Review for Luigi's Mansion 3. Game for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 31/10/2019
With Halloween just around the corner, what better time of year to release all the horror that Luigi's Mansion 3 is capable of on the Nintendo flagship? Of the adamantine splendor of the e of the value it represents for the videogame world and not, we have talked about it in depth in this dedicated editorial. The time has come to firmly hold the Joy-Con, arm ourselves with courage and dive headlong into the examination of the third chapter of the most atypical Horror ever.
Accepting the invitation to the luxurious hotel Miramostri (Last Resort in the original) must not have been a brilliant idea for the cheerful gang of Mario Bros .: the colorful group, after being greeted by a band of ghosts masked as attendants and porters, will be attacked at night by a horde led by none other than the Mephistophelian King Boo! The owner of the Miramostri managed to steal the painting and bring the nemesis of the mustachioed green plumber to life, transforming Mario, Peach and his court of Toad into paintings.
It will be up to Luigi, holding a brand new version of the Poltergust ghost extractor, to take cautious steps through the various floors of the Hotel in search of his brother and his friends. After the 3DS debut with the Spin Off Dark Moon, the Canadians of Next Level Games return to try their hand at the arduous task of breathing life into one of the most anticipated and appreciated Nintendo sagas ever: Luigi's Mansion.
Thanks to the Nintendo Switch hardware, Next Level leaves behind the division of the game into missions seen in the previous chapter, offering us a unique experience devoted to exploring the dark meanders of the hotel. The ploy of dividing the progression into the dozen floors of the Resort allowed the development team to bring order to the level design and offer a vast and inspired experience.
Each floor will in fact be characterized by a dominant characteristic element and the progression will be inextricably linked and it: we will fight against a phantasmagoric Kaiju on a film set, we will participate in a medieval joust and we will challenge a tyrannosaurus inside a museum dedicated to the Jurassic era, passing through dusty hotel rooms and fighting carnivorous plants in a boundless nursery. The entirety of the exploration will revolve around the elevator, the only way to navigate from one floor to another and the hub of the game experience. To progress we will have to recover the lost buttons, thus unlocking access to new levels.
Luigi will not be alone in his Boo hunt: Professor Strambic and his Poltergust are back in an updated version, offering our hesitant hero the most modern version of the ghost cleaner ever, loaded with new gadgets. In addition to the historic set consisting of a torch and vacuum cleaner, we will be able to rely on a throwing sink plunger equipped with a rope: sticking the suction cup to the prepared surfaces and sucking it will be a great way to clear our way through the inaccessible meanders of the Miramostri hotel.
The new Poltergust is also able to fire a strong blast of air at the ground to allow Luigi to make a short leap and in some cases stun surrounding enemies. The spectrum capture dynamics is in its basic form unchanged: we will have to dazzle the ghosts thanks to the torch and then suck them into the Poltergust, engaged in a directional tug-of-war. The excellent variety of enemies and situations will naturally require us to evolve this basic form of capture and decline it according to the needs of the case, for example it may be necessary to use the suction cup to tear off a shield or some scary sunglasses.
The most exciting new gameplay proposed by the third chapter of Luigi's Mansion is undoubtedly represented by Gommiluigi (Gooigi in English), a green rubber alter ego in which to transfer the conscience of the little reckless tall guy, in order to alternate between two bodies. Gooigi can be summoned at any time, but beware of his aversion to liquids: keep him away from water sources if you don't want him to melt in front of your eyes!
The feeling and the nature of the fights to the sound of Poltergust represent the sum of what was proposed in the previous chapters, with a slight turn towards the action. Careful exploration, a sense of adventure and discovery are at the heart of the gaming experience, together with a good dose of solving puzzles that are never too complex, but always stimulating and imaginative. Numerous and very inspired boss fights, strong with unique mechanics that will require the correct use of the tools at our disposal, represent the peak of difficulty of the production, which will see the title slip away in about fifteen hours all at heart.
We can combine the single player proposal with the opportunity to a solid coop corroborated by a good dose of modes that wink at the party game, where you can challenge our friends to the last shot of Poltergust in cacophonous and colorful scenarios. The aesthetic side of Luigi's Mansion 3 is in fact dazzling and magnificent: every detail of the game world is carefully considered, boasting an evocative and stunning setting, where each new location explored is able to generate as much amazement as the magical sense of adventure that few gems of the videogame firmament manage to evoke.
Each floor of the hotel conceals hidden gems that will delight the completists, prompting the player to explore the magnificent Miramostri inch by inch, hunting for all the secrets hidden in every dark ravine. To help us in the perilous search for collectibles, we will be able to buy perks in the shop located inside the operational base of Doctor Strambic that can reveal the summary position of the Boos and gems. In any case, once we arrive near the indicated place, it will be up to us to find the hiding place of the coveted treasures.
The audio sector of Luigi's Mansion 3 is close to perfection, with a rearrangement of the themes proposed in the first chapter flanked by new songs and tunes destined to stay in the lead and be hummed in the days to come. The sound design perfectly marries the needs of exploration, the trembling voice of Luigi invoking the name of Mario is now a cult of the genre and we will never get tired of listening to it.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is the sequel we needed: after an inexplicably interminable wait, the mustachioed green plumber makes a comeback and does it in style. Get ready to smile, jump surprised by a spiteful Boo and get excited by the magnificence, care and love that Next Level Games will be able to transmit to you, carrying on the very important legacy of the most atypical horror ever. Nintendo Switch owners have no excuses: get ready for a memorable Halloween.
► Luigi's Mansion 3 is an Adventure type game developed and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 31/10/2019
