Luigi's Mansion 3 (NSW) Review

Another spooky adventure.

 Luigi's Mansion 3 is the latest in Nintendo's survival-horror Luigi's Mansion series, featuring non-other than Mario's younger brother, Luigi! It's developed by Next Level Games, the studio behind classic Wii hits such as Mario Strikers Charged, Punch-Out!!!, and even the second game in the series, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon on the 3DS. Luigi's back on another adventure, this time in a what seems to be a luxurious high rise hotel, but will everything go as planned? It's been a while since the last game in series and now that Luigi makes his much needed arrival on the Nintendo Switch packed with a new premise and ghosts to bust, Luigi's Mansion 3 looks to be one of the year's most scariest games, so how does it fare? Let's find out.


 The story begins when Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi, and a couple of Toads are invited to stay at a luxury hotel, the Last Resort, to spend the vacation. While nothing is out of the ordinary at first, things take a turn for the worse, when the supposed invitation turns out to be an elaborate trap by Luigi's long-time nemesis, King Boo, who manages to imprison Mario and the others, leaving only Luigi. Joined by his trusty Polterpup and aided by the brainy Professor E. Gadd, Luigi begins his search for his friends while also taking care of the hotel's ghost infestation. While the story is really nothing to write home about, it was nonetheless entertaining with lots of wacky moments between Luigi and some of the game's oddball ghosts.

Luigi's back at it again!

 Luigi's Mansion 3 plays almost the same as its predecessors, only with a couple of new additions. You control Luigi as he explores the gigantic hotel, with the goal of beating the floor's boss and nabbing an elevator button, which will let you advance to the next floor. However, the place is riddled with ghosts, rats, and spiders, all of which Luigi's scared of. Thankfully, you manage to score the Poltergust G-00, a vacuum cleaner-like weapon that allows you to suck up various objects as well as catching ghosts. Other cool features of the Poltergust include the ability to stun ghosts, giving you a quick window to suck them; a "dark-light" mode that showcases invisible doors and the like; and the suction cup ability, where you can fire a plunger-like object to remove obstacles out of the way. There's also a burst attack, which knocks all enemies away should you get cornered.

The controls are fairly easy to get used to,

though aiming is cumbersome most of the time.

 Scattered across the hotel are piles and piles of money, which come in the form of coins, gold bars, and cash. There are also collectables in each floor in the form of gems, which change with the theme of each floor. Gems don't do anything aside from being bragging rights, but they're nonetheless fun to hunt. You can spend your money (which you'll earn a ton of!) at Professor E. Gadd's shop, who will offer you some handy items such as a dog bone, where if your health reaches 0, Polterpup will come and revive you (taking the bone with him...). There are also chips, which will mark the locations of gems on the map as well as hidden Boos for you to catch as well. I kind of wished that there were more power-ups and items aside from the aforementioned ones since you'll still earn a ton more money that you won't know what to do with.

 A new addition to the game is Gooigi, a gooi-fied version of Luigi who will help you out during the game's trickier puzzles. He controls the same as Luigi, though with a few perks. He can walk through gates and enter sewer openings, which are blocked by normal means. Gooigi can also fight enemies and suck them up just like Luigi though he has less health and will disappear once he makes contact with water. The inclusion of Gooigi is a welcome addition as it adds a new dynamic to puzzle solving, where you need to constantly switch between the two progress.

Gooigi does what Luigidon't.

 While the premise of a hotel might sound kind of boring, the game is not short on variety to keep things fresh. For starters, each floor has a different theme, ranging from a medieval castle to a pirate ship to a movie studio, which genuinely made exploring all the more exciting and fun. My favorite level had to be the Egyptian Pyramid, where you and Gooigi must carefully tread through a series of elaborate traps while making your way to the pharaoh's tomb. Granted, some of the game's puzzles were a bit unclear and frustrating that I had to resort to guide a couple of time, but they were just a few. I found the levels to be pretty eye-catching with each carrying its own unique theme, it's definitely the game's strongest suit.

The levels were imaginative and had me excited

to explore rest of the hotel.

 The game features an impressive 4-player co-op feature where you and 3 other players can explore the hotel together. There are a few team-based mini-games to add some variety, but they're not much to write home about. The inclusion of the ScreamPark is worth noting as you and other players must clear 25 randomly generated floors while battling ghosts. There will be some slight variations as collecting a set amount of coins before time runs out and locating a toad hidden on floor to keep things varied. It's a nice supplementary mode once you're done with the main game.

 Luigi's Mansion 3 took me over 13 hours to beat, which is decently long for the single player mode though if you're planning on collecting all gems and playing co-op, then you'll possibly reach the 20 hour mark. I really loved neat little details the game has in store. For example, you communicate with E. Gadd using the "Virtual Boo", a blatant copy of Nintendo's infamous failed console, the Virtual Boy. Also, you'll pass by some portraits of Little Mac and Mario Strikers in the movie studio level, a nod to Next Level Games' work on those games. While off topic, I'm a fan of cool references that makes me appreciate a game even more.

 I know I've said this to about every Switch game released this year and I'm gonna say it here again, Luigi's Mansion 3 is among the most visually charming games on the system, which is cliché at this point since Nintendo is known for their interesting art choices. From the neatly drawn backgrounds to the detailed character models, there's a lot to admire about the game's spooky atmosphere. That aside, I found to the lighting and physics to be outstanding, as both blend seamlessly with the environments, giving them a vibrant look. The frame-rate is solid for the most part, though it takes a dip when there's too much action on-screen. The soundtrack is good, though nothing much stuck out for me except for the game's main title theme.

Luigi's Mansion 3 is another visually impressive 
Switch game of the year.

 Fun, funny, and full of character, Luigi's Mansion 3 is among the most entertaining games I've had the pleasure of playing this year. The gameplay was great, namely the fantastic levels and the addition of Gooigi, despite it feeling easy at times. The story is also fun to watch and the presentation is top-notch, which should be excepted from a Nintendo game. Fans will definitely find a lot to enjoy here and newcomers shouldn't be put off by the "3", as prior knowledge of the series isn't needed. All in all, Switch owners looking for a decently-paced adventure should definitely put Luigi's Mansion 3 on their radar.