Mario & Luigi 4 (Dream Team)!

[Tails spin]

One wrong save = a gamebreaking Kaizo Trap that makes 45 dollars, 20 levels-up, and 14 hours of progress go down the drain.

Specifically, the geysers of Dreamy Mount Pajamaja. Never saved in a Dream World stage beforehand, and the first time just had to be when I'm fucking trapped.

Now I'm just about forced to start from the fucking beginning. Great, I just love me some gosh dang tutorials that stretch out the start of the game longer than it should. I love the fact that I've got to redo the entire game because of one tiny mistake that shouldn't have as big an impact.

Not so much in the mood for Dream Team anymore. Putting the game down and will pick it up again if I'm ever in the mood for it once more.

Sick Vizard is a man of little patience.

 

Please don't stop playing my game!

 

Serious comment: Vizard if you can, tell us more specifically how this happened. Were you in the Dream World then saved. then you turned it off and came back to that. Please let us know so we don't have the same problem. And sorry you felt that way.

[Jeffhog]

Please don't stop playing my game!

Serious comment: Vizard if you can, tell us more specifically how this happened. Were you in the Dream World then saved. then you turned it off and came back to that. Please let us know so we don't have the same problem. And sorry you felt that way.

's alright.

Basically, don't walk right into the rising water. There's absolutely no way of getting back up (you'd think they'd have added platforms or something, a pit that obvious couldn't have been overlooked in development, can it?).

And, as I've said before, I hadn't saved in the Dream World up until that point, figuring my progress (movement-wise) would've been reset, and boy was I wrong. Kinda made me wish the ever-so-convenient "Save Anywhere" option was scrapped and we'd only have Save Blocks to rely on again. Then this mess could've been avoided.

Starting that second file now, and I'm far from happy about it. Overtly long and gameflow-interrupting tutorials, my favourite.

[Tails spin]

's alright.

Basically, don't walk right into the rising water. There's absolutely no way of getting back up (you'd think they'd have added platforms or something, a pit that obvious couldn't have been overlooked in development, can it?).

And, as I've said before, I hadn't saved in the Dream World up until that point, figuring my progress (movement-wise) would've been reset, and boy was I wrong. Kinda made me wish the ever-so-convenient "Save Anywhere" option was scrapped and we'd only have Save Blocks to rely on again. Then this mess could've been avoided.

Starting that second file now, and I'm far from happy about it. Overtly long and gameflow-interrupting tutorials, my favourite.

Note to self. use the save block you were complaining about instead of save anywhere 

[Jeffhog]

Note to self. use the save block you were complaining about instead of save anywhere

Make sure to stick a miniature Post-It note over the "Save" button! SHIELD YOUR EYES FROM ITS FEIGNED INNOCENCE!

[Swiss]

I said on the previous page that the plot lacked urgency.  Thinking about it longer, I've realised what the issue is.  Pi'illo Island is a quite incredible creation, vividly realised; diverse, with all of the kinds of activity you might expect from such a tourist resort.  The developers exploit its features ably and create a really strong picture of a thriving and fantastic tourist island.  There's just one thing they forgot: The plot.  The plot essentially does not touch the island or anything on it.  The vast majority of the threats on it have absolutely nothing to do with the nominal villains of the game.  It was all there already - insane robots, drill monsters, ruin guardians.  If Bowser and Antasma were not part of the plot of the game then a huge amount of the plot of the game would have happened anyway, and in exactly the same fashion.  Aside from kidnapping Peach and stealing the Dream Stone, they do absolutely nothing that affects anyone's life on the island, at all.  This even includes the knock-on effects of kidnapping Peach and stealing the Dream Stone!

 

There are a couple of other cracks in the painting we may as well mention, though.  For example, Doctor Snoozemore's mysterious absence to lands unnamed and return time unknown.  That seems like a pretty obvious plot hook!  It's not.  He returns without fanfare, discloses one piece of information I don't even remember, and then is never even mentioned again.  That just feels like a dropped plot point more than anything else; it's as if he was written out of most of the game and replaced with Broque Monsieur purely because the latter was less irritating.  I really don't know what they were doing with him.

 

There's also a few other points which I think could tie into what seemed to me like an obvious plot twist that they never, ever used.  At the start of the game, full-power Antasma attacks your balloon, severs one of its ropes, and sends you toppling towards the island... and it's all just a dream.  Presumably!  It's never spelt out, but nobody ever refers to this incident again and the balloon is clearly intact if you look at it later.  Let's put this in another light: Luigi has a mysterious and unambiguously prophetic dream about a new main villain for the game, and this is totally irrelevant and never mentioned.  Huh?

 

Then there's the fact that Broque Monsieur glows purple and is clearly secretly evil at the start of the game - nope, all just a ploy for the welcoming party, and one which nobody ever criticises.

 

Then, admittedly facetiously, there's the fact that the Dream Stone Spirit and the Zeekeeper, two powerful forces for good, are completely awful individuals.

 

In a dream-themed game set on a dream-themed island chock-full of cameos to previous games - Broque Monsieur and Madame and the others of the Broque race, the Bean and Hoo people from Superstar Saga, the utterly fantastic Popple, Starlow - it is baffling to me that there was neither an "All just a dream" twist, nor a "Seems like all just a dream, but actually it's the villain's last-ditch trick" plot twist.  I kinda wonder if they were leading up to it at some point but then decided not to, but didn't remove the early clues to it.  I would have been more than happy for it to have been revealed that much of the game was a nightmare the Mario bros. had been placed in by Antasma during his initial attack - or for Antasma to trick you into believing that everything was a dream and you'd finally "woken up," only for it to be revealed that waking up was the real dream, or something of that nature.  The game feels incomplete and more than a bit odd for not doing this; I'm left unsatisfied, honestly.  It would've redeemed an otherwise lacking narrative if much of the game was in a sense an immense trick and diversion - as well as permitting some trippy dreaminess in the supposed real world towards the end.  So I'm sorry they didn't do that.  I think it's a shame.

 

Also indicative of a lack of care in the plot is that the Zeekeeper essentially murders the Dream Stone Spirit at the very end of the game by destroying the Dream Coin, but hey, he deserved it.  "You mad?"

 

I will absolutely give them credit for one plot twist, though.  I was more or less expecting Antasma to betray Bowser.  It seemed obvious and consistent with Bowser's general low intelligence and Antasma's clear cunning.  Instead, they reverse it - Bowser betrays Antasma, steals ultimate power for himself, and generally lives up to his own hype.  Now that was a pleasure, quite aside from adhering to the Mario & Luigi tradition of the final boss being, in some form or other, magic Bowser.  So good on them for that.

 

I finished the game last night and most of what I was going to say is here, so cheers for saving me from typing it up, FFWF!

 

It's a really enjoyable game overall; combat is incredibly satisfying, the characters are fun and most of all, the music is probably my favourite of the series. 

 

I was a little disappointed by the final bosses though. They were far too easy and just felt...unsatisfying from a story perspective. I love Antasma's character design though (the in-battle version).

 

On a side note, I doubt I'll be playing this again so I'm selling off my (PAL) copy with the pre-order Mario hat keychain if anybody's interested! /shameless plug

[Nintendoga]

Okay so maybe I did s-suck at the Luiginary Hammer earlier.

I actually got it working now, but dammit! I still think it's a dumb attack!

Anyways

I'm at the part where I have to fuse the Ultibed. I dunno man, going back and revisiting all these locations that felt like I was just there, it's draining.

This seems more like padding out "just cause" rather than a legitimate reason for making the game longer.

[Tails spin]

I really am like the attention to details here. I know I'm a little behind everyone but I want to take my time with the game. But Looking over from Mushrise Park to Pi'llo Castle was great.

[Tails spin]

As some of you may know this is my first go at true go at a Mario and Luigi game. So I ranked up to the shell rank. I gave Mario an extra spot for gear and I gave Luigi the iron body. Cuz I kind of want Luigi to be my tank. so any other suggestions for the next time that I rank up to those of you in the know. Also Grobot gave me my first official lose in the game. I still can't get a hang of the 3D shell bro attack. I got it right during demo mode but not it  battle.

[Brad]

As some of you may know this is my first go at true go at a Mario and Luigi game. So I ranked up to the shell rank. I gave Mario an extra spot for gear and I gave Luigi the iron body. Cuz I kind of want Luigi to be my tank. so any other suggestions for the next time that I rank up to those of you in the know. Also Grobot gave me my first official lose in the game. I still can't get a hang of the 3D shell bro attack. I got it right during demo mode but not it  battle.

I think you want both your Gear Slots for both characters because they provide invaluable help for stats and bonuses. I also went for an extra slot on my badge storage because that's never not helpful in a tight spot, I later got Casual Bros. which halves the needed BP for all Bros. Attacks and Luiginary Attacks. I haven't decided on my last one yet, but be aware than any stat boosting bonus can be matched by farming beans later on in the game. In the end it's up to you, but I would definitely recommend you give both Bros their Gear Slots as soon as.

[Tails spin]

I think you want both your Gear Slots for both characters because they provide invaluable help for stats and bonuses. I also went for an extra slot on my badge storage because that's never not helpful in a tight spot, I later got Casual Bros. which halves the needed BP for all Bros. Attacks and Luiginary Attacks. I haven't decided on my last one yet, but be aware than any stat boosting bonus can be matched by farming beans later on in the game. In the end it's up to you, but I would definitely recommend you give both Bros their Gear Slots as soon as.

