{"id":102660,"date":"2019-10-28T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/luigis_mansion_3"},"modified":"2019-10-28T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T14:00:00","slug":"review-luigis-mansion-3-gooigi-takes-ghost-busting-to-the-next-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/10\/28\/review-luigis-mansion-3-gooigi-takes-ghost-busting-to-the-next-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Luigi&#8217;s Mansion 3 &#8211; Gooigi Takes Ghost Busting To The Next Level"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/luigis_mansion_3\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/luigis_mansion_3\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 1 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97106\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97106\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 1 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Despite being the glimmering jewel of the GameCube\u2019s launch, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gamecube\/luigis_mansion\">Luigi\u2019s Mansion<\/a><\/strong> has enjoyed relatively few sequels for such a beloved <strong>Mario<\/strong> spin-off. The 3DS had a pop with a well-liked sequel, and the original got a second chance on the same system with a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/3ds\/luigis_mansion\">remake<\/a>. Now it\u2019s time for a <em>true<\/em> home console follow-up with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/luigis_mansion_3\">Luigi\u2019s Mansion 3<\/a><\/strong>, but can it stand up to the original in all its glorious originality?<\/p>\n<p>The game starts off as you might expect \u2013 Luigi\u2019s been sent an unsolicited invitation to come and stay as a VIP guest in a luxury hotel, and if that sounds familiar, well, <em>how else are you supposed to set up this kind of game?<\/em> He\u2019s not alone though, as Mario, Princess Peach and a small gaggle of Toads are also along for the ride, and when they arrive, everything seems peachy (sorry) to the sextet of participants. To us players however, the red flags are all over the place. None of the staff seem to be normal, for starters; they\u2019re all wearing creepy masks and their lack of feet makes them look like they&#8217;ve walked in from <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/3ds\/fire_emblem_awakening\">Fire Emblem: Awakening<\/a><\/strong> or something. It\u2019s almost as if (and please at least <em>try<\/em> to act shocked) the whole hotel is haunted and populated by ghosts, which is just as well or this would be a <em>very<\/em> boring game.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 2 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97101\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97101\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 2 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>And lo, it comes to light that there are some shady events transpiring, namely that the hotel\u2019s owner (as well as the ever-welcome King Boo) has lured our supporting cast so they can be trapped in paintings against their will. Our old friend E Gadd has also befallen this fate, and so it\u2019s up to Luigi to scour the many floors of the hotel, free his friends, suck up ghosts, and accumulate the ungodly amount of loose cash lying around the place because <em>someone\u2019s<\/em> got to make a profit.<\/p>\n<p>The Poltergust 3000 is <em>so<\/em> last year, the Poltergust 5000 is totally \u2018whatever\u2019, and the Poltergust 4000 was a Kart that isn\u2019t practical in confined spaces, so this time around Luigi\u2019s wielding the Poltergust G-00, which, <em>just<\/em> like the new iPhone, is able to produce an <em>exact<\/em> replica of Luigi made entirely out of nondescript jelly (OK, we might be wrong about the new iPhone bit). That\u2019s not all it can do though; Luigi is now able to fire suction shots which attach to certain objects like a plunger, emit a dark light to reveal hidden objects a la <strong>Luigi\u2019s Mansion 2<\/strong>, and even slam ghosts about the place like they\u2019re made of wet tissue paper.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 3 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97102\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97102\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 3 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>But the main event in this new arsenal is the cheeky chappy we alluded to earlier known as &#8216;Gooigi&#8217;. Not only does \u2018he\u2019 raise numerous ethical questions about the enslavement of sentient gelatinous artificial life forms, but also has all the abilities of Luigi to boot, as well as the means to pass through grating and other spaces that are too small even for the slightly less portly of the two plumber brothers. Gooigi&#8217;s molecular makeup does come at a cost though, as although he appears even more powerful than Luigi on the face of it, he does share the same weakness as <strong>Sonic the Hedgehog<\/strong> and the aliens from <strong>Signs<\/strong>: <em>water<\/em>. Get him even marginally moist and he\u2019ll melt away into a useless pile of slop before slurping himself back up into the Poltergust.