The first title launched in July 2018 for Nintendo Switch before coming to PC, Xbox One, PS4, and PS5. Octopath Traveler 2 followed in 2023, launching for all platforms except Xbox (which arrived in 2024). Both titles received notable acclaim for their role-playing mechanics, as each offered eight playable characters with unique Path Actions.

Octopath Traveler 0 is similar, but this time, you’re creating a character and embarking on a journey to rebuild Wishvale. Along the way, you’ll combat the antagonists responsible for its destruction while collecting seven powerful rings. Unlike previous titles, there are more than 30 characters to recruit, either as party members or town members.

You can field eight units in battle, which adds a more tactical layer to the series, and unleash Ultimates. Wishvale also presents its own unique town-building systems, providing valuable resources if you dedicate enough time. Check out our review for more details.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom launched on September 26th and saw Princess Zelda take the leading role for the first time. Players embarked on a quest to save Hyrule and locate the missing Link, utilizing the Tri Rod to create copies of objects and enemies. They could also harness elements like Automatons and Swordfighter Form to fight alongside their Echoes. You can learn more in our review.

Mario and Luigi: Brothership is the first mainline title in the franchise since 2016’s Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam. Developed by Acquire of Octopath Traveler fame and launched on November 7th, it sees the brothers traversing Concordia, a shattered continent, via Shipshape Island to defeat a new foe, Glohm. Check out our review here.

Taking to Twitter, the publisher announced that the Octopath Traveler series has collectively sold over 5 million units worldwide across all platforms. The company hasn’t provided specific, individual sales figures for the titles, but at last count, the original Octopath Traveler had hit 3 million units sold as of 2022, while last year, Square Enix announced Octopath Traveler 2 had hit 1 million units sold.

Given the critical and commercial success the HD-2D turn-based RPG series has consistently enjoyed, it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing more Octopath Traveler games down the line, but for now, Square Enix’s pipeline has plenty of HD-2D content. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake launched in November, and Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D Remake is due out sometime next year.

「#オクトパストラベラー」シリーズの全世界累計が500万本を突破いたしました🎉
応援いただいた皆さま、本当にありがとうございます。

これを記念し
最新作 #オクトラ2
初の半額セールを開始💰

ぜひこの機会にご検討ください！https://t.co/jinSDSFmhJ

イラストはデザイナーの岡﨑里香さんより🎨 pic.twitter.com/h6itndyZN2

— オクトパストラベラーII公式 (OCTOPATH TRAVELER II) (@OCTOPATH_PR) December 21, 2024

In comparison, last year’s Super Mario RPG remake launched with over 301,000 units sold in Japan, while earlier this year, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door sold over 115,000 at launch in the region. Brothership’s launch sales are also lower than all past Mario and Luigi titles (not counting the remakes on 3DS) other than Paper Jam, which sold over 50,000 units on debut.

Slitterhead was another new release last week, though Bokeh Game Studios’ debut action horror title has seen muted sales upon launch, taking the No. 9 spot with only over 4,000 units sold. Meanwhile, the recently released Super Mario Party Jamboree enjoys continued strong sales, with over 43,000 units sold in its fourth week.

On the hardware side of things, last week saw the launch of the PS5 Pro, and the console has got off to a strong start in Japan. The new model sold over 78,000 units, with total sales for the PS5 in the region climbing to over 88,000 for the week. That makes it the best-selling console of the week in Japan, a rare instance of the Switch being outsold. Nintendo’s console sold over 64,000 units in comparison.

You can check out the full hardware and physical software sales charts for Japan for the week ending November 10 below.

Software sales (followed by lifetime sales):

1. [NSW] Mario & Luigi: Brothership – 63,441 (New)
2. [NSW] Super Mario Party Jamboree – 43,347 (409,831)
3. [NSW] Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven – 6,729 (91,742)
4. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 6,245 (6,050,284)
5. [NSW] Battle Spirits CrossOver – 5,355 (New)
6. [NSW] Minecraft – 5,230 (3,671,568)
7. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 5,015 (7,948,548)
8. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – 4,907 (299,278)
9. [PS5] Slitterhead – 4,697 (New)
10. [NSW] Nintendo Switch Sports – 4,472 (1,457,553)

Hardware sales:

• PS5 – 88,160
• Nintendo Switch – 64,012
• Xbox Series X/S – 2,405

Now, however, with Octopath Traveler studio Acquire at the helm, everyone’s favourite plumber duo is back in a new sea-faring odyssey with Mario and Luigi: Brothership, which brings the series back with a bang, even if it it never quite touches the highest highs of the likes of Superstar Saga or Bowser’s Inside Story. By taking the established and familiar formula of past Mario and Luigi games and building upon it with some key new gameplay mechanics, this newest adventure serves as yet another strong RPG outing for Nintendo’s mustachioed mascot on the Switch.

