Next Level Games takes another crack at the Luigi's Mansion series, with mostly successful results. The pacing is greatly improved over 2, the game generally doesn't overstay its welcome and it's constantly throwing different things at you (the 17 floors/levels are all wildly different in theme and all have something worth remembering them for, making it more similar to the first one in this regard).

The inclusion of Gooigi was great as it allowed for really interesting puzzles and even a couple of really good bosses, the second to last one being my personal favourite. Having to manage both Luigis at the same time is something the game does fairly often and it's always clever.

Clever is a good way to describe the entire game, as everything here has a very specific purpose and there's very little in terms of filler or padding. Really the only issues I have with the game are that there's things I wish it did, like having a bit more backtracking (considering how interesting every level this time around I'm surprised it only happens around 3-4 times) and generally the game not having a lot of unlockables, meaning that unless you're going for 100% there's not much reason to explore this game. Which is a shame as this is one of those games where it's really fun to interact with everything and see every nook and cranny of every room.

Also kudos to the developers for managing to make a game this good looking on Switch while also having a physics engine running in the background, which I thought really enhanced the game. It's just really satisfying to vacuum objects and throwing stuff at stuff, I could do that for hours.

And ranks are back! They're not as interesting as they were in the first one but I'll let that slide. All in all, this game is very much a worthwhile experience for anybody who is looking for a unique game to play. Very interested to see Next Level Games do more with the series in the future, which I imagine will happen eventually

Let's get this out of the way real quick: Luigi's Mansion 3 is pretty as hell. Given how powerful the Switch is relative to every other console Nintendo's cranked out, that shouldn't be too surprising, but the lighting and texture work here is on another level entirely; it reminds me of the sheer wow factor Nintendo Land had for me when I booted my Wii U for the first time back in 2012.
That said, the rest of the game (story and gameplay loop alike) is fairly rote, in a way. The setup is simple: The Mario Bros. and their friends are invited to an all-expenses-paid vacay at a swanky hotel (the grimly-named "Last Resort"), which turns out to be a trap laid by King Boo and a handful of ghostly conspirators. Everyone in the party gets imprisoned in paintings save for Luigi, who now has to search the hotel for the captives with help from his iconic ghost vacuum. In practice, you do this by riding the hotel's elevator from floor to floor, scouring each for friend paintings and, failing that, buttons removed from the lift that will allow it to reach other floors. Almost all of the floors have a unique boss ghost, and the higher Luigi goes, the stranger the facilities get, to the point where he runs into pyramids, pirate ships, and a fully-functional movie studio.
Speaking as someone who played entirely solo (the game has co-op functions thanks to the new ability to summon a slimy duplicate named Gooigi), the game's controls are its weakest link, aside from a weak ending sequence. Walking Luigi around is simple enough, through the left stick, and when using the vacuum's tools it's often necessary to use the right stick to turn him around or change his vertical aim. This works well enough when you're sucking things up, since the vac's air controls are the triggers. It's when you try to aim your plunger shot, a flashlight burst, or the secret-revealing dark light that things get hairy—these are mapped to face buttons, and using face buttons with the right stick requires an uncomfortable claw grip. Sure, the plunger and strobe light are also on the shoulder buttons, but the game doesn't tell you that, and the dark light cannot be remapped. Simply put, I think the game tries to put too many features into too little controller space.
So the core controls for making Luigi do a lot of what he needs to do are mediocre, and the game's core loop isn't too exciting—in fact, with the later game cat hunts, it's clear they're going for padding. What takes Luigi's Mansion 3 from okay to good or even great is the sheer personality. Going back to the opening, it's not just the graphics that're impressive, but the life breathed into them by the animators at Next Level Games, who put so much work into the mannerisms of Luigi and the ghosts around him that I've seen people compare the experience to what an animated Mario movie could (and should) feel like. Moments like the ending of the studio floor and most things to do with Polterpup (puppy!) usually left me unapologetically smiling at the screen, as did the brothers' reunion after the game's penultimate, best boss fight. Suffice to say, with the way these characters and the world are realized, I'm eager to see how Next Level uses their time next.

I very much enjoyed my time with this game. Its easily one of my favorites in overall visuals thanks to its very charming cutscenes and the amazing graphics. I pretty much always had a grin on my face watching the characters interact between each other.

As for the actual gameplay, I feel Luigi's Mansion 3 didn't do much to reinvent the wheel that the other games had already used, but frankly this series has a very solid foundation so I really don't mind. I feel it takes the best parts of both games within the Luigi's Mansion series: the game's overall structure resembles the first game since you're only exploring one huge mansion (well its a hotel in this case) instead of several smaller mansions, but it comes with some features that the second game introduced such as the Dark Light. Sucking up ghosts feels more satisfying than ever thanks to Luigi's newfound ability of slamming ghosts onto the ground to weaken them. Its a fun new way to handle the dastardly spirits that still functions similarly to the previous games. Overall, the combat is fun and easy to understand, just as it is in the previous games. In my opinion, the addition of Gooigi is the biggest thing that Luigi's Mansion 3 introduced. He really changed how I look at the game's many puzzling situations and had me think outside the box, although sometimes it is rather obvious when you're supposed to use him. Personally I've always viewed the Luigi's Mansion series as puzzle games, they always give me many moments of being completely stumped to the point where I have to look up the answer online. However, I never felt the solutions to puzzles in Luigi's Mansion 3 were cheaply hidden or obtuse. Each time I had to look it up, I realized I was just looking at the situation in the wrong way.

