Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019)

As a character, Luigis personality is masterfully abundant and expressive on screen while surrounded by painstaking environments, goading on the curious and the collector to the very end.

While the journey feels long, its pace is segmented into digestible adventure. In the back half, repetition or mechanic guess work becomes noticeable. Even so, each hotel floor bursts with new character and the title is packed with detail, thought and charm throughout. A favourite moment;discovering crates of oranges on the pirate ship. That's funny!

Luigis Mansion 3 is a densely packed fun house. Its animated spirit is an enormous fit for the young and young at heart in the physical realm.

LM3 is a freshly polished floor to sock-slide on. A marathon of ideas and fun for the uninitiated but with my breadth of experience, my feet begin to tire.

As @ElectronicJourneys pointed out "The game is longer than the amount of time the mechanics stay interesting", I have to agree. It's an astute observation I hope I would've arrived at myself.

With more than half of the elevator buttons obtained, the desire to 'get through it' is starting to haunt me.

This is my first foray into the Luigi's Mansion series, and unfortunately it has given me pause about trying out the other games of the trilogy. While the visuals are great, everything else about the game is submerged under layer upon layer of tedium that sucks all of the life out of the room.

The controls are clunky and awkward. Normally this is a feature rather than a bug of many survival horror games. I guess if you squint really really hard you can almost sorta kinda say that Luigi's Mansion is just Mario Resident Evil, but there is never any tension in the game, never any fear of dying. This is an obviously unfair comparison as this game is not attempting to be survival horror, but what else can you do when the controls rather than adding to your feeling of being overmatched by the spooky scary enemies, just leave you feeling, well, awkward and clumsy.

The level designs range from pretty decent to painfully uninspired. I did like the more hotel themed levels, but eventually they had to fall back on vaguely Halloween themed cliches around which to create a theme for each floor. Some floors stand out more than others, and those floors are often where the main gameplay mechanic of "hoover up everything in sight" was fairly fun. But you can only vacuum sand in the pyramid level for so long before you start to get bored of the whole thing.

I have other nitpicks that I think are more idiosyncratic rather than evidence of flawed game design. The common enemy ghost designs seem lackluster after few levels, a lot of the puzzles are pretty boring to figure out, and the money system seems almost completely pointless since I was never really in danger of getting a game owner. Why did I spend so much time vacuuming up all those coins when I could've been playing a better game?

Overall I found Luigi's Mansion 3 to be a pretty joyless experience aside from the natural Mario charm that it has, and if I'm honest I think the charm is the only reason I finished it. Playing it now has left me wondering why I decided to pick it back up after first trying it out (and not finishing it) upon release. The passage of time only served this game insofar as it let me forget how boring I found it five years ago.

I am playing this as a breather between Fatal Frame sessions. Is this game generally considered a bad entry in the series? I actually picked it up on release in 2019 but only got about 5 hours in before dropping it, I think at the plant floor in the hotel. I am now at about that same point in my current playthrough and I think it's pretty lackluster. Maybe it's that the level I'm on isn't very good but it's quickly crossing the boundary from fun to tedious. The puzzles, ghost encounters, gooigi, everything just feels so boring.

(As a quick aside, Fatal Frame is excellent)

Of the two Mario Bros, I've been partial to Luigi.

However, his mansion has always been a regretful blind spot, made worse having owned a gamecube since 2004. Lately, the idea to strap on the vacuum and bust my way into the shadows has been obsessively forefront.

The short play hours and charm worth the time but the expense is unsurprisingly high. I resepct Nintendo for standing gaurd over its IP. Especially having been a Steam Sale goblin where abandoning half priced and casually purchased software is all to easy.

Having grown up with limited funds for games, the urge to garner as much playtime per dollar has been neurologically cemented, until now. I've accepted that Dad life can't support 100 hour adventures the same way fast food will spell churned insides and confused regret.

Crossing the threshold of having more money than time has occurred - a blessing in this timeline to be sure. Although, I still hover over Luigis Mansion 3 like a spirit with unfinished business. There are other things I could spend $90 on.

Its a shame that the original gamecube title is just as expensive as its 3rd iteration.

I don’t know what happened with me the first time I played this, but originally I had given this one star. Well recently I have been going back through the series, and decided to try the third one more time. I’m glad I did.

This game is just sooo fun. There’s really nothing quite like the Luigi’s Mansion series - the tone of it, the vacuum sucking gameplay, the storybook exploration. It’s just very unique and really hard for me to put down.

Compared to the first one (my favorite), this does some things much better and other things not as great. The puzzles are actually challenging here, with lots of creativity and variety. The gameplay too is more varied, with some new tools and ways to explore and fight. The variety is there in the environments as well, with each floor being a surprising change in theming from the last.

My only real criticism, and to be honest it’s a stretch, but I did really enjoy the more “survival horror” tone of the first one. This one has some of that, but the overall tone is much lighter and playful,

But again, I appreciate it for what it is. This is a GIGANTIC improvement over the 2nd game, and I think it does nearly everything right. So if you enjoy exploring a big map (almost like a Metroidvania), finding tons of secrets, quirky Nintendo type gameplay, and just a flavor of cozy survival horror - don’t skip this.

I had a little break from gaming, but recently felt the itch again. Luigi's Mansion 3 was a Christmas present, and gathering dust. So I decided to suck off that dust and give it a go.

Narrative

Luigi and friends go to a hotel, unaware of the great danger that awaits them. Everyone but Luigi is captured and Luigi has to go ghost busting through the hotel to find them. For this, he gets a handy vacuum cleaning device from a mad professor he finds trapped in a painting. With this device and his trusty ghost pupper (who sometimes appears) he goes on a mission to rescue his friends.

Gameplay

You walk around, find treasure and catch ghosts with your vacuumcleaner. You also have a few other nifty tricks, like a plunger you can use to pull out stuff and a handy doppelganger. You explore every floor to find access to the next floor and recover your friends. Also doing some puzzles on most floors. Every floor has a unique theme, plenty of ghosts to catch, puzzles, and a boss ghost.

Basically, you stun the ghosts (immediately or after somehow disarming them) and start sucking them up, and slap them around until they are sucked up enough. Repeat until you can suck up the ghost completely.

This is where the game sucked the most for me. The controls are very clunky. You have to control aim, and walk with the right and left stick, while trying to suck the right way and motion control up and down. Maybe it was just me, but aiming wasn't very easy. I often got turned around or couldn't properly aim where I wanted. I've read of more people having this issues so maybe I am not that bad of a gamer. But this was annoying to downright frustrating with certain bosses.

The puzzles were fun for the most part. Some were a bit frustrating, especially the timed ones. I've never liked timed puzzles. But most frustration was caused by the controls here as well.

Setting

You're in a hotel, every floor is themed. You have a nautical floor, magic floor, plants, gym, and many more. Every floor looks amazing and has it's own quirks and interesting boss. I enjoyed most of the bossfights, they were fun and unique. Some were super easy and then there were weird difficulty spikes sometimes. Screw that asshole boss from floor b2. The music was fitting, but for me not super memorable. Everything looked aesthetically pleasing though, with an eye for detail. Very nice.

Other

I had one bug/glitch whatever, one puzzle didn't work, I couldn't get it to complete. I did everything that internet said. Fixed it by restarting, but pretty odd.

Conclusion

I had a good time with most of the game. I really liked the themed floors, it all looked really good and interesting. Most bosses were fun. Puzzles were not bad either. Just the controls were too clunky for me and it frustrated me at times. If the controls in the older games are in any way similar, I will not get the remaster they are planning for the second game on the switch.

Oh and one more thing The final boss was just dumb. You could only run around and avoid attacks, and attack yourself very little, only when it pleases the boss. I just got very lucky as well in the end by picking the right ghost immediately, and getting the bomb attack immediately the first 5 seconds. Also yes it is timed, did not like that either.

Early impressions:

1. So darn charming and funny. Animations are expressive and the characters show a lot of personality.
2. A lot more of a slow-burn, cinematic presentation when compared to the first game. Shows design philosophy of modern games vs 2001 or whenever the first came out.
3. This seems to be a Metroidvania?? I don’t remember people mentioning that when the game came out, so I could be mistaken, but that’s the impression I got early on with the continuous reveal of abilities.

Really liking it so far, it’s a lot better than the second game based on my vague memories of it at least.

