Game Review: Luigi's Mansion 3

 

Luigi is probably my favourite character in the Super Mario franchise. As a younger brother myself I can empathize with the idea that your accomplishments are not nearly as recognizable as your big brothers. There’s no resentment in that statement though, because I love my brothers and all of the success they have obtained in their lives. Like Luigi, us younger brothers are happy to cheer from the background as our siblings go on to accomplish many feats, but it’s also nice when once in a while we get a bit of recognition ourselves. Luigi has been no stranger to that recognition, as he’s had a collection of games and stories spotlighted specifically on the green-hatted sibling. Probably his most iconic game to note is Luigi’s Mansion, a launch title for the Nintendo Gamecube back in 2001. Within this game Luigi was thrust into a decrepit and haunted mansion with the goal of finding his brother Mario who went missing. To find him, Luigi would have to face his fears and go up against a collection of ghosts inhabiting the mansion in order to track Mario down. The game did a phenomenal job in highlighting Luigi’s appeal as a standalone character with a gameplay format unique to him. It’s clear that this game cemented a winning formula too because it has since become a franchise with two sequels and one remake up to this point.  I admittingly never had any history with the games specifically, but I value Luigi’s legacy enough to want to jump into one of these games and see what that core appeal is. Despite that positive intention though, I think I maybe picked the wrong game to find it in however.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is the latest entry in the franchise, being developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo.  Released in October 19th 2019 for Nintendo Switch, the game received generally favorable reviews and as of 2020 has a total sales figure of 12.82 million copies sold. The game utilizes a lot of the core design principles obtained from the prior Luigi’s Mansion games, with Luigi being the central character and his mission being to clear out a distinctly-scaled environment of a colorful cast of ghost characters.  Along with a single player showcase, the game also features a selection of multiplayer features both co-operative and competitive for local players to enjoy.  Being released on the Nintendo Switch also allowed the developers to leverage some of the consoles more notable functionality to add further control variation to the gameplay. 

The story of Luigi’s Mansion 3 follows Luigi as he takes a vacation with his brother Mario, Princess Peach and a collection of Toads.  There planned destination is a grandiose hotel called The Last Resort which is proud to promote a plethora of suites to suit all the desires of its patrons. As Luigi and co arrive, they are accommodated by the hotel’s owner Hellen Gravely; who guides them each to their own personal rooms. The grand appeal of the hotel is soon turned sour though when Luigi discovers ghosts inhabiting all corners of the building, all working for Hellen Gravely who herself is revealed to be working for Luigi’s long-time foe, King Boo.  Having been released from capture, King Boo has captured all of Luigi’s friends in paintings and intends to do the same to Luigi before he escapes down a rubbish chute. From there Luigi encounters his old friend Professor E. Gadd who helps equip the plumber with all the tools he’ll need to clear out the hotel of its ghost problem. This will mean scouring each floor with his trusty Poltergust G-00 and vacuuming up all of the spectral enemies in order to obtain elevator buttons to proceed to new floors and find the paintings of his friends and release them.

There’s nothing much to really say about the narrative of this game, like most Mario games the narrative only really serves as the foundational set up for the game as apposed to being a dramatic narrative with engaging twists and turns. Its setting is probably the most noteworthy aspect of the story, as the idea of Luigi and his friends taking a weekend retreat from their normal escapades is a novel concept. The idea that the hotel they book into is nothing but a giant trap is very clever because the height and scope of the place gives room for a lot of variety in Luigi’s mission to save his friends. The ghostly characters in themselves also benefit from some compelling designs and quirky characterization. Apart from that though, there isn’t much to really say. It’s a very by the numbers Mario/Luigi title when it comes to story, nothing all that out there of course but it’s still nice to see Luigi’s side get more of a focus here. 

