Luigi’s Mansion 3 (They’re Here...)

I started this today and played the smallest smidge of it - I think I finished up just after unlocking E.Gadd's little lab base and the hilarious Virtual Boo. This is so well polished! I love the little touches - the wee animations and noises that Luigi makes as he waddles about the hotel, the way the scenery is affected by the Poltergust... it's all great. It's also surprised by how pretty it is. Graphically, this might be one of the nicest Switch games I've seen yet.

I've not played enough to form an impression on how it actually plays, but it's a good start!

Good to read that - planning on starting this tomorrow!

It is really polished, you're not wrong. It practically glimmers, and most of the mansion's so tangible. Hoping youse both enjoy it as much as, if not more than, I did.

I played a wee bit more of this today - this is the business. I've got a few powerups now and even in the early goings, I've enjoyed solving the puzzles which are simple enough at this stage of the game. And I really can't stop talking about the little touches that this game does so well - stuff like Luigi giving a weak thumbs up when you collect an item as Gooigi because he's currently possessing Gooigi. It's great and really enhances the experience.

Echoing Jay's thoughts with my first impressions of my playthrough, though I was really hating the controls until I found out that the shoulder buttons do the same as the face buttons. I was playing it the way the game thought me for the first hour-and-a-bit, and it wasn't good. Trying to move Luigi's legs with the left stick, his aim with the right stick and control his torches and plunger with the face buttons was an absolute pain that's actually left my right arm and index finger a little sore.

I figured out you could use the shoulder buttons pretty early on - I can imagine that would have been a bit fiddly using the face buttons. I think the weird almost tank controls whilst you're hoovering takes a bit of getting used to, but I noticed a ton of options for tinkering with how Luigi controls in the settings, so it seems like the devs have been kind enough to cater for folks struggling with the controls.

Oh God, I can't imagine trying to play the game using the face buttons. Even if the Dark Light occasionally stuffed up, it was so much easier that way.

I've been jumping in and out of this between Yakuza Kiwami 2 sessions. I just finished Floor 7 - that felt like a wee bit of a difficulty spike and the boss was a right bastard. I had my first death fighting him, although I had one of those gold bones to keep on going, so it wasn't too punishing. I must admit that I'm finding the controls to be somewhat fiddly, especially when it's in regards to aiming suction cup shots or just aiming the hoover in general. I'm still enjoying this, natch, but it's not impressing me as much once the initial amazement at the level of polish has faded away.

I have made a decision: i'm gonna pick this up next time shens here so we can play in co-op.


How much game is there before one unlocks the gooigi stuff?

Not an awful lot. Maybe a couple of hours?

JayMoyles wrote:

I'm still enjoying this, natch, but it's not impressing me as much once the initial amazement at the level of polish has faded away.

I felt a bit like this too. It was still good, even great - but some of the fun was sucked out of it. That said, Floor 7 was probably my least favourite full-length floor, and Floor 8 is a banger. Come back to this thread in a bit.

I've just completed Castle MacFrights, and I'm about go up to...the seventh floor. 

I'm having great fun with this so far though. It's the little touches that make it great.

I thought floor 7 had it's moments so I wouldn't be put off too much but Balla is right that floor 8 really is something else.

I liked Floor 7 too but it did feel like a bit of a low point in comparison to other floors. Floor 8 is indeed a banger though so worth getting through it.

Floor 7 was all right! Not too many surprises or really clever moments right enough, but more than adequate. 

I'd absolutely agree with you and Smurf: Floor 7 ain't bad! I don't think there's a single aspect of LM3 that's bad, unless you really don't get on with the controls in B2 (or in general I suppose). My biggest criticism is that it feels like it could and should have been more, and when that's the biggest criticism you have of a game, it's probably a belter.

That said fewer rooms with lots of long grass would have been nice. This isn't Pokémon.

Balladeer wrote:

I'd absolutely agree with you and Smurf: Floor 7 ain't bad!  I don't think there's a single aspect of LM3 that's bad, unless you really don't get on with the controls in B2 (or in general I suppose).

Yeah, I hated B2. I was getting so frustrated at the controls - I couldn't get my head round them and that just made it worse. It was fine when there was no immediate threat and I could inevitably blunder my way to where I need to go, but the bit with the instant death enemies and then the boss were both just miserable experiences. I knew I had to beat it in one sitting or I'd never end up going back to the game.

Still, Floor 8 really was excellent and solving the puzzle made me smile a lot. Really clever wee idea for a floor. And yes, I too felt bad at that moment. You know the one. Floor 9 was alright too! Bit of a "set piece" floor of sorts, but it did the job. I'd happily take ninety Floor 9s over the despair that followed it...

Onwards to Floor 10, though!

I'm starting to think I must be programmed wrong as I'm seeing so many say the controls can be awkward but I don't think I ever really struggled with them at any point.

Nah, you're the superior form of human Smurf. When the rest of us die out, your improved manual dexterity will allow you to swat the ten-foot mosquitos away with your bare hands.

I definitely didn't have Jay levels of problems with B2 though. Probably best you don't try KIU Jay! I'd forgotten about the instakill enemies though, who decided that was a good idea?

Funny you mention KIU, I didn't have an ounce of dexterity with that one. I didn't realise there was instakill enemies either but they sound completely out of place for a game such as this.

It was

Spoiler:

Yep, died to those enemies so many times. There was an annoying minute or two of redoing the previous puzzle too to get back to that bit, so it was even more frustrating than it needed to be. It felt like I was stuck in a microcosm of Dark Souls for a bit.

Floor 10 was bloody ace though. It might have been my favourite yet, actually. Good puzzles, an immensely satisfying massive room (without spoiling it for others, I cleaned that entire room) and a neat aesthetic. Boss was a bit shite, but I can't say the bosses have been the highlights on any floor yet, to be fair.

Floor 11 looks like it's continuing on the right track too. B2 is firmly in the rear view mirror.

If you liked 9 then everything else is going to be good, I reckon. I didn't much. Reckon you're being a tad unfair on Boss 10 though, I thought it was one of the better ones! Boss 11 ain't all that.

It wasn't very clear what needed to be done with Boss 10. I felt like I blundered through the fight and it didn't feel particularly satisfying to win as a result.

Floor 11 was, ahem, magic. I loved the aesthetic and the maze section was good fun after exploring the floor in full for secrets. I really enjoyed the boss too - simple, but still enjoyable. It reminded me a wee bit of the baby ghost battle from the first game in the series, although that's largely due to the weird purple ghost dimension that the battle is set in.

I'm going to tackle a couple of more floors before backtracking for some Boos and gems, I think.

Word of warning: there's not much reward for either. I gave up on the Boos when I saw what you got. (in more ways than one)

I've been picking up the gems as I go as I feel solving the wee puzzles to find them is rewarding enough. I'll see how I feel going after the Boos as it seems a bit samey and dull hoovering them up so far.