Do y'all remember The Incredibles 2? You know, that sequel to a really fondly remembered film that came out 10+ years after the original? It was requested by fans for so long, and everyone wanted to see the family of supers return to the big screen, and in 2018 it finally happened!... But... now-a-days it's hard to see any discussion around it. That doesn't mean that it's bad, a lot of people really like it to this day, but the general consensus is that it's a lot inferior to the original; it did have prettier visuals and more impressing action, but it lacked much of the humor, charisma and heart that made the first movie special. It was, by all accounts, a clear example of style over substance...
...Oh hello there Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon!
This things existence in the first place it's surprising in itself, I mean, the original Luigi's Mansion was amazing and to this day is looked back upon as an incredible entry in the Gamecube's catalogue and one of the most unique games Nintendo has ever produced, but to see it finally return with a brand new sequel after 12 years, releasing in a handheld and developed by Next Level Games must have been an huge surprise, but a welcomed one for sure. Personally, this one was my first rodeo with the series, I barely even knew what a Luigi's Mansion was! And I do have fond memories of the game, y'know, catching ghost, resolving puzzles, having fun... but time has proven to be harsh to this game, both for me and to many, MANY other people, but I think it's only fair to start with the positives.
A lot of changes were made compared to the last entry, the clearest being the visual, and it looks... actually pretty good! It's described by many as this Tim Burton-esque style, with sharp edges and a wide color palette, and it actually looks wonderfully, it is very different compared to the first game, but it gives a unique feeling to the mansions, making them vibrant and full of ambience and personality, and the game being in a handheld, it helps to make everything even more clear. The new gameplay is honestly a huge upgrade, the new system for catching ghost makes far more rewarding it gives off a lot of feedback, the ghost-catching and some of the puzzles are by far the best part of the game, and the new look of the characters, ghosts and the way that Luigi acts have a lot of charm, and I have no trouble saying that this game was the responsible for giving Luigi even more personality.
So yeah, the game's fun and looks good, so case closed right? It's a great game, no? Even tho I would love to say that, this game has just so many detractors that even saying it's fun has a caveats, 'cause it's fun, but it's not consistently fun, at times even it's frustrating as hell.
The game is very different in structure to any other games in the series, instead of taking place in only one building and as you progress through the game you explore the different floors, this one has a total of 5 different mansions, each decided by more or less five missions and a boss. This structure does expand on the original, and the mission system could work better in a handheld and its focus on more bite-sized play sessions, but they key word here is could. Having 5 mansions does give some visual and puzzle variety, but when you have to divide them in several different missions just gives off the feeling of the feeling of passing the same rooms over and over again, and even if there are some puzzles and collectables here and there, when you just have to go thought the same thing time and time again, when you are bombarded with ghost encounters with no rhyme or reason, when you can't progress 'cause uh-oh!, the ghosts stole the thing you just got and needed to progress or you gotta go after the polter-pup, it all amounts to one terrible thing. One horrendous, hideous, disgusting thing...
Padding
The game is filled to the brim with these missions that are only there to pad out the game, and it's just not fun. Most of it is the best of cases completely pointless and in the worst boring and tedious, and I found myself just praying to end with the mansion I was at, knowing damn well that there was more to come in the next mansions.
One of the biggest gripes people have with the game doesn't help either, the ghosts. I'll say, I do like the design and personality of the ghost... in a vacuum. They are fine, charismatic and actually funny, and each one of them a cool and distinct mechanic, except the green ones, which are either the simplest out of all or they have a mechanic that you have to overcome. This is fine, fine until you realize this is everything the game has to offer. There are a surprisingly low amount of ghost considering how many mansions there are here, there are attempts of doing something original, like the three ghost mirror ladies and the blue ghost, but you basically keep fighting the same things over and over again. But hey! Just when you are getting tires... the just start using more powerful versions of the ghosts... which are basically the same visually and the only thing the change is the amount of health they have... yeah no-not very good, honestly...
And the bosses... look, there are fine bosses here, the first one is actually the better out of all of them and the last two are not that bad, but the rest of them are really underwhelming AT BEST, when you just keep repeating the same ghost over and just possesses different thing, and when your bosses are just a bunch of waves of ghost and a turret section with gyro controls., you know that some things had to be given a little bit more of thought.
The core of the game is not bad at all, but it's just everything else that drags it down, it makes it a chore to beat and to replay, and seeing constant mistakes make even the best of visuals and gameplay not able to carry the whole game. The repetition and poor variety is what kills the game for me, plus just the fact that it just wasn't a good sequel to the original, it knew how to expand on some things, but it got to lost in the process, going overboard and as such, it forgot what made the first game special, it's simplicity and brevity.
It may be prettier and flashier, but lacks the pacing, charisma, and heart of the original, it's just style over substance...
...reminds me of a certain movie...
...Oh hello there Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon!
