Luigi’s Mansion 3

Genre: Puzzle / Action

Players: 1-8 Co-Op / Competitive (Local, Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a family-friendly game that combines Puzzle and Action gameplay with a fair amount of exploration to make something that’s fairly unique. This is a series of games featuring Mario’s timid green-clad brother who keeps finding himself in massive haunted buildings and must fight the ghosts that surround him with a vacuum-esque “poltergust”). For those who haven’t played the previous entries in the series (I admit, I’m one of those, so don’t expect me to compare this game to prior titles, sorry), it plays nothing like any Mario game, and in fact there’s not much else out there like it at all. Yet despite how difficult it is to find anything that compares with it, the appeal of this game is pretty clear the moment you start playing it.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Luigi’s Mansion 3 may very well be the best-looking game on the Nintendo Switch. Now, let me say, this game is absolutely gorgeous in a way that’s different than the likes of some of the other games I would consider for that honor – it doesn’t have the breadth and quiet beauty of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it doesn’t have the stunning realism of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and it doesn’t bring the colorful world of Mario to life at high speeds the way Mario Kart 8 Deluxe does. However, at what Luigi’s Mansion 3 is trying to do, it is absolutely unparalelled on the Nintendo Switch.

Firstly, the lighting, shadows, and reflections here are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and pair with excellent textures to give the game a cartoony realism that is just a joy to look at. On top of this, Luigi’s Mansion 3 has some of the best animation I’ve ever seen in a videogame. Luigi is extremely expressive, conveying his personality and mood in every movement, from the way he stands rigidly straight and shivers when facing a new threat (in turn shaking the flashlight that’s likely illuminating the room, making the shadows it casts shiver with him). The environments here all look fantastic as well, full of individually-rendered objects with physics that react to the actions of Luigi and his ghostly enemies.

I have to give special mention to this sound in this game, particularly the vocalizations of the characters. While characters in this game tend to say little actual language beyond occasional brief one-word statements (“Doggie!” “MaaaAaAaariooo?” “Ohhhhh no…. no no no no no…”), there is surprisingly a ton of voicework being done here to convey the complete range of emotions Luigi and the other characters go through, and while it seems a bit odd to have so much talking without actually saying anything, I cannot stress enough how well this works with the animation to truly drive home exactly what these characters are about and how they’re feeling.

Also, the music in this game is fantastic. While there’s nothing here I would toss on in the background and listen to when I’m not playing the game, this is definitely the sort of soundtrack that enhances the experience of the game, with music that frequently makes use of a classy sax, bass, and clarinet that help to convey the expensive surroundings that are currently being torn apart by ghosts and a vacuum cleaner, with occasional hints of Hitchcock-style horror music to emphasize the more frightening (well, in a cartoony way) moments of the game.

The premise of the game this time around is that Mario, Peach, Luigi, and a few Toads have been invited to a high-end hotel to live it up for a vacation, with Luigi bringing ghost dog Polterpup as well. This all turns out to be a not very well-disguised ruse to trap the group, a plan Luigi just barely manages to escape from while the others are magically entrapped in paintings by series nemesis King Boo. Before long, Luigi happens upon not only his trusty poltergust, but his ally from the prior games, Professor E. Gadd, and together, they work to explore the hotel so Luigi can rescue his trapped friends. Yeah, it’s not exactly Shakespeare, but the Mario universe games have never had the deepest plots anyway.

Gameplay in this game involves exploring the hotel and using the various abilities of the Poltergust to tear it apart and solve puzzles, as well as to fight the ghosts he occasionally encounters. Luigi can suck or blow using the vacuum, can flash a light bulb to stun enemies, shoot a plunger that can then be latched on to in order to tug on objects and enemies, and make use of a few other abilities, some of which combine these actions.

While I’m not well-versed in the prior games in the series, I know that a large portion of Luigi’s move set in this game is all-new, and it all fits in very well with his other abilities. Players can combine the “suck” and “blow” commands to use the Poltergust to jump, they can tap the A button while sucking up a ghost or object to “slam” that object down to the ground, they can fire out a plunger and use it to tug away objects enemies are using to shield themselves, and then of course there’s the big new feature of this game, “Gooigi”, a clone Luigi can construct out of a vat of goo he gets shortly into the game, which can easily slide through grates and is impervious to many of the threats that could harm Luigi, but instantly melts when it touches water.

It may all sound like a lot, but it’s all fairly easy to get a grasp of, and the game does a good job introducing these concepts at a steady rate and ensuring that players understand them instinctively before moving on. This game actually gets a lot of mileage out of a few simple actions, managing to make for some interesting puzzles that benefit from a wide variety of moves derived from a few simple commands.

Battles with enemies are themselves often a puzzle of sorts, not only challenging players to multitask fighting off multiple enemies at once, but figure out how to get past the defenses of different kinds of enemies as well. However, most of the game is exploring the large hotel and trying to figure out how to use your abilities to tear apart the rooms you’re going through, which is not only viscerally satisfying, but also makes for some great “aha!” moments when you realize how to get past a new obstacle.

So much of this game is a joy to play, but there are a few flaws. First, the default control scheme is terrible, and makes aiming the Poltergust a real pain. Thankfully, there’s an alternate control scheme players can use that’s much easier, and actually uses gyroscopic motion control to good effect. However, regardless of what control scheme you use, one flaw that remains is that Luigi’s walk speed is on the slow side – this game really could have used a run button.

Also, while players will no doubt delight in using the Poltergust to suck up tons of money (both coins and paper money) throughout the game, it’s disappointing how little you can actually do with this money, with the only thing you seem to be able to do with it being buying one-use items. It would have been nice if players could spend that money on enhancing their abilities or something like that.

I should also make note about the game’s multiplayer modes, which are… there. Players can play the free-for-all competitive Scream Park mode that turns this game’s mechanics into a more simple Party Game of sorts, or team up in co-op to play through the Scarescraper mode, where they are tasked with clearing out all the ghosts on a floor within a time limit. Both of these modes are entertaining, but lack the depth of the single-player campaign, and they all seem to be designed with 4-8 players in mind, even if they technically support as few as two players. Scarescraper in particular seems like it absolutely calls for more players, as me and a partner found ourselves struggling to complete even one floor within the time limit.

Still, while there are definitely areas here that could have been improved, overall Luigi’s Mansion 3 is an absolute joy to play. This game has one of the finest presentations on the Nintendo Switch, with gameplay that’s fun and has a fair amount of variety, and is truly unique to boot. If you have a Nintendo Switch, this game should be high on your list of games to get.

tl;dr – Luigi’s Mansion 3 is an absolutely gorgeous family-friendly game about Mario’s cowardly brother once again having to save the day by using a vacuum to suck up ghosts in a haunted mansion er, hotel. This game has a stunning presentation, that makes it one of the best-looking games on the Nintendo Switch, as well as excellent gameplay that combines Puzzle and Action elements with exploration in a way that’s truly unique. There are a few areas that could do with improvement, but overall this is absolutely a top-tier game on the Nintendo Switch that everyone who owns the console should consider getting.

Grade: A

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