Pretty much the only complaint I have about this game that I can think of off the top of my head is that some floors feel too short and others feel too long, it seems to be a bit inconsistent when it comes to that. But honestly it really doesn't matter much, I had such a good time with this game.

Luigi's Mansion 3 is a pretty fun game. There's honestly not a whole lot i can say about it if i'm being perfectly honest. It looks great, it plays great, i liked the set piece variety in most of the floors. The puzzles are fine for what this game is, they aren't complex at all and the hardest ones are still easier than the easiest Zelda puzzles. In another game, i would've complained about it but most of this game is just going from room to room, sucking up ghosts and finding the elevator button to advance to the next stage.

If there's one big issue i have with this game, it's filler. More than once, you'll be forced to backtrack to a previous floor and this always, always happens right after you unlock the next floor. And it's never justified, it exists purely for padding. Other times, there are floors that look neat visually but it's just a glorified boss room, which is disappointing in my opinion. There's also a certain gimmicky boss fight with just horrendous controls that it's easily the worst part of the game.

But besides all that, this game is fine. It ain't gonna blow your mind but it has charm. It also has a Kaiju fight sequence so bonus points.

Despite modeling the first Luigi’s Mansion after open-ended games such as the first Resident Evil and Nintendo’s own Zelda dungeons, Intelligent Systems decided to cut the mansion experience into smaller pieces for its sequel. Dark Moon ditched any pretense of non-linearity, opting for separate mansions and a mission-based structure instead. The third entry splits the difference to find a middle ground between both entries, to strange effect.

Core to this intent is the ever-present elevator, acting as the connective tissue between the floors of the hotel. It conveniently fills the role of a level selector while integrating itself within the game world, meaning that, unlike in Dark Moon, there are no hard cuts between objectives. This aids the game world in maintaining the pretense of a mildly realistic space, bringing it somewhat closer to that of the first entry.

The main issue with this approach is that it’s, again, a pretense. With the exception of the early areas, which are a bit more interconnected, the rest of the floors follow a similar structure: go through the rooms, solve their puzzles, collect the (optional) set of unique gems, face the floor’s boss. No attempt is done to connect these spaces beyond the elevator, since doing so would dilute the theming of each individual floor, and surprising with what’s ahead is the most powerful tool the game has for pushing the player forward. After a short while, this structure draws attention to itself, and might make you wish for a shorter, less disjointed adventure. The moment-to-moment surprises and jokes land well in the early hours, but are also stretch a bit too thin for a 10-20 hour playthrough. The one shakeup the game introduces after a certain point —a boss that moves across floors so Luigi can run again through previously cleared levels— is also reused. On a first playthrough, it’s fresh enough to be worthwhile, but my guess is that it will drag the pacing for those replaying it for a higher rating.

Worth booking for a night or two, but don’t let it haunt you for too long.

Full review on pressakey.com [GER]: https://pressakey.blog/118095

Review | Gruselkabinett mit Pixar-Charme

Luigi's Mansion habe ich damals zusammen mit meiner ersten eigenen Spielkonsole geschenkt bekommen, sein Nachfolger ist für mich das Sahnestück der Nintendo-3DS-Bibliothek - und Luigi's Mansion 3 nun der neue Höhepunkt der Serie! Was für ein Ideen- und Grafikfeuerwerk Next Level Games in diesem wunderbaren Hotelkomplex zünden, ist ganz großes Animationsfilmkino. Die Detailverliebtheit, die in jedem Stockwerk, ja sogar in jedem einzelnen Raum steckt, hat mich von Anfang an begeistert und anders als gedacht nehmen Kreativität und Verspieltheit mit steigender Spielzeit nicht ab, sondern sogar noch zu. Mit Pömpel, Slam und Gooigi ist die Spielmechanik noch besser, noch abwechslungsreicher geworden - und die Möglichkeiten werden in den vielfältigen Etagen von der Lobby bis zur mittelalterlichen Burg mit tollen Bosskämpfen, Geheimnissen und vielen cleveren Rätseln optimal ausgeschöpft.

Besonders freut mich, dass Luigi's Mansion mit diesem dritten Teil wieder zurück zum skurillen Gruselkabinett gefunden hat und die Geister, die man während dieser 15 Stunden Spielzeit jagt, Charakter und Humor besitzen - das hat mir auf dem Nintendo 3DS gefehlt. Eigentlich stimmt also wirklich fast alles ... würde Luigi doch nur wieder mit der Musik mitsummen! Aber diese Kleinigkeit ist ebenso verschmerzbar wie die leichte Routine, die sich gegen Spielende beim Einsaugen und Zerstören des Interieurs ergibt. Ich hatte mich sehr auf diesen Spuk im Luxushotel gefreut und bin mit dem Ergebnis nicht nur zufrieden, sondern wirklich davon begeistert. Ich kann kaum erwarten, wie es mit diesem liebenswerten Geisterjäger weitergeht!

I can't say I quite enjoyed this as much as everyone else who raved about it at launch, but, in my opinion, is the best Luigi's Mansion out there. It expands upon the concept to such a grand degree that allows itself to get insanely creative and expressive, all for the best. While the new combat system felt off at times, the new tool set additions did wonders for expanding upon exploration at times. Not a fan of the game's bizarre level pacing/structure though - really brought the experience down for me.