Mario & Luigi: Brothership (NOT THE BEES)

Is it blasphemy to say that this was my reveal of the Direct? Over Zelda and Metroid? Mario & Luigi returns after years in the wilderness, and technically for the first time on a (part-)home console, looking swish. Big classic Mario & Luigi energy to everything here, including some all-new and appealing enemy designs and what looks like non-Bowser final foes. Can't wait.

As I said on discord, I'd be more into this if there wasn't Super Mario RPG six months ago and Paper Mario even more recently than that. I'll play this, but I'm not going to rush out to pick it up.

I'm partially into this, really depends on what is coming out around it. At the moment looking there's nothing around it, that I would pick up.

Aye, horror game Slitterhead is out a day after this so that'll be a funny contrast to jump between. Also I always found dialogue in these to be funnier than Paper Mario so I hope that continues.

Buska wrote:

As I said on discord, I'd be more into this if there wasn't Super Mario RPG six months ago and Paper Mario even more recently than that. I'll play this, but I'm not going to rush out to pick it up.

This is one reason why I skipped on Paper Mario.

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Oh who do we think is on development for this with the old devs no longer about? Fully in house or next level games would be my guess.

Mmm... I'd still say even now that TTYD is better than Mario & Luigi, even at the height of its powers and even with TTYD re-reviewed. Then again TTYD is more talky. I don't think you can go wrong with either to be fair (for the first three games of each sub-series).

No idea who they've given it to, obviously I mourn AlphaDream but I did feel they were losing their touch in Paper Jam and Dream Team. A new set of hands is a good thing I reckon.

Slitterhead looked awful at SGF

After the diversions the TTYD topic took, I'm excited for this to become the Slitterthread.

It was these details that really sold me on it.

I'll wait and see when it comes out, but I think most would sooner I checkout M&L.

It's looking like the team behind this (M&LB not Slitterhead) might be ILCA, the powerhouse developers who delivered such knock-out hits as Pokémon BDSP, Pokémon Home, and Sand Land (71 on Metacritic).  

This is like finding out that new Zelda game is being done by Arzest.

Is Zelda EoW, Grezzo? Wikipedia says yes and make a lot of sense but haven't seen anything official.

This was an unexpected surprise! Three Mario RPGs in the space of a year feels like a bit of an overload though, and considering I've not even got around to TTYD yet, this will be one I'll likely pick up later down the line.

Might be a wise choice all things considered, especially as the rumoured dev team aren't exactly powerhouses as outlined by Balla.

Ooft! Hope not but that does sound like M&L might be getting the low effort Mario sports game treatment. (apart from Mario strikers, natch)

I'm willing to give ILCA the benefit of the doubt somewhat as they were hamstrung by adapting a DS game (which they did make look beautiful) for Pokémon and getting an adaptation out with a movie and TV show for Sandland. This might be our first look at their actual goods. And did I hear some ex staffers are involved?

Buskalilly wrote:

As I said on discord, I'd be more into this if there wasn't Super Mario RPG six months ago and Paper Mario even more recently than that. I'll play this, but I'm not going to rush out to pick it up.

This.
 
I’d firstly like to find out how long it lasts. That’s because my main experience with Mario & Luigi was Dream Team Bros. on 3DS. I must have played that for about fifteen hours, and I got far too bored far too soon. I stopped for good, there was no way I was hanging around for another thirty hours of that.
 
I’ll wait for reviews of Brothership, but even if it’s a 10/10 stoater I think it can wait until the usual post-Christmas lull – and even then it’ll depend on what else I’m playing. It’s truthfully not a game I was dreaming, hoping and praying for.

Nor me, but that meant it was a pleasant unexpected surprise - now caveated, sadly. They have said that members of the previous M&L teams (i.e. AlphaDream) are back on board. I hope that's a good thing, because Dream Team Bros. was boring. I don't think the length was the problem, but they didn't have enough interesting material to fill that length with. The pacing was glacial.

Given that it killed off AlphaDream effectively (that and being made to work on remasters that, truthfully, nobody was asking for) you'd hope they'd have learned their lessons from that.

Did anybody play Paper Jam? I heard that was really boring too - taking absolutely none of the fun stuff from the M&L and PM series and somehow making a perfectly competent but entirely dull game. I hope Brothership has a bit more pizzazz!

I finished Paper Jam, more out of a place of misplaced loyalty to the series(es) than anything else. I thought it was better than Dream Team Bros. and worse than all the other Mario & Luigi games. It did the whole 'we can't use non-established Mario characters' bit which didn't help. One thing I really liked about the Brothership trailer was seeing all the new unique enemies.