"By taking the established and familiar formula of past Mario and Luigi games and building upon it with some key new gameplay mechanics, this newest adventure serves as yet another strong RPG outing for Nintendo’s mustachioed mascot on the Switch."

Mario and Luigi: Brothership sees the titular duo transported to the kingdom of Concordia, where trouble is afoot. Under mysterious circumstances, Concordia has split apart into multiple disparate islands that are now drifting off in different directions in the sea, following which it now falls to Mario and Luigi to rejoin the kingdom together. And how do they do that? With a pilotable ship-shaped island, called Shipshape Island, that drags all of the islands they have reconnected behind with it as it travels through the seas.

Narratively, Mario and Luigi: Brothership takes a while to get going. The story can feel a bit aimless in the early hours, and even after it does start gathering pace, the actual plot doesn’t ever feel as captivating or engaging as some of the best Mario RPGs in the past. Instead, the game’s biggest strength in this area lies in its writing. Typically enough for a Mario and Luigi game, Brothership is bursting to the seams with a bevy of charm, personality, and humour, with the latter’s effectiveness ranging from inciting sime chuckles here and there to being legitimately laugh-out-loud funny. Throughout their journey, Mario and Luigi also meet a vast and varied cast of characters, comprising of both familiar faces from the larger Mario franchise and entirely new characters, and these characters also elevate the narrative side of things in their own way. 

Contributing to the game’s abundance of charm is its gorgeous new visual aesthetic. Brothership sees the Mario and Luigi series finally transitioning fully into 3D, and in doing so, it also adopts a new, stylized look- and all of those changes work out for the better. Brothership is an absolutely gorgeous game, and it never misses a chance to flex its muscles, even if the frame rate can get a bit choppy occasionally. From the splashing water of a distant background waterfall to the way Luigi animates when he levels up, from the impressive level of detail crammed into the environments to how visually striking some of the game’s different environments can look, on more than a few occasions, I’ve been taken aback by how good this game looks. To match that, the game also delivers a spectacular soundtrack, which has had me humming a number of its tunes for the last few days.

"On more than a few occasions, I’ve been taken aback by how good this game looks."

And it plays great, too, of course, in a way that will be familiar to anyone who has played a Mario and Luigi game before. Combat is once again a particular highlight, delivering yet another strong dose of the series’ unique brand of turn-based action. Offensive and defensive moves both often require context-sensitive, timing-based button presses, something that’ll be plenty familiar to series fans, and the way the game keeps switching things up here cannot be praised enough. Hammer attacks, jumps, Bros. Attacks, and different dodges and blocks come with different QTEs, and from those QTEs themselves to the incredible animations you get to witness on-screen, none of it ever loses any charm. The trash mob battles can get a bit repetitive at times, especially given the game’s long runtime, but thankfully, thanks to the quickness of the battles and the variety on offer in the enemies you face and how to deal with them, such issues never feel too major.

Progression also feels like it strikes the exact right balance between being straightforward and feeling rewarding. Leveling up and watching your stats go up always remains gratifying, especially with every few levels allowing you to unlock a special, major upgrade for one of the two brothers, from unlocking a new gear slot to expanding their max HP to increasing their level up speed and more. Outside of that, the game also tasks you with equipping both brothers with the right and most optimal gear possible, while Battle Plugs, which are introduced several hours into the experience, also add yet more complexity and player freedom. None of the progression and customization systems here are going to pull up any trees, but their simplicity is exactly what ends up working in the game’s favour- it feels uncomplicated, yes, but it also always feels just engaging and mechanically rewarding enough. Besides, those who want something more complicated will certainly be rewarded for diving deeper into the Battle Plugs system.