 

Will do. I gave Mario his Gear Slot but I will give luigi his next rank up

[KrazyBean]

So far I have HP Up for Luigi and POW Up for Mario, then Iron Body for both of them (reduces all damage by 25% I think), then Gear Slot +1 for both of them and I'll finish it off with Gear Slot +1 again for both of them.

Edited August 18, 2013 by KrazyBean

[Nintendoga]

Finished at 33 hours

Just some thoughts I have about the game in general in spoilers

Didn't like the final boss. Thought it was the weakest of the series. Dreamy Bowser himself was okay but it really pissed me off how much he kept healing himself during the fight. Must be only my game copy cause almost every other turn he would send in the cavalry and go in the background to heal. Hate bosses that do just that.

The Antasma fight before-hand was more fun. Antasma should've been the final boss overall, not Bowser.

Oh and Luigi acting all alpha before the last giant boss battle. Awesome.

The game in general just drained me for some reason. Something about the flow and pacing of the game in general, just felt off. There's also the tutorials and lack of enemy variety in areas, which amounted as major flaws in the game.

Writing and music was top-notch as usual. Love Mt. Pajamaja area (and the amazing Massif Bros.) and loved the Dreamy Somnom Woods music.

The Real World Battles weren't as interesting or fun as the Dream World battles. I feel the game would benefited if it was just the Dream World entirely, both in 3D and 2D. The Luigi gimmick was extremely fun and I would love for it to re-appear in a future Mario title.

I can't think of anything else right now so I'll just say for me, I didn't like BiS as much as everyone else did, so I rank DT as

SSS>DT>BiS>PiT.

But speaking without my opinion, Bowser's Inside Story is probably the better game.

 

[Marcello]

I can't say BIS is better. Awful, constant minigames, Bowser wasn't as fun to play as the bros and the 2d sections and giant battles weren't as good as in DTB. Dream Team was definitely better.

[YeppersPeppers]

Just finished the game with 38 hours on the clock, both bros at level 43.

Anyone else find this game extremely easy? I only had 2 KOs. One during the Zeekeeper battle, and the other during the Giant Bowser battle. Neither Mario or Luigi were ever KO'd during a normal battle.

Some problems I had with this game. The first is the use of the gyro controls during some of the giant battles. It may have just been me, but I had difficulties trying to use them correctly, which resulted in the 2 KOs mentioned earlier. Secondly, the length. Things dragged on for WAY too long. I thought I was mostly done with Neo Bowser's Castle when I finished off Kamek and got through the maze of doors, but then they threw that stupid flame blockade shit at me, and at that point I was becoming frustrated and desperately wanted to see the final boss, which leads me to the third and final point. The final boss. Weak. The music? Medicore at best. The final boss theme felt like it was trying way too hard to try and top the one from BiS. Antasma was such a cool fight though, with all the dream warping attacks and what not. I was more impressed by that than Dreamy Bowser.

Positive things now. The rest of the soundtrack is fantastic. My favourite soundtrack of the whole series (except for the final boss). The music for Somnom Woods was spectacular. The giant battles were also kick-ass. I was worried that we were only going to get a maximum of 3, but I was pleasantly surprised. The variety in each of these fights was awesome. The writing, as usual, was hilarious, and with the greater technology, they were able to give much more physical personality to the characters. I loved it.

Well, I guess I'll set the game down for a bit, and when I'm ready, I'll attempt Hard Mode. Can't wait for that.

[Lady Soniko]

So I was looking at buying this game the other day, and was shocked to see it going for as low as £25 for a new game, a Mario game no less! I'm also baffled that the cheapest I can find Super Mario Bros.2 3DS is £30, how does that logic work with a much older Mario title being far more expensive than a game releases a few weeks ago? Hell most places still charge you £39.99 for Bros.2 :/

[MegasonicZX]

So I was looking at buying this game the other day, and was shocked to see it going for as low as £25 for a new game, a Mario game no less! I'm also baffled that the cheapest I can find Super Mario Bros.2 3DS is £30, how does that logic work with a much older Mario title being far more expensive than a game releases a few weeks ago? Hell most places still charge you £39.99 for Bros.2 :/

Because its a classic mario game, even though there old they're still gonna cost a lot (even it the price to me is way overpriced considering what your getting) this is basically how all the old mario games turn out, cheap upon release but extremely expensive like 2 or 3 years down the line.

[Brad]

So I just finished Dream Team (Bros.? that name change was stupid anyway) and I have to say I have come away mighty happy. I invested around 35 hours into the game in total according to my end of game stats and it wasn't wasted. As I always expect from this series I had an engaging story, great art style (this game had a great new art direction), entertaining and funny dialogue, charming and well developed characterisation, well structured battle system, excellent boss fights and of course that music. Jesus, this game hands down has the best soundtrack of any M&L game. 

