Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - A Charming But Unremarkable Game

Vacuum cleaner with flashlight,

Luckily for Luigi, he's not alone in his efforts - it would just be too much for him; the hero is not very brave, and he walks around the haunted house, trembling like an aspen leaf. As in the previous installments, green Mario is assisted by Professor Alvin Gadd, who, after recent adventures, has become a real specialist in ghosts. He gives us Poltergust aG-00, the latest anti-ghost vacuum cleaner. The letter "g" in the name does not appear there by chance - this is an additional feature that was not in previous games: now you can call Gooigi, i.e. Luigi's GOO double. All in all, the idea of ​​having two main characters that we control in turn is really cool. The developers made good use of its potential - for example, in boss fights - which increased the number of different ways to overcome enemies or solve puzzles. Very commendable!

The pace of the game is very unusual. Games usually try to surprise us with plot twists or some new mechanics. There's nothing like it in LM3 - after the first few hours you'll know everything there is. You may encounter some puzzles or an atypical boss fight, but none of them change the pace. This is bad? For some players, this will be a problem, because the gameplay may seem somewhat boring.

Research that makes sense

I really liked the level design of the subsequent floors of the hotel. Almost every one of them, and there are only 17 of them, is a small microcosm. So, there's a gym where the ghosts are rocking it with weights, and at the end we're faced with an overly confident swimmer. There's a museum there, with the obligatory, evil dinosaur or pyramid full of references to Ancient Egypt. With so much variety, we'll never know what's yet to come - and it's hard to put the console down before we've satisfied our curiosity by checking out what theme will be featured next.

The mechanics of the vacuum cleaner are implemented simply brilliantly. I couldn't help but suck everything I could into it. We literally take apart all the rooms - carpets, clothes, mugs, newspapers or posters. Luigi goes on a rampage and I understand why the ghosts are attacking him this way. This gives us gold coins, which have a rather symbolic use (they can make the game a bit easier), but it doesn't change anything. Most players leave no stone unturned in games, and Luigi's Mansion 3 will be a good trainer for them. Too bad it's not like that in real life...

Thorough exploration of Luigi's mansion 3 is also rewarded in another way. Each level has several special gems hidden in various, dark places (and getting them requires more than just getting the right key). And indeed, despite the fact that I explored almost all the nooks and crannies, I managed to find only half of them. This is an optional activity, but it will appeal to anyone who likes to spend as much time as possible in their games. It's also like having two co-op modes or searching for special ghosts that lurk in each level. It's a shame that Nintendo Switch doesn't support achievements and that's why we're ending all of these side activities "just" for the sake of doing them, not maximizing the game.

Catch the boss

Each floor in Luigi's Mansion 3 culminates, of course, in a boss fight. The vast majority of them have some interesting tricks, about three classic phases - and, of course, an elevator button that allows us to go to the next floor. However, in addition to great fights, there were some that I just hated. Mainly because I couldn't figure out how to defeat the enemy. This lack of intuition doesn't fit with the rather random nature of this game - it might just be my problem, but I wouldn't be surprised if less experienced players had issues with some of the ghosts. Several other parts of the game had a similar problem - it wasn't always obvious what we should do next. And although I did try really hard, in the end I would get stuck.

Getting lost from time to time is not a big problem and happens in most games, but mechanically I had huge problems with aiming. Camera performance is flawless, but aiming a stream of air or a flash of light at the right place can be really cumbersome. It's hard to describe, you just have to try it - anyway, I didn't have these problems in the previous release. Without a shadow of a doubt, I recognize this as the biggest drawback of the game, which can - although not necessarily - be a big nuisance. But the evaluation of these elements will be very personal. Still, I found myself gripping the remote a little harder than usual.

I can't say when was the last time I played a game that I found really funny, but then I had nothing to say about it. I talk a lot about games with both friends and colleagues, always trying to find and share something interesting. And then I was in a hurry. I had nothing to say. I couldn't say much about Luigi's Mansion 3, other than that it was cool, sometimes annoying, and that the boss fights were very inventive. This is a strange game. There is a lot of fun, but little emotion. It is memorable, but at the same time unremarkable. If that surprises you, I can't help myself. The few hours I spent in the game were just fun.