Haunted hotel

Luigi just cannot seem to catch a break. Being the sidekick Mario brother has its advantages, but the plumber with an affinity for green never seems to get his due credit. Luigi’s Mansion is a series that Nintendo has always seemed to care about, just not enough to really give it room to breathe. With the Switch being the sales powerhouse that it is Luigi’s Mansion 3 has the best chance to be the most important release in the franchise’s history. It also helps that this is by far the most fleshed-out and polished version of it to date.

The stage is set. Luigi and his friends are invited to a beautiful hotel for a relaxing vacation. Little do they know this is all a setup. Luigi’s friends are captured and turned into paintings, and the sidekick brother has to rescue them once again. That is OK, Luigi is a pro at this. He discovers his trusty ghost-sucking vacuum and bumps into his friend Professor E. Gadd and sets out to recover his friends, one floor at a time. The story is important because it showcases how well Nintendo can convey emotion without lengthy dialogue. Most of it is gibberish and yet I knew exactly what everyone was saying and feeling. The animations are superb, delivering a more compelling comedy romp than most games with a much more outlandish script.

MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Switch
Price I’d Pay: $59.99

The biggest strength of Luigi’s Mansion 3 is its design. The hotel is broken down by floor, with each one representing a sort of mini-challenge that is themed. One floor might be focused on a musical puzzle while the next involves a deranged supernatural gardener. The idea is that Luigi must complete one to gain access to the elevator button to another. This sort of gated progression works in keeping things flowing throughout the game. Each floor feels different from the last, employing players to learn all their skills as well as a few new ones along the way. It is brilliant design. If there is one flaw in the layout, it is that the game does go on for just a bit longer than it should have. Trimming down a couple floors would have helped immensely.

Luigi has a lot of his former abilities at hand here. He can suck and blow with his Poltergust to take down baddies. He also has his trusty flashlight and blacklight to stun ghosts as well as showcase hidden items and secrets. The biggest addition though is Gooigi. Shortly into the game E. Gadd introduces Luigi to his own sidekick. Gooigi is an amorphous blob that pops out of the Poltergust and can aid Luigi on his adventure. He is able to slip through drains and grates, as well as use all of Luigi’s abilities in tandem to solve puzzles. It is a great addition and one that leads to some great “a-ha” moments.

Gooigi also serves another purpose. He is the co-op catalyst. Playing with a friend almost always makes things better. A second player can join in using Gooigi and thus eliminating the need to switch back and forth between him. Sure this tempers down the difficulty quite a bit, but having a full-fledged co-op mode is worth it. There is also an online co-op horde-style mode, where players can join up and run through a series of floors taking down ghosts. It is actually quite fun.

There is a lot to Luigi’s Mansion 3, almost too much at times. While I love the floor design the game instigates some harsh backtracking in the back half of the campaign that pads out the adventure. This would have been a perfect 12 hour game, but instead it clocks in at over 15 hours. While the design is great, it wears out a little over ten hours in. There are also a ton of collectibles and achievements to obtain. The money in the game is mostly useless as buying all the upgrades happens quickly. There are gems on each floor and Boos to hunt down, but outside of bragging rights there isn’t much purpose to them. I wish the game was a little more focused at times.

What is most impressive though is how good it looks. The sharp style really masks the hardware limitations of the Switch. Animations are stellar, and seeing every single emotion on characters faces is incredible. There is also a really cool physics engine at work here. Every room has an abundance of objects that can be moved and thrown around the room. Water reacts like it should, and Gooigi is a sight to behold at times. This extends into the audio department, as everything just sounds fantastic. The music sets the mood, and hearing the eerie wind whistle through the windows is downright creepy at times. Once again Nintendo nails the presentation.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is far and away the best entry in the series. It uses a familiar formula with a unique twist to create a single player adventure worthy of the quality we come to expect from Nintendo’s first party lineup. The stellar animation and presentation are unmatched, and the addition of co-op play is a huge bonus. Nintendo continues to deliver exemplary titles for its newest console. It almost feels like they can do no wrong on Switch. Yet another game that Switch owners should not miss out on.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.