Luigi's Mansion games have always appealed to me in concept. They're point-and-click adventures crossed with Ghostbusters... how could I not love that? But in practice, I've always felt at odds with their controls.

The 3DS titles (both Dark Moon and the remake of the GameCube original) alleviated some of these problems for me. The underappreciated stereoscopic 3D gave me a clearer understanding of where objects and enemies were in relation to Luigi, and gyroscopic aiming was a welcome alternative to the traditional right-stick approach.

So while Luigi's Mansion 3 uses the increased power of the Switch to deliver a larger, more varied and astoundingly beautiful adventure, I couldn't help but feel its return to two dimensions and dual analog movement were steps backward for the series.

That feeling intensified as I played solo through the game's many Gooigi sections, all clearly designed with co-op in mind. Many of these involve doing variations of the same task multiple times or completing a task as Gooigi while Luigi gathers dust in the corner.

I did enjoy the game, and if you're a fan of the series I think it's certainly worth your time. IMO it's a definite step up from the last home console iteration. It may be one of the most expressive and well-animated games I've ever played. And if you have a co-op partner confident enough to control Gooigi, the low points of my experience may become your high points.

Plus it's got Polterpup, a very good boy who deserves a spin-off game.

I'm not sure why I struggled with the controls for Luigi's Mansion 3 so much. I hope this isn't a me thing. Before I talk about why the controls were so difficult for me, let's do some positives.

• I enjoyed the story
• I really like Luigi as a character
• I think it was spaced out well, it didn't feel like it dragged but it didn't feel crazy short either.

So my problems with the controls:

I have never played a Luigi's Mansion game prior to this one, so I have no idea how they were in the past. I got so incredibly frustrated with trying to point my flashlight in the correct direction while walking. I think this largely had to do with the fact that my left joycon has started drifting. Yet this almost ruined the experience for me. I really wanted to play the little extra minigames they had, but I couldnt stand another moment with frustratingly trying to point Luigi in the correct direction.

Toy Story 4 < Luigi's Mansion 3 Unlike Toy Story 4, Luigi's Mansion 3 cares about it's main character. While Woody's purpose in TS4 seemed unnecessary and aimless, Luigi invigorated LM3 with a sense of vitalness and urgency.

Incredibles 2 > Luigi's Mansion 3 Ok maybe it's not better than Incredibles 2. Director Brad Bird is still on the top of his game and not even Nintendo can compete with the sense of scale he establishes. But both I2 and LM3 have top notch character animation, perhaps comparable.

Coco < Luigi's Mansion I'm sorry, but Coco's colorful vision of the Mexican underworld was superficial at best. The calevera's of Pixar's world all seemed devoid of purpose, uniqueness or culture. Their entire existence was based on pleasing the living. Meanwhile, the ghosts of Luigi's Mansion 3 have no overarching purpose other than to run the best damn 5 star hotel they can. Often, it can feel as though Luigi is sucking up the hotel's stars as he sucks up the ghosts.

Cars 3 < Luigi's Mansion 3 I don't even have to justify this one.

Finding Dory < Luigi's Mansion 3 One time I was hanging out with this boy I liked. He was on tons of MDNA. I did not know this at the time. He insisted that we watch Finding Dory. When I suggested something else he got violent. So we watched Finding Dory. He promptly fell asleep 5 minutes into the movie. Unlike this hellish situation, no one is forcing you to play Luigi's Mansion 3. It is a masterpiece of both animation and level design. Flawed, but a masterpiece nonetheless. It is a masterpiece that will wait for you. It will wait your entire life for you. But please, play this beautiful game while that life still lasts.

PROS

• Satisfying exploration and looting
• Meticulous attention is paid to environmental detail
• Plenty of creative ideas for levels, puzzles, and boss encounters
• The various functions of the Poltergust are well thought out and utilized effectively
• The first few hours are fantastic

CONS

• Fixed camera and imprecise controls make the action consistently clumsy
• The game is longer than the amount of time the mechanics stay interesting
• Inconsistent quality across levels, puzzles, and boss encounters
• Aesthetically weak ghost designs
• Quirky tone comes across as a bit forced
• Using Gooigi is annoying in single-player, especially during bosses
• Some objectives feel like chores and busywork
• Despite all of 3's enhancements, the original Luigi's Mansion is more fun