Topic: Mario & Luigi: Brothership

You know there's a problem when Paper Mario Color Splash has better jokes than Brothership.

Oh boy, I gotta go get an engine from wayaway island. Backtracking! Woo!

@VoidofLight I remember Color Splash's script being pretty entertaining? I felt Origami King fell short of it, so I'm not surprised Brothership has as well. Especially because we seem to be in an era where Treehouse is both playing localizations straighter and also softening them up considerably - Color Splash's humor took some swings that I don't think they'd be willing to do anymore, like taking jabs at performance-enhancing drugs, or riffing on Watergate (which apparently caused a bit of a stir because some people thought they were poking fun at Gamergate). Just look at how long the list of changes to TTYD's script is on MarioWiki - even words like "crazy" and "nuts" are considered taboo over at Treehouse now, with Super Mario RPG also getting hit with similar changes (can't wait for them to redub the Mario Movie with "I think...you're silly" /s)

@VoidofLight @PikaPhantom the modern Paper Marios - sans Sticker Star - never really fell flat in terms of the character writing. The dynamics were strong and still pretty funny. And while Origami King may not be a riot, it had some great emotional beats.

@PikaPhantom Ahh, so the zaniness of past games could've been something mostly done in the English localization. It wouldn't surprise me, but it feels a bit disappointing when a lot of those jokes were actually genuinely good.

Is it just me, or does Starlow feel weirdly written in the Bowser sidequest? The one that references BiS? Especially given the two have interacted in Dream Team and Paper Jam, yet don't have a good relationship with one another there.

I hadn't played the Mario & Luigi series before, but after trying brothership, I thought I'd try the earlier M&L games

@Cheriko I'd say the other games are definitely worth playing. They're pretty different from how Brothership is handling itself. Better written imo, and better paced for sure.

Only a few more side-quests and I can go back to fortress Zokket and hopefully beat the game. I just turned shipshape into a submarine btw.

Question about the same part of the game @VoidofLight is on what does the sub do because I choose the air ship

@FawfulsFury
I think the same thing, just under the water instead of hopping over when you hit Y on the map.

@VoidofLight
You're nowhere close, lol

@VoidofLight The Starlow/Bowser sidequest actually feels like a return to form for me. Dream Team and Paper Jam not mentioning the events of BiS at all felt like a huge missed opportunity, so I like how this sidequest brings their dynamic back to how it was at the end of BiS.

@StarryCiel I dunno. Outside of bringing back Starlow, and Bowser's character growth, would there be any benefit to referencing previous events if they don't really add to the stories those games are telling? Dream Team maybe, but probably not Paper Jam.

@FawfulsFury same thing from my understanding, just different visual flair.

@N00BiSH Exactly. As a whole I feel like a lot of Brothership has references that really don’t need to happen. Fanservice that the game would be better off without.

I'm taking it slow at have only just reached Bulbfish Island in the third sea, but I'm still really liking the game. I like that each island has a different vibe to it, like Bulbfish for example is a cozy mystery, while something like Allsand feels more vast and open-ended by comparison. I'm also digging the writing for the most part. The NPCs are very chatty, and there are a few too many of them, but when has that not been the case in Mario & Luigi games? Or every modern RPG for that matter. The IDLE kids really grew on me and I loved how their storyline continued after the first visit to Desolatt. All in all, still an excellent game in my book, but I'm barely halfway through, if that.

@BougieBeetle glad to know I’m not the only one enjoying it

@FawfulsFury There’s been a decent amount of negativity here, but personally I’ve really been enjoying it. There are certainly things that aren’t as good as they were in previous titles but there are also things about this one that I like more than the others.

@PikminMarioKirby @FawfulsFury like I said before, I respect people who genuinely like this game. You're getting things out of the experience that I didn't and that's great. Happy for ya.

I'm enjoying it so far, but I'm anticipating things to go downhill and fast after I beat this next boss.