The same can be said about exploration as well. Outside of combat, you spend a fair bit of time exploring environments, finding collectibles, doing side quests, and solving puzzles, and it’s all suitably enjoyable. The environmental puzzles and exploration in particular feel like highlights – the latter especially, thanks to the strong level design and biome diversity the game boasts – though the side quests can end up feeling a bit too thin and formulaic at times. Thankfully, the game benefits from strong writing and clever humour with many of its side quests as well.

"Combat is once again a particular highlight, delivering yet another strong dose of the series’ unique brand of turn-based action."

Meanwhile, the overarching structure tying the whole game together also works very well. Shipshape Island travels from island to island in real-time (though you also get the ability to speed up travel a few hours into the game, conveniently enough), and during that downtime, the game encourages you to go back to previous islands to explore newly opened up areas, explore your hub, talk to NPCs, do side quests, look for special reefs as you sail through the sea, and more. There’s a healthy variety of well-designed optional content interspersed throughout the excellent critical path content, and the game is, as a result, able to maintain solid pacing for most of its runtime.

All of this is, of course, familiar to anyone who has played a Mario and Luigi game before, though Brothership does introduce some of its own new ideas well. Take, for instance, Luigi Logic, which is one of the game’s most delightful additions. At certain times during a boss fight or when faced with an environmental puzzle or obstacle, Luigi can conjure up ridiculous plans to get the brothers out of the pickle they’re in, and as a Luigi aficionado myself, I couldn’t get enough of these moments. Though Brothership does de-emphasize the simultaneous control of both brothers a little bit when compared to its predecessors, the introduction of Luigi Logic helps make up for that.

Ultimately, though Mario and Luigi: Brothership has some minor annoyances here and there, but by and large, it’s a triumphant return for the titular duo’s RPG shenanigans. Oodles of charm, typically humourous writing, enjoyable combat, rewarding progression, compelling exploration, and gorgeous visuals come together in a voyage well worth undertaking.

This game was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.

That’s as per data shared by GamesIndustry’s Christopher Dring on Twitter, who revealed that though Mario and Luigi: Brothership debuted in the No. 3 spot of the physical weekly UK charts for last week, its launch physical sales in the region are 23 percent lower than the Super Mario RPG remake, and 29 percent lower than the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake.

Of course, it remains to be seen how the game sells over a prolonged period, and how well it does in other regions, but early data does seem to be indicating that Brothership isn’t attracting quite the same level of attention.

Mario and Luigi: Brothership is available on the Nintendo Switch.

Mario & Luigi Brothership managed No.3 in the UK boxed charts this week. Launch sales were 23% lower than last year’s Super Mario RPG remake, and 29% down vs the Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake. May as well just stick with those remakes, right Nintendo?

— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) November 11, 2024

Setting and Story

The Mario & Luigi series has always maintained a humorous tone and the latest entry in the series joyfully continues the tradition with a ship-full of puns. As the punny name implies, Brothership follows the dynamic duo on their quest to re-connect the scattered islands throughout the sea-faring world of Concordia. To accomplish this task, the bros sail a ship named Shipshape across the seas encountering the islands’ various puzzles and challenges as they link the islands together. The intrigue of the plot appears to revolve around how the islands drifted apart and who might be responsible for the catastrophe, something that gets slowly unveiled as you play the game.

Returning Characters

As with past Mario & Luigi games, the setting is often outside the bounds of the Mushroom Kingdom. This allows many new characters and enemy types to be introduced, some becoming fan-favorites such as the sinister and well-written Fawful from the first Mario & Luigi game. But there’s some returning faces to look forward to within Brothership to accompany all the fresh character designs. Besides the famous Mario/Luigi bros, there are several Toads that help set up shops aboard the ship; ever the entrepreneurial bunch, aren’t they? Bowser and Bowser Jr also make an appearance in a trailer, shown laughing at the Bros on a stage with Bowser Castle decor. Shy Guys are also shown zooming around with Bowser in one of the trailers.

I’m personally rooting for Bowser to help the Bros at some point. What’s more, the continuity of Dream Team is recognized with Bowser actually respecting Luigi by calling his name in the latest overview trailer. Princess Peach can’t be left out of the fun either, as she is spotted aboard the Shipshape ship pointing to the horizon. We’ll have to discover for ourselves what other easter eggs and returning characters are found within Concordia when we get our hands on the game.

