I’m very happy to say that this is the first time I actually wanted to continue playing. I wasn’t waiting for the next Save Book or trying to avoid battles to get to the end quicker. I was genuinely enjoying my playthrough, something I haven’t felt since the introduction of the game. Needless to say, I had a great time.
To recap, my latest playthrough started off at the Chateau de Chucklehuck where I discovered two new hammer moves. After fighting off Popple and Rookie, I ventured off into the woods and searched for the three different Chuckola Fruits. Once the Chuckolator was defeated, Mario and Luigi made it back to Beanbean Castle where Mario restored the Queen Bean back to her normal, and loud, self.
First off, the battles I encountered this time around were much more interesting, along with the enemies and bosses themselves. I finally got the hang of the Bros. Attacks, now being able to execute them without command prompts and the slow motion. The addition of the hammer variations of the Bros. Attacks were both powerful and satisfying, and perfecting the timing gave an extra sense of challenge and strategy, something that I have come to really appreciate about the game.
The new hammer moves were not only great additions to the battles. While in the Chucklehuck Woods, several puzzles required the use of these new hammer moves to advance through an area or simply open a door. I found the use of squishing Mario and completely burying Luigi a great way to tackle new puzzles and ideas, and I hope they continue to use this technique as the game goes on.
Now, I remember reading in the comments of the previous log that this upcoming section was a strange and weird chapter, and I went in expecting this. Having gone halfway through, I brushed off the idea that things were out of place, seeing as searching for a special soda deep within a forest wasn’t up there on the list of crazy shenanigans in a Mario game. Then I met Bubbles. At one point during the battle with the Chuckola Reserve, I stopped to think about the situation at hand. I was battling a thousand year old soda that has been nurtured by a man that looks like a pickle and whispers cruddy jokes to help it grow stronger. Now I understand.
But I’m enjoying the wackiness and I’m this interesting kind of variety continues on as I play. While I enjoyed my time at Chucklehuck Woods quite a bit, I’m starting to lose track over the main story of the game, and that’s something I wish was presented better. I know I’m out looking for Cackletta and trying to save Princess Peach, and I also think it’s okay to venture off different paths during the story, but I think it’s a problem when I feel like the main story isn’t the most important at the time. Then again, it might just be me and my playing habits.
On a last note, I just ordered a copy of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time that should be arriving sometime this week! I would like to be close to the end of this game when it arrives, so expect my logs to release a lot more frequently than they did last month.