This things existence in the first place it's surprising in itself, I mean, the original Luigi's Mansion was amazing and to this day is looked back upon as an incredible entry in the Gamecube's catalogue and one of the most unique games Nintendo has ever produced, but to see it finally return with a brand new sequel after 12 years, releasing in a handheld and developed by Next Level Games must have been an huge surprise, but a welcomed one for sure. Personally, this one was my first rodeo with the series, I barely even knew what a Luigi's Mansion was! And I do have fond memories of the game, y'know, catching ghost, resolving puzzles, having fun... but time has proven to be harsh to this game, both for me and to many, MANY other people, but I think it's only fair to start with the positives.
A lot of changes were made compared to the last entry, the clearest being the visual, and it looks... actually pretty good! It's described by many as this Tim Burton-esque style, with sharp edges and a wide color palette, and it actually looks wonderfully, it is very different compared to the first game, but it gives a unique feeling to the mansions, making them vibrant and full of ambience and personality, and the game being in a handheld, it helps to make everything even more clear. The new gameplay is honestly a huge upgrade, the new system for catching ghost makes far more rewarding it gives off a lot of feedback, the ghost-catching and some of the puzzles are by far the best part of the game, and the new look of the characters, ghosts and the way that Luigi acts have a lot of charm, and I have no trouble saying that this game was the responsible for giving Luigi even more personality.
So yeah, the game's fun and looks good, so case closed right? It's a great game, no? Even tho I would love to say that, this game has just so many detractors that even saying it's fun has a caveats, 'cause it's fun, but it's not consistently fun, at times even it's frustrating as hell.
The game is very different in structure to any other games in the series, instead of taking place in only one building and as you progress through the game you explore the different floors, this one has a total of 5 different mansions, each decided by more or less five missions and a boss. This structure does expand on the original, and the mission system could work better in a handheld and its focus on more bite-sized play sessions, but they key word here is could. Having 5 mansions does give some visual and puzzle variety, but when you have to divide them in several different missions just gives off the feeling of the feeling of passing the same rooms over and over again, and even if there are some puzzles and collectables here and there, when you just have to go thought the same thing time and time again, when you are bombarded with ghost encounters with no rhyme or reason, when you can't progress 'cause uh-oh!, the ghosts stole the thing you just got and needed to progress or you gotta go after the polter-pup, it all amounts to one terrible thing. One horrendous, hideous, disgusting thing...
Padding
The game is filled to the brim with these missions that are only there to pad out the game, and it's just not fun. Most of it is the best of cases completely pointless and in the worst boring and tedious, and I found myself just praying to end with the mansion I was at, knowing damn well that there was more to come in the next mansions.
One of the biggest gripes people have with the game doesn't help either, the ghosts. I'll say, I do like the design and personality of the ghost... in a vacuum. They are fine, charismatic and actually funny, and each one of them a cool and distinct mechanic, except the green ones, which are either the simplest out of all or they have a mechanic that you have to overcome. This is fine, fine until you realize this is everything the game has to offer. There are a surprisingly low amount of ghost considering how many mansions there are here, there are attempts of doing something original, like the three ghost mirror ladies and the blue ghost, but you basically keep fighting the same things over and over again. But hey! Just when you are getting tires... the just start using more powerful versions of the ghosts... which are basically the same visually and the only thing the change is the amount of health they have... yeah no-not very good, honestly...
And the bosses... look, there are fine bosses here, the first one is actually the better out of all of them and the last two are not that bad, but the rest of them are really underwhelming AT BEST, when you just keep repeating the same ghost over and just possesses different thing, and when your bosses are just a bunch of waves of ghost and a turret section with gyro controls., you know that some things had to be given a little bit more of thought.
The core of the game is not bad at all, but it's just everything else that drags it down, it makes it a chore to beat and to replay, and seeing constant mistakes make even the best of visuals and gameplay not able to carry the whole game. The repetition and poor variety is what kills the game for me, plus just the fact that it just wasn't a good sequel to the original, it knew how to expand on some things, but it got to lost in the process, going overboard and as such, it forgot what made the first game special, it's simplicity and brevity.
It may be prettier and flashier, but lacks the pacing, charisma, and heart of the original, it's just style over substance...
...reminds me of a certain movie...
3 Comments
@appreciations Thank you so much for the kind words :D !
Maybe it was Next Level Game's scared in offering a experience that player would consider ''too small''; 'cause it's clear the amount of enemies and the layout of the mansions were made with a shorter experience in mind, or maybe it was Nintendo wanting to show that their handhelds could provide experience like the ones in home consoles, but it just feels they kept on adding on stuff to do without enough interesting things to back it up, and the result is a game that lasts longer than the original but provides even less.
Maybe it was Next Level Game's scared in offering a experience that player would consider ''too small''; 'cause it's clear the amount of enemies and the layout of the mansions were made with a shorter experience in mind, or maybe it was Nintendo wanting to show that their handhelds could provide experience like the ones in home consoles, but it just feels they kept on adding on stuff to do without enough interesting things to back it up, and the result is a game that lasts longer than the original but provides even less.
This comment was deleted
Thank you so much! It does have its ups but yeah, it drags TOO much from the second mansion onward, and when triying to get all collectables and Bood it can be a nightmare...
appreciations
1 year ago