New Characters

Connie is a central character in the narrative who helps Mario and Luigi link the islands together using the power of Nectar in tandem with the bros using the ‘Connectar’ from the lighthouses (you’ll never be the same after hearing some of this game’s puns). She’s a ‘Wattanist’ who essentially cares for the Uni-Tree, the giant tree connecting all islands together before the disaster. The other cute companion through your adventure is named Snoutlet, named for its pig-like appearance and outlet-shaped … eyes? Snoutlet seems to enjoy living under Luigi’s cap, but certainly doesn’t enjoy being called a pig. While Snoutlet doesn’t grant cap powers like Mario Odyssey’s Cappy, it does offer helpful advice, acting as the game’s guide. In addition to these key characters, there’s a boatload of NPCs populating the islands who give out side quests and have compelling stories of their own.

Shipshape Island

Speaking of NPCs, you’ll encounter many of the islands’ NPCs aboard the ship after you connect them together. This is because Shipshape is the central hub of the entire game, populated with shops, a revolving crew of various characters, and fast-travel pipes to connected islands. The ship is also where you’ll be charting the seas in search of new islands. The giant sail is actually a mini Uni-Tree, possessed with the ability to link islands together.

Island Links

Linking the disparate islands together first requires activating the lighthouse of each particular island. This is where the core gameplay loop comes in. Each island serves as a large level, or perhaps even ‘dungeon’ in some instances, with the goal being the activation of the Lighthouse at the end of them. Once linked, the island will be connected and towed along the ship, Shipshape, and available for fast-travel. This gameplay progression is rather promising, giving players time to return to the ship hub for upgrades and NPC chats in between each of the island outings.

Sailing

Of course, the way you initially reach each island is sailing aboard the ship. Players don’t control the ship’s movement directly as in Wind Waker, but rather chart its course along currents on a map. Some currents are locked until the nearby island is connected, but a majority can be explored freely. Furthermore, previews have shown that you can speed up the sailing speed of the ship, allowing for the automated process to get done quicker if you know where to go. The ship even continues its course while you explore previously connected islands, so you can level up and collect stuff as you wait for Shipshape to reach its destination. What’s really neat is you can view distant islands and reefs as you walk around the ship.

Locations and Biomes

One of the things a sailing-based game allows is a large variety of biomes, and what we’ve seen of Brothership has been encouraging on that front. Each island has its own peculiar theming. Raynforst Island is a jungle filled with torrential rain and vine obstacle, while Heatfreeze Island seems like a fun ode to Freezeflame galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, with its sharp dichotomy between slippery ice and deadly lava pools. The diversity of islands here is actually somewhat similar to the bite-sized galaxies in the Mario Galaxy games, and as a fan of those classics, I couldn’t be more excited.

Bros. Moves

Helping traverse the many wild landscapes are Bros. Moves, special abilities used between Mario and Luigi to solve puzzles and reach obtuse areas within the environment. I’m fond of the UFO Bros. Move which magical melds the two bros together to hover over gaps and other zones where normal jumping won’t suffice. In a way, the environments seem to have a light platforming flow to them, with some out-of-reach spots requiring future Bros. Moves that haven’t been unlocked yet. The helpful Shipshape Island hub accommodates this light platforming design with its instant fast travel between connected islands.

Luigi Logic

I can’t be the only one delighted to see Luigi outsmarting Mario with his own special ability, right? As the name implies, Luigi Logic occurs when a spark of inspiration enters the green lanky bro’s mind. This sudden inspiration helps the two overcome obstacles in ridiculous but charming ways. Some of these inventive solutions involve a fun minigame to progress forward, while others introduce a new battle mechanic in a boss fight. Luigi Logic throws in a cool unpredictable element to the more traditional elements of gameplay, and I’m looking forward to watching all the inevitable “Luigi Logic tier list” videos after the game gets in the hands of content creators.

Combat Details

Instead of selecting an action and merely watching the result unfold, the player times the jumps or hammer strikes to create combos and critical hits. Likewise, when on the receiving end of an enemy attack, you can jump to avoid hits or even time a hammer strike to counter the enemy for damage. The typical RNG around criticals and dodges in traditional RPGs are actively in the player’s hands with these games, creating a system involving more player agency. Brothership involves both brothers in this interactive timing process, with the ‘A’ button corresponding to Mario and ‘B’ to Luigi.