<\/p>\n<p>You use Gooigi either when Luigi simply can\u2019t traverse an obstacle, or in a few instances where two bodies are required to make progress, such as a door that needs raising and holding open through a mechanism that you simply can\u2019t reach <em>and<\/em> get through the door at the same time. At first, the situations that demand the gooey cousin seem a bit <em>too<\/em> obvious, giving the impression that they&#8217;ve been shoehorned in; a gimmick to grab people\u2019s attention that doesn&#8217;t necessarily fit the gameplay, especially as only one of the -igis can be controlled at any one time. As the game goes on, however, you&#8217;ll be surprised and pleased at the clever ways the two can work together to overcome obstacles and this sense of building wonderment is something that rings true for the gameplay as a whole.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 4 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97098\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97098\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 4 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>To begin with, you may be a little bored if you\u2019re a Luigi\u2019s Mansion master; the game is of a slower pace, and the solutions to most of the mandatory puzzles probably won\u2019t tax you much at all. Get further into the game, though, and things start to take a pleasing turn for the better; simple puzzles are still present, but they\u2019re often presented in a way that forces you to think twice, and sometimes even second guess yourself. We even found puzzles that seemed <em>completely impossible<\/em> at first glance, only for the solution to be so achingly simple that we felt properly embarrassed even though we were in our own homes, and with the curtains drawn. In terms of the mainline gameplay, the solutions are generally relatively simple but often clever in their execution. If you want a bit more brunt however, you can find it with the hidden gems.<\/p>\n<p>Each floor of the hotel has six gems hidden <em>somewhere<\/em>, and although you\u2019ll probably stumble across one, two, maybe three in your first run through a floor, the rest are often extremely well hidden. Sometimes you\u2019ll even be shown the gem which is <em>only just<\/em> out of reach, and there were instances where we went mad trying to figure out how to get our grubby, white-gloved mitts on them, but the sense of accomplishment for <em>finally<\/em> being able to snag that one last gem that\u2019s been eluding you is pretty difficult to top. It\u2019s all optional as well, so if you\u2019re not keen on that higher level of difficulty, you can just pass them all by without so much as a by-your-leave.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 5 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97104\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97104\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 5 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>All of this would be for nothing if the puzzles weren\u2019t fun, however, and as you\u2019ve probably guessed already from the overall tone of this review, they\u2019re <em>great<\/em> fun. Couple these brain teasers with bouts of scuffling with undead ghoulies and you\u2019ll be having yourself a jolly old jaunt through this gigantic beast of a building. But that\u2019s not what Luigi\u2019s Mansion is most remembered for, is it? Who remembers how many pink ghosts were in the dining hall or where to find the most pearls? No, what we and everyone else on the planet remembers are the Portrait Ghosts, and their triumphant return in the form of Boss Ghosts is where the gameplay shines the most fiercely.<\/p>\n<p>A medieval knight, a prehistoric caveman, a literal pirate shark \u2013 the boss ghosts are, without a doubt, the highlight of the whole game. We don\u2019t want to give anything away here, but suffice to say it\u2019s amazing just how many creative and ingenious boss fights are possible using little more than a vacuum cleaner. Each contest is memorable, dramatic, and even decently challenging, and completing them will grant you a new button for the elevator that\u2019ll allow you to make your way to the next floor. Every boss is brimming with personality, and leaves you desperate to see what the next area has in store for you.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 6 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97099\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97099\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 6 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Each area is completely distinct from the others thematically, ranging from a shopping centre to a gym complete with pool, a museum of natural history to a film studio; the variety is seriously rich throughout. What did leave us a <em>tiny<\/em> bit disappointed is the fact that all of these floors are not only distinct in terms of their aesthetic but also in terms of their layout. Each floor in Luigi&#8217;s Mansion 3 can only be accessed from the elevator, meaning the interconnectivity of the original game and suspicious dead ends are all gone, leaving only the essentially linear progression of floors in its place. It\u2019s only a small gripe, and one that probably won\u2019t bother most people playing given the sheer scale of the building and the gorgeous themed areas, all of which are immensely beautiful and charming. Speaking of which, we should probably talk about that as well.