Luigi's Mansion 3 Review (Switch)

No review code used, I purchased the game myself.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is the latest addition to the Luigi’s Mansion series. The original that released on the GameCube, had a 3DS port last year so now the entire series (outside of the arcade game) is playable on handheld devices.

Check Out Any Time You Like

Luigi, his brother and friends have been invited for a free stay at the Last Resort. Of course this is yet another trick by the ghosts who have freed King Boo (again). Luigi survives by way of laundry chute and must find his loved ones before escaping. Thankfully the latest Poltergust model is nearby so Luigi can suck up any ghosts in his way.

As someone who has only played the original, I found the strobulb mechanic odd. As instead of turning your flashlight on and off it is always on and you charge it to stun ghosts. While it’s not very different in the long run it does make the game less dark and spooky. Vacuuming is still the same, after stunning a ghost you can suck it up and start pulling in the opposite direction to take down its health. While they may escape, once a ghost is down to zero you will have successfully captured them. Another move is the Dark Light which you apply over sepia paintings or areas where it appears an object used to be, to make them appear.

Having yet another new Poltergust Luigi has a few more moves to help him. This being a blowback, which functions as a jump on the spot while also blowing any ghosts or objects away from him. A plunger can be shot out, if landing on an object it can be pulled with the vacuum and flung over to break. The slam that is used with the plunger, can also be done when sucking up a ghost after building enough resistance. You can slam ghosts into each other as well, making combat a speedier process.

I Had To Find The Passage Back

After rescuing Professor E.Gadd you will also be able to use Googi (who debuted in the 3DS remake of Luigi’s Mansion). This is a clone of Luigi who can withstand spikes and fit through grates. He dissolves at the slightest touch of water. Gooigi isn’t optional, many of the puzzles require use of him and even a few boss fights. When controlling Gooigi, Luigi will be unconcious unless playing in co-op. As after unlocking Googi you can from then on play the rest of the game in local two player co-op with one of you as Gooigi. Who is good for a younger player to grab as Gooigi can be brought back easily after dying and can’t open doors.

With this handy tool on his back, Luigi makes his way around the hotel. Exploration is key, as rooms may be locked or blocked from the other side. Making full use of your move set is needed to find your way around, as floors are full of puzzles impeding your progress. Entering rooms and halls you may be blocked until you defeat all the ghosts around you. The goal of each floor is to find the next elevator button as they’ve gone missing. All of them usually end up in the hands on the boss of the floor. Which are mostly, solo ghost fights who require a different use of your moves before you can stun them.

Please Bring Me My Wine

Asides from making your way up the hotel to find your friends there are also collectable gems and boos. Each floor has six gems and there are a total of sixteen boos to collect. Gems may be visible in glass cases, or hidden away. Boos are still annoying but nowhere near as bad as the first game. Only changing rooms if you picked the wrong hiding spot to check. Money is overflowing in this hotel, having a use in this game. As you can buy extra lives and boo/gem locators.

There are a couple of sections with specific mechanics, my favourite being to throw Toads into objects. E. Gadd’s hints were helpful when it came to previous mechanics I didn’t know about like the Dark Light. I am thankful there was the option to turn them off. As he really won’t stop repeating himself.

They Gathered For The Feast

Asides from the local co-op there are two different multiplayer modes you can enjoy with Luigi’s Mansion 3. First is the ScreamPark which lets you play with a total of eight people on the one system, divided into two teams. Coin Floating, based on the mechanics of the Boilerworks area, involves using your vaccuum to navigate on a float ring to collect coins and avoid mines. While Ghost Hunt is a great way to test who the best Luigi is, as you compete to suck up the most ghosts. Last is Cannon Barrage where you must load cannonballs, then set them flying to targets. Obviously the more players you have the more enjoyable it will be but Cannon Barrage is the only one I found that doesn’t work well with just two players.

Returning from Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon is the ScareScraper. This lets you go online where four (or eight if you all have a local co-op partner as your Gooigi) strive to complete the goal of each floor to make it to the end. The goals can be to catch all the ghosts, reach a certain money total, find the missing toads or defeat all the crows. There are traps you can be caught in and need another player to get you out. Which is why I recommend playing this with friends over voice chat rather than strangers. It’s a great way to extend what you can get out of this game. Plus it’s where you can find the rare ghosts for your collection.

How They Dance In The Courtyard

The building is definitely more of a resort, with only one floor for accommodation. After the first floors the rest are under different themes, such as a garden, dining area, shopping mall or a pirate ship. This helps give each area a different vibe. With some rooms having a painted sky on the ceiling and walls to immerse the style more.

While not as dark or spooky as the first game, there is plenty of detail outside of the decor. So much as going to show what is blocking a door, which you can later solve. The expression on Luigi and other characters is great and sometimes hilarious. The soundtrack, while not something I usually heard in my bid to collect as much money as I can, fits the world they’ve created.

But You Can Never Leave

I had no performance issues with the game and it looks almost as good in handheld. One major annoyance was that a lot money and some hearts would get stuck in or fall out of bounds. Gooigi often hit a few points of no return, which is remedied by calling him to the Poltgergust. In co-op it is the Gooigi player who has to put themselves back in the tank. This happened quite a number of times. Another co-op issue is that you can stun each other with the strobulb. While possible to play with single joy-con I recommend against that. I didn’t like that it was auto-save only but it’s not a big deal.

The pacing is another issue as the later floors are much shorter, some of which are little more than a boss fight. Plus the two instances of having to chase the Polterkitty through the hotel seemed pretty pointless when we couldn’t catch it either time. There is yet another instance of backtracking which felt like a drag when I was getting so close to the end.

In comparison to the original I found there are almost minimal ghost encounters until later in the game. I could usually run around previous areas without being disturbed. As such outside of some boss fights the game was quite easy even on my own.

Overall

I played around three quarters of the game in local co-op and it took us twelve hours to beat the story. Outside of some co-op niggles and pacing problems we thoroughly enjoyed the game together. In comparison to other Nintendo Switch titles playing in co-op was an ideal way to play instead of a half baked option. It’s also a great game to play on your own, with additional multiplayer modes.

Final Verdict: I like it a Lot!