Topic: Mario & Luigi: Brothership

Probably nearing the end soon. My ongoing thoughts are documented through the thread, but will do a final thoughts once it is fully complete! Despite it being a year of Mario RPGs since Late 2023, I am ready for another. Lol.

Thoughts on Origami King? I keep putting it off as I think the combat looks boring and having no EXP makes it seem a bit pointless, which I feel is a major part of the Mario RPG experience. Is the rest of it fun enough to carry it?

@Mana_Knight It's really not that bad. The combat has more of a puzzle element to it than other games and whether or not you'll vibe with that is your choice(I will say the ring system makes for some of the best bosses you'll fight in a Mario RPG). What makes it worth sticking for is the writing. It's not only actually funny, but the character writing is fantastic. Even if they're stuck with the basic Mario cast, they make up for that by being pretty endearing and engaging throughout. I'd say it's probably the third best Paper Mario - up there with 64 and TTYD in spite of its flaws.

Just started Superstar Saga. Want to play an actual good Mario and Luigi game now.

Origami King is the 3rd best Paper Mario in my opinion, but I would say it is far below TTYD and Paper Mario 64. The battle engine is slow and boring, and you don't get EXP so there's literally no point in doing battles in the first place. Running away from battles is basically up to luck, and the chances are often really bad, so it's hard to escape these battles. They cycle between the same few ring puzzles so it's really easy to figure it out quickly.

That said the music is absolutely spot-on and the story and writing is actually pretty good. The game is held back by it's battle engine and some of it's characters, as well as some parts in the overworld, but there are things to enjoy in this game! I wouldn't really call it a traditional RPG (I don't think it is listed as an RPG by Nintendo either), but it's the best the series has been since it has rejected being an RPG series.

@PikminMarioKirby @N00BiSH Thanks both. Appreciate it. Hmm. Very tempted as I do love the writing and story side of Paper Mario games so much! Just equally enjoy the battles too. They work together so well, when done right. Will look into it further again though as I don't think we are getting another Paper/M&L game for a little bit!

Just because we had a year of being spoilt with it really.

@Mana_Knight
Some of the later bosses are definitely tough for the no-damage. Madame Grape is a bit easier than you may think because she's divided into those two fights, so you can approach one at a time.

@VoidofLight
Well, I have the opposite feeling, what can I say? lol

Actually, it's kind of similar to this game: I feel like people who go for the completionist route have a very different experience. In Showtime, it's a better experience, in this game it's a MUCH worse experience.

You said you really enjoyed the final dungeon, for example, but after spending 50 hours in the game, the final dungeon was super annoying for me because it felt like the game suddenly decided to make the enemies damage sponges without actually making them more challenging in their mechanics, and the change was all the more incongruent because I'd been incredibly overleveled the entire game. Felt like the game just wanted to squeeze another couple hours out of me and couldn't think of any other way to do it than make me retread the same dungeon for essentially the THIRD time (lol) and artificially inflate the HP of the enemies to make every battle a bit longer.

The final boss battle was really fun, though, and the ending sequences were incredibly charming.

In an official interview with Nintendo, it’s revealed that Nintendo almost gave up on the Mario & Luigi series, Acquire originally designed an “edgier, more rugged” Mario and Connie had a more human design. More will be published tomorrow.
https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2024/December/Ask-the-Dev...

@Dev1024 That was a great read. I didn't know Nintendo published insights like these. Very interesting!
Reading that, I understand more why they went with Accquire.

@Dev1024 That explains why the story’s concept is actually darker than the others. They’re known for darker games.

@Dev1024 I really like those designs for Mario, Luigi, and Connie! Even with Brothership being darker/more serious, I'd love to see this artstyle for the next game! It's a lot different, but I think it would work well.

It'd be insane to get a Partners in Time 2D HD remake, I'd love to see it someday!

@Dev1024 Interesting read. Definitely confirms some things I was guessing at with the development process - specifically the art - for better and for worse. Interestingly, the concept renders shown in part 2 actually look much nicer than the final product; less sloppy gradients and solid blacks for the eyes feel closer to what Sato was going for with his illustrations.

_{Still baffles me why they couldn't get him on board, though. Did they not realize there was a name to that art?}

@PikminMarioKirby find a cheap DS somewhere and play it the way God intended

@N00BiSH I have a DS, but the game is unavailable in most places, or really pricey.

@PikminMarioKirby there are other ways to get to the source