backstories and it's just really fun to play! By the end of the game, I was sad to leave everyone!
People are out here saying that this game is an abomination, but the reality is that though this is a flawed game, you can tell that the developers are out here trying their best, the game is generally well-made, and the game is often pretty fun with many moments of comedy and variety. This ain't no Pokemon Dimond or anything close to that.
Why couldn't Nintendo just give the source Scrip for Mario & Luigi for the new game developers so that they didn't need to play to safe
defo feel like a postgame update is needed, like imagine being able to go between Mushroom Kingdom and Concordia (a new boss rush mode would be added, too, maybe more bros. attacks as rewards?)
The game needed a few more bosses, yes. Felt kind of weird going through a stretch of the game with not that much resistance.
I didn’t even notice my own pun there, given the prevalence of Glohm, and ohms are a measure of electrical resistance.
If you want to talk about slow starts in rpgs... come back after touching Dragon Quest VII. Nevermind that it takes an hour or two before you engage in any combat, but getting to the fun part where the game opens up to you and you can mess around with vocations takes 20 hours, and that's about a 1/5 into the main game.
I haven't gotten Mario & Luigi Brothership yet, but I may get it after going through more of my RPG backlog.
The problem is critics reviewing a game so quick instead of actually finishing a game. Brothership is a good successor to the series and it’s definitely worth to be played all the way through so you can see how Mario and Luigi’s presence influenced the people of Concordia.
I enjoyed the game and didn’t even noticed how slow the pacing was in the beginning until I heard everyone else talk about it 😂
I'm glad you enjoyed it too. I'm still enjoying my time with it 😌
Critics: The game takes too long to get good and the first 5 to 10 hours are a slog!
Me, having fun still being in the first sea doing all the side-quests after 6 hours: What’s all the commotion? OOOOOOH Battle Plugs!
0:47 I feel you, you are one of the few that i can say, your criteria kinda matches mine, and i was waiting on what you think about the game, but now what you have said, i think i will buy it!
I know i may be wrong trusting someone else's "tastes", but its a good lead for me.
This feels like Pokemon Sun and Moon. I love those games, and they have very similar issues. But ultimately delivers a good story, unique Pokemon, and great music. So if this game does that but with Mario and Luigi, then I'll probably love it despite the slowness.
@@newbiemusicstudent s/m is definitely better
@@toooydoeur saying this as a big S/M enjoyer...
No, no they aren't
@@galvsparks6295 they are (7/10 vs a 6) s/m are slow too but have a much better ost, better overall visuals if I'm being real and an overall better story
@@galvsparks6295 Nice to see other SM enjoyers. I'll definitely check out Brothership, combat is 100% going to be better than Pokemon's.
I agree both have good stories (although I think Brothership has like 2/10 ratings higher than SM in character development) and slow start but Brothership at least isn't too linear and there a bit more game variety (although I feel there weren't enough unique enemies in Brothership compared to other M&L).
Gotta love that they redi the mario and luigi noises for all of the games, ven though its always just random easy to slot in noises
The game has a slow start and sluggish pacing, but IMO it's all worth it to get to the final stretch, because that was some of the coolest stuff I've seen out of a Mario game, RPG or otherwise. It also quite possibly has my new favorite Mario villain, though it's not who you might expect at first.
I’m glad some people love this game too, I’ve loved it from the start and have had almost no problems with it, unironically game of the year material for me
The loading screen after each battle is a deal breaker. Nintendo used to be all about quality and optimization. Especially with games involving their mascots.
It shouldn't have any loading screens! It should load instantly! These aren't CD-based games!
@@jayo1212exactly. The battlefield scene and common monsters should always be loaded and the exploration scene should never be unloaded. If I were a manager of this game I would have made the team go back and fix this and would only tolerate loading screens going into (and maybe out of) boss battles
@@Beefster09 but you're not uh ?
@@kamcha9681 that's what "if I were" means. Eienstein
@@jamjam445 bro your statement is useless. You're saying "if i was the boss, i would command the team to do a better job" even though you seemingly have no clue about technical stuff regarding loading time. It's like a plane departed late and you said "huh, if i was in charge of the company i would FORCE the planes to be on time"
That just makes you sound smug and stupid
Take a shot every time he says he loves something
I think this is a good example of how low expectations make us enjoy things more sometimes.
Or none at all! Prehemptive neutrality should be a staple when it comes to taste, really. Absurd how little it's adoperated
I’m really enjoying this game as well, I love the world that each of the RPG lines bring
The game is a lot longer than I expected. I think I'm finally in the endgame and it's pushing 50 hours! It does have a slow start but a lot of beefy JRPGs do. But I'm also coming at this as someone who only played Superstar Saga waaaay back on the GBA and have not touched the series since. If longtime fans are a bit underwhelmed I get that.
If you are interested in trying the other ones, I recommend Bowser's Inside Story since it is one of the best in the series and also has some connections to the first game.
Clocked 67 hours
@@murderman8578 Wow that's 20+ than Dream Team.
If you do all the side quests and challenges it’s close to 70
@@paulgilbert5278No. Dream Team is still longer than Brothership.
Thank you Arlo I ate a burrito while watching this video 😌
It’s nice to see that you’re enjoying the game. Even if it isn’t perfect (and no game will ever be perfect, and that feels lost in hype cycles nowadays), the fact the good outweighs the bad is nice to hear.
The closest a game came to perfect was probably DKC2
Couldn’t have came out at a better time. Was just watching your other video on Topicarlo about its IGN review score!
What was the most unexpected thing for me so far with this game (and I'm almost done), you slowly but surely, begin having the crew grow, like yeah it feels like everyone is really putting in their fair share to accomplish the goal.
Been playing the game like crazy lately and I absolutely love it, does it have it's problems? Yeah, but overall I think some of it was far overblown, I've had a blast with it and I can confidently say it's probably my new favorite turn based rpg, I haven't played to many but this one has definitely been the most fun for me. I'm over 50 hours into this game and have been having a blast since the start, Connie is adorable and has captured my heart, the IDLE group is so dang cute, this is the best iteration of luigi that I've ever seen so far, may be another version I haven't seen that is better, the brothers seem more bonded and care for eachother more than ever, and it's super charming, I just love this game, it's flaws are very much overshadowed by what it does great imo, great addition into the m&l series
3:10 seconds before any actual content. I’m all for building suspense, it feels like this happens every video
So nostalgic seeing a sequel of the Mario series i played the most as a kid