The gameplay is the main bread and butter of this title and it’s sad to say what appears on the surface to be an inherently charming offering is tarnished by a really poor control scheme. Let me get more specific though. In terms of level design and objective focus, the game nails it out of the park. Each floor you visit in this game is designed in some really interesting ways which require you as the player to approach the challenge from a new perspective. The theme and tone of each of these levels is distinctly varied and the way it’s designed to draw new gameplay approaches form the player never gets old.  I loved exploring the levels of this game, whether it was the basement, fitness centre, movie studios or museum, there was always something uniquely compelling about how each of these floors worked as you explored and conquered them.  The nice thing about exploration too is it’s one of the features of the game which can also be shared with a friend. Gooigi is a sentient blob of goo who mimics Luigi in every single way. He operates and moves in the same manner with all the same functionality. The nice thing about how the level design works is it encourages you to utilize your gooey partner to overcome some of the rooms more unconventional obstacles. On your own it can be a bit finnicky to have to summon and position Gooigi as you have to swap control of both characters. I imagine that’s why playing co-op can be quite fun because the 2nd player gets to control Gooigi, turning this game into a completely co-operative experience. I really can’t fault the level design and co-operative implementation here; both of these aspects work together in really good unison.

That sentiment also goes for the ghosts you find within the floors themselves. The game plays it smart by slowly introducing you to the wide cast of ghost enemies you’ll be facing throughout your time in the hotel. They start out pretty standard, just requiring a quick flash of your torch before you suck them up but as you explore further you come to learn the ghosts do try to outsmart you and get more and more tricky to take on. Each floor also has a boss ghost to which the environment is usually themed around. These bosses are all uniquely designed and presented in a way that helps differentiate them from your standard enemy types. These bosses will usually be the last encounter you face at the end of the level but the game ensures you get enough of an impression of them as you work your way throughout the level. Similar to the standard enemies, these bosses will get progressively trickier as you work your way throughout the game.  Now despite being unique in design and approach, I can’t sit here and pretend I had a fun time fighting them, because 9 times out of 10 I was hindered by the games atrocious control system.

I honestly don’t think I’ve played a game with a control system this awful in a long time. I appreciate that having a vacuum cleaner as a weapon, you need to be able to aim your tool in any and all direction. Omnidirectional controls aren’t bad, but the lack of an inverse option makes aiming in this game so frustrating. In moments where you need to be precise with your shots, the controls are going to work against you because of how sensitive and precise the analogue stick ends up being. It made fighting some of the bosses with extensive phases so tedious because you only ever get one chance to get your shot in and you’ll more than likely miss it.  Button mapping is also a key issue in the control scheme that also hindered my enjoyment. As you progress throughout the game, you’ll unlock new features for your Poltergust. These features include flashing your light, sucking and blowing your vacuum, spawning Gooigi, attaching a plunger to a surface, using a dark light ray and doing a burst jump. There clearly aren’t enough buttons on the shoulder pads of the Nintendo controller to encompass all these things and thus you need to hold down on the face buttons to use some of these features. I really cannot emphasize how annoying this is when you’re already juggling with the games finnicky directional controls at the same time. It makes for a truly abysmal experience which actively dampened my positive perception of the game more and more by the time I reached its end.  

I also take great issue with the artificial pace extenders that get implemented in this game. There will be moments where you will attempt to move on up to the next floor in the hotel. Only for Professor Gadd to draw your attention to a prior floor for a fetch quest or have a ghost cat come and steal your button and lead you on a merry chase throughout several floors. These segments are tedious and offered no sense of enjoyment to me. I knew full well this was the game trying to inflate the playtime and push me further away from the ending though menial busy work. The game in itself is already long enough as far as these type of games go, why on earth would you try to make it longer and do so though the most generic ways possible?  

When it comes to audio and visual quality the game does a great job. I really liked the orchestration behind this game, each track from Chad York and Darren Radtke works well to cement the tone and theme behind each floor. Despite this being a game set in the dark, there’s enough colour and life presented in each of these locations too that I really have to give kudos to the design team for making these environments and its characters so distinct. I love how interactive all of these environments are as well. Nearly every item or object littered in these rooms you can vacuum up with your Poltergust. It’s hard to explain but there’s just something so therapeutic about how much stuff you can vacuum up in this game. 

I wanted to come out of my time playing Luigi’s Mansion 3 with a far more positive impression than this. There’s really good stuff in this game, whether it’s the charm or the inherent design behind its floors and enemies, you can find aspects to appreciate and enjoy.  My issues with the game though actively hindered that overall enjoyment too much. I came out of this game frustrated more than anything. Frustrated that what is inherently a good and charming gameplay experience is squandered and ruined by an obtrusive control scheme and a collection of tedious pace extenders.