Luigi's Mansion 3

Voices of: Charles Martinet, Samantha Kelly, Kazumi Totaka
Developer: Next Level Games
Publisher: Nintendo
Directed by: Devon Blanchet, Jason Carr, Bryce Holliday
Rating: E
Genre: Action-Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch
2019

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Luigi and his friends receive a prize for a free hotel stay! They travel to the hotel, elated for some rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, it was all a ruse to capture them in paintings. Luigi must work with Professor E. Gadd once again to save his friends from a ghostly menace.

Review:
Tim: The third game in Nintendo's Luigi Mansion series is by far the most impressive. While the original created this incredible franchise and new gameplay, and the 3DS game expanded on the ideas, Luigi's Mansion 3 feels like it pulls everything together in a beautifully polished, challenging, fun experience. The game benefits from the gorgeous Switch graphics, the refined and expanded gameplay, and a certain confidence that shows up in every second of the game. This third game in the franchise is certainly the most refined and dialed in.

I do think the franchise is interesting- the original game felt so fresh back in 2001. It took twelve years for us to get a sequel, this time on the handheld, with Dark Moon in 2013. Now, it's six years later (and 18 since the last console game) and the trilogy is rounded out in terrific fashion. For any fans of the franchise, the game feels new and intimately familiar. The same formula is kept intact- Luigi travels through the hotel (instead of a mansion, this time) and sucks up ghosts with the Poltergust G-00. It has the same Dark-Light device attached, and Luigi once again collects money as he moves through the game. It feels very familiar. And yet, Nintendo is never one to rest on its laurels. There's new mechanics here- one of the coolest is the ability of Luigi to bodyslam ghosts that are caught in the Poltergust. This is incredibly fun to do. The biggest new innovation is the inclusion of Gooigi, a Luigi replica made out of goo. This is the big game-changer for this one- you have to navigate two different Luigis at time to solve different puzzles. Puzzles have always been part of this franchise, but it felt to me like it was really ramped up for this one. It's not a "new" concept, but it adds a wonderful new element to this game. There are many different areas that are inaccessible to Luigi, so he has to shoot out his Gooigi to retrieve items. This adds a totally different element to the game. What I loved most about Gooigi is that a second player can control him. So, I played this game with my family during Covid- my five year-old son loved getting to be Gooigi as we'd direct him through the game. If Gooigi dies, no worries, you try again. It's a brilliant way to include a fun multiplayer in a way that is essential to completing the game, but feels safer for young kids. I straight up loved it. This was a family game we all played together and had an absolute ball.

It took us about 29 hours to complete the game, so easily the longest in the series so far. We did achieve the "A" Rank. Our total gold was 81,565. We collected all gems and every single Boo. For the Achievements, we got the Collection 22/23 finished, Hotel 17/17, and Battle 5/7. This franchise has always had a good amount of depth of things to achieve.

Like the other games in this series, Nintendo balances easy and accessible fun with some true challenges. There were some difficult bosses in the game, but most notably, the final boss. King Boo once again, but this time he was an absolute slog to get through. I couldn't believe the difficulty ramp up to defeat him! I played over and over again and I admit, I grew increasingly frustrated. I couldn't believe how difficult it was. In hindsight, it's a tremendous and memorable challenge. At the time, though, I was beyond frustrated and just wanted to finish the game. Nintendo has never shied away from giving immense challenges at the end of its games, and I found this boss one of the harder ones in recent memory. Eventually I did defeat it, but boy oh boy, it was hard.

Luigi's Mansion 3 is a great game and it leans into the wonderful potential of the Nintendo Switch. It's a slick, beautiful, polished game that further cements this as one of Nintendo's best franchises. It gave my family something to focus on during Covid, so it makes the game and franchise grow even brighter in my memories. I loved playing this game with my whole family.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Luigi's Mansion, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Mario is Missing!, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker