With the charm of a cartoon and simplified RPG mechanics ideal for beginners, Mario & Luigi: Charging Brotherhood presents itself as an accessible adventure, suitable for all ages. Inheriting a legacy of beloved but often underestimated role-playing games, this chapter establishes itself as a worthy successor, although its narrative suffers from a pace that is at times too slow. The game’s setting is a mosaic of floating islands, connected to each other after a cataclysm that fragmented the world. Aboard an island ship, brothers Mario and Luigi navigate the ocean currents to reconnect the islands and restore harmony to the world. The graphics are eye-catching, with vivid colors that capture the essence of island life and great characterization of enemies and new characters.
The strength of the game certainly lies in its visual style. The animations are extraordinary and Mario and Luigi embody an adorable brotherly dynamic: Luigi, less agile and often clumsy, always finds his brother’s support, underlining a bond that is the heart of the narrative. The supporting cast is diverse, with new characters and familiar faces from the Mushroom Kingdom. Charging Brotherhood integrates simplified RPG mechanics, with turn-based battles that include modest elements of interactivity. To maximize damage or counterattack, players must press buttons at the right times, making combat engaging yet accessible. Additionally, skill progression allows you to customize battles with passive effects, encouraging exploration and experimentation.
However, the pace of the game is penalized by long-winded dialogues and missions that require frequent returns to islands already explored. Special moves outside of battle, which offer new exploratory abilities like rolling into a ball or flying like a UFO, are useful for unlocking new areas but are mechanically cumbersome and interrupt the flow of the experience. The basic narrative – connecting the islands and defeating the bad guys – is functional but gets lost in a lot of dialogue and secondary characters that are not always necessary. The excess of content dilutes the overall experience, making the game seem more extensive than its structure can support.
Ultimately, Mario & Luigi: Charge Brothers is a title that shines for its visual style, animations and accessible gameplay, but which struggles to maintain a coherent pace due to superfluous content. Despite this, it remains a highly enjoyable experience for fans of the series and a captivating introduction to the RPG genre for newcomers. With some changes to streamline the narrative flow and optimize the mechanics, it could have been a masterpiece.
Format: Switches Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Acquire, Nintendo Vote: 7/10