 

Some spoilery specific good and bads:

• Final boss was much stronger than the last game - Dream Stone Giant Bowser was a lot of fun to fight once I learnt his moveset and how to effectively take him down. But goddamn was he frustrating to get to that point. I had no taunt balls on me on my first go so he just kept calling his minions and healing up and I got so angry. 
• Also, some accelerometer parts were stupidly frustrating at points.The Giant Dream Bowser battle was a particular standout to that. Most Bros. Attack and Luiginary Attacks I was okay with until you don't do it exactly right and it all spirals out of control.
• Story, while overall strong with GREAT characterisation, got a little slow at parts admittedly. The Ultibed construction was the stand out issue there, another "fetch the items to complete the big item" quest. I really don't like them. Thankfully they didn't require a ton of effort and time to get, but when they were explaining what I had to do I just sat there like "really...?"
• SO. MANY. TUTORIALS. I was still being taught how to do basic things quite a bit into the game, and even then tutorials are littered everywhere for new moves, extra minigames... I understand the need to appeal to a wider audience, but at least give me an option to skip or switch them off - ESPECIALLY when I play Hard Mode. You know I've played through the game - I KNOW how to jump and move. 
• On that note, dumbing down for the audience was a minor annoyance of mine also. The ability to Try Again after every fight and have the option of an Easy Mode, plus the whole Hint Block system just felt like they were making the game too easy to try and appeal too much. It's not something bad, don't get me wrong. I was just personally a bit iffy toward it.
• Luigi getting centre stage was awesome, let's be honest. I particularly love the last scene with Bowser where he finally acknowledges Luigi's name. And Bowser's evolution over this series to becoming a badass final villain and not a source of comedy? Pretty damn awesome. That's some character development.
• Also, I don't get the complaint about dream battles being so good that ordinary battles seem dull. I thought each were balanced very well, and I didn't mind either fighting system. Maybe that's just because I'm a veteran to the normal battle system, but those dream battles were so crazy and made you so powerful it was pretty awesome also.

 

So yeah. Brilliant game. Probably my favourite in the franchise now.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Symbotic

[Thigolf]

Does anybody know a good spot/tactic for leveling? I wanna beat the X bosses and I'm only level 43.

[Tails spin]

Went to Dream's Deep today. I loved reading all of the quotes floating around. And I am embarrassed to say that I did not take Luigi's advice and I went into the battle with Bowser blind. I lost 2 times. Then I went back and saw that Luigi was suggesting going to a shop to stock up on items and gear. For future playthrough I will never use rank up bonuses for Iron Body. That Cozy gear gives raises defense in battle for every hit you take. So I gave it to Mario. Boy was that Bowser fight interesting. I love the 3D portions of the battle like Bowser chasing me in a ball. and the Luiginary ball as well.

[Salamander]

OH YES that too. It took me about a good 10 minutes of practicing it before I got an Excellent.

 

I had a lot of trouble getting Excellent for Bomb Rally until I realised... that if all the enemies are destroyed by the move, all of your remaining bombs explode in Luigi's hands.  You literally can't get Excellent with Bomb Rally unless you're using the move against an enemy that won't be killed by it (or won't be killed until the very last bomb).

 

So I just finished Dream Team (Bros.? that name change was stupid anyway)

 

The name change to Dream Team Bros. was only in Europe.  I think it's highly likely that they ran into some kind of copyright issue with just "Dream Team," and sticking Bros. on the end was the easiest way to get around it.

[Arcade Racer CC14]

Beat the game yesterday and loved every minute of it. While I thought that Sticker Star was alright and fun by its own merits, THIS was the Mario RPG adventure I was craving after Bowser's Inside Story blew me away. The gameplay variety is great and the story was as hilarious as always. (Especially got a kick out of the Muscle Lords, the Massif Bros., the Zeekeeper, and of course, Bowser's usual awesome personality.) I eagerly await the next installment in the series.

Loved that Bowser said "Showtime!" right before he fought Giant Luigi. That was a nice reference that they didn't have to throw into the dialogue.

[Conando]

Just beat it tonight and I loved...most of it. The final boss wasn't all that great. Dumb fight were you chip away at almost constant regenerating health. After getting sick of it I just cheesed by using the time stop effect.

[Tails spin]

Had my first giant boss battle yesterday. I found it to be very entertaining. I managed to get an Excellent hit on the finishing bros attack. I'm loving Wakeport. I having looked around everywhere but its seems to be an interesting place.

[kalion]

What level should I be around for the final world. I think I may be a bit too weak at level 25.

[Gabz Girl]

You should be around level 40 if you even think of entering the Final World. That's what I was told anyway.

 

I've been playing the game for a week now and I'm loving every minute of it! It does start off really slow but once you get to Wakeport it gets good! This is actually the first M&L game I've ever played. Playing a bit of Superstar Saga on emulator does not count.