Bros. Attacks

Using these brother combos depletes the BP bar; and each brother has their own BP bar to rely upon. Bros. Attacks are significantly more powerful than regular attacks, thanks to the combined effort between the two. The button timings with Bros. Attacks are twice as difficult as well, often requiring a string of precisely timed presses between the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons. It’ll be fun to see all the delightful animations  of these ultimate attacks, and just as fun to figure out their timings.

Battle Plugs

Helping to augment and buff Mario and Luigi’s battle prowess are Battle Plugs, the accessories within Mario & Luigi Brothership. Some of the Battle Plugs we can expect are stat increases, conditional buffs like enhanced criticals for flying enemies, and even some entirely unique moves. While Mario & Luigi Brothership doesn’t attempt to go as deep as, say, Baldur’s Gate 3 with its role-playing systems, the Battle Plug equipment adds a degree of kit and build option for the dynamic duo.

Exploring and Solving Puzzles

You get most equipment in the game through shops, but some equipment can be earned through good old fashioned exploration. Each island has its own unique theming and puzzle gimmick. For example, Florall Island is native to bouncy flowers propelling the brothers over large gaps. We’ve already some a bunch of jumping puzzles and timing puzzles, but there’s certain to be a healthy amount of memorization and logic puzzles within the islands as well. Between the game’s initiative-based combat encounters, hundreds of NPCs to talk to, instances of Luigi Logic, platforming, and puzzles, Brothership is giving players a lot of gameplay variety.

Development Studio

Speaking of solving puzzles, the mystery of the game’s development team has finally been revealed. AlphaDream was responsible for the Mario & Luigi series until their bankruptcy in 2019, so now there’s a new team taking the reigns. That team happens to be Acquire, known for the work on the original Tenchu: Stealth Assassins from 1998. Brothership also signals the departure of longtime series composer Yoko Shimomura, with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness/Time composer Hideki Sakamoto being listed as the sole composer for the game’s soundtrack. Sakamoto’s work is great, and what we’ve heard from Brothership so far sounds wonderful, so I wouldn’t be too worried about the ost. Thankfully, Nintendo has confirmed that a number of returning vets from AlphaDream are working on Brothership, assuaging fans that the series is still in capable hands.

File Size

Mario &Luigi Brothership comes in at exactly 9.9 GB on Nintendo Switch. Mario & Luigi Brothership promises a lot of content if the variety of islands and file size are anything to go by, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to explore what it has to offer when it releases on November 7^th.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The trailer, which you can view below, serves as a primer for the game, its characters, mechanics, and what have you, only in musical form, being set to a jolly sea shanty. Plenty of gameplay footage is also shown, showcasing a number of different locations and characters, combat mechanics, and more. 

As revealed recently, Mario and Luigi: Brothership is developed by Acquire, the studio behind Octopath Traveler. It is using Unreal Engine, making it the fourth Nintendo game to do so after Yoshi’s Crafted World, Pikmin 4, and Princess Peach: Showtime!

Mario and Luigi: Brothership launches on November 7 for Nintendo Switch.

Of course, that means that when Mario and Luigi: Brothership was announced, there was no shortage of people wondering who exactly was developing it, though other than revealing that some of the series’ original developers were working on the upcoming RPG, Nintendo did not shed light on what studio is leading the project, as is often the case with the company. 

That information, however, now seems to be out. As shared by @Nintendeal on Twitter, copyright information on Mario and Luigi: Brothership has emerged, and it has revealed that the game has been developed by Acquire. For those unfamiliar, in recent years, the studio has been best known for the Octopath Traveler series. Previously, it also developed Way of the Samurai and Tenchu games.

Interestingly, another recent leak suggested that Mario and Luigi: Brothership was built on Unreal Engine, the same engine Acquire used for the Octopath titles. 

Mario and Luigi: Brothership is due out on November 7 for Switch.

June 12, meanwhile, MeowNature and Gamera Games’ fan-favourite Call of Cthulhu-inspired tabletop RPG Depersonalization will join Game Pass for subscribers on PC, with BlackMill Games’ World War 1 first-person shooter Isonzo following on June 13 for subscribers on console, cloud, and PC. The following day, on June 13, Striking Distance Studios and Krafton’s survival horror game The Callisto Protocol will join the service on all platforms.

Finally, June 18 will bring the day one Game Pass release of Still Wakes the Deep, The Chinese Room’s first-person narrative-driven horror adventure game, or Xbox Series X/S, PC, and cloud.