Luigi’s Mansion 3 Switch Review
| Game: | Luigi's Mansion 3 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Nintendo |
| Developer: |
Luigi is fast becoming one of my favourite Mario characters. Perhaps it’s because in the face of hostile diversity, despite his constant anxiety and jumping at shadows, he is able to overcome his fears and charge through with gusto when it comes to saving his beloved brother and friends. It helps that the animation in Luigi’s Mansion 3 is full of life, little nuances here and there to help build personalities despite none of the characters talking normally.
Luigi, Mario, Peach and three toads find themselves invited to a grand hotel called The Last Resort. Unbeknownst to them, it is a trap set by the glamourously evil Helen Gravely, the owner of the hotel, and King Boo, returning for revenge against Luigi for sabotaging his plans to frame them all – literally. Before long, the grand facade of the hotel soon changes, revealing it to be a sinister place and Luigi finds his brother Mario, Peach and the three toads missing, setting out to find them.
Gameplay is mostly the same as the original game, though if I remember correctly, the original had a lot more backtracking and open exploration than Luigi’s Mansion 3, this game instead opting to have events take place on 15 discrete floors of the hotel. This means levels are more compact and fairly linear, but still have a lot of secrets for you to potentially come across.
First and foremost Luigi has to find a guide in Professor E. Gadd, a scientist that designs convenient tools for Luigi to use against the ghosts that infest the hotel, specifically a vacuum cleaner called the Poltergust G-00. Also along for the adventure is Luigi’s new pet pooch, Polterpup, who acts as a secondary guide and life-giver when Luigi runs out of health.
A new addition to Luigi’s Mansion 3 is the introduction of Gooigi, a green jelly baby version of Luigi that can be used to complete co-op puzzles. Thanks to his gelatinous flexibilty, Gooigi can reach places that Luigi cannot, such as being able to squeeze through grates, making him useful for finding hidden passages. You can control Gooigi and Luigi using one controller as one player, or another player can step in and control Gooigi for two player local co-op. A lot of the puzzles are made for Gooigi and are much easier if a second player is present and is the most fun way to play.
Luigi’s ultimate goal is to find 14 missing buttons for the hotel lift, Luigi exploring the many rooms and finding ghosts, treasures and keys that lead to the final boss of each level, with your reward being said button. When encountering ghosts, they will sometimes lockdown an area until you have defeated them all and while they come in varying sizes and difficulty, most can be defeated easily within a few minutes, with some requiring both Luigi and Gooigi to defeat. Having both characters attack an enemy sees it being finished off a lot quicker than when attacking alone. You defeat ghosts by flashing your torch at them to stun them and then sucking them up your vacuum by circling the analog stick in the opposite direction to where they are facing, easier said than done as they are constantly moving around, trying to escape. Sometimes you can suck up multiple ghosts at once, which is very satisfying. Some special ghosts drop items and you can tell which these are as they usually run around panicking. They can drop gold coins, lives and even collectible gems, six of which are hidden on each level.
The treasures Luigi finds–which mostly consists of hearts, gold coins and green cash–are important as he can use them to buy items from Professor E. Gadd. These include bones, which act as continues when Luigi runs out of lives. These are picked up by Polterpup who will then bring Luigi back to life. This is kind of dark when you really think about it, as you see Luigi’s dead body laying in a black void of a background before he is brought back to life by his pup. You can also buy hints as to where gems are located and also hints to where boo ghosts are hidden, both of which are optional to find.
As Luigi progresses through the hotel, he’ll pick up new weapons to use against enemies and for puzzle solving. Initially he has his vacuum and also has plungers which he can throw at items, then grab and toss around the room. The amount of havoc and mess you can cause with the plunger and vacuum will make you feel like a rock star trashing a hotel room. Cleaning up all the treasures with your vacuum is gratifying and you can even suck up rodents and insects–extra enemies that can cause you damage–which can also drop treasures. You’ll be finding a lot of treasure as you explore, probably more than you’ll ever need. As gratifying as it is, it starts to feel pointless and repetitive when you realise there’s not really that much to buy. Luigi (and Gooigi, who has all the same moves as his original) also has the ability to perform a burst move, a small gust of air that lifts him off the ground, knocking over any nearby items or opening up certain doors, such as gates. You can also use this move to repel attacking enemies.
Eventually Luigi will be given an upgrade to the Poltergust in the form of Super Suction. When Luigi is near an electrical socket, you can activate this new power and his vacuum becomes strong enough to break down walls, revealing hidden doors or other secrets. This power is sorely underused, and I don’t remember even using it against a boss, which is a missed opportunity. Another gizmo Luigi receives is the Dark Light, which can be used to reveal invisible doors and items, which can sometimes be seen in reflections.
The bosses you encounter all have their own zany stereotype personality based on their designs, from a party hard DJ to a chad water polo instructor. The most memorable boss is Polterkitty, Helen Gravely’s pet cat who can only be attacked by Gooigi. Unfortunately for Luigi, he has to turn away from the cat, allowing it to sneak up behind him before Gooigi can step in at the right moment to attack, usually as soon as the cats eyes are glowing red. Gooigi can then stun the phantom feline before sucking up its tail, which you have to do three times. The kitty will run off each time Gooigi sucks up a tail, you having to follow its trail–helped by Polterpup–before the whole routine is done again. Another memorable boss is a skeleton of a t-rex which has been possessed by a caveman ghost. This boss is in two sections, first the duppy dino and then the caveman himself. There’s even a boss that you fight while floating in an inflatable duck boat. Needless to say, bosses are humourous and varied even if you approach them in similar ways.
Once the main story is completed there’s more on offer. Screampark is a competitive mode in which up to 8 players can take part, competing in a number of mini games, such as Coin Floating, whereby players ride the inflatable duck boat to pick up as many coins as possible in a pool while avoiding enemies. Ghost Hunt has players hunting down as many ghosts as possible and Cannon Barrage has players firing cannon balls at targets to earn points. Of course, the player with the most wins. These are the only three that are available with the game, but more is available with paid DLC.
Scarescraper sees Luigi and Gooigi completing certain objectives within the hotel, such as ghost hunting or money collecting. This takes place on numerous floors, which the player can set prior to starting the game, and is timed. I played 2 player Capture the Ghost! with five floors. Enemies have different HP compared to the main game and it shows as we couldn’t even complete one floor!
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is an obvious improvement over its predecessors thanks to its modern graphics and sleeker animations. It has bundles of charm and while some moves can start to feel repetitive and unrewarding, it’s still a game that offers hours of discovery and enjoyment.