<\/p>\n<p>The entire game from head to toe is absolutely <em>dripping<\/em> with charm and polish. The animations are so good that not only would they not look out of place in an animated feature film, they frankly put similar-looking games on the Switch to shame. Luigi\u2019s face displays a range of emotions we wouldn\u2019t have assumed would be practical to put in a game, but there they are; from the mild bemusement and satisfaction of another floor\u2019s elevator button gracefully screwing itself in place, to the upwards look of timid horror at a colossal carnivorous plant (which might we add isn\u2019t even in a cutscene, it can just happen mid-gameplay), the facial movement is an absolute masterclass.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 7 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97100\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97100\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 7 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>As for the visuals when things <em>aren\u2019t<\/em> moving, well you\u2019ve probably seen the screenshots and trailers and all that good stuff, so let us just say that those don\u2019t do Luigi&#8217;s Mansion 3 justice. <em>At all.<\/em> The lighting, the textures, the lighting, the models, <em>the lighting&#8230;<\/em> it\u2019s easily one of the best looking games on the Switch to date, if not <em>the best<\/em>. There\u2019s this one moment when Luigi\u2019s torch casts light over a sand dune in one of the later levels that made us stop and just wonder how on Earth they got this to look as good as it does on a console that\u2019s essentially a glorified mobile phone from two-and-a-half years ago. We know gameplay\u2019s the most important part of any game, but <em>boy oh boy<\/em> did this game make us think twice about that stance.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, Luigi&#8217;s Mansion 3 runs extremely well at a very solid 30fps, with only <em>very<\/em> slight drops when there&#8217;s a lot of action on-screen at once. The environments are also littered with individual objects such as books, pizza boxes, jars, bottles, urns and other rubbish, and they all act separately within the physics engine, so to see such stable performance is fantastic \u2013 especially with the anti-aliasing and 1080p resolution (thanks, Digital Foundry) taken into account.<\/p>\n<p>Multiplayer is also employed in various ways; you can enjoy a handful of <strong>Mario Party<\/strong>-like minigames on one console with up to seven other players in ScreamPark, delve into a randomly-generated mini-mansion with up to seven others online or locally (provided you have enough consoles and copies of the game) in ScareScraper, or even play the whole game with a friend, loved-one, or sworn enemy in co-op mode. The latter has player one controlling Luigi and player two Gooigi, which results in a largely symmetrical experience, although the person at the helm of OG Luigi is <em>definitely<\/em> more in control of things overall.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 8 of 8\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97107\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/97107\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Luigi's Mansion 3 Review - Screenshot 8 of 8\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Whilst ScreamPark is a fun little aside (Cannon Barrage is our personal favourite), the main multiplayer meat is in ScareScraper. You have to play cooperatively with friends to overcome various tasks in either a five or ten-floor hotel. This usually ends up being catching ghosts or escorting Toads to safety, and even though we used that dirty word, escorting Toads is <em>actually<\/em> a lot of fun. We can&#8217;t imagine you\u2019ll have much difficulty finding games online with other random players at launch, but we wouldn\u2019t expect it to maintain any real long-lasting audience.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<div class=\"youtube\">[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pbBdRcDqAzM?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507]<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite being the glimmering jewel of the GameCube\u2019s launch, Luigi\u2019s Mansion has enjoyed relatively few sequels for such a beloved Mario spin-off. The 3DS had a pop with a well-liked sequel, and the original got a second chance on the same system with a remake. Now it\u2019s time for a true home console follow-up with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}