Welcome to the full review of Luigi’s Mansion 3, a highly anticipated game which didn’t disappoint at all. Time to read all about it!When I was writing the preview, gameplay had been pretty much straight forward, find a new elevator button, go explore the floor, find a new one and repeat. It was at around the seven hour mark into the game, when I encountered the Polterkitty that I became aware that the game had just leveled up its gameplay. Not only had it become a little harder, but it had also become way more interesting. Suddenly I found myself switching floors to solve “levels” in order to reach their bosses.
Boss fights had always been interesting in previous games and it did not change in Luigi’s Mansion 3 either. Every boss has their own tell, you need to wait for them to do their thing and then strike when the timing is right. Beating bosses has always been fun and this game was no different, from taking away their defensive items to attacking them head on, you just know pretty much straight away what to do. At these boss fights, you are also happy that there is a store in the game where you can buy Polterpup bones, they revive you when you fall and I always had the maximum allowed bones at hand. Not that I died so often, mind you, just a precaution. As a reviewer I often purposely mess up things and while I tried to avoid this as often as can be for this gameplay, I did at times mess up my own timing resulting in me getting hit. This did not influence my adoration for the game, I just consider it to be part of the game. It’s like missing the perfect combination in a fighting game, these things just happen.
What I also found very interesting is how long it took me to actually free one of my friends from a painting. I did free up the professor E. Gadd rather quickly, but my other friends were a whole new thing. That aforementioned 7 hour mark, I had only freed up my first Toad at that point. No Peach or Mario yet, indicating I was in for a much longer game than the original on GameCube. The first game took me around 6-7 hours to complete and I was just under 14 hours for the second game. I did free up my second Toad not soon after though, leading the way towards the finale of the game. For the record, I was just under 15 hours for finishing the game.
I also loved the small and not so very subtle joke when Luigi’s Mansion 3 introduced the Virtual Boo. That was hilarious. It is a means of getting in contact with the professor and it is literally a Virtual Boy, the so-called failed Nintendo device from 1995, which we did not get in Europe by the way, I got my own device in the past through my best friend in Japan. Both resembling the real deal in design and during the communications, this was such a hilarious bit of self-deprecating in the sense of humor. It was really hilarious.
The attention to detail in Luigi’s Mansion 3 is also something I would like to mention again, I know I did so in my preview where I mentioned the elevator, but that was just one tiny instance. The entire game is filled with awesome little specks of glorious graphics. You would be surprised at how often I just sat there looking at the screen, admiring everything going on. There is this one room where you basically figure out that your Poltergust becomes a chainsaw and you can take apart the bed with it. When the bed is half destroyed, you see the springs from the mattress. It is these little details that put the game on a new level for the series, it kind of makes me ponder on the future of the series, how can this game still be improved upon? More puzzles and more boos? It made me want Luigi’s Mansion 4 already!
Also, everything seems to be much more lively, pun unintended. As all the floors are themed, so are the hidden items and you get to collect a lot of items in the game. I do not use the shop items to tell me where to find things but I am honestly considering buying a guide to eventually find everything in the game. Not just because I don’t want to spend/waste my time trying to find everything, but because I want to be sure I can locate it all. IF anything, it shows how much I love this game.
As all the floors are themed, there is obviously no limit to the imagination of the developers behind Luigi’s Mansion as I encountered pirate ships, sewers, a museum and the pyramids of ancient Egypt. So many more and each with their own boss too. I will say that the designs are really sparkly and what you’d expect them to be.
And then there is the online aspect and the local multiplayer! The Scarescraper mode was described by Nintendo as such: For more frenetic multiplayer action, race the timer to clear various objectives on a series of floors in ScareScraper mode. ScareScraper mode can be played online* or locally with up to eight players on four Nintendo Switch systems (additional games required; sold separately).
Scarescraper mode is fun and basically knits more hours worth of gameplay onto the game. Whether you are hunting ghosts online or locally or trying to amass coins, this will be your go-to game if you want to play more and longer. Do not underestimate this part of the game though, it is harder than it seems if your team is not up for the challenge!
In conclusion, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is the best of the franchise. It is simply said a great game that is fun to play and challenging enough at the same time! Grabbing plenty of coins will get you a long way and before you know it, you have freed your friends!
